Over 50 language scholars from universities and research institutes around the world attended the fourth Jin Dialects International Academic Seminar in Taiyuan, Shanxi province on July 15, to discuss the studies and conservation?of Jin dialects.

The "Jin dialects” are the dialects with entering tone (or checked tone, is one of four syllable types in the phonology in Middle Chinese) used in Shanxi province and its?neighboring regions, such as Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi.

“Jin dialects are a precious cultural property in pressing need of conservation and rescue,” Zhu Jianing, a linguist from Taiwan, told Chinanews.com.

“When residents of different villages live together, their own dialects disappear and gradually develop into a common language,” said a professor from Doshisha University in Japan.

As Chinese urbanization developes, more and more rural residents are migrating to the cities and speeding up the decline of dialects. Therefore, the Jin dialects are in urgent need of conservation.

Shanxi University’s Research Institute of Linguistics and the Linguistic Society of Shanxi jointly sponsored this international academic seminar.