The Comparative Phonology Of Dialects Along The Xihe River In Nanchong Municipal District

At present,there is a dispute in the academic circles about the origin and relationship between Southwest Mandarin dialects retaining the enter tone(入声调)and Southwest Mandarin dialects merging the enter tone(入声调)into Yangping tone(阳平调)in Sichuan and Chongqing.In order to solve this debate,it is needed that not only make clear the origin between these dialects,but also explain their later evolution,differentiation and contact influence.Similar to the Southwest Mandarin in other parts of Sichuan and Chongqing,there are also similarities and differences in phonology and phonetics between the various dialects along the Xihe River,and those dialects also have differences between retaining the enter tone(入声调)and merging the enter tone into Yangping tone(阳平调).Their phonetic characteristics are the same as those of other Southwest Mandarin in Sichuan and Chongqing,and their phonetic differences are relatively large from the overall situation of Southwest Mandarin in Sichuan and Chongqing.Taking the dialects along the Xihe River as the object of comparative study,this paper discusses the similarities and differences of the dialects along the Xihe River in terms of origin,evolution and differentiation,contact and influence,etc.,which can provide some enlightenment for solving the related debates on southwest Mandarin in Sichuan area.In addition,it is found that there will be some contradictions in the classification of dialects along the Xihe River by using the previous standard of phonetics of Southwest Mandarin in Sichuan and Chongqing.Therefore,based on the discussion of the evolution,differentiation,contact and influence of dialects along the Xihe River,this paper reviews the causes of this problem,and puts forward a new standard to classify dialects along the Xihe River.This paper mainly includes the following three aspects:First of all,this paper lists the phonology of four representative dialects along the Xihe River,compares their common features and differences in phonetics,and discusses the causes of these common features and differences;Then,based on the common characteristics and differences of the dialects along the Xihe River,combined with historical documents,this paper discusses the similarities and differences of the dialects along the Xihe River in terms of their origins,evolution and differentiation,and contact and influence.This paper argues that dialects along the Xihe river have an earlier common origin and their present differences are later produced.The dialects along the Xihe River have different degrees of literary versus colloquial distinction(文白异读),which reflects the influence of the authoritative dialects on the dialects along the Xihe River;Finally,based on the discussion of the evolution,differentiation and contact influence of dialects along the Xihe River,this paper reviews the problems of classification of dialects along the Xihe River only by the standard of the enter tone,and proposes that when classifying dialects along the Xihe River,the merging direction of first division of shan rhyme group’s hekou(山摄合口)and the merging degree of rhymes of the enter tone(入声韵)along the Xihe River should be considered.In addition,some thoughts on the division of Southwest Mandarin in Sichuan are put forward.