Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

Lost Tongues of the Red River: Annamese Middle Chinese & the Origins of the Vietnamese Language

by John D. Phan
Save 21% Save 21%
Current price ₹6,701.00
Original price ₹8,470.00
Original price ₹8,470.00
Original price ₹8,470.00
(-21%)
₹6,701.00
Current price ₹6,701.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 12-14 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Hardcover
  • ISBN13: 9780674297555
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: Harvard University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Harvard University Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 512
  • Original Price: GBP 66.95
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 967 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Linguistics / Historical & Comparative, Vietnamese, and Southeast Asian Languages

Among the world's languages, Vietnamese provides unique insight into the cosmopolitan dynamism of premodern Asia. Modern notions of language history are often constrained by nationalist narratives, focused on bolstering a particular nation's social, cultural, or political identities. A closer look at the Vietnamese language reveals a rich record of interaction and transformation that does not fit easily within modern nation-state lines or boundaries.

By employing philological, textual, and comparative linguistic methodologies, John D. Phan uncovers the history of a Sinitic language rooted in the Red River Plain of northern Vietnam, which he calls "Annamese Middle Chinese." The life and death of this language stimulated dramatic transformations in the speech of the region, ultimately giving rise to a new and alloyed language over the early centuries of the second millennium--Vietnamese.

Drawing connections among linguistic, demographic, intellectual, and cultural realities over time, Phan traces the story of the emergence of Vietnamese within the broader context of a cosmopolitan East and Southeast Asia. Lost Tongues of the Red River demonstrates how language forms a surprisingly intimate record of human interaction--one with unique potential to enrich and expand our understanding of the distant past.

Phan, John D.: - John D. Phan is Associate Professor of Vietnamese Humanities, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, Columbia University.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us