Yuen Ren Chao

Yuen Ren Chao 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.