When the West Meets the East: Early Western Accounts of the Languages of the Sinosphere and Their Impact on the History of Chinese Linguistics

This book provides a collection of articles on early encounters of Western missionaries and scholars with the languages of the Sinosphere. These encounters had a considerable impact on the history of Chinese linguistics in the West and in the East. The volume focuses on Western and Chinese linguistic perspectives within their historical and sociological contexts. Thus, it provides a bridge between West and East, linguistics and history. Particular emphasis lies on the special influence Taiwanese linguistic studies have on the history of linguistic studies of East Asian languages. Many of the early grammatical works on Chinese languages are closely connected to Taiwan and Taiwanese languages. Additionally, Chinese linguistic traditions and their interaction with Western linguistics are at issue, as well as early Western accounts of the Chinese languages and their impact on linguistic studies in the West and in the East. The volume demonstrates the great influence the encounter with Sinitic languages had on the development of new linguistic concepts in the West, and it provides a window into cultural and linguistic relations from a unique perspective; transcending the Eurocentric view, and probing the motives of the missionary and colonial endeavors.