From July 15th to July 16th (PDT), the 9th International Conference on Prosody and Grammar (ICPG-9) took place at the University of San Francisco, USA. During the conference, a Young Scholars Thesis Award was granted, and Bi Yuanhao, an undergraduate student from the class of 2019 majoring in Chinese Language and Literature from GXU, emerged as the recipient of the first prize.

Bi Yuanhao’s paper, titled “The Mechanism and Typological Features of Question Intonation in Weihai Dialect,” drew upon the latest advancements in prosody and grammar research within the linguistic field. From the perspective of historical syntax, he explored the specific generation mechanism of question intonation in the Weihai dialect. Additionally, through a typological investigation of world languages, he proposed three commonalities between mood particles and intonation. The paper received commendations and guidance from expert reviewers, including Professor Duanmu San from the University of Michigan, Professor Li Zhiqiang from the University of San Francisco, and Professor Feng Shengli from Beijing Language and Culture University.

Following rigorous competition with other scholars and thorough discussions among the expert panel, Bi Yuanhao was selected as the first prize winner. Two other scholars from Oxford University and Fujian Normal University were respectively awarded the second and third prizes. Notably, Bi Yuanhao stood out as the sole undergraduate student and the only recipient of the first prize.

The conference, with participation from over 80 scholars worldwide, was organized by the Institute of Linguistic Theories at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) and hosted by the Department of Language, Literature, and Culture at the University of San Francisco (USF).