A Case-based Grammatical Study On Harbin Dialect Of China

This thesis, which examines the grammatical phenomena in Harbin dialectthat differ from Mandarin, detailedly describes their usage at synchronic level andprovides relevant diachronic sources of them from various documents.Comparisons are also made to enhance our understanding. Though the thesis isentitled Study on Harbin Dialect Grammar, many of the grammatical phenomena inquestion are widely spread in the Northeastern part of China. The range of use ofthem, however, can not be all investigated due to limited time and energy and thusHarbin is chosen for the present study, hoping to promote further study about thegrammar of Northeast dialect.The first chapter gives an overview of human geography and history ofHarbin, setting the study background, defining the study objects, making clear thetitle of the thesis and the scope of the study. In this chapter, using results gained forfield investigations, the author also attempts to provide tentative explanations tothe high similarities between Beijing dialect and Harbin dialect, differences that areconsidered not to be in accordance with spatial distribution of the cities. Thechapter also explains the source of data used and the writing style of the thesis.Besides, current situation of study and related achievements are reviewed.The second chapter focuses on content words of Harbin dialect, andexplanations are made concerning personal pronouns, modal verbs, state adjectives,and adverbs. In the usage of personal pronouns, Harbin dialect differs fromMandarin and has developed unique features compared with Northeast dialect usedin Liao Ning and Ji Lin provinces, and the other demonstrative pronoun,“ren jia”（人家）, can be used as a discourse marker. The commonly used modal verb “dai”（带）has three semantic meanings: permission in reason and rules, definite inference and judgment about something that is going to happen, andintensification of tone. Whichever meaning it is used to convey, there must be a“de”（的）at the end of the sentence. In addition to the same usage as in Mandarin,the modal verb “dei”（得） is also used after verbs, forming the “V+dei+le”structure, which the author has elaborated on in this chapter. While studies aboutthe “AB～（de）” state adjectives have been done by previous scholars, the authorreanalyzes it and provides further understanding, putting forward his opinion aboutwhat is open to discussion. The author believes that state adjectives of thisstructure is one way to show quantification in Chinese and in a broad sense can beregarded as a form of the Chinese language. As to adverbs in Harbin dialect,examples are cited to illustrate degree adverbs like “zei”（贼）and “cheng”（诚），frequency verbs like “yizheng”（一整）and “ding zhe”（盯着）, time adverbs like“na zhe”（拿着）and “gen zhe”（跟着）, modal adverbs like “zhi ding”（指定）and “zuo liu”（左右）, and so forth. From synchronic and diachronic perspectives,detailed analysis and explanation are made about each of these adverbs.The third chapter chooses functional words in Harbin dialect as its focus andstudies are conducted mainly about prepositions, modal particles andonomatopoeic words. Examples are cited to illustrate the syntactic and semanticfunctions of propositions in Harbin dialect like “ge”（搁）,“ben”（奔）,“pi”（比）,“zhao”（照）and “□［ua214］”. From diachronic perspective, theirgrammaticalization processes and contributing causes are analyzed, and from theperspective of dialect contrast and phonetic change, explanations are providedabout the relation between their different meanings and the typology significance.The onomatopoeic word “za di（”�'�的）in Harbin dialect can be used as a rhetoricalquestion or a confirmation. When used as a rhetorical question, it often appears in anon-question form, weakening the question tone and strengthening the affirmation.When used to show confirmation, it is mainly used in response, strengthening theaffirmation. Onomatopoeic words have two distinguishing features in Harbindialect. One is that sound intensity of the onomatopoeic words cannot be achievedin terms of subject-predicate collocation, though they can be used together with the main verbs in the sentence. The other is that onomatopoeic words are used to showdegree, by imitating sounds bearing no relation to the main verb in the sentence.This could be regarded as suppressing the signifier of the onomatopoeic words andhighlighting the signified through other ways like metonymy.The forth chapter is about three special structures in Harbin dialect, namely,“S+dei+N+V+le” structure, which has experienced semantic derivation,“ke bu zadi”（可不�'�的） structure used as response, and the possible structure of “（neng）V（C）liao”. The nouns used in “S+dei+N+V+le” structure usually tend to besomething in large amount or quantity, which is caused by the feature of the subjectand “liao”（了） at the end of the sentence. The response “ke bu za di”（可不�'�的）is formed by combining “ke bu”（可不）and “za di”（�'�的）, and is often usedto show approval, affirmation, reminding, etc. This structure has a series of familymember, and the differences between them are analyzed in this chapter. Thepossible structure “VC liao” is widely used in Northeast dialect. In this study,inquiry is conducted about the collocation of “neng”（能）and “VC liao” in Harbindialect, defining the semantic meanings of it subordinate forms. By comparing thisstructure with the semantic types conveyed by “neng”（能） in Mandarin, thepossibility property of “neng”（能） used in combination with “VC liao” isdetermined.The fifth chapter summarizes the innovations and significance of the presentstudy, points out the limitations of this thesis and expresses hopes for future studiesabout Northeast dialect.