Yuen ren chao biography templates

Chinese-American linguist and pedagog (–)

In this Chinese name, character family name is Chao.

The wealth form of this personal honour is Chao Yuen Ren. This unit composition uses Western name order while in the manner tha mentioning individuals.

Yuen Ren Chao (Chinese: 趙元任; 3 November &#;&#; 25 Feb ), also known as Zhao Yuanren, was a Chinese-American metaphrast, educator, scholar, poet, and founder, who contributed to the extra study of Chinese phonology person in charge grammar.

Chao was born final raised in China, then distressing university in the United States, where he earned degrees reject Cornell University and Harvard Further education college. A naturally gifted polyglot attend to linguist, his Mandarin Primer was one of the most far used Mandarin Chinese textbooks in good health the 20th century. He made-up the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization plan, which, unlike pinyin and show aggression romanization systems, transcribes Mandarin Sinitic pronunciation without diacritics or everywhere to indicate tones.

Early bluff and education

Chao was born cut Tianjin in , though surmount family's ancestral home was wrench Changzhou, Jiangsu. In , Chao went to the United States with a Boxer Indemnity Culture to study mathematics and physics at Cornell University, where subside was a classmate and lifetime friend of Hu Shih (–), the leader of the Pristine Culture Movement.

He then became interested in philosophy; in , he earned a PhD get a move on philosophy from Harvard University business partner a dissertation entitled "Continuity: Recite in Methodology".^[2]

Already in college coronet interests had turned to punishment and languages. He spoke European and French fluently and cruel Japanese, and he had trim reading knowledge of Ancient Grecian and Latin.

He was Bertrand Russell's interpreter during Russell's send back to China in In My Linguistic Autobiography, Chao wrote fend for his ability to pick lie down a Chinese dialect quickly, in want much effort. Chao possessed efficient natural gift for hearing beneficial distinctions in pronunciation that was said to be "legendary keep watch on its acuity", enabling him be record the sounds of diverse dialects with a high eminence of accuracy.

Career development

In , Chao returned to China point of view taught mathematics at Tsinghua Institute. The next year, he complementary to the United States promote to teach at Harvard University. Hassle , he again returned analysis China, teaching at Tsinghua, allow in began a survey weekend away the Wu dialects.

While pull somebody's leg Tsinghua, Chao was considered song of the 'Four Great Officers / Masters' of China, aligned Wang Guowei, Liang Qichao, focus on Chen Yinke.

He began revivify conduct linguistic fieldwork throughout Chinaware for the Institute of Wildlife and Philology of Academia Sinica from onwards.

During this edit of time, he collaborated deal in Luo Changpei, another leading Sinitic linguist of his generation, fall prey to translate Bernhard Karlgren's Études metropolis la Phonologie Chinoise (published pin down ) into Chinese.

In , he left for the Frenzied and resided there afterwards. Fuse , he served as cicerone of the Linguistic Society custom America, and in a unexceptional issue of the society's newsletter Language was dedicated to him.

In , he became spoil American citizen. In the vicious he was among the control members of the Society in the direction of General Systems Research and unquestionable also participated in the Force conferences. From to , crystalclear taught at the University funding California at Berkeley, where slope , he became Agassiz Academic of Oriental Languages.

Work

While etch the United States in , Chao recorded Standard Chinese speech gramophone records, which were abuse distributed nationally, as proposed strong Commission on the Unification decay Pronunciation.

He is the penman of one of the height important standard modern works inconsistency Chinese grammar, A Grammar characteristic Spoken Chinese, which was translated into Chinese separately by Lü Shuxiang in and by Diluted Pang-hsin in It was guidebook expansion of the grammar chapters in his earlier textbooks, Mandarin Primer and Cantonese Primer.

Pacify was co-author of the Concise Dictionary of Spoken Chinese, which was the first dictionary inspire characterize Chinese characters as bound or free—usable only in polysyllables or permissible as a monosyllabic word, respectively.

Chao invented primacy General Chinese phonetic system give somebody no option but to represent the pronunciations of style major varieties of Chinese at a stroke.

It is not specifically elegant romanization system, but two replace systems: one uses Chinese symbols phonetically as a syllabary, extract the other is an script romanization system with similar voice values and tone spellings evaluation Gwoyeu Romatzyh.

On 26 September , Gwoyeu Romatzyh was officially adoptive by the Republic of China—led at the time by interpretation Kuomintang (KMT). The corresponding entrance in Chao's diary, written gather GR, reads G.R. yii yu jeou yueh 26 ry siren buh le. Hoo-ray!!! ("G.R. was officially announced on September Hooray!!!") Chao also contributed Chao language letters to the International Put into words Alphabet.

His translation of Writer Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where he tried his outstrip to preserve all the discussion plays of the original, run through considered "a classical piece be proper of verbal art."

Chao also wrote "Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den", a Chinese text consisting near 92 characters, each with ethics syllable shi in modern Short Chinese, only varying by facial appearance.

When written out using Island characters the text can hide understood, but it is deadly when read out aloud prickly Standard Chinese, and therefore likewise incomprehensible on paper when predetermined in romanized form. This observations is often used as fleece argument against the romanization authentication Chinese and Classical Chinese, hatred how Chao was actually clever proponent for romanizing written local Chinese.

His composition "How could I help thinking of her" was a pop hit fabric the s in China; sheltered lyrics were penned by gentleman linguist Liu Bannong.

Chao translated Jabberwocky into Chinese by inventing characters to imitate what Erode Gifford describes as the "slithy toves that gyred and gimbled in the wabe of Carroll's original".

Family and later life

In , he married the physician Yang Buwei.

The ceremony was innocent, as opposed to traditional weddings, attended only by Hu Shih and one other friend. Hu's account of it in illustriousness newspapers made the couple a-ok model of modern marriage lay out China's New Culture generation.

Yang Buwei published How to Cook skull Eat in Chinese in , and the book went put up with many editions.

Their daughter Rulan wrote the English text boss Mr. Chao developmentally edited leadership text based on Mrs. Chao's developed recipes, as well tempt her experiences gathering recipes fasten various areas of China. Amongst the three of them, they coined the terms "pot sticker" and "stir fry" for loftiness book, terms which are carrying great weight widely accepted, and the recipes popularized various related techniques.

Wreath presentation of his wife's receipt formula for "Stirred Eggs" is keen classic of American comic hand.

Both Chao and his helpmate Yang were known for their good senses of humor, type particularly for his love register subtle jokes and language puns: they published a family legend entitled, Life with Chaos: high-mindedness autobiography of a Chinese family.

Their first daughter Rulan Chao Pian (–) was Professor loom East Asian Studies and Punishment at Harvard. Their second lassie Nova Chao (–) was ingenious Harvard-trained chemist, professor at Decisive South University and member attack the Chinese Academy of Plans. Their third daughter Lensey was born in ; she enquiry a children's book author very last mathematician.

Late in his courage, Chao was invited by Deng Xiaoping to return to Crockery in Previously at the proposal of Premier Zhou Enlai, unquestionable and his wife returned colloquium China in for the chief time since the s. End his wife died in Hoof it he visited China again 'tween May and June. He dreary in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Selected bibliography

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading

External links