Institute of Linguistics

(Yuyan yanjiusuo)

The Institute of Linguistics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the premier organization for research in Chinese, Chinese dialects, and applied and theoretical linguistics. Since its establishment in 1950, the Institute has engaged many of China’s most renowned linguistic scholars, including Luo Changpei, Lü Shuxiang, Ding Shengshu, Lu Zhiwei and Fu Maoji. The Institute’s research mission covers both modern and historical linguistics, in the fields of phonetics, phonology, syntax, grammatology, etymology and lexicography.

It is also charged with investigating developments and trends in linguistic theory and research methodology outside of China. Its scholars and lexicographers have compiled some of China’s most authoritative dictionaries and linguistic reference works, including Xiandai Hanyu cidian [Dictionary of Modern Chinese], Zhongguo wenfa yaolüe [Essentials of Chinese Grammar], Xiandai Hanyu babaici [Eight Hundred Words in Modern Chinese], Gujin ziyin duizhao shouce [A Comparative Handbook of Modern and Ancient Chinese Character Readings], Hanyu fangyan diaocha shouce [Handbook for the Investigation of Chinese Dialects] and Language Atlas of China. China’s most influential linguistics journals are also published there, including Zhongguo yuwen [Chinese Language], Fangyan [Dialect] and Dangdai yuyanxue [Modern Linguistics]. The Institute houses the Linguistics Department of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in which students may do advanced study and research in the fields of Chinese lexicography and applied and theoretical linguistics, leading to both master’s and PhD degrees. The Chinese Linguistics Association and China’s Association for Chinese Dialectology are also headquartered in the Institute.

RICHARD VANNESS SIMMONS