Chao Yuan Ren (Zhào Yuánrèn 趙元任), often abbreviated as “Y.R. Chao”, courtesy name Xuānzhòng 宣重 (3 November 1892 in Tiānjīn 天津 – 25 February 1982 in Cambridge, Mass.), was the first linguist from China to make major contributions to linguistics in both China and the West. He was born when China was still ruled by the Qīng (Manchu) Dynasty, one of his ancestors being the famous poet and criticial historiographer Zhào Yì 趙翼 (1727–1814). He thus received a traditional Confucian education, but as beneficiary of a scholarship from the “Boxer Indemnity Fund” (gēngzǐ 庚子 [or quánluàn 拳亂] péikuǎn 賠款)…