“Cantonese as a Written Language: The Growth of Written Chinese Vernacular”

[mr tin]

Recently, I just finished an excellent book: “Cantonese as a Written Language: The Growth of Written Chinese Vernacular” by Don Snow.It’s really a fairly fascinating and very well-researched book about how Cantonese has been able to develop as a written language. Since Cantonese is the only regionalect to have a developed a successful and widely used written system, the question is, how did this happen? After giving a set of general theories on how written languages develop, Snow narrates the unique historical circumstances that bit by bit enabled written Cantonese to become more popularized and used in more various settings. Another interesting aspect of the book is the analysis of people’s attitudes towards written Cantonese. Generally, people still don’t accept Cantonese in formal or serious texts, and Cantonese tends to be linked, to some degree, with situations that stem from oral Cantonese (ie., verbatim quotes…etc). Also, the degree of the acceptance of Cantonese is somewhat generational, with the younger generations being increasingly more accepting of it in different circumstances.Anyway, does anyone have thoughts on written Cantonese?