A Grammar of Colloquial Chinese as Exhibited in the Shanghai Dialect

A Grammar of Colloquial Chinese as Exhibited in the Shanghai Dialect by Joseph Edkins is a scholarly work that provides an in-depth analysis of the Shanghai dialect a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the Shanghai region. The book focuses on the grammatical structures of the dialect as it is used in everyday conversation offering a detailed examination of its phonology syntax and vocabulary.Edkins a British missionary and linguist uses his knowledge of the language to document the distinctive features of the Shanghai dialect highlighting differences between it and Mandarin Chinese which was the standard for written Chinese at the time. The book serves as an important resource for linguists sinologists and language learners interested in Chinese dialects. Through this work Edkins contributes to the understanding of colloquial Chinese offering insights into how the language evolves and functions in a specific regional context.