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Elihu Doty | |
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![]() Missionary and linguist | |
Born | Berne, New York, US | September 20, 1809
Died | November 20, 1864 at sea, en route to New York | (aged 55)
Resting place | Parsippany, New Jersey |
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 |
Spouses |
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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 Pe̍h-ōe-jī, the most common orthography used to write Southern Min, although some doubt remains as to the exact origins of this system.[1]
Doty arrived in Batavia (now Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies in 1836 and spent his first three years as a missionary there;[2] Azubah Caroline Condit was among those who accompanied him on his journey there.[3] His next station was Borneo, from 1839 to 1844, at which point he relocated to Amoy (now Xiamen) in Fujian, China.
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]