description Bernhard Karlgren Overview
Bernhard Karlgren (1889–1978) was a Swedish sinologist and linguist who laid the foundations for the reconstruction of Old Chinese phonology. His major works include Études sur la phonologie chinoise (1915–1926) and Grammata Serica Recensa (1957), which provided a systematic reconstruction of Old and Middle Chinese. He held the chair of Sinology at the University of Stockholm and directed the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities for decades.
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What is Bernhard Karlgren famous for in linguistics?
Bernhard Karlgren was a Swedish sinologist who is most famous for laying the foundational framework for the reconstruction of Old Chinese phonology. His systematic research allowed modern scholars to accurately estimate how ancient Chinese characters were pronounced.
What are Bernhard Karlgren's most important academic publications?
His major, groundbreaking works include "Études sur la phonologie chinoise," published between 1915 and 1926, and "Grammata Serica Recensa" from 1957. These texts provided the first comprehensive system for reconstructing historical Chinese sounds.
How did Bernhard Karlgren reconstruct Old Chinese phonology?
Karlgren utilized modern dialect data, historical rhyming dictionaries, and Sino-Xenic pronunciations from Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese to work backward. This comparative method, outlined in his "Études sur la phonologie chinoise," was the first rigorous approach to the ancient language.
When did the linguist Bernhard Karlgren live?
Bernhard Karlgren lived from 1889 to 1978. During his long and influential career, he established himself as one of the most highly regarded Western scholars of Chinese language and history.
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