A Comparative Study On The Reduplication Pattern Of Chinese Dialects

This article conducts a comparative study on the reduplication of all word classes in different Chinese dialects through a systematic and thorough examination and analysis,trying to explore the similarities and differences among different dialect areas.Through this study,we find out that reduplication in Chinese dialects is not only word formation morphology but also inflectional morphology.Word formation morphology has two types.The first type refers to the nominalization of adjectives,verbs and quantifiers via reduplication(taking Mandarin as an example).The second type refers to the adjectivalization of nouns and verbs via reduplication(taking Min Language as an example).From the perspective of inflectional morphology,even though common reduplication patterns are shown in verbs,adjectives and quantifiers in different dialects,there are two different cases.In one case,reduplication in different dialects undergoes the same morphological changes and retains the original semantic meaning and grammatical function.In another case,reduplication in different dialects undergoes the same morphological changes,but the semantic meaning and grammatical function have been changed as well.While in the latter case,this article also lists two types of reduplication.One occurs in verbs and adjectives which has the same morphological changes but different phonological and semantic changes(usually within the same dialect).For example,in North China,the reduplication of monosyllable quantifiers "AA" can have both the notions of "all round"and "diminutive".The other occurs in adjectives which has the same morphological and phonological changes but different semantic meaning(in some different dialects).For example,the "ABAB" pattern of disyllable stative adjectives in some Yue dialect and Southwest Mandarin may indicate the notion of "less",which,however,is not true with other dialects.Some special reduplication patterns may occur in nouns,pronouns and adverbs in Mandarin.They rarely exist in other cases.However,in Min dialect,the AAB pattern of coordinative disyllable verbs indicates "little quantity in action".In Yue dialect,the AA pattern of monosyllable adjectives can have the notion of "more" if the tone value of the first syllable is changed.No matter what the reduplication pattern it is,its major grammatical function is to indicate the objective quantity.The simple reduplication of attributive adjectives falls into this category.Nevertheless,some reduplication may focus on the speaker's evaluation or emotion,which,therefore,is quite subjective.Two of the examples are the reduplication of quantifiers with infix in Xiang,Hakka and Gan dialect and the reduplication of monosyllable adjectives with suffix in Gan dialect.The diachronic statement of reduplication is very complicated,but the causes of its being are quite explicit,i.e.inheritance,language contact and integration?For example,the reduplication of quantifiers may inherit its semantic meaning of "all round" from the standard language in late Han dynasty to Six Dynasty Period.In modern Wu,Min,Yue dialects and some other dialects near Yangtz River and Huai River,the co-occurrence of complements and the reduplication of verbs meaning"large quantity in action" may be a traditional usage of ancient dialects(say,ancient Wu dialect).The grammar-related phonetic change of reduplication of adjectives in Huizhou dialect(Hakka)may be borrowed from Yue dialect as there is always a language contact between contiguous areas.In Guangxi,Guangdong,Sichuan and Guizhou dialects,the ABAB pattern of disyllable stative adjectives has the semantic meaning of "less",which is shared by other dialects in nearby areas.But the same pattern indicates the opposite meaning in other dialects and hasn't been found in ancient times.This phenomenon may be the result of language contact.Basing on the distribution of reduplication and its inherent law,Chinese can fall into three groups:Mandarin,Wu,Min,Yue dialects,and Xiang,Hakka,Gan dialects.In Mandarin,reduplication is shown in most word classes,such as nouns,verbs,adjectives,quantifiers,pronouns and adverbs,and usually in the form of simple reduplication.In Wu,Min,Yue dialects,it is shown in verbs,adjectives and quantifiers.In Xiang,Hakka,Gan dialects,it is only shown in adjectives and quantifiers,and often with affixes.Mandarin in southwest is a special case.It shares some common traits with all the other three groups.To be more specific,its reduplication can be seen in nouns,pronouns and adverbs,which is the same with that of Mandarin.There is no reduplication of verbs meaning "little quantity in action" but plentiful reduplication of quantifiers with affixes,which is the same with Xiang,Hakka,Gan dialects.And reduplication of verbs meaning "large quantity in action" can also be found in this dialect,which is the same with Wu,Min,Yue dialects.The pattern of distribution not only reflects a close relationship between all Chinese dialects at its initial stage,but also reveals the geographic influence on the development of different dialects.