Fanyan (方言, Fāngyán) - The first dictionary of Chinese dialects, ed. Yang Xiong (扬雄, 53 BC - 18 AD, Din. Western Han ); is one of the most important sources on the dialectology of the ancient Chinese language .
The full name of the dictionary (輶 軒 使者 絕代 語 釋 別 國 方言, Yóuxuān shǐzhĕ juédài yǔ shì biéguó fāngyán) refers to the imperial tradition of the Zhou Dynasty, which prescribed annual emissary trips to study local dialects. In the preface, Jan narrates that the dictionary is the fruit of 27 years of work, including 9,000 characters.
Consists of 13 thematic chapters (Juan, 卷). Built on the principle of building parallels between synonyms. So, for example, Ch. 8 (names of animals), reads:
虎, 陳 魏 宋 楚 之間 或 謂 之 李 父, 江淮 南 楚 之間 謂 之 李耳, 或 謂 之 於 菟. 自 關 東西 或 謂 之 伯 都
Tiger : in Chen, Wei, Song and Chu / center. China / sometimes called a bodice (李 父); in the area of the Yangtze and Huai-he rivers, in southern Chu / sout. China / is called lier (李耳) or yuit (於 菟); east and west of the Outpost, sometimes called Baud (伯 都) (cited in Serruys 1967: 256)
Literature
- Guryan N.V. About "unusual" hieroglyphs in the ancient Chinese dictionary Fang Yan // Society and State in China: XLI Scientific Conference. Institute of Oriental Studies RAS. M .: Vost. lit. 2011. S. 402-404. ISBN 978-5-02-036461-5
- Serruys, Paul LM. 1959. The Chinese Dialects of Han Time According to Fang Yen. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Serruys, Paul LM. 1967. "Five Word Studies on Fang Yen (Third Part): The Dialect Words for 'Tiger'." Monumenta Serica 26, 255-285.
- DeFrancis, John. 1984. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy . University of Hawaii Press.
- Groves, Julie M. 2008. "Language or Dialect - or Topolect? A Comparison of the Attitudes of Hong Kongers and Mainland Chinese towards the Status of Cantonese" , Sino-Platonic Papers 179: 1–103.
- Mair, Victor H. 1991. "What Is a Chinese" Dialect / Topolect "? Reflections on Some Key Sino-English Linguistic terms" , Sino-Platonic Papers 29: 1–31.