A Study On The Origin Of The Neutral Tone In Beijing Dialect

Scholars have different viewpoints on the origin of Beijing dialect. Some of them think that Beijing dialect is derived from the inherent system of Chinese language, just in the same manner as other Chinese dialects, while others think that Beijing dialect is exceptional among all the Chinese dialects because Beijing dialect evolves under the strong influence from Altaic languages (especially Manchu language), therefore Beijing dialect should be regarded as "Chinese words, alien pronunciation" The neutral tone, as one important phonetic phenomena of Beijing dialect, its historical origin is also under such a dispute. This thesis attempts to take the neutral tone as an example to judge whether the neutral tone of Beijing dialect has the so-called "alien peculiarity" and on this basis, further evaluate the extent of Manchu language’s influence on the evolution of Beijing dialect. This thesis includes six chapters:ChapterⅠ is the exordium, including four parts.(1) Introduce the different viewpoints on the origin of Beijing dialect.(2) Review the previous achievements of theoretical researches and experimental phonetic researches on the neutral tone of Beijing dialect, and summarize the acoustic characteristics of the neutral tone of Beijing dialect.(3)Define the concepts of the terms "Beijing Dialect" and "Neutral Tone" in this thesis.(4) Classify the neutral tone of Chinese language into "Regular Neutral Tone" and "Irregular Neutral Tone’Chapter Ⅱ, by analyzing the previous investigations on the Chinese neural tone’s historical evolution, points out that, the neutral tone of Beijing dialect is derived from the inherent system of Chinese language.Chapter Ⅲ, by the comparison between Beijing dialect and other Chinese dialects on the aspects of the neutral tone’s acoustic characteristics and distribution on the vocabulary, points out the common traits of the neutral tones of Beijing dialect and other Chinese dialects.Chapter Ⅳ takes Zhao Jie’s research as an example, by making a concrete analysis of the evidence and demonstrating logic of the "Unstressed Syllable of Manchu Style" theory, points out that this theory fails to commend itself to reason.Chapter Ⅴ summarizes the arguments above, and draws to conclusion:The neutral tone of Beijing dialect is not the so-called "Unstressed Syllable of Manchu Style", it is derived from the inherent system of Chinese language and it evolves in accordance with the developing law of Chinese language.