Longxian Phonetic Study

Longxian County is located in the most western end of Shaanxi Province, affiliated to Baoji City. As a sub-dialect of the Guanzhong dialect of West Shaanxi, Longxian dialect is described as "sharing significant commonness with but also minor differences from Guanzhong dialect of the West Shaanxi." As for the current research, yet there is no systematic and detailed descriptive data of Longxian dialect features. It is thus clear that Longxian dialect speech research is still a blank, on which comprehensive and in-depth study is urgent to be done.Based on first-hand data from field survey and guided by science of Chinese Dialectology, Phonetics, Phonology and Comparative Linguistics theory, this research is done qualitatively and quantitatively, descriptively and interpretatively, synchronically and diachronically. With the description of phonetic system of Longxian dialect and comparison with the dialect of surrounding areas, through the ancient and modern contrast, my research further explores its current phonetic characteristics and evolution pattern in all ages, so that our understanding of Longxian dialect speech can be more accurate and more comprehensive.This paper consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction part, serving as a brief account of the geography and history of Longxian County, an overview of the current study status on Longxian Dialect and internal differences of its phonetic system; the second chapter describes its phonology comprehensively; the third chapter is its homophones; the fourth chapter explores its phonetic evolution and patterns since ancient time and also concludes its phonetic features; the last chapter contrasts the current initial consonants of zhi, zhuang, and zhang with that in dialects of surrounding regions to explore the evolution of initial consonants of zhi, zhuang, and zhou in Longxian Dialect.