Ting Pang-hsin (; 28 November 1936 – 30 January 2023) was a Chinese linguist, and an academician of the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

Biography

Ting was born in Ju-kao County ( Rugao County), Kiangsu (

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

), on 28 November 1936. After the defeat of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in 1949, Ting relocated to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. He attended

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; zh, t=國立臺灣大學, poj=Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k, p=, s=) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1928 during Taiwan under J ...

, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1959 and master's degree in 1963 both in

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

. He went on to receive his doctoral degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1969. Ting worked at the

after university. He was elected assistant research fellow in August 1964, associate research fellow in February 1970, and research fellow in August 1975. In August 1981, he was named acting director of the Institute of History and Philology, confirmed in March 1985. He was a professor of National Taiwan University from 1975 to 1989 and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

from 1989 to 1998. During his tenure at Berkeley, Ting held the Agassiz Professorship of Chinese Linguistics from 1994. Ting was In 1996, he was chosen as dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...

, a post he kept until 2004. Between 1993 and 1994, Ting replaced

William Shi-Yuan Wang William Shi-Yuan Wang (Chinese: 王士元; born 1933) is a linguist, with expertise in phonology, the history of Chinese language and culture, historical linguistics, and the evolution of language in humans. He is Chair Professor at The Hong Kon ...

as president of the International Association of Chinese Linguistics. He was succeeded by

Mei Tsu-lin Mei Tsu-lin (; 14 February 1933 – 14 October 2023) was a Chinese-American linguist. Life and career Mei was born in Beijing on 14 February 1933, and immigrated to the United States in 1949, during the Chinese Civil War. He earned a bachelor's de ...

. Ting died in California on 30 January 2023, at the age of 86.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Honours and awards

* 1986 Member of the

* 2000 Honorary Member of the

Linguistic Society of America The Linguistic Society of America (LSA) is a learned society for the field of linguistics. Founded in New York City in 1924, the LSA works to promote the scientific study of language. The society publishes three scholarly journals: ''Language'', ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ting, Pang-hsin 1936 births 2023 deaths People from Rugao National Taiwan University alumni University of Washington alumni Linguists from China Members of Academia Sinica Linguists from Taiwan Academic staff of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Taiwanese expatriates in Hong Kong Taiwanese university and college faculty deans Chinese Civil War refugees