LING: lesson 5 (dialects pt1)

Seven traditional dialect groups in China:

1. Guanhua (Mandarin)

2. Wu

3. Gan

4. Xiang

5. Kejia

6. Yue

7. Min

history of the Sinitic languages

2nd millenium BCE:

• Chinese ancestral language in North China Plain

• spread not clear

8th - 5th cent BCE:

• indications for dialects/ languages: e.g. people of Chu spoke Chu but the junzi spoke Yawen (cultured language like putonghua)

• importance of wenyanwen as it was a standardized writtig languages that overcame dialects

pre-modern dialects

• ancient chu language preserved in some Southern variants of Chinese

  • Chu had own version of character forms

• some scholars think that all old dialects either come from Northern varieties or the Chu variety

• Yue language (state of Yue and Wu)

  • Chu and Yue could not communicate

  • differentiation between common language (Tai-Kadai probably) and Yawen (cultured language)

traditional model of dialect diversification of “Sinitic”

Based on the work of Karlgren

BUT problematic because

• only based on phonological evidence (Qieyun)

• based on literati language (takes this as the basis of all language)

• projects a significant diversification to a relative short period of time

status of the Min dialect?

most scholars agree that since it shows ancient features not encountered in other dialects, it should splits from other Chinese varieties in a very early stage

What are the factors of dialect diversification?

1. Geographical spread

2. language contact

3. dialect layering

4. historical features

5. cultural features

6. internal language change

Geographical spread as a factor of dialect diversification:

• sandwich theory (Hashimoto): small in between dialects get absorbed into one of the two bordering dominating dialects (e.g. Xiang and Gan)

• Sinospheric/ Non-Sinospheric (Matisoff): where Chinese has influence on both the spoken and written language; basic idea: the more communities spread, the more their language drifts apart

Language contact as a factor of dialect diversification:

• language shift to Chinese (e.g. Manchu disappearing, and now varieties of Tibetan, Uighur, Mongolian,….)

• substratum effect on Chinese: when a population shifts to a new language and features of their old language seep through (e.g. Altaic, Tai-Kadai, Miao-Yao)

Dialect layering as a factor of dialect diversification:

when lots of dialects near each other overlap and influence each other, not one dominating factor, just all interlingual influences

Historical features as a factor of dialect diversification:

• periods of unification and fragmentation leads to diversification

• situation of the capital

→ migration (language contact and substratum effect)

cultural features as a factor of dialect diversification:

• significance of a uniform written language

• common spoken language (koiné)

  • diglossia

• prestige dialects (e.g. cantonese)

internal language change as a factor of dialect diversification:

from generation to generation

modern developments in dialect diversification:

20th century:

• abolishment of Literary Chinese as standard

• replacement by baihuawen

• promotion of Modern Standard Mandarin (Putonghua)

a new form of diglossia has developped

increased influence of Mandarin in recent times

• political and social reasons

What is diglossia?

when two languages/ dialects are used by one single language community

What are the features to determine diversity?

1. Phonology

2. Morphology

3. Grammar

How to determine diversity through Phonology?

look at:

• tones

• tone sandhi

• vowel system

• p, t, k development (voiced stops)

How to determine diversity through morphology?

look at:

• monosyllabic vs. polysyllabic

• forms of compounding

How to determine diversity through grammar?

look at:

• direct/ indirect object ordering

• system of classifiers

• system of pronouns (esp. 3rd pronouns)

Situate the seven traditional dialect groups of China on a map.

What about Jin-, Hui-, and Pinghua?

Jin: was classified as a Mandarin variety, however it is now grouped as a separate dialect group (because it was not intelligible for mandarin speakers)

Hui: spoken in Anhui was previously grouped with Wu but is now classified as a separate dialect group

Pinghua: still under discussion

What do we mean by Northern Chinese?

a relative homogenous Mandarin in the north due to geographical characteristics

ca. 900 million speakers

4 → 8 varieties

around the city of NAnjing most prestigious dialect until 19th century

What are the 8 types of Mandarin?

1. 东北

2. Jiaoliao (Eastern art of Shandong and Liaoning)

3. 北京

4. Jilu (北方)

5. 中原

6. Jianghuai (Yangtze and Huai rivers)

7. Lanyin

8. 西南 (southwest)

Basic features of Mandarin

• no voiced stops

• system of 4 tones

• no final stops (-p, -t, -k, -m)

• specific pronoun system (她, 他, 们, 咱们)

• particles (的/ 地)

• specific constructions for passives and object disposal (被，把)

Nanjing dialect

around the city of Nanjing most prestigious dialect until 19th century

earliest layer: the language of the State of Wu

previous capital: Jiankang

• 4th c.: Imigration from Northern China (yǎyán 雅言 , lit. ‘elegant language’)

• Development of Jiānghuái dialect 江淮官話

• entering tone 入聲 is preserved as a glottal stop (/ /)ʔ

• Initial n- → l- (compare Southwestern dialect!)

What does a prestigious dialect mean?

AN

Southern dialects

many isolated areas in the South due to geographical characteristics like mountains and rivers

many mutually unintelligible dialects

six major dialects: Wu, Xiang, Min, Yue, Gan, Kejia, (Hui)