Manchu: Textbook for Reading Documents (Paperback)

~ Gertrude Roth Li (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Manchu is the most important Tungistic language, a vital resource for all scholars who work on the Altaic language family. This book is the first English-language Manchu textbook in more than a century. It offers students of Chinese history and comparative literature the means to master documentary Manchu and will prove useful for those interested in the various branches of linguistics.

About the Author

Gertraude Roth Li taught Manchu at the University of Hawaii and the University of California at Berkeley.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press (May 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824822064
• ISBN-13: 978-0824822064
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #921,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written introduction, November 27, 2001

By A Customer

I enjoyed this book very much. It is clearly aimed at a limited market but I would recommend it as a good book (actually one of the only books) to help one learn written Manchu. The book begins with an introduction to the Manchu language and this is followed by a selection of texts which the student translates and works through using this book. Romanised versions of the Machu texts are also provided as are English translations. The latter is at the end of the book to encourge the student to do the work for themselves. This book is well laid out and packed full of information on grammar and the like. It also includes some modern Sibe texts. This book is likely to become a classic text for the study of this language.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative but not very thorough, December 9, 2002

By	Uomo Universale "Meester van Breukelen" - See all my reviews

This is very good text book for the Manchu language and possibly the only one in English available (correct me if I'm wrong).

The book is very professionally laid out but the discussion on the pronunciation only takes up a few paragraphs. Perhaps, it's becasue 1) this is a book mainly for learning written documents 2) no one can be sure of or authoritive over the sounds of the extinct Manchu language. Nevertheless, this book's main portion, Part II offers a large section of Manchu documents and the trasliteration in Roman alphabet. The vocabulary found after each reading section is given entirely in Roman trasliteration. The Manchu alphabet symbols and the method of trasliteration are fully discussed in Part I of the book.

This book does not give very detailed grammer points which are crammed into a samll section in Part III. One may also find this book not sufficient to be the sole source for the study of Manchu for the vocabulary and readings can be daunting, without a very good background in the understanding of the Chinese culture/history/language.

Over all, this book is very organized and therefore commendable.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative but not very thorough, December 9, 2002

By	Uomo Universale "Meester van Breukelen" - See all my reviews

This is a very good text book for the Manchu language and possibly the only one in English available (correct me if I'm wrong).

The book is very professionally laid out but the discussion on the pronunciation only takes up a few paragraphs. Perhaps, it's becasue 1) this is a book mainly for learning written documents 2) no one can be sure of or authoritive over the sounds of the extinct Manchu language. Nevertheless, this book's main portion, Part II offers a large section of Manchu documents and the trasliteration in Roman alphabet. The vocabulary found after each reading section is given entirely in Roman trasliteration. The Manchu alphabet symbols and the method of trasliteration are fully discussed in Part I of the book.

This book does not give very detailed grammer points; the "quick glance" reference grammar points are crammed into a samll section in Part III. One find this book not sufficient to be the sole source for the study of Manchu because the vocabulary and readings can be daunting, without a very good background in the understanding of the Chinese culture/history/language.

Over all, this book is very organized and therefore commendable.