The Xiangshui Dialect Phonological Study

Xiangshui county lies in the north of Salt City, Jiangsu Province, which is located in the lower part of Huai River Valley. It is surrounded by the Yellow Sea to its east, Guan River to its north, Guannan and Lianshui to its west and Binghai County on its south. Traditionally, its dialect is attributed to Jiang-huai dialect, which is one of the sub-branches of Northern Dialect Area.But because of its comparatively isolated location and short period of founding as a county, there is so far no monograph on the dialect though it has its own features and specialties. It is, thus, necessary to do a comprehensive description and analysis.Based on the investigation, it is found that there are two different types of Xiangshui dialect and regular differences exist on the one hand, and its phonological system is quite similar to that of Suzhou dialect. The latter part is supported by literature researches. The paper makes an observation on the relationship between the dialect of Xiangshui and that of Suzhou, in views of geographical evolution and historical development. Some of Suzhou dialect reserved in Xiangshui dialect are traced and analyzed. Thus, the research on the dialect is deepened.With the phonological system description as the solid basis, the methods of literature researches and historical comparison are used in this paper.The paper consists of four parts, which are: the introduction to Xiangshui dialect, the phonological system description and comparison inside, comparison between Xiaosui dialect and Guangyun, and the analysis of the relevance of Xiangshui dialect to that of Suzhou dialect.