Among the vast domains of research that Professor Ting Pang-Hsin in which he has made pathbreaking contributions, he has served as a huge beacon in studies of the Sinitic languages or Chinese dialects with his work on both diachronic and synchronic aspects of a large number of different languages, including many enlightening articles and books on the Min dialects, on Pekinese, Rugao and the unclassified Danzhou language of Hainan, as well as studies on Suzhou Wu. His insightful studies have been a model and inspiration for innumerable scholars of linguistics and will continue to incite our interest in and curiosity about diversity of Sinitic languages and their relation to surrounding language families.

Hilary M. Chappell

Chair Professor in Typology of East Asian languages

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales

Paris