ISSN: 2534-5192 (electronic) – 2681-8566 (print)

◀ Vasanta Duggirala; Raju Surampudi Bapi; Soham G. Korade▲ ProceedingsHelen Magowan ▶



ISBN: 978-2-487055-12-4
e-ISBN: 978-2-487055-13-1

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Characters, Romanization, and Anti-Colonialism: Historical Development of Taigi and Vietnamese
Paul D. Ueda
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Abstract. When one considers the necessary ingredients for a social revolution, the written language would not always be at the top of the list. Yet, this situation can change in the circumstances where the written language itself carries a colonial legacy. Examples of this in history have been numerous as the world transitions to a post-colonial era and grapples with its aftereffects. However, these struggles do not occur in a vacuum—especially in the modern age of information. To this extent, the present paper conducts a comparative analysis of the historical and modern Romanized Taigi movement [Heylen2014,Kloter2005,Cockrum2023] and historically similar movements, such as the Quốc ngữ} romanization movement of Vietnamese [LoBianco2001,Phan2013]. This exploration reveals that the similar trajectories of colonialization experience by Vietnam and Taiwan present implications on how language activists should proceed—particularly with regards to the issue of acceptance in the language standardization process as described by [Haugen1966].

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36824/2024-graf-ueda


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@BOOK{Anderson1983,
   AUTHOR = {Anderson, Benedict},
   TITLE = {Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism},
   PUBLISHER = {Verso},
   ADDRESS = {New York},
   YEAR = {1983},
}

@BOOK{Boltz1994,
   AUTHOR = {Boltz, William G.},
   TITLE = {The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System},
   PUBLISHER = {American Oriental Society},
   ADDRESS = {New Haven, CN},
   YEAR = {1994},
}

@BOOK{buttinger1967vietnam,
   AUTHOR = {Buttinger, Joseph},
   TITLE = {Vietnam, a Dragon Embattled},
   PUBLISHER = {Praeger},
   ADDRESS = {New York},
   YEAR = {1967},
}

@ARTICLE{CaoFeng2016,
   AUTHOR = {{Cao Feng [{\‍tchinese 曹峰}]}},
   TITLE = {A New Examination of {Confucius}' Rectification of Names},
   JOURNAL = {Journal of Chinese Humanities},
   YEAR = {2016},
   VOLUME = {2},
   PAGES = {147--171},
}

@BOOK{Chen1999,
   AUTHOR = {Chen, Ping},
   TITLE = {Modern {Chinese}: History and Sociolinguistics},
   PUBLISHER = {Cambridge University Press},
   ADDRESS = {Cambridge, UK},
   YEAR = {1999},
}

@PHDTHESIS{Chiung2003,
   AUTHOR = {Chiung, Wi-vun Taiffalo},
   TITLE = {Learning Efficiencies for Different Orthographies: A Comparative Study of {Han} Characters and {Vietnamese} Romanization},
   SCHOOL = {The University of Texas at Arlington},
   ADDRESS = {Arlington, TX},
   YEAR = {2003},
}

@ARTICLE{Chiung2007,
   AUTHOR = {Chiung, Wi-vun Taiffalo},
   TITLE = {Language, Literacy, and Nationalism: {Taiwan}'s Orthographic Transition from the Perspective of {Han} Sphere},
   JOURNAL = {Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development},
   YEAR = {2007},
   VOLUME = {28},
   NUMBER = {2},
   PAGES = {102--116},
}

@MASTERSTHESIS{Cockrum2022,
   AUTHOR = {Cockrum, Paul},
   TITLE = {{Taiwanese Southern Min}: Identity and Written Sociolinguistic Variation},
   SCHOOL = {The Ohio State University},
   ADDRESS = {Columbus, OH},
   YEAR = {2022},
}

@INCOLLECTION{Cockrum2023,
   AUTHOR = {Cockrum, Paul},
   EDITOR = {Nakayama, Mineharu and Chan, Marjorie K. M. and Xie, Zhiguo},
   TITLE = {Reanalyzing Variation in Written {Taiwanese Southern Min}: Proposing a Three Camp Framework},
   BOOKTITLE = {Buckeye East Asian Linguistics},
   PUBLISHER = {Knowledge Bank, OSU Libraries},
   ADDRESS = {Columbus, OH},
   YEAR = {2023},
   VOLUME = {6},
   PAGES = {15--33},
}

@BOOK{DeFrancis1977,
   AUTHOR = {DeFrancis, John},
   TITLE = {Colonialism and Language Policy in {Viet Nam}},
   PUBLISHER = {Mouton},
   ADDRESS = {The Hague},
   YEAR = {1977},
}

@BOOK{DeFrancis1984,
   AUTHOR = {DeFrancis, John},
   TITLE = {The {Chinese} Language: Fact and Fantasy},
   PUBLISHER = {University of Hawai'i Press},
   ADDRESS = {Honolulu},
   YEAR = {1984},
}

@INCOLLECTION{fishman2002holy,
   AUTHOR = {Fishman, Joshua F.},
   EDITOR = {Li Wei and Dewaele, Jean-Marc and Housen, Alex},
   TITLE = {`Holy Languages' in the Context of Social Bilingualism},
   BOOKTITLE = {Opportunities and Challenges of Bilingualism},
   PUBLISHER = {Mouton de Gruyter},
   ADDRESS = {Berlin/New York},
   YEAR = {2002},
   PAGES = {15--24},
}

@BOOK{Hannas1997,
   AUTHOR = {Hannas, William C.},
   TITLE = {Asia's Orthographic Dilemma},
   PUBLISHER = {University of Hawai'i Press},
   ADDRESS = {Honolulu},
   YEAR = {1997},
}

@ARTICLE{Haugen1966,
   AUTHOR = {Haugen, Einar},
   TITLE = {Dialect, Language, Nation},
   JOURNAL = {American Anthropologist},
   YEAR = {1966},
   VOLUME = {68},
   NUMBER = {4},
   PAGES = {922--935},
}

@BOOK{Heylen2014,
   AUTHOR = {Heylen, Ann},
   TITLE = {Japanese Models, {Chinese} Culture and the Dilemma of {Taiwanese} Language Reform},
   PUBLISHER = {Harrassowitz Verlag},
   ADDRESS = {Wiesbaden},
   YEAR = {2014},
}

@INCOLLECTION{Huang,
   AUTHOR = {Huang, Chu-ren and Ahrens, Kathleen and Becker, Tania and Llamas, Regina and Tam, King-fai and Meisterernst, Barbara},
   EDITOR = {Huang, Chu-ren and Jing-Schmidt, Zhuo and Meisterernst, Barbara},
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   ADDRESS = {New York},
   PAGES = {237--255},
}

@INCOLLECTION{Khoo2021,
   AUTHOR = {Khoo, Hui-lu},
   EDITOR = {Shei, Chris},
   TITLE = {Emerging {Taiwanese} Identity, Endangered {Taiwanese} Language: The Never-Matched National Identity and Language in {Taiwan}},
   BOOKTITLE = {Taiwan: Manipulation of Ideology and Struggle for Identity},
   PUBLISHER = {Routledge},
   ADDRESS = {New York},
   YEAR = {2021},
   PAGES = {55--74},
}

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   TITLE = {Written {Taiwanese}},
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}

@ARTICLE{Liu2011,
   AUTHOR = {Liu, Jin},
   TITLE = {Deviant Writing and Youth Identity: Representation of Dialects with {Chinese} Characters on the Internet},
   JOURNAL = {Chinese Language and Discourse},
   YEAR = {2011},
   VOLUME = {2},
   NUMBER = {1},
   PAGES = {58--79},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Lo Bianco, Joseph},
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}

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   PAGES = {83--145},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Phan, John},
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   YEAR = {2013},
   VOLUME = {8},
   NUMBER = {1},
   PAGES = {1--33},
}

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   YEAR = {1994},
   VOLUME = {21},
   NUMBER = {1},
   PAGES = {176--200},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Sebba, Mark},
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   PUBLISHER = {Cambridge University Press},
   ADDRESS = {Cambridge, UK},
   YEAR = {2007},
}

@INCOLLECTION{Shih2021,
   AUTHOR = {Shih, Fang-long},
   EDITOR = {Dreyer, June Teufel and deLisle, Jacques},
   TITLE = {{Taiwan}'s Culture Wars from ``Re-{China}-ization'' to ``{Taiwan}-ization'' and Beyond: {President Tsai Ing-wen}'s Cultural Policy in Long-term Perspective},
   BOOKTITLE = {Taiwan in the Era of Tsai Ing-wen: Changes and Challenges},
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   ADDRESS = {New York},
   YEAR = {2021},
   PAGES = {284--311},
}

@ARTICLE{Su2001,
   AUTHOR = {Su, Peicheng},
   TITLE = {Digraphia: A Strategy for {Chinese} Characters for the Twenty-First Century},
   JOURNAL = {International Journal of Society and Language},
   YEAR = {2001},
   VOLUME = {150},
   PAGES = {109--124},
}

@MISC{Sui2011,
   AUTHOR = {Sui, Cindy},
   TITLE = {Taiwan Deletes Simplified {Chinese} from Official Sites},
   YEAR = {2011},
   URL = {https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13795301},
}

@BOOK{Sullivan1999,
   AUTHOR = {Sullivan, Michael},
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}

@MISC{TailamMuea2020,
   AUTHOR = {{Tâi-lâm muē-á kàu lí kóng tâigí [{\‍tchinese 台南妹仔教你講台語}]}},
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   YEAR = {2020},
   URL = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFjSqu8HLpI},
}

@MISC{Taigi2020,
   AUTHOR = {Taigi, {Aiong [{\‍tchinese 阿勇台語}]}},
   TITLE = {{\‍tchinese 阿勇，汝是安盞無塊用漢字？} [Aiong, why do you not use Chinese characters?]},
   YEAR = {2020},
   URL = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU8jtiiJ4QA},
}

@BOOK{Tam2020,
   AUTHOR = {Tam, Gina Anne},
   TITLE = {Dialect and Nationalism in {China}, 1860--1960},
   PUBLISHER = {Cambridge University Press},
   ADDRESS = {Cambridge, UK},
   YEAR = {2020},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Taylor, Insup and Taylor, M. Martin},
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   ADDRESS = {Amsterdam},
   YEAR = {2014},
}

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   AUTHOR = {Tsien, Tsuen-Hsuin},
   TITLE = {Written on Bamboo \& Silk: The Beginning of {Chinese} Books and Inscriptions},
   PUBLISHER = {University of Chicago Press},
   ADDRESS = {Chicago},
   YEAR = {1962},
}

@MISC{Tsiok,
   AUTHOR = {{Tsiok ing tâi sann siann tō pōng bí phang [{\‍tchinese 足英台三聲道磅米芳}]}},
   TITLE = {{\‍tchinese 我按怎看「{Tâi-gí}是毋是閩南語」} [How {I} see ``is {Taiwanese} {Southern Min}?'']},
   YEAR = {2021},
   URL = {https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgnUCI6k0SA},
}

@ARTICLE{Weng2018,
   AUTHOR = {Weng, Jeffrey},
   TITLE = {What is {Mandarin}? The Social Project of Language Standardization in Early Republican {China}},
   JOURNAL = {The Journal of Asian Studies},
   YEAR = {2018},
   VOLUME = {77},
   NUMBER = {3},
   PAGES = {611--633},
}

@INCOLLECTION{Zhang2013,
   AUTHOR = {Zhang, Qing},
   EDITOR = {Bayley, Robert and Cameron, Richard and Lucas, Ceil},
   TITLE = {Language Policy and Ideology},
   BOOKTITLE = {The Oxford Handbook of Sociolinguistics},
   PUBLISHER = {Oxford University Press},
   ADDRESS = {Oxford, UK},
   YEAR = {2013},
   PAGES = {563--586},
}

@BOOK{zhao2008planning,
   AUTHOR = {Zhao, Shouhui and Baldauf, Jr., Richard B.},
   TITLE = {Planning {Chinese} Characters: Reaction, Evolution or Revolution?},
   PUBLISHER = {Springer},
   ADDRESS = {Dordrecht},
   YEAR = {2008},
}

Paul D. Ueda (2024), “Characters, Romanization, and Anti-Colonialism: Historical Development of Taigi and Vietnamese,” in Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024 (Yannis Haralambous, Ed.), Grapholinguistics and Its Applications, Vol. 12, Brest: Fluxus Editions, 469–488.


@INPROCEEDINGS{gla12-ueda,
   AUTHOR = {Paul D. Ueda},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Characters, Romanization, and Anti-Colonialism: Historical Development of Taigi and Vietnamese}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2024}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   VOLUME = {12},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2024},
   PAGES = {469--488},
   DOI = {https://doi.org/10.36824/2024-graf-ueda},
}