Middle Chinese language | Britannica (original) (raw)

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Chinese languages

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  In Chinese languages
  … (8th to 3rd century bc), Ancient (Middle) Chinese (through ad 907), and Modern Chinese (from c. the 10th century to modern times). The Proto-Sinitic period is the period of the most ancient inscriptions and poetry; most loanwords in Chinese were borrowed after that period. The works of Confucius and Mencius…
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  In Sino-Tibetan languages: Chinese, or Sinitic, languages
  …(618–907 ce) is known as Ancient, or Middle, Chinese. Languages of later periods include Old, Middle, and Modern Mandarin (the name Mandarin is a translation of guanhua, “civil servant language”). Through history the Sinitic language area has constantly expanded from the “Middle Kingdom” around the eastern Huang He (Yellow River)…
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