Elihu Doty

Elihu Doty

Missionary and linguist
Born (1809-09-20)September 20, 1809
Berne, New York, US
Died November 20, 1864(1864-11-20) (aged 55)
at sea, en route to New York
Resting place Parsippany, New Jersey
Residence Xiamen, China
Nationality American
Alma mater Rutgers College
New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Occupation Missionary
Years active 1836–1864
Known for Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect
Spouse(s) Clarissa D. Ackley
Eleanor Augusta Smith Doty

Elihu Doty (20 September 1809 – 30 November 1864) was an American missionary to China. He was responsible for the first textbook of Southern Min in English. Along with John Van Nest Talmage he is credited with the invention of Peh-oe-ji, the most common orthography used to write Southern Min, although some doubt remains as to the exact origins of this system.[1]

Early mission

Doty arrived in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies in 1836 and spent his first three years as a missionary there.[2] His next station was Borneo, from 1839 to 1844, at which point he relocated to Amoy (now Xiamen) in Fujian, China.

Mission in Amoy

It was while stationed in Amoy that Doty produced the Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect (1853), which was "the earliest existing textbook for a Southern Min dialect".[1]

Publications

Notes

References

  • Bruggink, Donald J.; Baker, Kim N. (2004). By Grace Alone: Stories of the Reformed Church in America. Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2691-6. 
  • Klöter, Henning (2002). "A History of Peh-oe-ji". Retrieved 3 July 2016. 
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.