In providing an analysis of the grammar of the dialect of seven counties along the Yellow River, this two-volume set synchronically and diachronically studies the Jin dialect of China’s Northern Shaanxi Province.
The Jin dialect of Northern Shaanxi is one of the most ancient, complicated, and representative dialects of the Yellow River region and figures prominently in our understanding of the Jin dialect and northern Chinese dialects as a whole. The first volume focuses on pronouns, aspect and appearance and tenses; while the second volume focuses on aspects including the subjunctive mood, expressions of complex sentence relationships, embedded sentence patterns, complex interrogative sentences, the formation of the imperative modal particle “zhe”, and the phonetic variation of grammatical constituents. Hence, it gives insight into the peculiarity of the Jin dialect in terms of grammar, the significant role of diachronic comparative studies of dialectal grammar, and the grammar characteristics of Chinese as a whole.
The set will be a useful reference for scholars and students interested in the Jin dialect, Chinese dialects in general and Chinese linguistics.

Xing Xiangdong is a professor in the College of Arts at Shaanxi Normal University, China. His research and work focus on Chinese dialects, especially dialects of Northwestern China.