Wang Li (linguist)

Wang Li (Chinese王力, Pinyin Wáng Lì, also王 了 一, Wáng Liǎoyī and王祥瑛, Wáng xiangying; born August 10, 1900 in Bobai博白, Guangxi; † 3 May 1986 as Beijing) was one of the most important Chinese linguist.

Biography

Wang Li's father Wáng Bǐngrú (王炳 如) had passed the first civil service exam and obtain the title of "Blooming Talent" ( Xiucai秀才).

From 1911 to 1914 Wang Li visited a school in Bobai. In 1924 he began studying at the University of South China ( Nanfang Daxue南方 大学) in Shànghǎi, after a year at a private university ( Shànghǎi Guomin Daxue上海 国民 大学) and 1926 he went to Qinghua University in Beijing, where he Liang Qichao, Chen Yinke (陈寅恪), Wang Guowei (王国维) and Zhao Yuanren studied.

In 1927, Wang Li went to the study of linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1931 he took his doctorate with a thesis on the sound system of his native dialect. In order to keep afloat, he translated French Fiction into Chinese, including pieces by Molière and Les fleurs du mal by Baudelaire.

Wang Li returned to China in 1932 and became a professor at Qinghua University, Yenching University (now Beijing University ), Guangxi University, the United Southwest University ( Xinan Lianhe Daxue西南 联合 大学) in Kunming and the Lǐngnán University ( Lǐngnán Daxue岭南 大学) in Guangzhou, where he was also chairman of the Institute and Dean. One of his students was Michael Halliday. 1938 to 1940 he studied at the École française d' Extrême -Orient in Vietnam, where he among other things, Vietnamese learned.

In 1954, Wang Li was appointed professor at the University of Beijing and was Vice Chairman of the China Committee for language and script reform ( Zhōngguó wenzi gǎigé wěiyuánhuì中国 文字 改革 委员会). He held senior positions at numerous academic institutions and academic associations.

During the movement against the rightist and during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, he was criticized as " right element " and " bourgeois academic authority."

With his first wife Wang Li had had two sons, Wáng Jihe (王 缉 和) and Wáng Jiping (王 缉 平), and a daughter, Wáng Jiguo (王 缉 国); with his second wife Xia Weixia (夏 蔚 霞) ( † 7 October 2003), he had three sons, Wáng Jizhi (王 缉 志), Wáng Jisi (王 缉 思) and Wáng Jīxiǎn (王 缉 宪), and two daughters, Wáng jihui (王 缉 惠) and Wáng Jici (王 缉 慈).

Importance

An important merit of Wang Li was that he joined one of the first modern methods of linguistics from Europe with traditional Chinese philology. In one of his older works ( Hànyǔ shǐ gǎo "汉语 史稿" ) he follows the phonological reconstruction of Bernhard Karlgren and takes for the ancient Chinese, among others Consonant clusters in word-initial. In later works, he rejects these reconstructions in favor of simple consonants in word-initial.

Wang Li has published over 40 monographs and almost 200 contributions to magazines and anthologies. Some of his works are still important textbooks of Chinese universities. Books and Articles by Wang Li were translated into several languages. He is regarded as one of the key experts for the Chinese language.

In his home town, which now belongs to Yulin, Wang Li was a monument, named a middle school after him and his birthplace reconstructed.

Works

• Hànyǔ yīnyùnxué "汉语 音韵 学"
• Hànyǔ shǐ gǎo "汉语 史稿"
• Hànyǔ shīlǜxué "汉语 诗 律 学"
• Tongyuan zìdiǎn "同源 字典"
• Shīcí gélǜ "诗词 格律"
• Shīlǜ Yulun "诗 律 余 论"
• Lóng Chong Bing DIAO Zhai Shiji "龙 虫 并 雕 斋 诗集"
• Lóng Chong Bing DIAO Zhai suǒ yǔ "龙 虫 并 雕 斋 琐 语"
• Shīcí gélǜ gàiyào "诗词 格律 概要"
• Zhōngguó yǔyán shǐ "中国 语言 史"
• Zhōngguó xiandai yǔfǎ "中国 现代 语法"
• Zhōngguó yǔfǎ lǐlùn "中国 语法 理论"
• Zhōngguó gǔ wénfǎ "中国 古文 法"
• Zhōngguó yīnyùnxué "中国 音韵 学"
• Chǔcí Yundu "楚辞 韵 读"
• Shijing Yundu "诗经 韵 读"
• Cílèi "词类"

There is also an edition of the works of Wang Li, entitled Wáng Lì Wenji "王力文 集" (Shandong jiaoyu chūbǎnshè山东 教育 出版社) in 21 volumes.