A Phonological Study Of Chinese Dialect In The Southwest Of Hunan Province

The Southwest of Hunan province ( Xiangxinan)is not only a place where the dialectal research is weak,but also one of the complicated regions in china as far as the dialect is concerned. This paper focuses on the Xiangxinan Chinese dialect. By using two basic study methods,i.e. fieldwork and comparision,the paper describes comprehensively and discusses in depth types of synchronic and diachronic changes about the phonological system of Xiangxinan Chinese dialect. At last the paper points out that frequent contact of language(or dialect) is one of the most important impetus of Xiangxinan Chinese dialect evolution. Because the South-west Mandarin shows stronger superiority in competition,Xiangxinan Chinese dialect has a tendency towards South-west Mandarin in general.Nine chapters can be divided in this paper. Chapter â…  briefly introduces Xiangxinan's geographical features, history and overview of ethnic groups and makes brief comments on the research about Xiangxinan Chinese dialect since the 20th century.It also introduces the paper's researching content,methods ,significance,as well as the spots which have been studied and the persons who have provided pronunciation.Chapter â…¡ and â…¢ describe the phonological systems of 13 representative dialects and compare them with the middle ancient's phonological system.Chapter â…£ , â…¤ and â…¥ describe the phonological features of Xiangxinan Chinese dialect from the following three aspects : inital,final and tone. It does not only describe the synchronic structure meticulously,but also explores the evolutionary cause and course of some special phonetic phenomenon, e.g. the pronunciation types of the voiced initial,the pronunciation types and developing course of the groups ofJing #| and zhi ï¿¡p Zhuang j[ï¿¡ Zhang $,the source and evolution of the intials,pf- and pf -, the pronunciation of the Zhisan-Zhang(^nH^)groups of the conventional group and new group in Huitong(Lincheng)dialect,the merged and divided situations of Guo j^ and Jia Wi group,the literary and colloguial reading of Geng H group, the phenomena that voiced initial with Qu tone should be pronounced into Yinping tone in Gaocun spot and so on,the evolution of rusheng A^ tone in Xiangxinan Chinese dialect etc.Chapter VD introduces respectively the phonological features and humane and historical background of Suantanghua and Bendihua which is spoken by national minority in Xiangxinan.Chapter VB1 summarizes the regional phonological features of Xiangxinan Chinese dialect. According to the pronunciation of the voiced initial which is regarded as historical sound standard, Xiangxinan Chinese dialect is divided here into 3 subgroups: the Jinghuang group, the Malu group and the Zhihui group. Proceeding from phonological features and combined with some vocabulary and humane and historical background, this paper discusses the classification of each group.Chapter IX discusses dialect contact in Xiangxinan. It not only analyses the concrete expression of dialect contact in the form of borrowing,withering,mix,diglossia and so on ,but also predicts the developing tendency of Xiangxinan Chinese dialect o...