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 ..............................................................................................................