Jerry Norman (sinologist)
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Jerry Lee Norman (July 16, 1936 – July 7, 2012) was an American sinologist and
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
known for his studies of
varieties of Chinese There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the m ...
, particularly Min varieties, and also of the
Manchu language Manchu ( ) is a critically endangered language, endangered Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchu people, Manchus, it was one of the official language ...
. Norman had a large impact on Chinese linguistics, and was largely responsible for establishing the importance of Min varieties in the reconstruction of
Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
.


Life and career

Jerry Norman was born on July 16, 1936, in Watsonville, California. His family were migrant farmers who had fled the Dust Bowl conditions of
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
in the mid-1930s. Norman entered the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
in the autumn of 1954 and majored in Russian, but was forced to withdraw after two years because of financial problems. He was briefly a Catholic novitiate, then joined the U.S. Army and began studying at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in
Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...
, where he was first introduced to the
Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...
. After completing his military service, Norman enrolled at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, graduating with a B.A. in 1961. He then continued at Berkeley as a graduate student, studying Chinese under the prominent Chinese linguist Y. R. Chao as well as
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...
and Mongolian under the American scholar James Bosson (1933–2016). He earned an M.A. in 1965, and after working with Chinese linguist Leo Chen on a glossary of the Fuzhou dialect, in 1966 he joined the Chinese Linguistics Project at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
as a staff linguist. While at Princeton, Norman traveled to
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
to perform in field research on
Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien ( , ), or simply Taiwanese, also known as Taigi ( zh, c=臺語, tl=Tâi-gí), Taiwanese Southern Min ( zh, c=臺灣閩南語, tl=Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí), Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively ...
, and in 1969 he received a Ph.D. from Berkeley with a dissertation entitled "The Kienyang Dialect of Fukien". Norman was promoted to assistant professor after completing his Ph.D. in 1969. While at Princeton, Norman met and married Stella Chen, and together they had four children. In 1972, Norman moved with his family to
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...
to join the faculty of the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, where he remained until his retirement in 1998. Norman's scholarship focused on the Min dialects of Chinese, and was largely responsible for its recognition as an important tool for reconstructing the phonology of
Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
. He was a passionate student of Manchu history and literature, and was one of the last North American scholars to be fluent and literate in Manchu. He died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Seattle on July 7, 2012.


Selected works

* Norman, Jerry (1969), "The Kienyang Dialect of Fukien" (Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley). * 1973. "Tonal Development in Min"; ''Journal of Chinese Linguistics'' 1–2: 222–238. * 1974. "The Initials of Proto-Min"; ''Journal of Chinese Linguistics'' 2-1: 27–36. * 1974. "Structure of Sibe Morphology"; ''Central Asian Journal''. * 1976. With Mei Tsu-lin. "The Austroasiatics in Ancient South China: Some Lexical Evidence"; ''Monumenta Serica'' 32: 274–301, . * 1978. ''A Concise Manchu-English Lexicon''. University of Washington Press. . * 1979. "Chronological Strata in the Min Dialects"; ''Fangyan'' 方言 1979.4: 268–274. * 1980. "''Yongan fanyan''" 永安方言; ''Shumu Jikan'' 书目季刊 14–2: 113–165. * 1981. "The Proto-Min Finals"; 中央研究院国际汉学会议论文集 语言文字组: 35–73. * 1984. "Three Min Etymologies"; ''Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale'' 13–2: 175–189. . * 1986. "''Min-Bei fangyan de di san tao qing saiyin he qing casaiyin'' 闽北方言的第三套清塞音和清擦塞音"; ''Zhongguo Yuwen'' 中国语文 1986.1: 38–41. * 1988. ''Chinese''. Cambridge University Press, 1988. . * 1991. "The Mǐn Dialects in Historical Perspective"; ''Languages and Dialects of China'', edited by William S-Y. Wang, pp. 325–360. Published by ''Journal of Chinese Linguistics''. * 1995. With Weldon South Coblin. "A New Approach to Chinese Historical Linguistics"; ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 115–4: 576–584. * 1996. "Tonal Development in the Jennchyan Dialect"; ''Yuen Ren Society Treasury of Chinese Dialect Data'' 2: 7–41. * 2000. With Gilbert Louis Mattos. translation of ''Chinese Writing'' by Qiu Xigui. Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. * 2002. "A Glossary of the Lianduentsuen Dialect"; ''Short Chinese Dialect Reports'' 1: 339–394. * 2006. "Min Animal Body Parts"; ''Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics'' 1–1: 133–143. * 2007. "汉语方言田野调查与音韵学"; ''Beijing Daxue Xuebao'' 北京大学学报 44.2: 91–94. * 2013. ''A Comprehensive Manchu-English Dictionary''. Harvard University Asia Center.


References


Citations


Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Jerry 1936 births 2012 deaths Linguists from the United States American sinologists Manchurologists University of Washington faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni