{"id":266,"date":"2006-01-30T16:03:28","date_gmt":"2006-01-30T08:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/?p=266"},"modified":"2018-08-21T16:34:20","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T08:34:20","slug":"books-on-chinese-character-etymologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinyin.info\/news\/2006\/books-on-chinese-character-etymologies\/","title":{"rendered":"books on Chinese-character etymologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An acquaintance of mine who goes by the Net name of Dragonbones (because of his interest in Chinese oracle bones, of course) recently responded to a query on Forumosa<\/a> on works on the history and background of Chinese characters.<\/p>\n

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I assume you want to read a non-scholarly introduction, in English. Unfortunately, many mass-marketed books on this topic (nicely produced coffee table books or cartoon-illustrated paperbacks) are full of erroneous general characterizations of the language, and the etymologies of individual characters are based on out-of-date works, failing to incorporate the last 100 years of scholarship and bronze and oracle bone research, or are cartoon-illustrated spin-ups of folk etymology, weaving enjoyable but VERY often inaccurate stories which seem suitable only ideal for teaching children, or for mnemonic purposes. <\/p>\n

Other works, by expert paleographers, are too technical for the laity, and the best information on individual characters is scattered throughout hundreds of journal articles, conference papers or monographs, or expensive scholarly books in Chinese. As a result, it’s hard to recommend good books to you. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After praising The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy<\/i><\/a>, which would also be my recommendation for the book to read first, he provides a list of other books: <\/p>\n