Middlebury

LNGT 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. (One semester of Chinese language study or by waiver)
Subject:
Linguistics
Department:
Linguistics
Division:
Interdisciplinary
Requirements Fulfilled:
AAL NOA SOC
Equivalent Courses:
CHNS 0270 *

Sections

Spring 2025

LNGT0270A-S25 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2024

LNGT0270A-S24 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2023

LNGT0270A-S23 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2020

LNGT0270A-S20 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2019

LNGT0270A-S19 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2018

LNGT0270A-S18 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2017

LNGT0270A-S17 Lecture (Du)

Fall 2015

LNGT0270A-F15 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2014

LNGT0270A-S14 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2013

LNGT0270A-S13 Lecture (Du)

Spring 2012

LNGT0270A-S12 Lecture (Du)