This book explores one of the richest dialect families in the world: Chinese dialects. It covers all aspects of Chinese dialectology, from descriptive investigations, to dialect geography and philology, history, variation, language contact and sociolinguistics, and also includes a unique bibliography of dialect works by Western missionaries, explaining profound theories in simple language with colorful examples from all over China. Based on a unique framework and focusing on what other work on Chinese dialectology lacks, it combines a theoretical perspective with field research, and also links Western theory to the Chinese dialect tradition. This book is a breath of fresh air, providing new data as well as a bibliography of dialect translations of the Old and New Testaments not available elsewhere. Re-assessing old views and offering new perspectives based on rigorous research, it is an indispensable resource for researchers.
Introduction.- Dialect Investigation, Transcription and
Description.- Dialect Geography.- History of Dialects.- Dialect Change and
Variation.- Dialect Contact.- Dialect Comparison.- Sociolinguistic Study of
Dialects.- Dialect Characters.- History of Dialectology.
Rujie You is a Professor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. His research areas include Chinese dialectology and sociolinguistics. He has conducted field research on about a hundred Chinese dialects, and has published over ten books, including Dialects and Chinese Culture (co-author), Chinese Dialectology: An Overview, Dialect Works by Western missionaries, and more than a hundred papers in journals such as Studies of The Chinese Language, Dialects, and Minority Languages of China. He has received 12 regional or national academic awards Professor You is one of the leading contemporary experts on Chinese dialectology.
