Wang Li (linguist)

Wang Li ( Chinese  王力 , Pinyin Wáng Lì , also 王 了 一 , Wáng Liǎoyī and 王祥瑛 , Wáng Xiángyīng ; born August 10, 1900 in Bobai博白, Guangxi ; † May 3, 1986 in Beijing ) was one of the most important Chinese linguists .

biography

Wang Li's father Wáng Bǐngrú (王炳 如) had passed the first civil servant examination and received the title "Blooming Talent" ( xiùcái秀才).

From 1911 to 1914, Wang Li attended a school in Bobai. In 1924 he began studying at the South China University ( Nánfāng dàxué南方 大学) in Shànghǎi, after a year he switched to a private university ( Shànghǎi guómín dàxué上海 国民 大学) and in 1926 he went to the Qinghua University in Beijing , where he stayed Liang Qichao , Chen Yinke (陈寅恪), Wang Guowei (王国维) and Zhao Yuanren studied.

In 1927 Wang Li went to study linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris . In 1931 he did his doctorate with a thesis on the tone system of his native dialect. To stay afloat, he translated French fiction into Chinese , including plays by Molière and Les fleurs du mal by Baudelaire .

Wang Li returned to China in 1932 and became a professor at Qinghua University, Yanjing University (now Beijing University ), Guangxi University , United Southwest University ( Xīnán liánhé dàxué西南 联合 大学) in Kunming and at the Lǐngnán -University ( Lǐngnán dàxué岭南 大学) in Guangzhou , where he also became institute chairman and dean. One of his students was Michael Halliday . From 1938 to 1940 he studied at the École française d'Extrême-Orient in Vietnam , where he a. a. Learned Vietnamese .

In 1954, Wang Li took a professorship at Beijing University and became vice chairman of the Chinese Committee for Language and Writing Reform ( Zhōngguó wénzì gǎigé wěiyuánhuì中国 文字 改革 委员会). He has held leading positions in numerous academic institutions and in academic associations.

During the movement against the deviants and during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution , he was criticized as a "right- wing element" and as a "bourgeois academic authority".

With his first wife, Wang Li had two sons, Wáng Jīhé (王 缉 和) and Wáng Jīpíng (王 缉 平), and a daughter, Wáng Jīguó (王 缉 国); with his second wife Xià Wèixiá (夏 蔚 霞) († October 7, 2003) he had three sons, Wáng Jīzhì (王 缉 志), Wáng Jīsī (王 缉 思) and Wáng Jīxiǎn (王 缉 宪), and two daughters, Wáng Jīzhì. (王 王 ī) Jīcí (王 缉 慈).

meaning

An important merit of Wang Li was that he was one of the first to combine modern methods of linguistics from Europe with traditional Chinese philology . In one of his older works ( Hànyǔ shǐ gǎo《汉语 史稿》) he follows the phonological reconstructions of Bernhard Karlgren and takes for the Old Chinese a . a. Consonant clusters at the beginning of the word. In later works he discards these reconstructions in favor of simple consonants at the beginning of the word.

Wang Li has published over 40 monographs and nearly 200 articles in journals and anthologies. Some of his works are still important textbooks at Chinese universities. Wang Li's books and articles have been translated into multiple languages. He is considered one of the most important experts in the Chinese language.

In addition, Wáng Lì has translated numerous literary works from French into Chinese. a. by André Gide , Alexandre Dumas , Émile Zola , Alphonse Daudet , Charles Baudelaire and Molière .

In his hometown, which today belongs to Yulin , a memorial was erected to Wang Li, a middle school was named after him and the house where he was born was reconstructed.

Works

• Hànyǔ yīnyùnxué《汉语 音韵 学》
• Hànyǔ shǐ gǎo《汉语 史稿》
• Hànyǔ shīlǜxué《汉语 诗 律 学》
• Tóngyuán zìdiǎn《同源 字典》
• Shīcí gélǜ《诗词 格律》
• Shīlǜ yúlùn《诗 律 余 论》
• Lóng chóng bìng diāo zhāi shījí《龙 虫 并 雕 斋 诗集》
• Lóng chóng bìng diāo zhāi suǒ yǔ《龙 虫 并 雕 斋 琐 语》
• Shīcí gélǜ gàiyào《诗词 格律 概要》
• Zhōngguó yǔyán shǐ《中国 语言 史》
• Zhōngguó xiàndài yǔfǎ《中国 现代 语法》
• Zhōngguó yǔfǎ lǐlùn《中国 语法 理论》
• Zhōngguó gǔ wénfǎ《中国古文法》
• Zhōngguó yīnyùnxué《中国 音韵 学》
• Chǔcí yùndú《楚辞 韵 读》
• Shījīng yùndú《诗经 韵 读》
• Cílèi《词类》

There is also an edition of Wang Li's works with the title Wáng Lì wén jí《王力文 集》 (Shāndōng jiàoyù chūbǎnshè 山东 教育 出版社, 1984–1991) in 20 volumes and an edition of his translations with the title Wáng Lì yìwén jí《王力 译文 集》 (Zhōnghuá shūjú 中华书局, 2015; ISBN 9787101108989 ) in 8 volumes.

Web links

• 王力 (Shandong University)
• 唐作藩: 王力 (Guangming Daily 《光明 日报》)
• 王力 (Beijing University Library)
• 岁月留痕 (Beijing University Library)
• 王力 (University of Hong Kong)