This volume should contribute to a better understanding of the structural changes that the Chinese language has undergone throughout its history. Beyond that, it may further contribute to an improved understanding of the typological characteristics which distinguish Northern Chinese languages from the Sinitic languages of the southern, central and south-eastern China. The chapters of this volume, written either in English or in Chinese, have been grouped together into three sections. The first comprises nine chapters all devoted to a historical survey of attested changes found in ancient documents of different periods. The second includes eleven chapters dedicated to the study of the present-day Chinese dialectal situation in Northwest China where Altaic contact-induced changes can be detected. Lastly, the third section involves three articles on a specific Mongolic language, the Dongxiang, which is seen as having a direct influence on the neighbouring Hezhou Chinese dialect.