Abstract:In the middle and late 19th century, the Neviuses, the Protestant missionaries, embarked on their road of linguistic experiment in their expounding and preaching the Bible, beginning with the classical Chinese, but ending in regional dialects, of which the southern ones were chosen first and the northern Mandarin was eventually the final choice. Their experiment with Mandarin gave birth to the common speech and language (“the new vernacular Chinese” or “the missionary vernacular Chinese”). Their remarkable achievements illustrated the missionaries selfconscious exploration, experiment path and actual outcome in the field. Such linguistic experiment and transformation offered a valuable lesson for the linguistic experiment of the New Literature in the May 4th Movement.
段怀清. 倪维思夫妇释经布道文之语言实验[J]. 江苏大学学报(社会科学版), 2012, 14(4): 35-40.
DUAN Huai-Qing. On the Language Experiment of the Neviuses in Their Preaching. Journal of Jiangsu University(Social Science Editi, 2012, 14(4): 35-40.