Monthly Archives: November 2017

CHILL! 6 December HU Han: To Er or not to Er? The changing er in the speech community of Beijing

CHILL!

Chinese Linguistics in Leiden

Last presentation of this season!

 

note: the talk originally planned for 29 November has been cancelled.

 

6 December 2017 (Wednesday) 15:15-16:30, Wijkplaats 4/005

HU Han (Leiden):

“To Er or not no Er? The changing er in the speech community of Beijing”

abstract It is well known that social changes have an impact on language variation and change. Nowadays, Beijing witnesses radical social changes in the process of urbanization. Erhua, as a characteristic feature of Beijing Mandarin, is undergoing a change with the change of society. In this talk, I will present some preliminary findings related to the social stratification of erhua and people’s attitudes towards erhua.

 

CHANGE IN TIME/VENUE for China Seminar 7 December: James A. Benn

Please note: James A. Benn’s talk has been moved forward two hours: to 7 December (Thursday), 13.15-15.00. The new venue is LIPSIUS 308.

title: The Creation of a Tea Aesthetic in Tang Dynasty Verse

Abstract: The values associated with tea today— that it is natural, health- giving, detoxifying, spiritual, stimulating, refreshing, and so on— are not new concepts. We find them already in the poetry of the Tang dynasty (618-907). In tea poetry we can catch a glimpse of the cultural synergy created by literati, poets, and Buddhist monks gathering to share and construct new standards of connoisseurship and creativity, as well as to develop new themes and imagery. Surviving poems describe the color, aroma, and taste of the beverage; methods for preparing tea; the shape of teaware; settings for drinking tea; appreciation of the various aesthetic, medicinal, and psychoactive qualities of the beverage; as well as the world of tea growing, picking, and preparation.

 

Thursday 7 December China seminar: James A. Benn

Title: The Creation of a Tea Aesthetic in Tang Dynasty Verse

Speaker: McMaster University    James A. Benn

Venue: EYCKH 2 – 005

Time: 7 December 2017, 15:15-17:00

Abstract: The values associated with tea today— that it is natural, health- giving, detoxifying, spiritual, stimulating, refreshing, and so on— are not new concepts. We find them already in the poetry of the Tang dynasty (618-907). In tea poetry we can catch a glimpse of the cultural synergy created by literati, poets, and Buddhist monks gathering to share and construct new standards of connoisseurship and creativity, as well as to develop new themes and imagery. Surviving poems describe the color, aroma, and taste of the beverage; methods for preparing tea; the shape of teaware; settings for drinking tea; appreciation of the various aesthetic, medicinal, and psychoactive qualities of the beverage; as well as the world of tea growing, picking, and preparation.

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Upcoming talks this semester:

Dates Room Presenter Affiliation
7 December 2017 EYCKH2 – 005 James Benn McMaster University
13 December 2017 REUVENS 201a Rongdao Lai University of Southern California

 

23 Nov CHILL!: Rint Sybesma: VO-OV in Chinese languages and little v and Voice

CHILL!

Chinese linguistics in Leiden

 

Two more presentations to go:

 

23 November 2017 (Thursday) 15:15-16:30, Eyckhof 3/002

Rint SYBESMA (Leiden): VO-OV in Chinese languages and little v and Voice

 

VO-OV in Chinese languages and Voice and little v

 

abstract: In Chinese languages, both SVO and SOV surface orders are common. We see variation both within and between languages. Some languages, like Cantonese opt almost exclusively for SVO, while languages from the Wu and Min families tend to have SOV as soon as either the V or the O is more than just a bare V or a bare O. Mandarin, finally, shows both orders in several contexts. In this talk I try to find out whether we can understand what is going on if our analysis of these patterns involves Voice and little v, which may or may not be split or bundled all the time.

 

 

6 December 2017 (Wednesday) 15:15-16:30, Wijkplaats 4/005,

HU Han (Leiden): “To Er or not no Er? The changing er in the speech community of Beijing”

 

 

Note: the talk originally planned for 29 November has been cancelled.

17 Nov: Looking for a place to bathe: lecture & museum visit

LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO BATHE: missed opportunities of anchoring Manchu origins in Kangxi’s Overview Maps of the Imperial Territories.

Throughout history, governments have (mis)used maps to build identity among their subjects. For Manchu khans, anchoring Manchu identity has been a struggle from the beginning. In fact, ‘being Manchu’ was a construct that only started to appear in written sources since the 1620s. The fourth khan of the Manchus, Kangxi (r.1661-1722), started to map his empire, resulting in 41 individual sheets. These Overview Maps of the Imperial Territories (Huangyu quanlan tu) presented a good opportunity of showing his people how far they had come since his great grandfather Nurhaci had attacked the Ming in 1618. Not unimportant, this project gave him the canvas to map the narrative surrounding the origin the Manchu royal lineage and its subjects, which started with three maidens wanting to bathe. The question whether the Overview maps succeeded in anchoring Manchu origins is at the centre of this lecture.

Speaker: Fresco Sam-Sin (Leiden University / Research Center for Material Culture)
followed by visit to the Mapping Asia gallery at Volkenkunde.

Timing:

14:00: Lecture in Arsenaal, room 001
15:00: Walk to Mapping Asia gallery
16:36: end, followed by drinks?

https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/tickets-lecture-and-museum-visit-looking-for-a-place-to-bathe-39722003582