| Syllable contraction refers to the sound change phenomenon that two or more syllables contract as one syllable.In a broad sense,syllable contraction includes not only the narrow syllable contraction phenomenon,such as"buyong(不用)"in the Mandarin changing into "beng(甭)"and"(bu)xuyao(需要)"changing into "(bu)xiao(消)”,but also the Er(儿)-suffixation、Zi(子)-suffixation、D(verb.and place name)-suffixation、sandhi of diminutives.etc.With different degrees in different dialects,this phenomenon has certain universality in Chinese dialects.And this paper mainly takes the narrow syllable contraction phenomenon of Zhongyuan Guanhua as the object and tries to investigate some related issues.This study can provide some detailed and accurate materials of this region for the future relevant research,which helps to enrich the Chinese sound change theory and deepen the understanding of Chinese phonetics.Besides,it also contributes to the investigation of the phonology of Chinese dialect history as well as the interactive changing relationship between syllable contraction and vocabulary,grammar and other language aspects.In brief,this study tries to explore the ways and methods of language evolution and thus has an important methodological value.Based on a comprehensive and systematic investigation of syllable contraction phenomena in 28 dialects of Zhongyuan Guanhua,this paper endeavors to explore the common characteristics and rules of Chinese dialect syllable contraction.Seven parts are included in this research.The first chapter serves as an introduction.With a clarification of the concept of syllable contraction,its scope and the object of this thesis,this part discusses the universality of the phenomenon and introduces the current research status,its research contents,significance,ideas and methods.Besides,it also explains the source of the research corpus,the scope of the investigation and the representative dialects selection and other issues,and describes the terms and symbols used in this paper.The second chapter expounds syllable contraction words in various dialects.This part provides a systematic description of syllable contraction words in the 28 dialects of Zhongyuan Guanhua,striving to present a comprehensive and systematic description of the phenomenon.The third chapter serves to identify the syllable contraction words and components.This part mainly introduces the four principles in the identification of syllable contraction words and components,principle of semantic association,principle of time sequence,corresponding principle,literature or dialect case evidence principle.Taking these principles,the paper conducts a case analysis of some syllable contraction.The fourth chapter analyzes the different types of syllable contraction from different perspectives.From the perspective of the syllable quantity that forms the syllable contraction,the phenomenon can be divided into two syllable contraction and multi-syllable contraction;from the perspective of the stability of syllable contraction,it can be divided into normal syllable contraction and dynamic syllable contraction;from the perspective of the contraction style,it can be divided into combination syllable contraction,fusion syllable contraction,embedded syllable contraction and zero form syllable contraction;from the perspective of the grammatical properties,it can be divided into morpheme and morpheme contraction,morpheme and empty morpheme contraction,empty morpheme and morpheme contraction,empty morpheme and empty morpheme contraction;from the perspective of phonetic correspondence between the contracted syllable and its surrounding syllables,it can be divided into direct selection contraction and selected variation contraction.Different types of syllable contraction can reflect the tendency of syllable contraction on different levels.The fifth chapter expounds the generation rules of syllable contraction.Syllable contraction actually includes two relatively independent operation process,segmental combination and tone combination.In terms of the syllable contraction in Zhongyuan Guanhua,the contraction rules can be summarized as follows:the sound of the syllable contraction generally takes the onset of its former syllable and the rhyme of its latter one,the tone of the syllable contraction largely depends on the stress position in the components which contracts as one syllable,mostly taking the tone of the front syllable.An optimized and relatively consistent syllable contraction generation scheme holds that the sound of the syllable contraction often first takes the Initial of its former syllable and the rhyme of the latter syllable,and then combines the vowel.During this process,it follows the rule of priority on the left vowel,and the rule of glide deletion,glide fusion,and so on.The tone of the syllable contraction doesn’t follow the above rules,but depends on the stressed syllable,concerning not just the relevant grammatical structure but also the position.The sixth chapter discusses the relationship between syllable contraction and phonetics,vocabulary,grammar and pragmatics.Through analyzing the elements of syllable contraction components and listing a large number of syllable contraction words,this chapter aims to uncover the close relevance between syllable contraction and phonetics,vocabulary,grammar and pragmatics.The relevance between syllable contraction phenomenon and phonetics lies in the fact that there is a close relationship between the formation of syllable contraction and the structure of syllables of contracted components,and the contraction process is restricted by the Sound system rules and the characteristics of phonology.Besides,to a certain extent,syllable contraction can influence and improve the syllable structure system of a dialect.Relevance between syllable contraction and vocabulary lies in the fact that there is a certain relationship between the formation of syllable contraction and the unique grammar and semantic structure of its component syllables.As a phonetic word coinage method,syllable contraction is one way of Chinese vocabulary innovation.It reflects the unique lexicalization patterns and monosyllabification in Chinese vocabulary development.Relevance between syllable contraction and grammar lies in the fact that some contracted words are formed in a special grammatical position or structure.Syllable contraction is a form characterization of grammarization in phonetics,and it is a pattern of grammarization in Chinese.Dynamic variation of the phonetic structure caused by syllable contraction will,to certain extent,affect the grammatical structure and promote the innovation of grammatical forms.Relevance between syllable contraction and pragmatics lies in the fact that there is a close connection between the formation of syllable contraction and the high-frequency usage of the words and expressions.On the one hand,the pragmatic situation of the discourse has certain influence on the form of the syllable contraction.On the other hand,the syllable contraction,once formed,and its utterance form will develop into a certain pragmatic usage which is different from the form of components.The seventh chapter mainly explores the nature,characteristics and causes of Chinese syllable contraction.The main argument is that syllable contraction has a nature of time.Therefore,the inheritance of syllable contraction words has a certain sense of pertaining to the past phonology Also,syllable contraction contains certain phonetic strata and its developments at different stages demonstrate its nature of gradual change.It is mainly featured by two syllables as its basic unit,its complexity and regionalism.The fundamental reason for the formation of syllable contraction is the principle of "one syllable for one meaning" in Chinese.And just as other forms of sound change,syllable contraction is also characterized by the interactive change between language form and meaning. |
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