Yuen Ren Chao

Yuen Ren Chao
Yuen Ren Chao
趙元任
	c. 1916 portrait of Chao
Born	3 November 1892; Tianjin, Great Qing
Died	25 February 1982 (aged 89); Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Citizenship	China (Qing 1892–1911, Republic of China 1912–1982); United States (from 1954);
Education	Cornell University (BA); Harvard University (PhD);
Known for	Chinese language reform
Works	"The Problem of the Chinese Language" (1916); Gwoyeu Romatzyh (1926); "Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den" (1930s); Mandarin Primer (1948); A Grammar of Spoken Chinese (1968);
Spouse	Buwei Yang Chao (m. 1921; died 1981)
	Scientific career
Fields	Dialectology, phonology
Workplaces	University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; Tsinghua University;
Notable students	Jerry Norman; Anne O. Yue-Hashimoto;
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	趙元任
Simplified Chinese	赵元任
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhào Yuánrèn
Bopomofo	ㄓㄠˋ ㄩㄢˊ ㄖㄣˋ
Gwoyeu Romatzyh	Jaw Yuanrenn
Wade–Giles	Chao4 Yüan2-jên4
Tongyong Pinyin	Jhào Yuánrèn
Yale Romanization	Jàu Ywánrèn
MPS2	Jàu Yuánrèn
IPA	[ʈʂâʊ ɥɛ̌n.ɻə̂n]
Gan
Romanization	Ceu5 Ngion4 Nin5
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization	Jiuh Yùhn-yahm
Jyutping	Ziu6 Jyun4-jam6
IPA	[tsiw˨ jyn˩.jɐm˨]
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Tiō Goân-jīm
Tâi-lô	Tiō Guân-jīm

Yuen Ren Chao (traditional Chinese: 趙元任; simplified Chinese: 赵元任; pinyin: Zhào Yuánrèn; 3 November 1892 – 25 February 1982) was a Chinese-American linguist, musician, and polymath. Applying modern linguistic theory and scientific methods to the study of Chinese phonology, dialects, and grammar, Chao was a leading advocate of the National Language Movement and a principal architect of the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization system. His Mandarin Primer was among the most widely used Chinese textbooks of the twentieth century. From 1938 onward, he lived in the United States.