Shaoguan Tuhua, a Local Vernacular of Northern Guangdong Province, China: A New Look from a Quantitative and Contact Linguistic Perspective Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Litong Chen, B.A. Graduate Program in East Asian Languages and Literatures The Ohio State University 2012 Thesis Committee: Marjorie K. M. Chan, Advisor Donald Winford Zhiguo Xie Copyright by Litong Chen 2012 Abstract This thesis reanalyzes data collected from published fieldwork sources and brings a new perspective to Shaoguan Tuhua, the genetically unclassified vernacular speech used in the Shaoguan area, northern Guangdong Province, China. The reanalysis consists of a quantitative study of the Shaoguan Tuhua varieties and some Hakka varieties (the regional lingua franca) and a contact linguistic study on one of the Shaoguan Tuhua varieties, Shibei Shaoguan Tuhua, and its Hakka neighbor, Qujiang Hakka. This thesis uses a combined methodology. It consists of the traditional Chinese dialectological research methods, phylogenetic network (computational) methods, and contact linguistic frameworks. Neither phylogenetic network methods nor contact linguistic frameworks are sufficiently used in Chinese dialectology. In terms of studying Shaoguan Tuhua, the use of these methodologies is new. This thesis first of all introduces the historical and sociolinguistic contexts of Shaoguan Tuhua. Shaoguan Tuhua has been in contact with Hakka for about seven hundred years, and Hakka speakers significantly outnumber Shaoguan Tuhua speakers. The majority of Shaoguan Tuhua speakers, especially the younger generation, can speak fluent Hakka. ii Based on the historical and sociolinguistic background, this thesis goes on to examine the result of the Shaoguan Tuhua-Hakka contact. A phylogenetic network method is then conducted by drawing distance-based graphs called neighbor-net splits. This thesis encodes the data and generates network graphs using the SplitsTree4 software. The graphs show that on lexical, phonological, and morphosyntactic levels, Shaoguan Tuhua and Hakka do not diverge categorically but the differences are gradual. In the continuum, Shibei Shaoguan Tuhua and Qujiang Hakka form a cluster, which indicates their similarity on all levels. These two varieties are lexically and structurally closer to each other than they are to other varieties in the Shaoguan area—than even to their own sister varieties. Then, under Van Coetsem’s (1988) framework of “borrowing and imposition”, this thesis proposes that the mechanism of the Qujiang Hakka-Shibei Shaoguan Tuhua transfer of language materials is imposition. This means that the transfer is carried out by those bilinguals who are more fluent in Qujiang Hakka, and the direction of transfer is from Qujiang Hakka (the Source Language) to Shibei Shaoguan Tuhua (the Recipient Language). The proposal is then corroborated by statistical, structural, and sociolinguistic evidence. iii Dedication Dedicated to my mother, Dequn Tan, a loving, brave, and joyful woman iv Acknowledgments It is my pleasure to thank those who made this thesis possible. It is impossible to overstate my gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Marjorie K. M. Chan (“Ma Laoshi”). Her enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of Chinese dialectology made this field very intriguing for me. Throughout my thesis-writing period, “Ma Laoshi” provided encouragement and sound advice. I would have been lost without her guidance. I also owe my gratitude to Dr. Donald Winford. Through our discussions I was often inspired by his valuable suggestions on contact linguistics theories and insightful critiques of my data analysis. I would like to thank Dr. Zhiguo Xie for his careful comments on the thesis drafts. I benefited greatly from his constructive advice on structure, methodology, and many other details of the thesis. I am indebted to Debbie Knicely. She assisted me in many ways, in navigating through graduate requirements, the logistics pertaining to the thesis, and many other ways during my two years in the Master’s program in the department. I also thank Jeff Holliday for kindly and carefully proofreading the post-defense draft of my thesis. I wish to give thanks to my many student colleagues for providing a stimulating and critical environment in which I learned more about linguistics. I am especially grateful to Tsz-Him Tsui, Yutian Tan, Seth Wiener, and Rongbin Zheng. I also thank Xin Zhang and Zhini Zeng. I truly enjoyed the days and nights we studied together. I would like to show my gratitude to my friends. Zezhen Cheng, Jing Li, Xu Zhang, Xiaoli Liu, Nicholas Joch, Kayu Tsang, Yu Jia Xiao, Rich Mendola, Tuyata Tserev, Jinman Huang, and Tim & Mary Kirk deserve special mention for their constant prayer and encouragement. Lastly, and yet most importantly, I wish to thank my parents, Weijun Chen and Dequn Tan. They bore me, raised me, supported me, taught me, and loved me. To them I own my deepest gratitude. I also wish to thank my wife-to-be, Dinglei Huang, for helping me get through the difficult times, and for providing all the logistical, emotional, and spiritual support. It is my greatest joy and blessing to have her in my life. Soli Deo Gloria. v Vita April 10, 1987……………… Born, Chongqing, China 2008-2009…………………. Chinese Teaching Assistant, Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Allegheny College 2010………………………... B.A. Chinese Linguistics, Renmin University of China 2010-2011…………………. University Fellowship, The Ohio State University 2011-2012…………………. Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures Concentration: Chinese Linguistics (Dialectology and Contact Linguistics) vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vii Table of Tables ................................................................................................................. xii Table of Figures ............................................................................................................... xiii Table of Maps .................................................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Topic, Motivations, and Aims of This Thesis ...................................................... 1 1.2 Organization of the Chapters ................................................................................ 3 1.3 Background of the Shaoguan Area and Shaoguan Tuhua .................................... 5 1.3.1 Shaoguan: the Area ....................................................................................... 5 1.3.2 Varieties of Tuhua in the Prefecture of Shaoguan ........................................ 6 1.3.3 “Shaoguan Area” ........................................................................................ 10 1.4 Previous Research on Shaoguan Tuhua ............................................................. 11 1.4.1 Three Research Areas ................................................................................. 11 1.4.2 Zhuang (2004) ............................................................................................. 13 1.4.3 Li and Zhuang (2009) ................................................................................. 15 vii Chapter 2 Shaoguan Tuhua in Historical and Sociolinguistic Context ....................... 18 2.1 Immigration History and Demographic Changes ............................................... 18 2.1.1 Prior to the 13th Century: Early History ...................................................... 19 2.1.2 After the 13th Century: Wars, Riots, and Hakka Immigration .................... 20 2.1.3 Immigration History of Speakers of Other Varieties of Chinese in the Shaoguan Area .................................................................................. 24 2.2 Non-Tuhua Languages in the Shaoguan Area .................................................... 26 2.2.1 Hakka .......................................................................................................... 26 2.2.2 Cantonese .................................................................................................... 27 2.2.3 Putonghua ................................................................................................... 28 2.2.4 Other Language Varieties ........................................................................... 29 2.3 Shaoguan Tuhua: Language Use and Language Attitude .................................. 30 2.3.1 Geographic Distribution of Shaoguan Tuhua-Speaking Area .................... 31 2.3.2 Shaoguan Tuhua Speakers .........................................................................