Y. R. Chao

Yuen Ren Chao
Chao as a young man (c. 1916)
Native name	趙元任
Born	(1892-11-03)3 November 1892 Tianjin, Qing Empire
Died	25 February 1982(1982-02-25) (aged 89) Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Citizenship	American (from 1954)
Nationality	Chinese
Institutions	University of California, Berkeley Harvard University Tsinghua University
Education	Harvard University (Ph.D.) Cornell University (B.A.)
Notable students	Jerry Norman Anne O. Yue-Hashimoto
Known for	Gwoyeu Romatzyh system, Mandarin Primer, Chinese dialect studies
Spouse	Buwei Yang Chao (m. 1921–81)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	趙元任
Simplified Chinese	赵元任
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Yuánrèn Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jaw Yuan-renn Wade–Giles Chao4 Yüan2-jen4 IPA [ʈʂâu ɥɛ̌nɻə̂n] Gan Romanization Ceu5 Ngion4 Nin5 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jiuh Yùhn Yahm IPA [tɕìːu jy̏ːn jɐ̀m] Jyutping Ziu6 Jyun4 Jam6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiō Goân-jīm

Yuen Ren Chao (Chinese: 趙元任; pinyin: Zhào Yuánrèn; 3 November 1892 – 25 February 1982) was a Chinese-American linguist, educator, scholar, poet, and composer, who contributed to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar. Chao was born and raised in China, then attended university in the United States, where he earned degrees from Cornell University and Harvard University. A naturally-gifted polyglot and linguist, his Mandarin Primer was one of the most widely used Mandarin Chinese textbooks in the 20th century. He invented the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization scheme, which can, unlike pinyin and other romanization systems, transcribe Mandarin Chinese pronunciation without needing diacritics to indicate words' tone.

Born in Tianjin with ancestry in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, Chao went to the United States with a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship in 1910 to study mathematics and physics at Cornell University, where he was a classmate and lifelong friend of Hu Shih, the leader of the New Culture Movement. He then became interested in philosophy, and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard University in 1918 with a dissertation entitled "Continuity: Study in Methodology".