Chinese Dialect Classification: A Comparative Approach to Harngjou, Old Jintarn, and Common Northern Wu

336 Pages·1999·26.203 MB·English

by  Richard VanNess Simmons

CHINESE DIALECT CLASSIFICATION
AMSTERDAM STUDIES IN THE THEORY AND
HISTORY OF LINGUISTIC SCIENCE
General Editor
E. F. KONRAD KOERNER
(University of Ottawa)
Series IV - CURRENT ISSUES IN LINGUISTIC THEORY
Advisory Editorial Board
Raimo Anttila (Los Angeles); Lyle Campbell (Christchurch, N.Z.)
Sheila Embleton (Toronto, Canada); John E. Joseph (Edinburgh)
Manfred Krifka (Austin, Tex.); Hans-Heinrich Lieb (Berlin)
E. Wyn Roberts (Vancouver, B.C.); Hans-Jürgen Sasse (Köln)
Volume 188
Richard VanNess Simmons
Chinese Dialect Classification
A comparative approach to Harngjou, Old jintarn, and Common Northern Wu
CHINESE DIALECT
CLASSIFICATION
A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO HARNGJOU,
OLD JINTARN, AND COMMON NORTHERN WU
RICHARD VanNESS SIMMONS
Rutgers University
JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY
AMSTERDAM/PHILADELPHIA
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
VanNess Simmons, Richard.
Chinese dialect classification : a comparative approach to Harngjou, old Jintarn, and common
northern Wu / Richard VanNess Simmons.
p. cm. -- (Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series IV,
Current issues in linguistic theory, ISSN 0304-0763 ; v. 188)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Wu dialects. 2. Mandarin dialects. 3. Comparative linguistics. 4. Chinese language-Phonology. 5.
Chinese language-Morphology. I. Series.
PL1939.V36 1999
495.1/7 21-dc21 99-043480
ISBN 90 272 3694 1 (Eur.) / 1 55619 965 1 (US) (Hb; alk. paper) CIP
© 1999 - John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other
means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. • P.O.Box 75577 • 1070 AN Amsterdam • The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America • P.O.Box 27519 • Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 • USA
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book is a further development of issues first explored in my Ph.D.
dissertation (Simmons 1992). The support, help, suggestions, and guidance of
many has continued from that time through the writing of the present volume.
First in importance has been the support and patience of my wife Shu-lan and my
daughter Brenna, who have courageously and generously accepted all of the
inconvenience to family life that the research and writing has demanded. They
stoically tolerated my long summer absences when I was in China doing the
fieldwork for this study and liberally accommodated me the time needed to sort,
analyze, and write when back home in the U.S. I wish here to express my deepest
thanks to them both.
I also wish to express sincere and heartfelt appreciation to my teacher and
mentor Jerry Norman for generously sharing his knowledge, guidance, support,
and enthusiasm along all the paths of research I have followed since he first
agreed to direct my dissertation. I also learned much, in private discussions and
at conferences, about issues addressed in the present study from W. South Coblin
and David Prager Branner, who also provided useful comments on the manuscript.
I am grateful to them for the valuable intellectual stimulation and support they
have provided me over the years. My warm thanks go as well to the manuscript
referees, including Laurent Sagart, for their careful reading and many useful
suggestions. I am grateful also for the assistance and advice of the editor of the
Current Issues in Linguistic Theory series, E. F. K. Koerner, whose advice has
been instrumental in bringing this manuscript into presentable shape.
Many people in China also provided critical assistance during the research for
this study. Among them, I would like to extend special appreciation to Lii Rong
(Li Rong) for his experienced guidance in the area of dialect fieldwork. In
addition, many other faculty at the Institute of Linguistics at the Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences in Beeijing provided valuable input and support during my
periods of research in China, including Liou Jian (Liu Jian), Jang Jennshing
(Zhang Zhenxing), Jang Hueying (Zhang Huiying), Hour Jingi (Hou Jingyi),
Hwang Sheuejen (Huang Xuezhen), Shyong Jenqhuei (Xiong Zhenghui), Heh Uei
(He Wei), and Jenqjang Shanqfang (Zhengzhang Shangfang). During my periods
of research in the Jiang-Hwai Mandarin and Northern Wu region, I received
valuable advice and help from Luu Gwoyau (Lu Guoyao), Baw Mingwoei (Bao
Mingwei), and Jou Chyun (Zhou Qun) in Nanjing, Fuh Gwotong (Fu Guotong)
VI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
in Harngjou, You Ruujye (You Rujie) in Shanqhae, Tsay Gwoluh (Cai Guolu) in
Danyang, and Dar Yoanyih (Da Yuanyi) in Jennjiang.
I further want to express my deepest appreciation and sincere indebtedness to
all of my linguistic informants in China. They are identified in Chapter 4 and
Appendix 1 and their languages are represented in this volume. Without their
unfailing patience and enthusiasm through hundreds of hours of interviews, this
study would not have been possible.
The fieldwork in Harngjou was undertaken in 1988-'98 and made possible
through the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays
Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program and the National Program for
Advanced Study and Research in China administered by the Committee for
Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China. The fieldwork on
the other dialects in this study was undertaken in China during the summers of
1995 and 1996 with the generous support of the National Program for Advanced
Study and Research in China of the Committee for Scholarly Communication with
China. I am extremely grateful for the support of these organizations. My work,
and the present study, would have been impossible without it.
Of course, any errors, inaccuracies, shortcomings, or omissions that remain
in these pages are entirely my own.
New Brunswick, New Jersey, June 21, 1999 Richard VanNess Simmons
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments v
Introduction . ix
Map xviii
Chapter 1: The Problem of Harngjou 1
0. Brief background 1
1. The Mandarin nature of Harngjou phonology 2
2. The Mandarin nature of Harngjou lexicon 15
3. Harngjou's Wu-like tendencies 25
Chapter 2: Identifying Wu Dialects 28
0. The goal 28
1. Some previous definitions of Wu dialect affiliation 29
2. Classifying Wu dialects by reference to a common phonology 38
3. The problems with Chiehyunn based classification 40
Chapter 3: Common Northern Wu 50
0. Preliminaries 50
1. Common initial categories 51
2. Common tone categories 56
3. Common final categories 57
4. Common distinctions 59
5. Wu characteristics and the common system 68
6. A refurbished set of diagnostic criteria 77
7. A Mandarin-Wu taxonomic key for Jiangsu and Jehjiang 79
Chapter 4: Jintarn — The City and its Dialects 83
0. Brief background 83
1. The history of Jintarn 83
2. The current dialect situation — Old and New Jintarn 84
3. My Old Jintarn informant 88
4. Old Jintarn phonology 89
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 5: Old Jintarn and Danyang — Their Common System and
Correlation with Common Northern Wu (CNW) 102
0. Preliminaries 102
1. Comparison of their initials 103
2. Comparison of Old Jintarn and Danyang initials to CNW 105
3. Comparison of their finals 107
4. Comparison of Old Jintarn and Danyang finals to CNW 121
5. Danyang and Jintarn tone categories compared 127
6. Comparison of Old Jintarn and Danyang tones to CNW 129
7. Implications of the Jintarn/Danyang reflection of CNW 134
Chapter 6: A Demonstration of the Taxonomic Procedure 135
0. Introduction 135
1. Check for Mandarin affiliation 137
2. Confirm and characterize Wu affiliation 142
3. Verify affiliation with the Tayhwu group 164
4. Review and evaluation of the results 165
Chapter 7: Concluding Observations 170
0. Outline of the findings 170
1. Voiced obstruents as a taxonomically insignificant feature 171
2. Comparative characterization in terms of a common system 172
3. A taxonomy for CNW where it borders Mandarin 177
4. The Old Jintarn-Danyang subset of Common Northern Wu 178
5. Looking again at Harngjou and beyond 179
References 182
Appendix 1: Informants 190
Appendix 2: Old Jintarn Syllabary 191
Appendix 3; Old Jintarn Lexicon 195
Appendix 4: English to Old Jintarn Glossary 265
Index 310
INTRODUCTION
This study looks at Wu and Mandarin dialects along the Wu and Jiang-
Hwai Mandarin border that are not entirely typical representatives of either
the Wu or Mandarin groups. The central reference points of the study are the
dialect of Harngjou in Jehjiang province and the old, now disap­
pearing, dialect of Jintarn shiann ("county") in Jiangsu province.
Our investigation commences with a discussion of the language of Harngjou, the
old Southern Sonq (1127-1279) capital whose Mandarin dialect is usually
— erroneously — classified as Wu, and questions the traditional standard for Wu
classification. We then examine various definitions of Wu, investigate a common
comparative system (or framework) that Wu dialects reflect, and outline the
Common Northern Wu phonological system. Following, our investigation
examines Old Jintarn in detail, compares this dialect to its closest affiliate —
Danyang (which has been described as a dialect that is transitional between
Mandarin and Wu), compares these to a selected set of other dialects, and
determines how and where each of the dialects exhibit Common Northern Wu
and/or Mandarin characteristics and features.
The focus of the study is primarily on comparative dialect phonology and
lexicon. We depart from the traditional practice of determining dialect character
and affiliation by reference to Middle Chinese drawn on the basis of the Chieh-
yunn and related rime books. Instead, we describe and classify dialects in terms
of Common Northern Wu. Besides the description of Common Northern Wu
phonology, an additional product of this study is a rigorous and systematic method
— a taxonomic procedure — for determining and characterizing Mandarin and
Wu affiliation for dialects of the lower Yangtze Valley region. In developing a
rigorous classificatory framework, this study helps to lay the groundwork for
understanding the true nature of Mandarin and Wu dialects and their history.
Indeed, the results of the present investigation add important details to our
knowledge about prestige Mandarin dialects spoken in the capital and major cities
during Southern Sonq through Ming (1368-1644) times.
The northern Wu region and the southern Mandarin region, comprising the
Wu and Jiang-Hwai Mandarin border, are historically closely inter-linked. In
modern times the boundary region between the two dialect regions consists of the
Tayru and Horngchaur sectors of Southern Mandarin in the north and