[Tibeto-burman-linguistics] Obituary: Chang Yü-hung (1939-2024)

[casey]

Dear Colleagues,

We recently learned from the Linguistic Society of Taiwan (LST) that Professor Chang Yü-hung (張裕宏) passed away. His contributions in particular to the study of Taiwanese Southern Min will continue to benefit the world for generations to come.

Professor Chang Yü-hung (alias Tiuⁿ-Jūhông), Retired Professor of the Graduate Institute of Linguistics at National Taiwan University, passed away on October 11, 2024 in Taiwan aged 85.

Professor Chang obtained his PhD in 1972 from Cornell University with the thesis titled The Hinghwa dialects of Fukien: A descriptive linguistic study. He studied under Nicholas Bodman and developed a deep expertise in phonology, exemplified by his 1988 article Construction and Hierarchy of Syllable Features in Monosyllabic Tone Languages and 1989 article The status of suprasegmentals and other syllabic “accessories” in Taiwanese riming schemes. In 1973, he began his teaching journey at the National University of Singapore. In 1979, he joined the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University, sharing his passion for English and linguistics. His module on Medieval English literature made him one of Taiwan's few experts in Chaucer and Middle English. In 1994, when the Graduate Institute of Linguistics at National Taiwan University was established, he was jointly appointed by the Department and the Institute, and continued to guide and inspire students until his retirement in 2004.

Professor Chang was not only known for his rigorous scholarship but also for his unwavering commitment to language promotion in Taiwan. He served on the National Languages Promotion Committee and dedicated his life to advancing the study and use of Taiwanese. In 2001, he published the textbook Principles of POJ or the Taiwanese Orthography, which became widely used in Taiwanese Romanization courses. Even after his retirement, his devotion to language education never wavered. In 2009, he published TJ's Dictionary of Non-literary Taiwanese and authored the Auntie Ah-Hong's Five-Dimensional Space series of children's books, aiming to nurture a love for language in the younger generation. His lifetime of dedication was honored in December 2023 when he received the first Hoat-Ki Taiwanese Language Heritage Contribution Award, along with the publication of his latest work, TJ's Dictionary of Taiwanese Equivalents to Chinese.

Professor Chang was a treasured mentor, a compassionate teacher, and a respected figure in the field of linguistics. His passing is a great loss to National Taiwan University and the wider Taiwanese linguistic community. Memorial and funeral arrangements will be shared in due course as we gather to honor his legacy.

(Thanks to Professor Karen Steffen Chung at National Taiwan University for preparing the above information.)

Thank you,

Casey
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/tibeto-burman-linguistics/attachments/20241013/68749398/attachment.htm>