DOCSLIB.ORG

Xiaomei Wang

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

LOCAL IDENTITY AND LANGUAGE ATTITUDE IN STANDARDIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM TIANJIN CHINESE TONE SANDHI By Xiaomei Wang A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partiaL fulfiLLment of the requirements for the degree of Linguistics—Doctor of PhiLosophy 2020 ABSTRACT LOCAL IDENTITY AND LANGUAGE ATTITUDE IN STANDARDIZATION: EVIDENCE FROM TIANJIN CHINESE TONE SANDHI By Xiaomei Wang This dissertation investigates the roles of LocaL identity, Language attitude, sociaL awareness, as weLL as sociaL meanings in diaLect change by examining Tianjin Chinese tone sandhi in apparent time. It studies the process by which LocaL variants become stigmatized and aLso the process by which LocaL features increase. Tianjin Chinese is in the process of standardization (Gao & Lu, 2003; Gu & Liu, 2003), but the current study finds that only stigmatized LocaL features are disappearing, whiLe an unmarked LocaL feature seems to be immune to standardization. I interpret this in Line with Labov’s (1972) study of Martha’s Vineyard, whereby traditionaL LocaL features may come to index resistance to standardization and to the incursion of new people into the speech community. Ninety sociolinguistic interviews, incLuding a word List, were conducted in Tianjin in the LocaL diaLect in 2014-16 (48f, age 18-82). Participants were categorized as ‘middle cLass’ or ‘working cLass’ using a combined measure of occupation, education and income. QuaLitative assessments of ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ were assigned to speakers’ attitudes to Tianjin and to migrants. The variables of the dissertation are three of the four traditionaL Tianjin tone sandhi, referred to as (53-53), (53-21) and (21-21) after their input tonaL vaLues respectiveLy. Application of the (53-53) and (53-21) variables produce LocaL outputs; non-application makes a speaker sound more Like a Standard Chinese speaker. The old output variant of (21-21) is traditionaL; the new variant is cLoser to Standard Chinese. 7462 tokens of (53-53), 5683 tokens of (53-21), and 4117 tokens of (21-21) were extracted from the interviews and word Lists (N = 17262). Tokens were impressionisticaLLy coded for the application or non-application of (53-53) and (53-21), and for the new or old variant of (21-21), and a subsample were checked in Praat. (53-53) application and the old variant of (21-21) have decreased substantiaLLy in frequency over time, probably because their outputs incLude or are simiLar to the most saLient Tianjin Low tone: Tone 1 (Han 1993). Mixed effects regression shows that they are avoided in word list style, by the middle cLass, by women, and by people with a negative attitude to Tianjin. In contrast, (53-21) has increased from 73.5% among speakers aged 65+, to 93% among speakers under 65. I speculate that because (53-21) is beLow public awareness, with LittLe style- shifting, it is avaiLable for ‘recycLing’ (Dubois & Horvath 2000) as a positive marker of ‘new’ Tianjin identity. Tianjin natives may be LinguisticaLLy contrasting themseLves with the many migrants who have moved to the city in the Last three decades, and indeed a negative attitude to migrants significantLy increases the likeLihood of (53-21) application in the regress. The reduction or eLimination of prominent stereotyped diaLect features has been observed in Languages with Large numbers of speakers, often because of migration and Language contacts (Hinskens, 1998). Unmarked diaLect features have been observed to persist or increase to keep LocaL identity (Labov 1972, Dubois & Horvath 2000). These two conflicting forces might Lead to a stable compromise diaLect (Hinskens, 1998). Here the case study of Tianjin Chinese tone sandhi aLso exhibits signs of changing to a compromise diaLect, with stereotyped LocaL features disappearing and unmarked LocaL features increasing, adding to the expanding number of non- Western case studies of Language change (Stanford & Preston, 2009) that support earlier generaLizations made from Western communities. Copyright by XIAOMEI WANG 2020 To my mother v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My gratitude goes to all the people who guided and encouraged me throughout my graduate study. First, I would Like to express my upmost gratitude to my co-chairs, Professor Yen-Hwei Lin and Professor Suzanne Evans Wagner. I have been richly blessed to have worked with them. I cannot thank them enough for their knowLedge, inspiration, patience and support. They have provided tremendous support at every stage of my graduate study aLong with heLping me immenseLy with my dissertation. This study would not have been complete without their creative ideas, thought-provoking comments, corrections and revisions. I am aLso indebted to my committee members, Professor Karthik Durvasula, Professor Deogratias Ngonyani and Professor Anne Violin-Wigent, who have offered their invaLuable time and expertise in heLping me. I would Like to thank Michigan State University for supporting me to complete my graduate study with generous grants and feLLowships. I would Like to thank Professor JiLun Lu (Tianjin NormaL University), Wenjie Guo, Professor Ruwei Tan (Tianjin NormaL University) and Professor Hong Chen (Tianjin University) for heLping me recruit participants. Last but not Least, I would Like to express my everlasting gratitude to my dearest mom and dad, Yanxiu Liu (刘炎秀) and Jinquan Wang (王锦泉), who beLieved in me and gave me their unconditionaL Love. I aLso want to thank my husband, Wei Wang (王伟), who has been there supporting me throughout this whole adventure with love, humor and wits. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The variables, research questions, and hypotheses of the current study ....................... 2 1.1.1 The sandhi variables ...................................................................................... 2 1.1.2 Research questions ......................................................................................... 5 1.1.3 Hypotheses ..................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Standardization, vernacular maintenance and migration .............................................. 7 1.3 Dissertation outLine ..................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2 The socio-economic environment of Tianjin diaLect .................................................... 15 2.1 Brief history of Tianjin city ....................................................................................... 16 2.2 Tianjin industry, economy and migration ................................................................... 18 2.3 The renovation of the urban area ................................................................................ 22 Chapter 3 Tianjin diaLect ............................................................................................................... 27 3.1 Tianjin lexicaL tones .................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Tianjin disylLabic tone sandhi ..................................................................................... 28 3.3 Language environment of Tianjin diaLect ................................................................... 29 3.4 Promotion of Putonghua ............................................................................................. 31 3.5 Attitudes to SC and Tianjin ......................................................................................... 32 3.6 Existing studies on Tianjin diaLect .............................................................................. 35 Chapter 4 Data colLection and methods ........................................................................................ 41 4.1 Speaker sample ........................................................................................................... 43 4.1.1 Sampling method ......................................................................................... 43 4.1.2 ELigibiLity criteria ......................................................................................... 45 4.1.3 Demographic characteristics ........................................................................ 45 4.1.3.1 Age ................................................................................................ 46 4.1.3.2 SociaL cLass ................................................................................... 47 4.1.4 Attitude to migrants and attitude to Tianjin diaLect ..................................... 49 4.1.4.1 Attitude to migrants ...................................................................... 49 4.1.4.2 Attitude to Tianjin diaLect ............................................................ 52 4.2 Interview and word list ............................................................................................... 54 4.2.1 The interview ............................................................................................... 56 4.2.2 The word list ................................................................................................ 58 4.3 Methodology ..............................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Tianjin Travel Guide

    Tianjin Travel Guide

    Tianjin Travel Guide Travel in Tianjin Tianjin (tiān jīn 天津), referred to as "Jin (jīn 津)" for short, is one of the four municipalities directly under the Central Government of China. It is 130 kilometers southeast of Beijing (běi jīng 北京), serving as Beijing's gateway to the Bohai Sea (bó hǎi 渤海). It covers an area of 11,300 square kilometers and there are 13 districts and five counties under its jurisdiction. The total population is 9.52 million. People from urban Tianjin speak Tianjin dialect, which comes under the mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese. Not only is Tianjin an international harbor and economic center in the north of China, but it is also well-known for its profound historical and cultural heritage. History People started to settle in Tianjin in the Song Dynasty (sòng dài 宋代). By the 15th century it had become a garrison town enclosed by walls. It became a city centered on trade with docks and land transportation and important coastal defenses during the Ming (míng dài 明代) and Qing (qīng dài 清代) dynasties. After the end of the Second Opium War in 1860, Tianjin became a trading port and nine countries, one after the other, established concessions in the city. Historical changes in past 600 years have made Tianjin an unique city with a mixture of ancient and modem in both Chinese and Western styles. After China implemented its reforms and open policies, Tianjin became one of the first coastal cities to open to the outside world. Since then it has developed rapidly and become a bright pearl by the Bohai Sea.
  • Representations of Cities in Republican-Era Chinese Literature

    Representations of Cities in Republican-Era Chinese Literature

    Representations of Cities in Republican-era Chinese Literature Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Hao Zhou, B.A. Graduate Program in East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2010 Thesis Committee: Kirk A. Denton, Advisor Heather Inwood Copyright by Hao Zhou 2010 Abstract The present study serves to explore the relationships between cities and literature by addressing the issues of space, time, and modernity in four works of fiction, Lao She’s Luotuo xiangzi (Camel Xiangzi, aka Rickshaw Boy), Mao Dun’s Ziye (Midnight), Ba Jin’s Han ye (Cold nights), and Zhang Ailing’s Qingcheng zhi lian (Love in a fallen city), and the four cities they depict, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hong Kong, respectively. In this thesis I analyze the depictions of the cities in the four works, and situate them in their historical and geographical contexts to examine the characteristics of each city as represented in the novels. In studying urban space in the literary texts, I try to address issues of the “imaginablity” of cities to question how physical urban space intertwines with the characters’ perception and imagination about the cities and their own psychological activities. These works are about the characters, the plots, or war in the first half of the twentieth century; they are also about cities, the human experience in urban space, and their understanding or reaction about the urban space. The experience of cities in Republican era fiction is a novel one, one associated with a new modern historical consciousness.
  • Phonological Elision in Malaysian Cantonese Casual Speech

    Phonological Elision in Malaysian Cantonese Casual Speech

    PHONOLOGICAL ELISION IN MALAYSIAN CANTONESE CASUAL SPEECH ONG YIN HSIAR NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2007 PHONOLOGICAL ELISION IN MALAYSIAN CANTONESE CASUAL SPEECH ONG YIN HSIAR (B. ARTS), UM A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF CHINESE STUDIES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2007 Acknowledgement How does a person say “thank you” when there are so many people to thank? This thesis is dedicated to my family, who encourage me to pursue my dream without a fear. They are my mentors and heroes that make my life complete. In my course of learning at NUS, I have had the benefit of wisdom from three supervisors. A/P Lee Cher Leng took me under her wing at the crucial moment when I was nearing completion of this research; Dr. Yan Xiuhong offered me insightful comments and guidance after my first supervisor Wee Lian Hee left NUS. But it was also Lian Hee who started me on the journey of Linguistics. Even though he had left NUS, modern technology had made it possible for me to obtain much help from him. I would have been lost if not for his suggestions and patience in keeping an eye almost word-by-word in my thesis. I would also like to thank everyone who contributed in any way to the completion of this project. I am particularly grateful for the National University of Singapore Research Scholarship (2005-2007), without which my life would be peppered with much physical hardship. On fieldwork, recordings and phonetic analyses, I am indebted to A/P Robbie Goh, Mr.
  • International Student Guide

    International Student Guide

    Contents CHAPTER I PREPARATIONS BEFORE COMING TO CHINA 1. VISA APPLICATION (1) Introduction to the Student Visa.......................................................................2 (2) Requirements for Visa Application..................................................................2 2. WHAT TO BRING (1) Materials Required for Registration.................................................................2 (2) Other Recommended Items.............................................................................3 3. BANKING INFORMATION AND CURRENCY OPERATIONS (1) Introduction to Chinese Currency....................................................................4 (2) Foreign Currency Exchange Sites and Convertible Currencies................4 (3) Withdrawal Limits of Bank Accounts................................................................5 (4) Wire Transfer Services........................................................................................5 4. ACCOMMODATION (1) Check-in Time......................................................................................................5 (2) On-Campus Accommodation....................................................................5 (3) Off-Campus Accommodation and Nearby Hotels.......................................8 (4) Questions and Answers about Accommodation (Q&A).............................9 CHAPTER II HOW TO GET TO TIANJIN UNIVERSITY 5. HOW TO ARRIVE................................................................................................12 (1). How to Get to Weijin
  • A Chinese Yuppie in Beijing: Phonological Variation and the Construction of a New Professional Identity Author(S): Qing Zhang Source: Language in Society, Vol

    A Chinese Yuppie in Beijing: Phonological Variation and the Construction of a New Professional Identity Author(S): Qing Zhang Source: Language in Society, Vol

    A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological Variation and the Construction of a New Professional Identity Author(s): Qing Zhang Source: Language in Society, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jun., 2005), pp. 431-466 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4169435 Accessed: 25-04-2016 23:59 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Language in Society This content downloaded from 171.67.216.23 on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 23:59:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Language in Society 34, 431-466. Printed in the United States of America DOI: 10.1017/S0047404505050153 A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity QING ZHANG Department of Linguistics Calhoun Hall 501 University of Texas at Austin I University Station B5100 Austin, IX 78712-1196 [email protected] ABSTRACT Recent sociolinguistic studies have given increased attention to the situated practice of members of locally based communities. Linguistic variation ex- amined tends to fall on a continuum between a territorially based "stan- dard" variety and a regional or ethnic vernacular.
  • Evidence from Tianjin Chinese Tone Sandhi

    Evidence from Tianjin Chinese Tone Sandhi

    University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 26 Issue 2 Selected Papers from New Ways of Article 17 Analyzing Variation (NWAV 48) 2020 Local Identity and Standardization: Evidence from Tianjin Chinese Tone Sandhi Xiaomei Wang Michigan State University Suzanne E. Wagner Michigan State University Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl Recommended Citation Wang, Xiaomei and Wagner, Suzanne E. (2020) "Local Identity and Standardization: Evidence from Tianjin Chinese Tone Sandhi," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 26 : Iss. 2 , Article 17. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol26/iss2/17 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol26/iss2/17 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Local Identity and Standardization: Evidence from Tianjin Chinese Tone Sandhi Abstract This paper studies the roles of local identity and language attitude in language change by examining Tianjin Chinese tone sandhi in apparent time (90 speakers, sociolinguistic interviews, born 1932-1996). Previous studies on Tianjin Chinese indicated that some dialect features were decreasing in frequency over time (Gao and Lu 2003, Gu and Liu 2003, X. Wang 2017), but some other dialect features were increasing (Shi and Wang 2004, X. Wang 2017). Why are local features of Tianjin dialect changing in different directions under the same social and linguistic conditions? We propose that the influence of Standard Chinese (SC) and negative attitude to Tianjin dialect make the stereotyped local features decrease, while the desire to keep local identity, especially when facing a large number of migrants, makes the unmarked local features increase.
  • Shanghai, China Overview Introduction

    Shanghai, China Overview Introduction

    Shanghai, China Overview Introduction The name Shanghai still conjures images of romance, mystery and adventure, but for decades it was an austere backwater. After the success of Mao Zedong's communist revolution in 1949, the authorities clamped down hard on Shanghai, castigating China's second city for its prewar status as a playground of gangsters and colonial adventurers. And so it was. In its heyday, the 1920s and '30s, cosmopolitan Shanghai was a dynamic melting pot for people, ideas and money from all over the planet. Business boomed, fortunes were made, and everything seemed possible. It was a time of breakneck industrial progress, swaggering confidence and smoky jazz venues. Thanks to economic reforms implemented in the 1980s by Deng Xiaoping, Shanghai's commercial potential has reemerged and is flourishing again. Stand today on the historic Bund and look across the Huangpu River. The soaring 1,614-ft/492-m Shanghai World Financial Center tower looms over the ambitious skyline of the Pudong financial district. Alongside it are other key landmarks: the glittering, 88- story Jinmao Building; the rocket-shaped Oriental Pearl TV Tower; and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The 128-story Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China (and, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the second-tallest in the world). Glass-and-steel skyscrapers reach for the clouds, Mercedes sedans cruise the neon-lit streets, luxury- brand boutiques stock all the stylish trappings available in New York, and the restaurant, bar and clubbing scene pulsates with an energy all its own. Perhaps more than any other city in Asia, Shanghai has the confidence and sheer determination to forge a glittering future as one of the world's most important commercial centers.
  • Tianjin WLAN Area

    Tianjin WLAN Area

    Tianjin WLAN area NO. SSID Location_Name Location_Type Location_Address City Province 1 ChinaNet Tianjin City Nine Dragons Paper Ltd. No. 1 Dormitory Building Others Nine Dragons Road, Economic Development Zone, Ninghe County, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City 2 ChinaNet Tianjin City Hebei District Kunwei Road Telecom Business Hall Telecom's Own No.3, Kunwei Road, Hebei District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City 3 Chiat Tianjin Polytechnic University Heping Campus Office Building School No.1, Xizang Road, Heping District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City 4 Chiat Tianjin City Heping District Jiayi Apartment No.4 Building Business Building Jiayi Apartment, Diantai Road, Heping District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City Tianjin City Hexi District Institute of Foreign Economic Relations and 5 Chiat School Zhujiang Road, Hexi District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City Trade 6 Chiat Tianjin City Hexi District Tiandu Gem Bath Center Hotel Zijinshan Road, Hexi District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City 7 Chiat Tianjin City Hexi District Rujia Yijun Hotel Hotel No.1, Xuzhou Road , Hexi District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City Government agencies 8 Chiat Tianjin City Hexi District Tianbin Business Center Binshui Road, Hexi District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City and other institutions 9 Chiat Tianjin City Hexi District Science and Technology Mansion Business Building Youyi Road, Hexi District, Tianjin Tianjin City Tianjin City 10 Chiat Tianjin City Beichen District Shengting Hotel Hotel Sanqian Road and Xinyibai Road, Beichen District,
  • Issues in the Analysis of Chinese Tone Jie Zhang* Department of Linguistics, the University of Kansas

    Issues in the Analysis of Chinese Tone Jie Zhang* Department of Linguistics, the University of Kansas

    Language and Linguistics Compass 4/12 (2010): 1137–1153, 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2010.00259.x Issues in the Analysis of Chinese Tone Jie Zhang* Department of Linguistics, The University of Kansas Abstract Chinese tone has played an important role in the development of phonological theory from dis- tinctive features and autosegmental phonology to Optimality Theory and its various adaptations. This article reviews some past and current issues in the analysis of Chinese tone and points out how the development of theoretical phonology has shaped the highs and lows of this research enterprise. To fruitfully proceed into the future, I plead to phonologists working in this area to cultivate a new respect for empirical data based on well-designed phonetic and psycholinguistic studies. This is necessitated by the observations that speakers’ knowledge of tone and tone sandhi may not be identical to their patterns in the lexicon, and impressionistic transcriptions, no matter how careful, can be inaccurate. Moreover, patterns of tone in Chinese are rich in variation, gradi- ence, and exceptions due to dialectal contact and the influence from the dominant Standard Chi- nese, and existing research has shown that the productivity of Chinese tone sandhi patterns is influenced by both categorical factors such as phonological opacity and gradient factors such as the phonetic nature and the frequency of usage of the sandhi. An empirical basis built around these issues will allow the study of Chinese tone to make continued contributions to the development of phonological theory and our understanding of speakers’ phonological knowledge. 1. Introduction It is well known that Chinese languages are tonal, in that the pitch with which a syllable is uttered can cue meaning differences.
  • China's City Winners

    China's City Winners

    WORLD WINNING CITIES Global Foresight Series 2013 China’s City Winners Tianjin City Profile 2 China’s City Winners China’s City Winners: Tianjin Jones Lang LaSalle’s View One of the most puzzling aspects of the current cycle is the lack of quality office space. The construction of office buildings is currently When we published our first World Winning Cities profile in 2006, dominated by domestic developers who almost exclusively sell them Tianjin was a city with a strong but generic industrial base, a strata title. As a result, the leading office towers have maintained decent port and some tired real estate stock. Times have certainly occupancy rates in excess of 90% and MNCs have few options for changed, although international real estate investors have been slow expansion. to get the message. Tianjin’s Binhai New Area is another example of a little understood Since 2007, the economy has more than doubled in size and the and poorly marketed area that has not helped the city’s image. city is now home to what is arguably China’s largest aerospace Central to Tianjin’s economy, but located on its eastern edge, the manufacturing cluster. As the industrial base has continued to grow key industrial area has been widely panned for its attempt to create other sectors such as tourism have taken off. Multiple five-star the Yujiapu Financial District. Some of the criticism is well deserved, hotels dot the riverside and Tianjin’s former Italian concession is but projects with 20 year timelines seldom look great only three now a popular pedestrian retail area.
  • THE MEDIA's INFLUENCE on SUCCESS and FAILURE of DIALECTS: the CASE of CANTONESE and SHAAN'xi DIALECTS Yuhan Mao a Thesis Su

    THE MEDIA's INFLUENCE on SUCCESS and FAILURE of DIALECTS: the CASE of CANTONESE and SHAAN'xi DIALECTS Yuhan Mao a Thesis Su

    THE MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF DIALECTS: THE CASE OF CANTONESE AND SHAAN’XI DIALECTS Yuhan Mao A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Language and Communication) School of Language and Communication National Institute of Development Administration 2013 ABSTRACT Title of Thesis The Media’s Influence on Success and Failure of Dialects: The Case of Cantonese and Shaan’xi Dialects Author Miss Yuhan Mao Degree Master of Arts in Language and Communication Year 2013 In this thesis the researcher addresses an important set of issues - how language maintenance (LM) between dominant and vernacular varieties of speech (also known as dialects) - are conditioned by increasingly globalized mass media industries. In particular, how the television and film industries (as an outgrowth of the mass media) related to social dialectology help maintain and promote one regional variety of speech over others is examined. These issues and data addressed in the current study have the potential to make a contribution to the current understanding of social dialectology literature - a sub-branch of sociolinguistics - particularly with respect to LM literature. The researcher adopts a multi-method approach (literature review, interviews and observations) to collect and analyze data. The researcher found support to confirm two positive correlations: the correlative relationship between the number of productions of dialectal television series (and films) and the distribution of the dialect in question, as well as the number of dialectal speakers and the maintenance of the dialect under investigation. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to express sincere thanks to my advisors and all the people who gave me invaluable suggestions and help.
  • Experimental Research on Bi-Syllable Tone of Dingxi Dialect in Gansu Province

    Experimental Research on Bi-Syllable Tone of Dingxi Dialect in Gansu Province

    2019 5th International Conference on Education, Management and Information Technology (ICEMIT 2019) Experimental Research on Bi-Syllable Tone of Dingxi Dialect in Gansu Province Ying Lia, Yonghong Lib, * Key Laboratory of China's Ethnic Languages and Information Technology of Ministry of Education, Northwest Minzu University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730030, China [email protected], [email protected] *Corresponding author Keywords: Dingxi dialect, bi-syllable tone, tone sandhi Abstract: This paper mainly uses the combination of acoustic experiment and auditory perception to analyze the bi-syllable tone of Dingxi dialect. The main purpose is to reveal the phonetic facts and rules of its transposition. There are 11 basic transposition forms in the dissyllabic phrases of Dingxi dialect, including 4 kinds of level tone category, 3 kinds of rising tone category, and 4 kinds of departure tone category. 1. Introduction Dingxi City, located in the central part of Gansu Province, was the important town of the ancient “Silk Road” and was known as the “Gansu Throat and Lanzhou Gateway”. Dingxi dialect belongs to the Central Plains’ Mandarin and it is also a sub-dialect of the Qinlong section. There are mainly researches on its phonetic. Zhang Wenxuan and Deng Wenjing (2005) summarized the phonetic system and compared it with the Beijing dialect to highlight the phonetic features of Dingxi dialect. Sun Lixin (2014) analyzed the rhythm, different reading and bi-syllable tone of it from the perspective of diachronic and synchronic. With the rapid development of experimental phonetics, the tone of dialects is quantitatively analyzed in the form of experimental methods and data. This will not only deepen people's understanding of the tone of Chinese dialects, but also better learn and promote Mandarin.