A Study Of Jiangxi's Wucheng Dialect

Compared with the Wu dialect and Yue dialect, the study of Gan dialect seems less attractive and fruitful as far the number of its researchers and academic results are concerned. According to Mr. Li Rong, we can encounter fewer difficulties and avoid some detours in the study of a dialect if we start from our own dialect. The author of the thesis is from Wucheng Town. Through years' thorough investigation and a comprehensive and systematic study of Wucheng dialect, the author has provided abundant language materials, made a comparison between Wucheng dialect and Nanchang dialect, and pointed out their similarities and differences as well as their mutual influences.Wucheng, located on Boyang Lake, Yongxiu County, Jiangxi province, is a 1,000-year-old town, which witnessed its flourishing and prosperous period in Ming and Qing dynasties. Wucheng dialect is a typical Gan dialect. A profound knowledge of Wucheng dialect can help provide significant materials and clues for a study of the birth, growth and development of Gan dialect and convincing evidence for the clarification of a link between Gan dialect and Xiang dialect, Wu dialect as well as Hakka dialect and for a further study of the distribution of Gan dialect.The thesis consists of four chapters in addition to an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction presents a picture of Wucheng Town with its people, history and geographical feature and points out the significance of the topic chosen and study approaches. The first chapter Phonetics deals with phonetic system, homophones, comparison between the ancient Chinese and the present dialect, literary reading and colloquial reading, exceptional characters, etymological notes and the pronunciation variations. Seen horizontally, a static state study results in an arrangement of the phonetic system of Wucheng dialect and an analysis of the cooperation between single characters in their initials, finals and tones. In homophony syllabary part, an attempt is made to collect exhaustively those characters often spoken by townspeople in Wucheng. From the angle of a dynamic state, an analysis is given of pronunciation variations when two Chinese characters are used together. Seen vertically, the thesis examines the correspondence between ancient pronunciation and present pronunciation, reveals developmental rules of the ancient pronunciation, verifies some etymological notes, cites examples of exceptional characters of Wucheng dialect in their initials, finals and tones with an attempt to interpret the causes for the exceptional characters. Considering the historical layers, the chapter discusses four phenomena of literary reading and colloquial reading in Wucheng dialect. The second chapter Vocabulary chiefly records the entries that are not included in Nanchang dialect dictionary. They are divided into 26 categories according to their meanings with pronunciation and meaning given in detail in each entry. The third chapter Grammar mainly discusses the expression of the degree in Wucheng dialect. With "+degree" as a starting point, an analysis is made of the related grammatical form. Descriptive elements are discussed in terms of their structure, semantic feature and grammatical function. The chapter also examines restrictive elements in terms of their meaning and usage. The fourth chapter Comparison compares the differences between the old generation's Wucheng dialect and the younger generation's dialect and points out the major differences from Nanchang dialect, Wucheng dialect's belonging and its sociolinguistic background. The conclusion expounds the originality of this...