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Language Atlas of China

{{Short description|Book published in 1987 and 1989}}

{{distinguish|Linguistic Atlas of Chinese Dialects}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Language Atlas of China

| author = Stephen Adolphe Wurm, Rong Li, Theo Baumann, Mei W. Lee

| publisher = Longman

| pub_date = 1987, 1989

| isbn = 978-962-359-085-3

| oclc = 431787427

| dewey =

| congress =

}}

The Language Atlas of China ({{lang-zh|s=中国语言地图集|t=中國語言地圖集|p=Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí}}), published by Hong Kong Longman Publishing Company in two parts in 1987 and 1989, maps the distribution of both the varieties of Chinese and ethnic minority languages of China. The atlas was a collaborative effort by the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, published simultaneously in the original Chinese and in English translation.{{cite journal |last=Baker |first=Hugh D.R |year=1993 |title=Language Atlas of China |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=398–399 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X0000598X}} Endymion Wilkinson rated this joint venture "outstanding".{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Endymion |author-link=Endymion Porter Wilkinson |title=Chinese History: A New Manual |title-link=Chinese History: A New Manual |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-674-06715-8 |edition=Second, Revised printing March 2013 |series=Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series |location=Cambridge, MA |page=30}}

A second edition was published by the Commercial Press in 2012.

Classification of Chinese varieties

File:Map of sinitic languages full-en.svg

The atlas organizes the varieties of Chinese in a hierarchy of groupings, following the work of Li Rong:

  • supergroups ({{lang|zh|大区}} {{tlit|zh|dàqū}}): Mandarin and Min
  • groups ({{lang|zh|区}} {{tlit|zh|qū}}): Jin, Wu, Hui, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue, Pinghua and groups within Mandarin and Min
  • subgroups ({{lang|zh|片}} {{tlit|zh|piàn}})
  • clusters ({{lang|zh|小片}} {{tlit|zh|xiǎopiàn}}) are only identified for some subgroups
  • local dialects ({{lang|zh|点}} {{tlit|zh|diǎn}}): localities that were surveyed

Contents

The atlas contains 36 coloured maps, printed on loose white sheets measuring {{cvt|15|x|20.75|in|cm}}. Each map is accompanied by a blue sheet of the same size containing explanatory notes. The atlas is divided into three sections:{{Cite book |first=Maria |last=Kurpaska |title=Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects" |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-11-021914-2 |pages=63–64 }}

Second edition

Work began on a revised edition in 2002. The work was published in 2012 as a joint venture between the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the City University of Hong Kong. It consists of two volumes, dealing respectively with varieties of Chinese and minority languages.{{cite web |script-title=zh:中国语言地图集(第2版):汉语方言卷 |title=Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí (dì 2 bǎn): Hànyǔ fāngyán juǎn |trans-title=Language Atlas of China (2nd edition): Chinese dialect volume |publisher=The Commercial Press |location=Beijing |url=http://www.cp.com.cn/book/8094abe4-a.html |access-date=10 January 2017}}{{cite web |script-title=zh:中国语言地图集(第2版):少数民族语言卷 |title=Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí (dì 2 bǎn): shǎoshù mínzú yǔyán juǎn |trans-title=Language Atlas of China (2nd edition): Minority languages volume |publisher=The Commercial Press |location=Beijing |url=http://www.cp.com.cn/book/8094abe4-b.html |access-date=10 January 2017}} The revision follows the same structure as the first edition, but the number of maps has increased to 79, and the explanatory text is greatly expanded. The number of minority languages covered has also increased from 81 to 130.{{cite web |script-title=zh:《中国语言地图集》(第2版)评介 |trans-title=Language Atlas of China (2nd edition): review |date=2014 |surname=Xu |given=Ruiyuan 徐睿渊 |publisher=CASS |url=http://www.cssn.cn/ts/ts_sksp/201406/t20140610_1203668.shtml |access-date=13 January 2017}}

See also

{{Portal|China|Language}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • "Digital Language Atlas of China", compiled by Lawrence W. Crissman, version 6, 5 October 2012, Australian Centre for the Asian Spatial Information and Analysis Network (ACASIAN) GIS Data Archive. {{doi|10.7910/DVN/OHYYXH}} (Harvard Dataverse). The full dataset consists of eight layers in ESRI shapefile format derived from the Language Atlas of China. The initial release (under Creative Commons v3.0 – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) contains only a draft of the first layer, representing maps A1–4 and marking language families and major Chinese dialect groups, but not individual non-Chinese languages or subgroups of Chinese dialects.

Category:Books about China

Category:Languages of China

China

Category:Varieties of Chinese

Category:1987 non-fiction books