Thread by @ZevHandel

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes Thank you for taking the time to write this all out. I'll keep my responses brief.

1) I don't disagree with anything substantive you have said here.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes 2) I think your view of the field is somewhat outdated. It is not nearly as rigid as you describe. There are many young scholars, often native speakers, doing top-notch work describing the lexicon, morphology, and syntax of Chinese language varieties.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes They are not wedded to the old methods and they bring valuable perspectives, including knowledge of language use in socio-cultural context. This is not to say there isn't still an old guard, just that there are generational shifts happening.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes We see the same welcome developments in Tibeto-Burman studies.

3) Yes, the tree model of language divergence is highly imperfect, and the degree to which it reasonably models aspects of vertical transmission in Sinitic is still an open question. I don't think anybody

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes believe the old simplistic views any more.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes 4) There is a lot of good work being done now to apply recent advances in methodology and theory around language contact to the interactions of what are traditionally seen as Chinese and non-Chinese languages.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes Just to take one example, see the recent entry by Ansaldo on pidgins, creoles, hybrid languages, and mixed languages in the Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes 5) I agree with you that there is always going to be a structural bias in Sinitic studies because of Standard Mandarin, the 800-pound gorilla in the room which is the starting point for both native speakers of Sinitic dialects and non-Chinese scholars.

@KIRINPUTRA @Tao_Collective @viroraptor @homosappiest @xiao_collective @catielila @BadLingTakes But increasingly that bias is recognized and creative young scholars are working against it.

Anyway, that's how I see the field developing, and it's exciting.

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