A Study On The Evolution Of "Si(?)u T(?)"(??) In Handan Dialect From The Perspective Of Historical Linguistics

Language is on constant change.Language evolution is not only affected by the unbalanced development within language system,but also non-linguistic factors such as language contact.Handan,a city with a long history,is located at the junction of Shanxi,Hebei,Shandong and Henan provinces.Handan dialect is in the transitional zone of many dialects,leading to both the stability and variability of Handan dialect.The kinship addressing term "si(?)u t(?)"(??)is a representative word used frequently in people's daily life.Previous studies on Handan dialect mainly focus on the static description of the speech sound,rarely involving the specific evolution of a specific word.This thesis aims to explore the motivations and mechanisms behind language evolution based on the historical evolution of the kinship addressing term "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect from the perspective of Historical Linguistics.Based on Language Contact Theory,Lexical Diffusion Theory and Lexicalization Theory,this thesis focuses on the imbalance of the internal structure of language as well as the external factors such as social and historical factors to study the motivations and mechanisms of language evolution.The purpose of this study is to answer the following three questions.Firstly,what is the origin of the kinship term "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect?Secondly,what are the motivations that influence the evolution of the word"si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect?Thirdly,what are the mechanisms behind the evolution of the word "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect?In order to find out the evolution of "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect,this study adopts the literature review method and field investigation method.Firstly,this study uses literature review method to collect all kinds of relevant ancient books,novels and other literature materials about the addressing term "ci fu"(??)in Mandarin.Through the analysis,this thesis obtains the process and reasons of the diachronic evolution of"ci fu"(??)in Mandarin.At the same time,in order to conduct a detailed investigation and analysis of "si(?)u t(?)”(??),the author also collects living data about the usage of "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect through field investigation.In addition.the similarities and differences of "si(?)u t(?)"(??)among the different counties of Handan,as well as that between the old generation and the young generation are found by comparative analysis.By investigating the historical evolution of the word "ci fu"(??),the author finds that "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect evolves from "ci fu ts(?)"(???).Its special geographical location,historical and cultural factors,and different attitudes of language users all lead to the differences and evolution of the word "si(?)u t(?)"(??).Furthermore,its evolution is affected by the following mechanisms,namely reanalysis,character generalization,syllable contraction,complementation and competition.Through the detailed analysis of "si(?)u t(?)"(??)in Handan dialect,this thesis analyzes the motivations and mechanisms behind the language evolution and explores the law of language evolution further.