Language Atlas of China


The Language Atlas of China, 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. Endymion Wilkinson rated this joint venture "outstanding".
A second edition was published by the Commercial Press in 2012.

Classification of Chinese varieties

The atlas organizes the varieties of Chinese in a hierarchy of groupings, following the work of Li Rong:
  • supergroups : Mandarin and Min
  • groups : Jin, Wu, Hui, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue, Pinghua and groups within Mandarin and Min
  • subgroups
  • clusters are only identified for some subgroups
  • local dialects : localities that were surveyed

    Contents

The atlas contains 36 coloured maps, printed on loose white sheets measuring. Each map is accompanied by a blue sheet of the same size containing explanatory notes. The atlas is divided into three sections:
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. 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.