Wong Shik-Ling (also known as S. L. Wong) (1908–1959) was a prominent

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

research. He is famous for his authoritative book, '' A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton'' (), which is influential in Cantonese research. He graduated from

Lingnan University Lingnan University (LN/LU), formerly called Lingnan College, is a public liberal arts university in Hong Kong. It aims to provide students with an education in the liberal arts tradition and has joined the Global Liberal Arts Alliance sinc ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

and then taught and researched Cantonese in the university. In 1941 he published his work, "''A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced according to the Dialect of Canton''". In 1949, he went to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

and studied methods for linguistic research in the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ...

. In 1950, he returned to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

upon being hired as a lecturer in Cantonese at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hon ...

for 1951. In the same year, he became the first dean in the newly founded Language School and went on to teach foreigners Cantonese for 9 years, until the end of his life. He wrote two textbooks on Cantonese for the university: ''Cantonese Conversation Grammar'' (1963) and ''Intermediate Cantonese Conversation'' (1967). Both were published by the Government Printer of the

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the executive authorities of Hong Kong SAR. It was formed on 1 July 1997 in accordance with the Sino- ...

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* 1908 births 1959 deaths Linguists from China Alumni of Lingnan University (Hong Kong) Cantonese language 20th-century linguists Alumni of SOAS University of London Hong Kong expatriates in the United Kingdom {{HongKong-academic-bio-stub

See also

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