TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS is a series of books that open new perspectives in our understanding of language. The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language. TRENDS IN LINGUISTICS publishes monographs and outstanding dissertations as well as edited volumes, which provide the opportunity to address controversial topics from different empirical and theoretical viewpoints. High quality standards are ensured through anonymous reviewing.

A one-stop, comprehensive account of the key developments in the phonological history of Chinese.

As the first volume of a two-volume set on the history of Chinese phonology, this book introduces the basics of the discipline and charts the history of phonology from the pre-Qin period to the Song dynasty. Based on abundant phonological materials, the author divides the history of Chinese phonology into nine historical periods, which helps illuminate its evolutions and principles. The first part of the book explains the fundamental concepts of the history and studies of Chinese phonology, including the rhyme dictionary, the rhyme table, dialect, and methodology, as well as fanqie, rhyme sets, division, and articulation. The second part discusses Chinese phonology across the first six periods, from the pre-Qin era (before 206 BCE) to the Song dynasty (960–1279), elucidating the phonological development and characteristics in terms of initials, rhyme groups, and tones. This title will be of great value for scholars and students studying Chinese phonology, Chinese linguistics, and readers interested in the essence of rhyming behind classic Chinese lyrics, poetry, drama, and other forms of verse.

This comprehensive study of Chinese phonology covers both factual description and theoretical analyses. In addition, efforts have been made to avoid unecessary jargon and to introduce relevant theories in a non-technical way.

A Synchronic Phonology of Mandarin Chinese.

Contains eight papers that cover the areas of field-work, dialectology, and synchronic studies of segmental and tonal systems of the Chinese language family. These papers are related to the theoretical issues in: the SPE Model; Lexical Phonology and Morphology; Autosegmental Phonology; Metrical Phonology; and Optimality Theory.

Chinese is spoken by more people than any other language in the world, and has a rich social, cultural and historical background. This book is a comprehensive guide to the linguistic structure of Chinese, providing an accessible introduction to each of the key areas. It describes the fundamentals of its writing system, its pronunciation and tonal sound system, its morphology (how words are structured), and its syntax (how sentences are formed) - as well as its historical development, and the diverse ways in which it interacts with other languages. Setting the discussion of all aspects of Chinese firmly within the context of the language in use, Chinese: A Linguistic Introduction will be of great benefit to learners wishing to extend their knowledge and competence in the language, and their teachers. It will also be a useful starting point for students of linguistics beginning work on the structure of this major world language.

The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Linguistics offers a broad and comprehensive coverage of the entire field from a multi-disciplinary perspective. All chapters are contributed by leading scholars in their respective areas. This Handbook contains eight sections: history, languages and dialects, language contact, morphology, syntax, phonetics and phonology, socio-cultural aspects and neuro-psychological aspects. It provides not only a diachronic view of how languages evolve, but also a synchronic view of how languages in contact enrich each other by borrowing new words, calquing loan translation and even developing new syntactic structures. It also accompanies traditional linguistic studies of grammar and phonology with empirical evidence from psychology and neurocognitive sciences. In addition to research on the Chinese language and its major dialect groups, this handbook covers studies on sign languages and non-Chinese languages, such as the Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan.