On The Dialects Of Nanyue And Hengshan By Means Of Geographical Linguistics

The dialects of Nanyue and HengshanNanyue fall into two utterly different dialects: Qianshanhua and Houshanhua. They are due to the natural division of Hengshan mount. Applying the method of geographical linguistics to our study, we conducted a number of researchesand analyses in 354 villages,produced 90 dialect maps,investigated the distribution ,the boundaries,the transition, the mutual contact of different dialects in the area, also we studied their relations to the surrounding dialects,their positions in Xiang-dialect.As it is shown in our study, the full voiced consants in ancient times have changed into affricates and stops in company with aspiration nowadays. Judging from this aspect, we can conclude that Houshanhua shares common characters with the surrounding dialects as those in Hengyang, Xiangtan , Changsha, bearing the same feature in Xiang-dialect. Followed by the voicing, the affricates and stops make the opposition of voiced and voiceless when they envolve from the voiceless Ru tone into the tone of Yangping, bearing the similarity to the neighbouring Shuangfeng Dialect. However, Qianshanhua shares the similarity with the Southwest Mandarin in terms of aspiration, turning out to be an exclusiviness in the area of Xiang-dialect.In light of the tone styles, the attribution of RU ,and their values , Qianshanhua is much nearer to the dialects in Changsha, Xiang-tang while Houshanhua is near to the dialect in Hengyang. In terms of the tone value, Qianshanhua is close to the dialects in Changsha and Xiangtan whereas Houshanhua is close to the dialect in Hengyang.Most of the consonants in the group of Zhi, Zhang,Jian([知,章,见]组) now are articulated as stops. As a result, Qianshanhua shares the common ground with Houshanhua phoneticaly, and the two ' dialects are homologous to the dialects of Shuangfeng, Ningxiang ect. ,Based on the character that the vowels Xian, Shan group ([ 咸山]摄)Kai San,Si Deng(开三,四等) in ancient times mostly articulate as nasalised [i] now,Qianshanhua has the same phonetical character with Houshanhua, and the two dialects are homologous to Shuangfeng dialect phonetically.The word "run" is translated as "da feijiao" (打飞脚) in Qian-shanhua, which is homologous to the dialects in Shuangfeng, Chang-sha,while "peng" (蓬),"da pengguzi" (打蓬咕子) in Houshanhua, which is different from the surrounding dialects,and is not traislated as "zou" (走) as the dialects in Xinhua ,Shaoyang ect. Nevertheless, cattle's running is translated as "peng" (蓬) in Qianshanhua,which indicates that Qianshanhua deeply relates to Houshanhua.The gradual changes and sudden changes occur between Qianshanhua and Houshanhua, which also do inside Qianshanhua or Houshanhua. There are big districts with relative stabilization and the districts with plenty of changes. Hengshan as the big Mount of Chinese south is the natural division between Qianshanhua at its southeast and Houshanhua at its northwest. A transition district has formed in the level district,where the dialect is mixed,called Jiashanqiang(夹山腔). Nanyue Mount Hengshan is the intercommunication spot to the ambiance,as a famous scenery and an important religion location.The Xiangjiang River was the best communication pipeline historically. Because of such a special location, Qianshanhua along the banks of Xiangjiang River has been a dialect island, which is fairly different from the surrounding Xiang-dialect on the mordern character of the full voiced consonants in ancient time.