Retrospect & Prospect of the Study on Hakka and Gan Dialects

Early in the late Qing Dynasty,the study of the Hakka dialect began but it was limited to lexical explanations and annotations under the traditional theory and methodology of philology. From the 1950s,especially from the end of the 20th century, the study of Hakka dialect entered into a new historical stage of full development. Luo Changpei wrote the book Linchuan Phonology in 1936.However,the study of Gan dialect started rather late. It turned to the new chapter of the study on Gan dialect when Fanyan (Dialect) was published in 1979 and Xiong Zhenghui took the lead in publishing a series of papers of Nanchang dialect in the journal. The comparative study between Hakka and Gan dialects had been unfolded and its emphasis was put on the problem of the relations of Hakka-Gan dialects all the time. They are 2 main dialects of the Chinese language,but we haven't known much about their linguistic characteristics yet. So,in the study on Hakka and Gan dialects, there is a long way to go.