A History of the Chinese Language, Routledge 2014, New York, NY and Abingdon, UK

A History of the Chinese Language provides a comprehensive introduction to the historical development of the Chinese language from its proto Sino-Tibetan roots in prehistoric times to Modern Standard Chinese. Taking a highly accessible and balanced approach, it presents a chronological survey of the various stages of Chinese language development, covering crucial aspects such as phonology, syntax and semantics.

If you are interested in reading this book, you may get it on the following websites:

You are welcome to send your comments to me. If you find any typo or error in the book, please let me know so that the book can be improved for reprints and hopefully further editions. You can send me an email message to hdong@gwu.edu. You can also follow me buy clicking on the icons in the footer area of this page.

Updates:

• I have just written a short article about further evidence for establishing genetic relationships among languages, which is based on the first draft of chapter 2 of my book. You can read it here on my blog.
• In an interview with Routledge as their featured Author of the Month, I discuss how readers can benefit from reading my book. You may read the interview here. You can also download a pdf version of it here.
• On page 131 of the book, I give a brief account of the promotion of Beijing Mandarin in the mid-Qing Dynasty. In a public lecture at Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI) on January 15, 2015, I gave a more detailed account of the Mandarin Campaign, based on my archival study of memorials to the throne. You may consult the PowerPoints slides from the lecture here.