Chinese Language外文电子书.pdf

Readings from SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN With Introductions by William S-Y. Wang University of California, Berkeley rn W. H. Freeman and Company SanFrancisco r J 7 ,. ~ . 4 by William S-Y. Wang February 1973 This melodious tongue is spoken by more people than any other. Although the Chinese system of writing is complex, the basic structure of the language is remarkably simple T o people who are familiar only in a grammar of Chinese. For the various gives the illusion that the thing being with the common European lan- forms of the verb to buy, such as named is new. guages the Chinese language is buy, buys, bought and buying, There is one sense, ho\vever, in which t strikingly different. Yet today Chinese is Chinese has the single form maio (The Chinese is a very old language. Sumerian ~ . spoken by more people than any other mark over the a signifies that the syllable is the only language we know of that has