Geographical And Social Research On The Dialect In Cushijiang Town,Jiangyong County Of Hunan Province

Based on the research and combining the research result of predecessors, this dissertation analyses and discusses the dialects of9vernacular villages in Cushijiang,a town in Jiangyong County of Yongzhou City in Hunan Province, by means of geogrpahical linugistics and sociolinguistics.This dissertation makes a detailed record of the phonetic system of Chengxia,a representative of Cu shijiang local dialect, and partly unfold its pronuncia-tion,vocabulary and grammar feature by recording and analyzing characteristic words and nursery rhymes, hoping that it will provide firsthand language materials for future study.Analyzing from the geographical linguistic point of view,most features in the dialects of Cushijiang are the same, yet there are differences.In pronunciation,with little differences within two local dialect area, the differences mainly exist between the two local dialect area in the following areas:firstly, in tone:(1) tone quantity;(2)the merger of Zhuo-shang(浊上). Secondly,in initial consonants:(1) the of voiced consonant (2)the pronunciations of Jing-zu(精组)(3) the pronunciations of Zhizhuangzhang-zu(知庄章组)；(4)the distinction on Jian and Tuan(尖团).Thirdly,in finals:(1)the pronounciations of the first-class and second-class of Xie-she(蟹摄)；(2)the pronunciations of Hao-yun(豪韵)and Yao-yun(肴韵) in Xiao-she(效摄)(3) the pronunciations of Qin-yun(覃韵) and Tan-yun(谈韵)in Xian-she(�'�韵)(4) the pronounciations of the first-class and second-class of Shan-she(山摄)；(5) the pronounciations of the third-class and fourth-class of Shan-she(山摄)；(6) the pronunciations of Ma-yun(豪韵)in Jia-she(假摄)and Geng-she(梗韵)。In the vocabulary, there are little differences within Cushijiang dialects,which exists mainly in the following three situation.First,the formation of words are the same,only with pronunciation differences such as "thorn""swing" and "you".Second,different formation of words in different villages, such as"father""spider","thorn" and "ants","cave","bant",there are two situations:some are really different in all the villages,some are new forms and old forms in different villages.Third,different villages adopt different words,but they all exist in each village in fact,such as"frog"and "drill".From sociolinguistic perspective, Mandarin is the most important language with the highest frequency of using and the widest prevailing region; the second is local dialects.Although the using frequency of dialect is lower than Mandarin,the dialects are spoken with high proficiency by users.Dialects are still the main language of local villagers. From the language choice in different occasions,it can be seen that the occasions using dialect are reduced. Dialects are used in communication in families and people speaking the same dialect,while in school and other social occasions,Mandarin is the basic language. The function of the dialects of Cushijiang has been weakened gradually, and people using the dialect is reducing,but dialects will not be endangered. Social factors including age, gender,nation,cultural background and Administrative division, led to the social mutation of Cushijiang dialects.