Languages and Scripts of East Asia – Viewing Guide

Vocabulary of Note

• Language Family – Group of genealogically related languages believed to be descended from a shared, common ancestor. Does not = a nation, people, ethnicity, or culture.
• Innovations – changes in languages between generations.
• Nationalist Construction of Identity – untenable, “ideal” construction of a country having one language, one history, and one identity.
• Altaic – most spoken in Northern, Eastern, and Central Asia including Mongolian, Manchu, etc. and Turkic Languages (Uyghur, Turkish, etc).
• Austronesian – spoken mostly in Southeast Asia, Madagascar, Pacific Islands – Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, Hawaiian Formosan languages, etc.
• Austroasiatic – languages of mainland Southeast Asia, including Vietnamese and Khmer, ethnic minority languages, etc.
• Hmong-Mien – various small and ethnic minority languages spoken in the highlands of Southeastern Asia – Hmong, Mien, etc.
• Japonic – Japanese and Ryukyuan languages.
• Koreanic – Korean language.
• Language Isolate – language with a lack of proven connections and history with other languages.
• Kra-Dai – Thai, Lao, Zhuang, Tày languages, etc. in Southeast Asia.
• Sino-Tibetan – Chinese languages, Tibetan, Burmese, etc.
• Chinese Languages – hugely diverse language family with at least seven language groups within it, with dialects between them.
• Ainu Language – language isolate native to northern islands of Japan and Kurils/Sakhalin in Russia.
• Cosmopolitan Language System – transregional (ex: Latin).
• Vernacular Language System – local and bounded to a specific region.
• Diglossia – two different languages (being used) – for example, speaking in French (vernacular) and writing in Latin (cosmopolitan).
• Literary Chinese – developed from the classical to medieval period and became the official language of expression across East Asia (cosmopolitan).
• Vernacular Scripts – in the context of East Asia, these were often developed through variations of Literary Chinese.
• Chữ Nôm – First script developed in Vietnam to represent the vernacular language, based on Literary Chinese.
• Hyangch’al – unmodified Chinese characters script developed in Korea, later replaced by Hangul (vernacular).
• Hiragana – simplification and cursive version of Chinese characters.
• Katakana – Japanese script coming from an abbreviation of a Chinese character that resembles its sound.

Outline of Presentation – with [Timecode]                                  

Framing the Question of East Asia

• East Asia is not a single culture but a region of diverse peoples and languages [00:08]
• Spoken languages express diversity, while writing systems express unity [00:33]
• The tension between language and writing provides a framework for understanding East Asian civilization [00:42]

Language Families

• A language family is a group of languages descended from a common ancestor [01:40]
• Example: Latin developed into the Roman languages [02:41]
• A language family does not necessarily correspond to a people, ethnicity, or culture [03:38]
• Modern nationalism often conflates language with ethnicity and nation [05:52]
• “Chinese” is not a single language but a family of related languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.) [07:12]

Major Language Families of East Asia

• Altaic languages: Mongolian, Manchu, Uyghur, Turkic; spread widely through nomadic and migratory movements [09:42]
• Austronesian languages: Malay, Tagalog, Formosan, Hawaiian; most geographically widespread family due to maritime expansion [12:13]
• Austroasiatic languages: Vietnamese, Khmer, and others; linguistic ties cross distinct cultural spheres [13:43]
• Hmong-Mien languages: Spoken by minority groups in southern China and Southeast Asia; without a corresponding nation-state [15:46]
• Japonic languages: Japanese and Ryukyuan; possible links to Korean or Altaic remain unproven [16:44]
• Koreanic languages: Korean as a language isolate; debated connections to other families [17:36]
• Kra-Dai languages: Thai, Lao, and related groups in southern China and Vietnam; shaped by migration [19:21]
• Sino-Tibetan languages: Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese; includes the internally diverse Chinese language family [20:49]
• Isolates: Example of Ainu in northern Japan [22:16]

Writing and Language

• Spoken languages reflect diversity, while writing systems provide unity [23:09]
• Writing is a technology, not an instinct; invented only a few times in history [24:14]
• Scripts can spread across unrelated languages, as with the Roman alphabet [25:43]
• Chinese script was invented in the Shang dynasty, with earliest examples on oracle bones [27:30]
• Writing and language traveled together as bundled technologies; literacy in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam began with Chinese writing [28:03]

Cosmopolitan and Vernacular Languages

• Cosmopolitan languages are transregional and literary, comparable to Latin in Europe [29:24]
• Vernacular languages are locally spoken [30:09]
• East Asia’s cosmopolitan language was Literary Chinese, adopted across Korea, Japan, and Vietnam [33:32]

Vernacular Writing Traditions

• China: Literary Chinese remained dominant, but vernacular literature emerged over time [36:32]
• Vietnam: Under Chinese rule, literacy relied on Literary Chinese; later developed chữ Nôm to record Vietnamese, producing works like The Tale of Kiều [38:36]
• Korea: Literary Chinese adapted into Idu and Hyangchal; Hangul alphabet created in the 15th century under King Sejong, though widely adopted only in modern times [41:01]
• Japan: Began with Literary Chinese; developed kana scripts (katakana from parts of characters, hiragana from cursive forms). Modern Japanese combines kanji with kana [44:13]

Conclusion

• Literacy in East Asia originated with Chinese writing [47:10]
• Vernacular writing systems arose as adaptations of Chinese script [47:25]
• Shared culture was maintained through Confucian texts, civil service examinations, and Literary Chinese as a cosmopolitan medium [48:08]
• East Asia combined cultural unity through writing with spoken diversity across multiple language families [50:14]