Chao Yuen Ren

Zhao Yuanren around 1916

Chao Yuen Ren ( Chinese  趙元任  /  赵元任 , Pinyin Zhào Yuánrèn , W.-G. Chao Yüan-jen , GR Jaw Yuanrenn , Jyutping Ziu ⁶ Jyun ⁴ jam ⁶ , born November 3, 1892 in Tianjin , Chinese Empire ; † February 25 1982 in Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States ) was a Chinese linguist , founder of modern Chinese linguistics, and creator of the Romanization Gwoyeu Romatzyh .

He was also the author of a modern work on Chinese grammar.

He wrote the poem Lion-Eating Poets in the Stone Cave , which demonstrates the high number of homophones in the Chinese language . It consists entirely of characters that correspond to the Pinyin spelling shi , only varied by the four different tones (cf. tonal language ).

The development of tone forms to illustrate pitches and tone changes is attributed to him.

In 1948, Chao was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . In 1973 he became a corresponding member of the British Academy .

He has also emerged as a song composer, a selection of his songs was published under the title Zhao Yuanren gequ xuanji .

literature

• A Grammar of Spoken Chinese , UCP, Berkeley, Calif. 1968, ISBN 0-520-00219-9 .
• 赵元任: 《汉语 口语 语法》, 商务 出版社 , 2002 (1979), ISBN 7-1-000-2256-8 .

Web links

• Chinese linguist, phonologist, composer and author

Individual evidence

1. ^ Members of the American Academy. Listed by election year, 1900-1949 ( PDF ). Retrieved October 11, 2015
2. ^ Deceased Fellows. British Academy, accessed May 14, 2020 . 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Chao is the family name here, Yuen Ren is the first name.