Examining Hakka Languages Through Western Materials
西文資料與客家話研究
Résumé
This paper introduces and discusses three important sets of scholarly materials produced by Western missionaries on Hakka (the Basel Mission, the English Presbyterian Mission, and the Missions Étrangères de Paris). We provide a short review of the studies published on these materials during the last 20 years. We then give some examples of how these historical materials contributed to deepening our knowledge of modern colloquial Chinese. In conclusion, we assess the worth of these materials, while discussing their shortcomings, for the linguistic field.
本文先介紹客家話三種具有不同語言和文化背景的重要西文相關資料(巴色會、長老會和巴黎外方傳教會三套客家話文獻),回顧二十多年來針對這些資料的幾項研究,然後提及西文相關資料對近代口語某些語言現象的闡明起到關鍵作用的幾個事例,討論該資料的優越性和局限性。