A Study On The Pronunciation Of Dong Dialects In Guizhou, Hunan And Guizhou

Jiadong dialect,whose distributions mainly scatter among the settlements in the border land of Guizhou,Hunan and Guangxi,is the product of the language contact between Dong minority and the Han ethnic group.Remaining the substratum characteristics of Dong,Jiadong dialect is the language used in the communications between the local Dong minority,whose native language is Dong,and Han ethnic group as well as other minorities.It is a special kind of Chinese dialect,with characteristics of unidirectionality,integration,dynamics,transitionality,and simplification.Since Dong minority and the Han have a long standing contact history,Jiadong dialect maintains the linguistic relics of both ancient Dong and ancient Chinese,which makes it a living fossil for studying both languages in their early statement.Therefore,the study of Jiadong dialect can provide as a typical sample for language contact and language change,which signifies its significant theoretical and academic values.Until recently,the academic field still lacks a holistic recognition of the phonetic systems and phonetic change of Jiadong dialect.Being enlightened from the present studying situations,after the fieldwork carried out in 26 investigation locations distributed among the 12 counties in the border land of Guizhou,Hunan and Guangxi(Among the studied dialects,12 of them are Jiadong dialect,including Dong,10 of them are Hakka while the other 4 are Suantang dialect),the thesis studied and analyzed Jiadong dialect by applying the related theories and methods of contact linguistics,dialectal geography,historical linguistics and experimental phonetics.The thesis is divided into nine chapters.It also briefly covers the humanity history of the border land of the three provinces,the contact history between the two ethnic groups and mentions the origin of Dong minority.Apart from these,the thesis describes the phonetic system of Jiadong dialect,and the phonetic characteristics as well as its formation,essence and developing processes.Chapter one is the introduction,which briefly introduces the cultural and geographical statements,the language using situations of the border land of the three provinces.Besides,the present studies about Jiadong dialect are also mentioned in this chapter,which leads to the research purposes of the thesis,as well as the theories and methods used in the project.In the meantime,the thesis explains the sources and data we used in the project.Chapter two focuses not only on the origin of Dong minority,but also the long contact history between Dong minority and the Han,as well as a brief scratching of Hakka,which almost reached its modern morphology in Ming and Qing Dynasty by immigrations throughout the history.Chapter three introduces the possible phonetic systems related to the formation of Jiadong dialect.We include the systems of 10 Dong language,10 Hakka and 4Suantang dialects.Based on Chapter three,Chapter four describes the phonetic systems of Jiadong dialect from synchronic perspectives.The linguistic data and sources used in the thesis are mainly from Zhongzhai,Baojing,Panxi,Shidong,Pingqiu,Benli,Ruili,Gaozeng,Shuikou,Pingtan,Dupo,Dudong etc.,which locate throughout the 12 areas.Chapter five analyzes the phonetic characteristics of Jiadong dialect from the initial and final consonants,and the tones of Jiadong.It should be pointed out that the internal differences of Jiadong dialect lie in its initial consonants,which are categorized into the following types,such as the aspiration issues,the dentalization of Bang Group when coexist with –i-rhymes,the mixing and separation occur in Fei Group,and the phenomenon we came across such as the disappearance of the initial consonants.Besides,the tendency for plosives and fricatives in Zhi System,and the distinguishment between the dental and velar sounds are also discussed in this chapter.Chapter six compares the differences and similarities appearing in Jiadong,Hakka and Suantang dialect from the synchronic view.Being the dominant dialect,Hakka is the common communication tool used by all settlers living in the border land of the three provinces.While Jiadong,Suantang are respectively the native tongues of Dong minority and Suantang minority,which are the recipient dialects in the local areas.Therefore,it is natural for those dialects merging and approximating with the dominant Hakka.In the meantime,under the substratum impact of Dong,Jiadong remains the characteristics of Dong,as well.Being an independent subject,Chapter seven analyzes the present situation and changing process of Jing,Zhi,Zhuang,and Zhang Group in Jiadong by applying the theories from the contact linguistics,historical analytic hierarchy,and the concepts of the hierarchy in the heterogeneous are also referred to in the discussion.Chapter eight discusses the mechanisms in the formation of Jiadong dialect,the essence and the changing patterns during its development.Jiadong dialect is used during the communication between Dong minority,whose first language is Dong,and other settlers including Han ethnic group,which makes it a bilingual product of the contact between Dong minority and the Han.The shift-induced change in phonetic systems and borrowing are two main mechanisms happened in the formation of Jiadong dialect,which is also influenced and constrained by the factors from economy,culture and geography.And uni-directionality,convergence,dynamic property and simplicity are all features obtained by Jiadong dialect.We predict that the approximation from Jiadong dialect to south-western mandarin is the mainstream that will happen in the future,with assimilating with south-western mandarin being the ultimate climax.Being the conclusion of the thesis,Chapter nine makes the summaries and comes up with the author's opinions,the creativeness and the future research issues of the thesis.