This is the first book in Chinese linguistics which discusses the grammar of a dialect group, in this case the Xiang dialect spoken in Hunan, from both a synchronic and diachronic prespective. The author uses new data and new frameworks to present her analysis. The synchronic part covers contemporary grammar across localities within the Xiang-speaking area by using the methods and theories of comparative and typological linguistics. The diachronic analysis reconstructs earlier grammatical systems based mainly on modern data but also on historical written records, and analyses the development of the syntactic systems of the Xiang dialects, adopting the methods and theories of historical linguistics and grammaticalization. The discussions in this book raise new issues on dialect research which have not yet been fully acknowledged by Chinese dialectologists. The author shows, for example, how the earlier layers of grammar may be reconstructed on the basis of modern data, and how the path of grammaticalization of functional words may be traced. The discussions reveal that the Xiang dialect group forms a transitional zone between northern and southern dialects. The syntactic constructions in these two areas often co-exist or are mingled in Xiang. Thus, the grammatical constructions in different localities of the Xiang dialect group often provide a bridge connecting the constructions of northern and southern Chinese, or Modern Chinese and Chinese of earlier periods. This book is of interest to scholars and students who are working on grammar, dialectology, historical linguistics, comparative linguistics, typological linguistics, and grammaticalization, as well as those researchers focusing on language policy, language acquisition, and education.

This four-volume set (CCIS 643, 644, 645, 646) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th Asia Simulation Conference and the First Autumn Simulation Multi-Conference, AsiaSim / SCS AutumnSim 2016, held in Beijing, China, in October 2016. The 265 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 651 submissions. The papers in this fourth volume of the set are organized in topical sections on Modeling and Simulation Applications; Simulation Software; Social Simulations; Verification, Validation and Accreditation.

This four-volume set (CCIS 643, 644, 645, 646) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th Asia Simulation Conference and the First Autumn Simulation Multi-Conference, AsiaSim / SCS AutumnSim 2016, held in Beijing, China, in October 2016. The 265 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 651 submissions. The papers in this second volume of the set are organized in topical sections on HMI and robot simulations; modeling and simulation for intelligent manufacturing; military simulation; visualization and virtual reality.

This four-volume set (CCIS 643, 644, 645, 646) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th Asia Simulation Conference and the First Autumn Simulation Multi-Conference, AsiaSim / SCS AutumnSim 2016, held in Beijing, China, in October 2016. The 265 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 651 submissions. The papers in this third volume of the set are organized in topical sections on Cloud technologies in simulation applications; fractional calculus with applications and simulations; modeling and simulation for energy, environment and climate; SBA virtual prototyping engineering technology; simulation and Big Data.

This four-volume set (CCIS 643, 644, 645, 646) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 16th Asia Simulation Conference and the First Autumn Simulation Multi-Conference, AsiaSim / SCS AutumnSim 2016, held in Beijing, China, in October 2016. The 265 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 651 submissions. The papers in this first volume of the set are organized in topical sections on modeling and simulation theory and methodology; model engineering for system of systems; high performance computing and simulation; modeling and simulation for smart city.