《海录》所记婆罗洲语言研究 A Study on Borneo Language in Records of the Sea

Abstract

Records of the Sea was dictated by Hsieh Ch’ing- kao and transcribed by Yang Ping-nan. Hsieh Ch’ing-kao (1765-1821) was a native of Jiaying in eastern Guangdong Province, a region long frequented by foreign traders. Hsieh Ch’ing-kao became a crew member on what was probably a British or Portuguese ship after his own vessel sank in the open seas. He returned to Macau to make a living as an interpreter, having lost his eyesight. His journey is estimated to have taken place from 1782 to 1795. Toward the end of his life, he dictated his account to one of the local schoolboys and published the book named Records of the Sea. Records of the Sea describes more than ninety countries in the world about their geographical location, customs, political system and the local Chinese etc. There are 57 Malay words marked ithChinese characters in Borneo. This paper will study these Chinese characters especially focus on phonetics system.

Keywords：Records of the Sea, Borneo, Chinese characters, language character