This general introduction to the study of the Chinese language traces its history from its beginnings in the second millennium BC to present day and provides a clear picture of the contemporary language and its sociolinguistic status.[...]
Jerry Norman's Comprehensive Manchu-English Dictionary, a substantial revision and enlargement of his Concise Manchu-English Lexicon of 1978, now long out of print, is poised to become the standard English-language resource on the Manchu language. As the dynastic language of the Qing dynasty (1644--[...]