Manchu
This website is in favor of those who wish to learn the Manchu language. There are two courses for beginners, and they are independent of one another. Course A is more academic, and gives you a rather systematic view of the grammatical structure of Manchu, but it may seem slightly more difficult for beginners to start with.
Introduction
[edit | edit source]Manchu is a critically endangered Tungusic language spoken in Manchuria; it used to be the language of the Manchus and the official language of the Qing dynasty. Most Manchus speak Chinese nowadays and there are far fewer than 60 native speakers of Manchu out of a total of more than 10 million ethnic Manchus within China. Most of these native speakers now live in Ilan Boo (Sanjiazi in Mandarin Chinese; 三家子) which is a small village about 25 mi north of Qiqihar (齐齐哈尔) in the Heilongjiang Province of China. Although the spoken language is nearly extinct in Manchuria, the Manchu language retains in the form of one of its dialects Sibe, which still has 30,000 speakers most of which live in Cabcal Sibe Autonomous County (察布查尔锡伯自治县) near Ili (伊犁) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
Manchu is a member of the Tungusic language family which is believed by some scholars to be a branch of the Altaic language family (along with Mongolic and Turkic), although this is currently widely rejected. Manchu is an agglutinative language that features both vowel harmony and a subject-object-verb (SOV) word order. Although it is not particularly hard to learn (especially in comparison to Chinese), many would wonder why one would learn a language that is spoken by few people and is continuously declining. Some reasons may include:
- An interest in Tungusic languages
- An interest in the history of the Qing dynasty, especially considering the amount of archival material in Manchu
- Intellectual curiosity
- To gain a deeper understanding of Manchu culture
- Aesthetics of the script
- It is a means of reading Chinese literature (since many of them were translated into Manchu)
Course A
[edit | edit source]The book consists of 24 lessons, and can be divided into three sections:
Section 1: Introduction to Manchu grammar and the Manchu script
This section includes 12 lessons, each of which includes a short text or dialogue followed by a vocabulary list and then an introduction to a particular grammatical feature of the language.
Note:
- Lesson 11 is a summary of all the grammatical features from lessons 1-10 and can be used for revision or can be printed out to be used as a basic Manchu grammar.
- The Manchu script is not taught until lesson 12 (contrary to most textbooks) due to the difficult nature of the script and the fact that it is much easier to learn the script once you possess a basic vocabulary and understanding of the phonetic features of the Manchu language.
Section 2: Readings in the Manchu Language
This section includes 12 readings in the Manchu Language. Each reading includes a vocabulary list, as well as a translation and explanation of the text.
Section 3: Other information on the Manchu Language
This section includes a vocabulary list, further vocabulary as well as some general information on Tungusic languages and a brief introduction to the Jurchen language and script.
At the bottom of the page there is also a link to the Online Library of Manchu Language Texts which is currently part of this Wikibook. The library is in development.
Lessons
[edit | edit source]
Course B
[edit | edit source]Course B (in development) is a new textbook for Manchu, which aims to avoid the obstruction of learning when facing a cumbersome list of a plethora of grammar rules and language materials translated to another language which is difficult for beginners. This course has applied the theories of foreign language acquisition.
Pre-Elementary
[edit | edit source]Elementary
[edit | edit source]Pre-Intermediate
[edit | edit source](in development)
Intermediate
[edit | edit source]Advanced
[edit | edit source]Links
[edit | edit source]Online Library of Manchu Language Texts
[edit | edit source]
The Online Library of Manchu Language Texts aims to provide a one-stop collection of Manchu texts that are no longer subject to copyright laws. All texts use the Mollendorff transliteration method, which means that any user that wants to download the text can just cut and paste the content straight from the page. As this is a wiki users will be able to make corrections and monitor changes in the texts to ensure accuracy. To visit the online library, click Here!
Now the library has been moved to Wikisource,
 |
Template:Iso2lang Wikisource has original text related to this book: |
| Altaic-Language Wikibooks |
|---|
| Japonic: Japanese* |
| Koreanic: Korean* |
| Mongolic: Mongolian |
| Tungusic: Manchu |
| Turkic: Azerbaijani | Turkish | Turkmen | Uzbek |
| *The inclusion of Japonic and Koreanic language families in the Altaic family is controversial and often rejected. See Altaic languages for more information on this dispute. |
References
[edit | edit source]满族在线 http://dbmanju.net/21d 满语7天
满语电子周刊
- 爱新觉罗·乌拉熙春. <<满语读本>>. 内蒙古人民出版社
- 爱新觉罗·乌拉熙春. <<满语语法>>. 内蒙古人民出版社
- 爱新觉罗·瀛生. <<满语读本>>. 吉林教育出版社
- D.O.朝克. <<满通古斯诸语比较研究>>. 民族出版社
- Gorelova, Liliya M. 2002. Manchu Grammar. Handbook of Oriental Studies, ISBN 90-04-12307-5
- Li, Gertraude Roth. 2000. Manchu: A Textbook for Reading Documents. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, ISBN 0-8248-2206-4
- 季永海，刘景宪，屈六生. <<满语语法>>. 民族出版社
- Möllendorff, Paul Georg von. 1892. A Manchu Grammar: With Analysed Texts. Shanghai.