Study On The Phonetics Of Fenghua Chunhu Dialect In Zhejiang

The Chunhu Street is a subordinate administrative division of Fenghua District in Ningbo City,Zhejiang Province,located on the north bank of Xiangshan Port and southeast of Fenghua District.This article specifically refers to the dialect spoken in the Chunhu Street area,which,according to the "Chinese Language Atlas-Chinese Dialects Volume"(2012),belongs to the Yongjiang sub-dialect of the Taihu dialect of Wu Chinese.Based on field investigations,this article systematically describes the sound,tone,and syllable system,phonological rules,phonetic characteristics,literary and colloquial pronunciations,and sound changes in Chunhu dialect.It also compiles a homophone lexicon.On the synchronic level,this article compares and analyzes the differences between the traditional and modern sub-dialects of Chunhu dialect,as well as the differences between Chunhu dialect and the inland dialects of Fenghua,to present the internal variation of Fenghua dialects.It also compares Chunhu dialect with Mandarin Chinese to highlight its unique features and provide a reference for Chunhu people learning Mandarin.On the diachronic level,this article compares Chunhu dialect with Middle Chinese to demonstrate the historical phonetic evolution of Chunhu dialect and enrich the research of Fenghua and Wu Chinese phonetics.The article is divided into seven chapters.Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the geographic location,historical background,and phonetic characteristics of Chunhu dialect.It also discusses the current research status of Yongjiang branch phonology and the dialect of Fenghua,and explains the research significance and methodology of this paper.Chapter 2 systematically describes the phonetic system of Chunhu dialect,including 29 initial consonants,40 vowels,and eight tones.It summarizes the sandhi rules,phonetic characteristics,and lexical tone changes of Chunhu dialect.Additionally,it lists the homophones in Chunhu dialect and demonstrates the differences between the old and new versions of the dialect.Chapter 3 analyzes the tone changes that occur when two words are combined in Chunhu dialect.It categorizes 21 types of tone changes,including changes to the initial and final syllables,as well as changes to both syllables.Chapter 4 provides a comparison between Chunhu dialect and the inland dialect of Fenghua.By comparing the phonetics,rhymes,and tones of the Chunhu dialect and the urban dialect of Fenghua,this chapter highlights the dialect differences between the coastal and inland areas of Fenghua,and further emphasizes the dialect features of the Chunhu dialect in terms of its geographical location.The number and types of initials and tones in the Chunhu dialect and the urban dialect of Fenghua are the same,with identical initials and tone types but with slight differences in tone values.However.there are differences in the number and pronunciation of the finals between the two dialects.The urban dialect of Fenghua has a total of 43 finals.with the final-n being realized as a nasal sound after losing the finals-an and-ang,and the actual pronunciation of the final-η being at the front of the mouth.The Chunhu dialect has a total of 40 finals,with the final-n being realized as an oral sound after losing the finals-an and-ang,and the actual pronunciation of the final-η being at the back of the mouth.Chapter 5 compares Chunhu dialect with Mandarin Chinese in terms of sound,tone,and phonology.It provides a specific comparison and analysis of the differences and similarities between the Chunhu dialect and Mandarin in terms of phonetics,rhymes,and tones.The Chunhu dialect has a set of voiced initials that Mandarin does not have,and these voiced initials do not distinguish between plain and retroflex sounds.The number of finals in the Chunhu dialect is slightly more than in Mandarin,with more complex correspondences between the two.The tone system of the Chunhu dialect is divided into four tones and eight tone patterns based on the distinction between voiced and unvoiced initials,which is four more tones than Mandarin.Chapter 6 compares Chunhu dialect with Middle Chinese in terms of sound,tone,and phonology.It provides a specific comparison and analysis of the differences and similarities between the Chunhu dialect and Middle Chinese in terms of phonetics,rhymes,and tones,revealing the historical evolution of the Chunhu dialect.The Chunhu dialect retains 11 voiced initials from Middle Chinese,without distinguishing between the pointed and rounded retroflex sounds.The finals-an,-ang,and-ong from the Xian,Shan,and Dang rhymes have completely disappeared,with the main vowels becoming oral sounds,and the final-?from the entering tone rhyme being the only remaining final,without distinguishing between the front and back nasal sounds.The tone system of the Chunhu dialect corresponds neatly to the four tones and eight tone patterns of Middle Chinese.Chapter 7 explores the formation of phonological characteristics in the Chunhu dialect through migration history.By sorting out the migration history of the coastal areas of Fenghua and combining it with the phonological characteristics of the Chunhu dialect,we can roughly infer that the fricativization of the initial consonant/t/th//d/in the Chunhu dialect may have been influenced by the Jiangsu-Jianghuai Mandarin,and the loss of the initial consonant/l/in the character“来”(lái)may have been influenced by the Tairu variant of the Jianghuai Mandarin.The retention of the-η rhyme in the Shen and Zeng series is a phonological feature of the Yongjiang small dialects around the 20th century.In the conclusion section,a summary of the entire article is provided.