It cost me an arm and a leg (72,000 won), but I bought Edwin G. Pulleyblank's book, "Outline of Classical Chinese Grammar." When it first arrived, I thought I had been ripped off because it was only a flimsy, little 206-page book, including Contents and Index pages. It did not look like it was worth 72,000 won, which is the most I have ever paid for any book, but after reading the first forty pages, I have changed my mind. It was a good investment.
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Though the book is not that well written or organized, it is crammed full of short-and-sweet grammar rules with one or two example sentences for each rule. There is little or no fluff in the book. It seems like Mr. Pulleyblank just gathered up his teaching notes and made a book out of them, which might explain why it is only about 200 pages.
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The book's 597 example sentences, which are numbered, have Chinese pronunciations and English translations, but, except for the grammar point being focused on, there are few if any detailed explanations of the sentences. The reader is pretty much expected to match, on his own, the English translation with the Chinese.
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I wish the book were better organized and had Korean pronunciations instead of Chinese, and I wish that Mr. Pulleyblank had used more punctuation in his English explanations, but the book gives so much insight into classical Chinese grammar that such complaints seem trivial. I am a happy man.
I have read through the book one time, and have started on my second read of it. It was a little difficult to get through the first time because of the Chinese pronunciations and the linguistic language that Pullyblank used, but I am finding that the second reading is much easier. I am also noticing many things that I did not notice the first time. This is definitely a book that should be read more than once.
ReplyDeleteStudying old Chinese writing is fascinating and not as difficult as people my think. Also, if you want to learn Chinese characters, learning some of the basic rules of Chinese grammar will make it easier. It is much easier to remember the characters when you study them in sentences rather than off long, boring lists.
On Page 20 of his book, Pulleyblank wrote that one of the uses of 也(야) was to mark proper nouns and referred the reader to "Section VII.3," but there is no Section VII.3 in my version of the book.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know where the section on 也 being used to mark proper nouns is in the book? Or was it left out?
It seems that the intended reference is to section VIII.5 (a) on page 73-- see the last paragraph on the page. See also VIII.5 (c) on page 74.
ReplyDeleteI am taking Chinese in my junior year as a minor. I am really liking it. I read this book in my library. I am a college sophomore with a dual major in Physics and Mathematics @ University of California, Santa Barbara. By the way, i came across these excellent flash cards. Its also a great initiative by the FunnelBrain team. Amazing!!!
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