Li Fanggui
Encyclopedia
Li Fang-Kuei (20 August 1902-21 August 1987) was a Chinese
linguist
. He resided in the United States after 1938.
in 1924. He gained a BA in linguistics at the University of Michigan
two years later. Then he went on studying under Edward Sapir
and Leonard Bloomfield
at the University of Chicago
. In the US, he conducted field studies of the languages of the American Indians
. His first exposure to fieldwork was his study of the Mattole language in northern California
. In 1928 he received his PhD at the University of Chicago, with his thesis Mattole: An Athabaskan Language published in 1930.
In 1929 he returned to China and, along with Yuen Ren Chao
and Luo Changpei
, became a researcher at the Institute of History and Philology (歷史語言研究所) of the Academia Sinica
(then located at Beijing
). From this point on, he performed field studies of several Tai languages
(including the Zhuang people's Longzhou and Wuming
dialects), while at the same time conducting deep investigations into Old Chinese
and Tibetan
.
Later, Li returned to the US and taught Chinese language and linguistics at Yale
in 1938-39, and after World War II
at the University of Washington
in Seattle from 1949 to 1969, and then at the University of Hawaii
. In 1977 he published a comparison of Tai languages
, the crystallization of more than forty years of research. He also worked at Academia Sinica
, now at Taiwan
in 1973.
Li died in San Mateo County, California
. Tsinghua University
, his alma mater, began to publish his complete works in 2005 .
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
. He resided in the United States after 1938.
Biography
Li was one of the first Chinese to study linguistics outside China. Originally a student of medicine, he switched to linguistics when he went to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1924. He gained a BA in linguistics at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
two years later. Then he went on studying under Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir was an American anthropologist-linguist, widely considered to be one of the most important figures in the early development of the discipline of linguistics....
and Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a comprehensive description of American structural linguistics...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. In the US, he conducted field studies of the languages of the American Indians
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
. His first exposure to fieldwork was his study of the Mattole language in northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1928 he received his PhD at the University of Chicago, with his thesis Mattole: An Athabaskan Language published in 1930.
In 1929 he returned to China and, along with Yuen Ren Chao
Yuen Ren Chao
Chao Yuen Ren was a Chinese American linguist and amateur composer. He made important contributions to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar....
and Luo Changpei
Luo Changpei
Luo Changpei was a Chinese linguist. He made important contributions to the study of historical Chinese phonology. He was also a pioneer of the modern studies of Chinese dialects and of non-Chinese languages in China....
, became a researcher at the Institute of History and Philology (歷史語言研究所) of the Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica
The Academia Sinica , headquartered in the Nangang District of Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. It supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from mathematical and physical sciences, to life sciences, and to humanities and social sciences.Academia Sinica has...
(then located at Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
). From this point on, he performed field studies of several Tai languages
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages are a branch of the Tai–Kadai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Burma's Shan language;...
(including the Zhuang people's Longzhou and Wuming
Wuming
Wuming may refer to:*Wuming Mountain, in Taiwan*Wuming County, in Guangxi, China...
dialects), while at the same time conducting deep investigations into Old Chinese
Old Chinese
The earliest known written records of the Chinese language were found at a site near modern Anyang identified as Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and date from about 1200 BC....
and Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
.
Later, Li returned to the US and taught Chinese language and linguistics at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1938-39, and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle from 1949 to 1969, and then at the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
. In 1977 he published a comparison of Tai languages
Tai languages
The Tai or Zhuang–Tai languages are a branch of the Tai–Kadai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Burma's Shan language;...
, the crystallization of more than forty years of research. He also worked at Academia Sinica
Academia Sinica
The Academia Sinica , headquartered in the Nangang District of Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. It supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from mathematical and physical sciences, to life sciences, and to humanities and social sciences.Academia Sinica has...
, now at Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
in 1973.
Li died in San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
. Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
, his alma mater, began to publish his complete works in 2005 .
Works
- Li Fang-Kuei (1933). "Certain Phonetic Influences of the Tibetan Prefixes upon the Root Initials". Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology 6.2: 135–157.
- Li Fang-Kuei (1956a). "The Inscriptions of the Sino-Tibetan Treaty of 821-822". T'oung p'ao 44: 1–99.
- Li Fang-Kuei (1956b). "Ma Zhongying kao" 馬重英考 (On Ma Chung-Ying). 國立台灣大學文史哲學學報 Guoli Taiwan daxue wenshi zhexue xuebao (Bulletin of the College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University) 7: 1–8.
- Li, Fang-Kuei (1971), 《上古音研究》 The Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies IX(1,2): 1–61, translated by Gilbert L. Mattos (1974–75) as "Studies on Archaic Chinese", Monumenta Serica 31: 219–287.
- Li Fang-Kuei (1979) "The Chinese Transcription of Tibetan Consonant Clusters". Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology Academia Sinica 50: 231–240.
- Li Fang-Kuei (1980) "A Problem in the Sino-Tibetan Treaty Inscription". Acta Orientalia Hungaricae 34: 121–124.
- Li Fang-kuei and Weldon South CoblinWeldon South CoblinWeldon South Coblin is a linguist and sinologist. He was a student of Li Fang-Kuei. Early in his career he made many important contributions to Tibetan and Tibeto-Burman linguistics, but since the mid 1990s has worked primarily on alphabetic representations of Chinese...
(1987). A study of the old Tibetan inscriptions. (Special publications 91.) Taipei: Academia Sinica.
External links
- Obituary by Ron and Suzanne Scollon, American AnthropologistAmerican AnthropologistAmerican Anthropologist is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association . It is known for publishing a wide range of work in anthropology, including articles on cultural, biological and linguistic anthropology and archeology...
, 1989, available through JSTORJSTORJSTOR is an online system for archiving academic journals, founded in 1995. It provides its member institutions full-text searches of digitized back issues of several hundred well-known journals, dating back to 1665 in the case of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society... - Li Fang-Kuei (1902–1989), by R.J. LaPolla, in Encyclopedia of Language and LinguisticsEncyclopedia of Language and LinguisticsThe Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, first published in 1994, with a 2nd edition in 2006, is an encyclopedia of all matters related to language and linguistics...
, 2nd Edition, Keith Brown (ed.), London: Elsevier, 2005, pp. 514–515. ISBN 978-0-08-044299-0.
- Fanggui Li Collection, at American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
- "Professor Li Fang-kuei: a Personal Memoir" by Anne Yue-Hashimoto
- Li Fang-Kuei Symposium
- An interview with Li Fang-kuei