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Synopsis
This book describes the development of Modern Chinese from the late nineteenth century to the 1990s.
New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies - Ellen Soulliere
Ping Chen's Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics is a very valuable book. Grounded in the tradition of Chinese philology and Western linguistics, Chen provides an unusually deft and clear-sighted synthesis and presentation of complex material. He creates and applies a series of conceptual frameworks for the description and analysis of the Chinese language. He marshals a wealth of detail which helps him to place linguistic issues in a wider social and historical context. His broad comparative perspective draws attention both to the features which Chinese shares with other languages, and those which are unique to the Chinese case. Chen Ping's thoughtful work sets a new standard for the discourse in English on the Chinese language.