Middlebury

CHNS 0270

Chinese Sociolinguistics

Chinese Sociolinguistics (taught in English)
Sociolinguistics is mainly concerned with the interaction of language and society. The language situation in China is unique both in the modern world and in human history. We will gain a good understanding of sociolinguistics as a scientific field of inquiry through exploring the Chinese situation in this course. Some of the questions we will ask are: What is Mandarin (Modern Standard) Chinese? Who are "native speakers" of Mandarin? Are most Chinese people monolingual (speaking only one language) or bilingual (speaking two languages) or even multilingual? How many "dialects" are there in China? What is the difference between a "language" and a "dialect"? Are Chinese characters "ideographs", i.e., "pictures" that directly represent meaning and have nothing to do with sound? Why has the pinyin romanization system officially adopted in the 1950s never supplanted the Chinese characters? Why are there traditional and simplified characters? We will also explore topics such as power, register, verbal courtesy, gender and language use. Students are encouraged to compare the Chinese situation with societies that they are familiar with. 3 hrs. lect/disc (One semester of Chinese language study or by waiver)
Subject:
Chinese
Department:
Chinese
Division:
Languages
Requirements Fulfilled:
NOA SOC
Equivalent Courses:
LNGT 0270

Sections

Spring 2025

CHNS0270A-S25 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2024

CHNS0270A-S24 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2023

CHNS0270A-S23 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2022

CHNS0270A-S22 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2020

CHNS0270A-S20 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2019

CHNS0270A-S19 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2018

CHNS0270A-S18 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2017

CHNS0270A-S17 Lecture (Du)

Fall 2015

CHNS0270A-F15 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2014

CHNS0270A-S14 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2013

CHNS0270A-S13 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2012

CHNS0270A-S12 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2011

CHNS0270A-S11 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2010

CHNS0270A-S10 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2008

CHNS0270A-S08 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2007

CHNS0270A-S07 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2006

CHNS0270A-S06 Lecture (Du)
CHNS0270B-S06 Lecture (Du)