The Huáyí yìyǔ () refers to a series of vocabularies produced by Ming and Qing dynasty Chinese administration for the study of foreign languages. They are a precious source of phonological information, both for the study of Chinese pronunciation and for the study of the languages in question. Categorization The relevant works of the huáyí yìyǔ fall into four categories: A Sino-Mongolian vocabulary compiled by Huo Yuanjie (火源潔), 2. Vocabularies that were compiled and re-edited in the Siyiguan (四夷館). 3. Vocabularies prepared by the Huitongguan (會同館). 4. Qing dynasty vocabularies. Languages covered in the Siyiguan The languages covered by works in the second class include: 韃靼 Mongolian 女直 Jurchen 西番 “Western Barbarians” (Tibetans of the Kham region) 西天 languages of India 回回 Persian, 高昌 Uighur 百夷 Daic languages 緬甸 Burmese 八百 Babai (Lanna) and 暹羅 Siamese. Tatsuo Nishida published a book studying each, the Tibetan, Burmese, Tosu and Lolo languages as recorded in the Hua-yi yiu. Languages covered in the Huitongguan The languages covered by works in the third class covered: 朝鮮 Korean 琉球 Ryukyuan 日本 Japanese 安南 (Annan) northern Vietnam 暹羅 Siamese 韃靼 Khitan (the Eastern Mongols) 畏兀兒/委兀兒 Uighur 滿剌加 Malaccan Malay 占城 Champa of southern Vietnam 西番 “Western Barbarians” (Tibetans of the Kham region) 回回 Persian 女直 Jurchen 百夷 Baiyi See also Pearl in the Palm Pentaglot Dictionary References Vocabulary