The Geographical Distribution And Social Variation Of The Dialect Responsive Words "Zhong"(中)and "Guan"(管)in Henan Province

In addition to the represent word "zhong"(中)in Henan dialect responsive words,there is another important word "guan"(管),they all means "ok, yes, good". In this paper,we use counseling, interviews, questionnaires and other research methods to make a study of the responsive words "zhong"(中)and "guan"(管).It is under the guidance of sociolinguistic theory of language variation. The main contents include three parts:Firstly, the analysis of "zhong"(中)and "guan"(管). "Zhong"(中)began as a responsive word at least in Han Dynasty. Henan dialect choose its positive features as response, "zhong"( 中) has agreed appreciation function, answer function,confirmation function, politeness function, concessional function, ironical function,discourse cohesion function. When "guan"( 管) began as a responsive word is unknown, but it is also has this kind of usage in Jiangsu, Anhui area. It is the same with all of the above responsive function except ironical function.Secondly, draw the geographical distribution map of "zhong"(中)and "guan"(管). We draw out the geographical distribution map of "zhong"(中)and "guan"(管)by 18 City 126 administrative units four survey,Diagram shows that it forms three more regular geographical levels, namely from west to East, just say "zhong"(中)-- "zhong/guan" Coexist-- just say "guan"(管). Henan’s entire northern,western, central, and southwestern all say "zhong"(中); the eastern, southeastern area formed zone of "guan"(管); and in the middle and east of Henan, it is the zone of "zhong/guan" coexistence.Thirdly, the social variation of "zhong"(中)and "guan"(管). We choose Kaifeng urban, Qixian Country, Fuji Zhen tian viallage as representative places for our investigation. Through the questionnaire survey, on-site consultation, individual interviews and other forms, we investigate the language user’s language using,language preferences and language evaluation. while combined with such social variables as gender, age, education level, occupation and the experience of out we gothrough a comprehensive analysis of the survey results.The results shows that: the use of "zhong"(中)is in dominant position, "guan"(管)mainly using in rural areas, from the countryside to the county to the city, "guan"(管) move slowly to the "zhong"(中). Occupation, experience of outing has not to much relationship with the "zhong/ guan". Generally, highly educated people say "guan"(管)is relatively small, the old man say "guan"(管)more and they also feel it pleasant to hear. Women say "guan"(管)more often than men, but they didn’t think it sounds good. On the whole, there has been a change in trend, from "guan" to "zhong"(中), "guan" to "ok " and "zhong" to " ok".