On The Phonetic Contact Between Dialect And Mandarin

Language contact is commonly seen in the process of human language development. In a sense,language contact is a drive and also a natural principle behind the language evolution. Dialect andstandard language arise from the needs of the society and then develop as the society advances. Theirlong-term coexistence and interaction, coupled with the influence of external factors, have furthercomplicated the language contact. And scholars and experts at home and abroad have paid closeattention to the status of the contact between dialect and standard language (Mandarin). At present,research on this phenomenon has become more important and urgent with the speeding up ofurbanization and more frequent population migration.Take the phonetic contact of Wuxi dialect and Mandarin for example. This dissertation goes deepinto the features of language contact and the principles of language changes based on the study ofnon-pure dialect and non-standard Mandarin. The non-standard Mandarin with dialect and the variationof dialect itself result from the evolution of language systems of Mandarin and dialect respectively,though, language contact is one of external reasons that bring about this evolution while the internalreason lies in self-adjustment of the structure of these two language systems. Differences of structuresand marks are the areas in which changes take place in these two language systems and the transition oflanguage principles is one of mechanism for the evolution of these two systems.Preface starts from the model of interaction and variation between dialect and standard languageand then introduces how the theories of variation and contact work in the research on dialect variationand non-standard Mandarin with dialect. In the meantime, it points out the existing problems by sortingout the relationship between dialect and Mandarin, the current study of dialectic evolution, non-standardMandarin with dialect and Wuxi dialect and explains something that concerns the selected theme. It alsoillustrates the ways and methods of research and investigation that have been used here.In the Chapter1, the characteristics of phonetics, vocabulary and grammar of Wuxi dialect aredescribed, which works as references for investigation of dialectic variation and non-standard Mandarinwith dialect.Chapter2depicts, analyzes and studies from multiple angles the variation and changes of Wuxidialect by combining apparent-time and real-time research materials and using theories andmethodologies of traditional dialectics, socialinguistics, etc. and as well based on theories of languagevariation, language contact and lexical diffusion. It is mainly about phonology, the evolution of literaryand colloquial readings. It looks into the linguistic and non-linguistic factors behind dialectic variationfrom the micro perspective by taking the distinction and mixing of Jian Yin and Tuan Yin for example.All of the apparent-time research materials come from my social investigation in person while real-timeresearch materials originate mainly from local chronicles or the papers of prominent scholars andexperts.Chapter3describes the different scales of phonetic nature error and phonetic value error ofnon-standard Mandarin of Wuxi accent. The paper also analyzes the causes of phonetic errors through the phonetic corresponding relations between Wuxi dialect and Mandarin. In the meantime, the phoneticvalue defect of Mandarin of dialect accent is analysed more directly and carefully by the method ofexperimental phonetics. At first, it is found through the study that some dialectic elements are kept morewhile others less. It turns out that aseries of similar systems come into being---just like continuums ofintermediate language. The evolving similar systems explain that this is a system with a dramaticdevelopment. Secondly, non-standard Mandarin of Wuxi accent is mainly characterized byunidirectional errors, but errors present themselves differently at the different extents of non-standardMandarin with local accent. Thick accent features unidirectional errors while medium and slant accentshave more bidirectional errors. In particular, errors are almost bidirectional in terms of slant accent. Itshows that the better people at Mandarin, the more easily they can identify the differences betweendialect and Mandarin. But sometimes it is hard for them to avoid overdoing it. At last, the paperanalyses the cause of non-standard Mandarin of dialectic accent and on this basis, sums up whether it iseasy or difficult when Wuxi natives learn and use Mandarin phonetics.In the Chapter4, the focus is on dialectic variation and transitions which is partly attributed toexternal elements during the language contact. To date, Mandarin has played a vital role which makes itpossible that most of changes are moving towards Mandarin. But it should also been seen that thedifferences between the new and old dialects do not always result from Mandarin. It is a clear fact thatin the language contact language elements are transferred from powerful language to weak language. Infact, however, it can be found through variation of non-standard Mandarin and dialect itself that weaklanguage also has an impact on powerful language. Anyway, internal factors have to work throughinternal factors. Therefore, language evolution arises from the need of adjustment of its own structureand system and is restrained by economic principles. Meanwhile, the attitudes of language users alsoinfluence the direction and speed of language variation.Chapter5looks at the impact of the strength of dialectic elements on language transfer from theangle of non-standard Mandarin with dialect. As we know, language transfer cannot simply be explainedand predicted on the basis of differences between languages. Those elements that are easily transferredare often powerful elements in the dialect while those elements that aren't easily transferred are usuallyweak elements. The strength of dialectic elements is not decided by the only one factor, probably alsoby stability of the dialect itself, markedness, prototypicality and similarity of dialect and Mandarin, etc.The last part is about improvements and follow-up research thought on the basis of summarizationof the ideas abovementioned.