Sergei Yevgenyevich Jachontov

Sergej Evgenjewitsch Jachontow (2011)

Sergei Jewgenjewitsch Jachontow ( Russian : Сергей Евгеньевич Яхонтов, pronunciation: [ sʲ⁠ɪ⁠rɡʲeˑj jɪvɡʲeˑnʲjɪvʲɪʧʲ jaˑxə⁠ntəf ]; born on 13. December 1926 in Leningrad , died on 28. January 2018 ) was a Soviet and Russian linguist and sinologist , specializes in Chinese , comparative historical and general linguistics , language typology and grammar theory .

biography

Jachontow was the son of the astronomer Natalija Sergejewna Samojlowa-Jachontowa. In 1950 he graduated from the Faculty of Asian Studies at Leningrad State University . From 1962 to 1963 he did an internship in Beijing , from 1971 to 1972 at Nanyang University in Singapore . He has taught at the Asian Faculty of St. Petersburg State University.

Scientific achievements

Jachontow studied with Alexander A. Dragunov , many ideas developed by his teacher on and founded the Leningrad School of Sino-Tibetan linguistics, the famous scientists Irina Tigranowna Zograph , Isabella Samojlowna Gurevich and Ksenija Borisovna Keping are attributable.

Jachontov's dissertation Категория глагола в китайском языке (1954) was devoted to one of the most important questions in Chinese grammar of the 20th century, the definition of parts of speech .

Jachontow postulated for the reconstruction of the phonology of the old Chinese syllable sounds from the consonant plus * l, and an additional rounded vowel * o - theses that are widely accepted today.

Jachontow wrote dozens of papers, many of which have also been translated into English , Chinese and Japanese .

Jachontow made an important contribution to general grammar theory and language typology. He was an active participant in several collective projects of the Leningrad School of Language Typology. A characteristic of Jachontow's grammar approach is the careful consideration of material in non- inflectional (i.e., isolating and agglutinating ) languages, without which it is simply not possible to define basic grammatical terms in general terms.

On the occasion of Jachontov's ninetieth birthday, his collected works were published in St. Petersburg, which until then had only appeared in publications with a small number of copies and were barely accessible to today's readers.

Works

Monographs

• Категория глагола в китайском языке . Leningrad: ЛГУ, 1957. Chinese translation: 《汉语 动词 范畴》. Beijing: 中华书局, 1958.
• Древнекитайский язык . Moscow: Наука, 1965.
  • English translation of the second chapter: Old Chinese Phonology. In: Early China 4 (1978-1979) pp. 37-40.
• 《汉语 史 论 集》. Beijing: 北京大学 出版社, 1986.

Article (selection)

• Члены предложения в китайском языке. In: Ученые записки ЛГУ . № 236. Серия востоковедческих наук, выпуск 6, 1958. pp. 158–183.
• Сочетания согласных в древнекитайском языке. In: Труды XXV Международного конгресса востоковедов . Vol. 5. Moscow, 1961. pp. 89-95.
• Классификация диалектов китайского языка. In: Исследования по филологии стран Азии и Африки . Л., 1966. pp. 121-128.
  • English translation: The Countries and the Peoples of the East . Moscow, 1974. pp. 317-328.
• Фонетика китайского языка I тысячелетия до н.э. (система финалей). In: Проблемы востоковедения 2 (1959) pp. 137–147.
  • English translation by Jerry Norman : Chinese phonology of the first millennium BC. In: Unicorn 1 (1968) pp. 47-65.
• Фонетика китайского языка I тысячелетия до н. э. (лабиализованные гласные). In: Проблемы востоковедения . Moscow, 1960. pp. 113-124.
  • English translation by Jerry Norman: The phonology of Chinese in the first millennium BC (rounded vowels). In: Unicorn 6 (1970), pp. 52-75.
• Письменный и разговорный язык в VII – XIII вв. н. э. In: Жанры и стили литератур Китая и Кореи . Moscow, 1969.
• Грамматика древнекитайских стихов. In: Теоретические проблемы изучения литератур Дальнего Востока . Moscow: Наука, ГРВЛ, 1974. pp. 66–75.
• История языкознания в Китае (I тысячелетие до н. Э. - I тысячелетие н. Э.). In: История лингвистических учений. Древний мир . Leningrad: Наука, 1980. pp. 92–109.
• История языкознания в Китае (XI — XIX вв.). In: История лингвистических учений. Средневековый восток . Leningrad: Наука, 1981, pp. 224–247.
• Современное состояние вопроса о генетических связях языков Юго-Восточной Азии. In: Генетические, ареальные и типологические связи языков Азии . Moscow, 1983.
• Лексическое и грамматическое словообразование. In: Проблемы типологии и общей лингвистики . Saint Petersburg, 2006.
• Древнейшие упоминания названия «киргиз». In: Советская этнография No. 2, 1970, pp. 110-120.

literature

• Alain Peyraub : Sergei Evgenyevich Yakhontov (1926-2018). In: Journal of Chinese Linguistics Vol. 47 No. 1 (January 2019) p. 315ff.

Web links

• Яхонтов Сергей Евгеньевич Saint Petersburg State University (archived version).