Hefright Dissertation FINAL
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Language contact as bilingual contrast among Bái language users in Jiànchuān County, China by Brook Emerson Hefright A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Linguistics) in The University of Michigan 2011 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Robin M. Queen, Chair Professor Sarah G. Thomason Associate Professor William H. Baxter Associate Professor Barbra A. Meek Dedication For Susan H. Sanderson, who taught me that we only get so much energy, and for Sean McEnroe, who always reminds me to use it for things that matter. ii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of so many. I would like to thank my advisor and chair of my dissertation committee, Robin Queen, who has always known exactly when to offer encouragement and when to ask the Gretchenfrage. I also wish to thank Bill Baxter for introducing me to Chinese historical linguistics, and Barb Meek for guiding me through some of the classics in linguistic anthropology. I owe special thanks to Sally Thomason for taking the chance that Michigan might be the right fit for a nontraditional student with an unusual academic and professional background. Without the inspiration of Yáng Xiǎo, Yáng Sōnghǎi, and other Bái friends in Kūnmíng, I might never have found found my way to Jiànchuān. Yù Jiànxīn oversaw my Chinese studies at Yúnnán Nationalities University, and came through with the right document at the right time on several occasions. I was also fortunate to fall into the powerful Dutch orbit of Renée Snijders, Paula Katipana, Henriette Buist, Bólóng and Zhùlǐ Jīn, and many other friends who kept me fed, rested, enlightened, and entertained during a very gezellig sojourn in Yúnnán. My research would never have gotten off the ground without the support of many local academics and officials in Yúnnán. At Yúnnán University, Yáng Hǎicháo, Yáng Lìquán, and Duàn Bǐngchāng provided academic sponsorship for my project, while Mǎ Lǐ guided me through the daunting process of obtaining fieldwork permission. In this iii connection, I also benefited from the advice of Duàn Líng, retired from Dàlǐ Institute, and Zhāng Xiá at the Yúnnán Provincial Minority Language Guidance Committee. I am indebted to the Yúnnán University graduate students in linguistics who welcomed me into their discussion group, and in particular to Pǔ Róng and Huáng Yǎjìng, who went out of their way to help me find my place at the university. I am indebted to Yáng Dānyuán, and particularly to her father, Yáng Jiànchāng, for offering their beautiful courtyard house as a base for my research. I am also deeply grateful to Chéng Tíngyù and her family, Zhào Yìpíng and her father, Zhào Wàngbǎo, and Yáng Lěi and his father, Yáng Bǎozhōng, for helping to make Jīnhuá a home away from home. Wú Yùnxīn, for his part, shared many thoughtful insights on being Bái from his porch outside of Shāxī. While I was in the field, Mary Erbaugh generously shipped me a DVD of the “Pear Story” film purely “for the sake of scholarship.” And without the contributions of Táng Hǎichūn and Yáng Guāngzhèng, this dissertation would have been far poorer, if possible at all. I must make special mention of the work of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) East Asia Group, who are at the forefront in documenting endangered languages in Yúnnán. Bryan Allen was unfailingly encouraging, and Keith Slater was generous both with his conversation and the resources of SIL’s library; I will never be able to thank Sūn Yànhuì adequately for her assistance in reproducing materials for me. In Jīnhuá, I enjoyed getting to know Lisa Walters, Elizabeth Lee, and the other international participants in the Bái mother-tongue education project, who have devoted their time and talents to fostering vernacular literacy in Bái. iv Closer to home, I am grateful to my father, Ed Hefright, for encouraging me in my decision to return to graduate school, for taking care of my cat while I was in the field, and for fantastic meals during two intense writing retreats in Beaver, Pennsylvania. I am also grateful to Sam McWilliams for offering me a workspace in her studio, where I benefited from the placid surroundings and her focused example. Last but not least, I could never have made it this far without the love and support of my partner, Sean McEnroe, who endured eighteen months of separation and eighteen months of writing with good grace and an amazing sense of humor. For all of you, 海内存知己,天涯若比 邻. v Table of Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... ix List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. x List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Exploring language in Jiànchuān .............................................................. 10 2.1 Ethnicity in China .............................................................................................................. 10 2.2 The Bái ................................................................................................................................ 16 2.3 The field site ....................................................................................................................... 21 2.4 Fieldwork conditions ......................................................................................................... 33 2.4.1 Regulatory supervision ................................................................................................. 36 2.4.2 Funding ......................................................................................................................... 37 2.5 Research methods .............................................................................................................. 37 2.5.1 Recording of spontaneous conversation ....................................................................... 39 2.5.2 Narrative elicitation ...................................................................................................... 40 2.5.3 Structured interviews .................................................................................................... 43 2.5.4 Collection and recording of texts ................................................................................. 43 2.5.5 Semi-structured interviews and participant observation .............................................. 44 Chapter 3: Previous research on Bái ............................................................................ 45 3.1 Studies of Bái prior to the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) ......................................... 46 3.1.1 Prior to the founding of the PRC (1949) ...................................................................... 46 3.1.2 From the founding of the PRC until the Cultural Revolution (1949-1966) ................. 49 3.2 Language classification studies ......................................................................................... 54 3.2.1 The “Loloish” position ................................................................................................. 57 3.2.2 Other “Tibeto-Burman” positions ................................................................................ 62 3.2.3 “Sinitic” positions ......................................................................................................... 68 3.2.4 “Mixed language” positions ......................................................................................... 70 3.2.5 Other historical-linguistic studies ................................................................................. 74 3.2.6 Evaluation ..................................................................................................................... 78 3.3 Descriptive, typological, and formal studies .................................................................... 79 3.3.1 Phonetics and phonology .............................................................................................. 81 3.3.2 Morphosyntax and discourse ........................................................................................ 84 3.3.3 Lexicon ......................................................................................................................... 86 3.4 Socially oriented studies .................................................................................................... 87 3.4.1 Language in education .................................................................................................. 88 3.4.2 Language use and attitudes ........................................................................................... 89 Chapter 4: Theoretical context ...................................................................................... 94 vi 4.1 “A definite language” ........................................................................................................ 95 4.2 La langue as “code” ........................................................................................................