Edwin Pulleyblank

Edwin G. Pulleyblank was a Canadian sinologist and linguist who made influential contributions to the reconstruction of Middle Chinese and Old Chinese. His research provided foundational frameworks for the historical phonology and grammar of the Chinese language. His reconstructions remain a standard reference for historical linguists today.

He focused extensively on the reconstruction and analysis of Middle Chinese, which represents the pronunciation of Chinese during the Sui and Tang dynasties. His influential work in this area helped modern linguists understand how ancient Chinese actually sounded. His lexicon of Middle Chinese is highly utilized.

Edwin G. Pulleyblank was born in 1922 and passed away in 2013. Throughout his long life, he established himself as one of the foremost Western experts in Chinese historical linguistics. He spent much of his academic career at the University of Cambridge.

Yes, his reconstructions of Old Chinese and Middle Chinese are widely cited by modern linguists and sinologists today. His systematic approach to historical phonology remains a vital resource for understanding the evolution of the Chinese language. Many modern digital dictionaries of ancient Chinese rely on his phonetic notation.