A Comparative Study Of Tongtai Dialect And Northern Wu Phonetic Rhyme

The main research object of this paper is the transitional language between Jianghuai mandarin and Wu dialect—Tongtai dialect.Tongtai dialect is mainly distributed in central Jiangsu,including Nantong,Rudong,Rugao,Taixing,Hai’an,Dongtai,Dafeng,Xinghua,Jiangyan and Taizhou.Its voice is far from Mandarin.The northern wu dialect is mainly distributed in the southern part of Jiangsu Province,including the whole city of Shanghai and the northern part of Zhejiang Province.Because it is located in the northern part of the Wu dialect,it also be called the Taihu Wu dialect or the Taihu part of the Wu dialect.It’s the largest dialect in the Wu dialect.From the perspective of geographical distribution,Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect are largely bounded by the Yangtze River.The south of the Yangtze River is basically classified into the northern Wu dialect.The north of the Yangtze River is included into Tongtai dialect.However,it is not possible to make absolute distinctions in terms of geography in dialect division.As the dialect that have been greatly influenced by the northern Wu dialect,Tongtai dialect of the Jianghuai Mandarin has a lot in common with Wu dialect in terms of its phonological and lexical features,so it is difficult to determine the homology lines of the two dialects.Moreover,according to historical records,the Tongtai area originally belonged to the state of Wu in the history.Due to the invasion of northern immigrants,Wu dialect moved southward,which further affected the linguistic nature of the present Tongtai area.However,many features of the Wu dialect can still be found at the bottom of its dialect.Based on the special underlying nature of the Wu dialect,this paper takes the Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect,a total of twelve dialect points,as the specific research objects.And start from the perspective of cross-dialect comparison,take the medieval phonology as the reference point and the modern phonology as the evolution point,use a combined method of synchronic description and historical comparison to make a description,comparison and analysis of the phonetic types,characteristics and rules of phonetic evolution in the phonological systems of the Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect,look for individual and common characteristics between the two.Then we can summarize the special characteristics of the phonology of the Tongtai dialect,which as transitional language of Jianghuai Mandarin and Wu dialect,clarify the gradual change course of Jianghuai Mandarin,Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect.On this basis,the final part will explore the nature of Tongtai dialect.This paper comprises five chapters:The first chapter is Introduction,briefly introducing the geographical location and general situation of Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect,summarizing the previous research results of predecessors,and explaining the purpose,significance and method of this paper.The second chapter summarizes characteristics of personality of Tongtai dialect from the perspective of synchronic description,compares the six dialect points of Tongtai dialect with the six dialect points of the northern Wu dialect,and looks for the personality characteristics of Tongtai dialect that are different from both northern Wu dialect and Jianghuai Mandarin.For example,the devoicing of Middle Chinese voiced initials is aspirate,regardless of level and oblique tones.Chapter 3 to Chapter 4 compares the common types of phonetic evolution between the Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect from the diachronic perspective of the evolution of phonology,and explores the common preservation of the medieval phonology in the evolution of phonology,such as the preservation of Yi finals.And common phonetic evolution,such as MC Jian group initials in the Kaikou 2^nddivision have the literal and colloquial readings.Finally,to reflect the closer relationship between Tongtai dialect and the northern Wu dialect.Chapter 5 is the conclusion of this paper.It discusses the homologous relationship between Tongtai dialect and Hakka dialect from the perspective of its individual characteristics and discusses its underlying nature of Wu dialect from the perspective of its common characteristics.