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Contents
Illustrations and Tables viii
Preface ix
Introduction: The Singlish Affair 1
Part I. Rethinking "The Chinese Language" 35
1.On Defining "Chinese" and "Language" 37
2.A Sketch of Spoken Chinese 41
3.Idiolects, Dialects, Regionalects, and Languages 53
Part II. Rethinking Chinese Characters 69
4.What's in a Name? 71
5.From Pictographs to What? 74
6.How Do Chinese Characters Represent Sounds? 89
7.How Do Chinese Characters Convey Meaning? 116
Part III. Demythifying Chinese Characters 131
8.The Ideographic Myth 133
9.The Universality Myth 149
10.The Emulatability Myth 161
11.The Monosyllabic Myth 177
12.The Indispensability Myth 189
13.The Successfulness Myth 204
Part IV. Chinese Language Reform 221
14.Speech Reform 223
15.Writing Reform 240
Notes 289
Glossary 297
Suggested Reading 301
References 303
Index 317

-vii-

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Publication Information: Book Title: The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Contributors: John Defrancis - author. Publisher: University of Hawaii Press. Place of Publication: Honolulu. Publication Year: 1986. Page Number: vii.
    
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