Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The branch of Sino-Tibetan that comprises Chinese.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Same as
Sinic .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Relating to the group of
Chinese languages
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective of or relating to the Chinese people or their language or culture
- noun a group of Sino-Tibetan languages
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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It is often seen as a Chinese dialect within the larger Sinitic language family.
Two by Adams Michael Turton 2009
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In your example, Sinitic languages have very strict syllabic rules.
Oddly formed locatives with inessive postclitic in Etruscan 2009
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Seen from this perspective, Taiwanese are the ultimate Chinese dissidents, not merely asserting democratic values against authoritarianism, but dissenting from the very core of Chinese-ness itself: the fundamental idea that Sinitic peoples must be part of a Chinese polity.
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Vis-à-vis the number of tones, Mandarin was the more economical of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones; the so-called "fifth tone" as in the interrogative particle, 吗 ma being in reality a misnomer for what is the reduced variant of any of these four tones.
Archive 2007-12-01 2007
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When I wrote "Mandarin was the more conservative of the Sinitic languages", I failed to specify clearly what sort of "conservatism" I was referring to although I allude to it immediately after this phrase.
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Vis-à-vis the number of tones, Mandarin was the more economical of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones; the so-called "fifth tone" as in the interrogative particle, 吗 ma being in reality a misnomer for what is the reduced variant of any of these four tones.
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So I guess we'll have to try this: Vis-à-vis the number of tones, Mandarin was the more economical of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones,...
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So I guess we'll have to try this: Vis-à-vis the number of tones, Mandarin was the more economical of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones,...
Archive 2007-12-01 2007
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Right after your first comment, I already adapted my text to read: Vis-à-vis the number of tones, Mandarin was the more economical of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones; ...
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(Mar 25 2008) Based on the input from Movenon, I realize now that my initial statement in the first paragraph of this entry ("Mandarin was the more conservative of the Sinitic languages, settling with four tones,... ") is too vague and may cause confusion.
Comments
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