Chinese Language(s): A Look through the Prism of The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects

296 Pages·2010·3.83 MB·

by  Maria Kurpaska

Chinese Language(s)
Trends in Linguistics
Studies and Monographs 215
Editor
Volker Gast
Advisory Editors
Walter Bisang
Hans Henrich Hock
Matthias Schlesewsky
Founding Editor
Werner Winter
De Gruyter Mouton
Chinese Language(s)
A Look through the Prism of
The Great Dictionary
of Modern Chinese Dialects
by
Maria Kurpaska
De Gruyter Mouton
ISBN 978-3-11-021914-2
e-ISBN 978-3-11-021915-9
ISSN 1861-4302
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Kurpaska,Maria,1977(cid:2)
Chinese language(s) : a look through the prism of The Great
dictionaryofmodernChinesedialects/byMariaKurpaska.
p.cm.(cid:2)(Trendsinlinguisticsstudiesandmonographs;215)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-3-11-021914-2(alk.paper)
1.Chineselanguage(cid:2)Dialects(cid:2)Dictionaries. I.Title.
PL1547.K872010
495.11703(cid:2)dc22
2010014948
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternetathttp://dnb.d-nb.de.
”2010WalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,Berlin/NewYork
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To Cecylka and Maciu(cid:286)

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to those, without whose help this book
would not have taken shape. First of all, I want to thank my supervisor,
Professor A.F. Majewicz, who has ignited my interest in the subject and
guided me through this work, supplying me with some of the most impor-
tant materials.
The scholarship at Peking University, in the academic year 2004/2005,
gave me a unique opportunity to gather material for the present book as
well as to take part in courses which brought me closer to the studied sub-
ject. I am greatly particularly indebted to Professor Li Xiaofan, who was
my tutor at that time, and who has served me with his knowledge after my
return home up to this day.
My special thanks go to Professor Xie Liuwen, one of the co-authors of
The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects, whose advice and an-
swers to my questions have been invaluable.
I am also much obliged to Professor Zhu Zhiping and Professor
Romuald Huszcza, who have given me many constructive remarks on my
book, as well as to Professor Werner Winter, whose comments and correc-
tions have allowed the book to take its present shape.
I am also grateful to Professor Moira Yip, who has patiently responded
to my inquiries concerning some phonological problems.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my friends and proof-readers, Anna
and Douglas Harrison, who have helped me correcting my English.
Nevertheless, the responsibility for all errors which may occur in this
book is mine.
As a wife, mother and daughter, I would not have been able to write this
book without the love and encouragement of my whole family. I want to
thank my father for his constant assistance, my mother, for all her time and
patience, and most of all my husband, Radek, who has helped me not only
by solving countless technical problems and drawing the maps, but also
simply by being there for me.

Preface
The Chinese linguistic situation has been for many years subject of debate
between Western and Chinese scholars. The main disagreement concerns
the identity and homogeneity of the Chinese linguistic area: the diversity is
predominantly stressed by probably most Western scholars, whereas the
traditional, deeply ingrained Chinese standpoint is that the language spoken
by the Han nationality creates a substantial unit. Its plentiful varieties are
referred to as (cid:7053)(cid:16340) f(cid:407)ngyán, lit. ‘local speech’, customarily translated into
English as ‘dialects’. The common writing system continues to be the sym-
bol of unity of Chinese, bonding the dialects together.
The main aim of this book is to trace the current structuring of the Chi-
nese language(s) on the ground of Chinese linguistics, basing the research
on the newest and most renowned sources, especially The Great Dictionary
of Modern Chinese Dialects(cid:708)(cid:10628)(cid:1207)(cid:8733)(cid:16833)(cid:7053)(cid:16340)(cid:3835)(cid:16801)(cid:1868) Xiandai Hanyu Fang-
yan Da Cidian(cid:709), as well as the Language Atlas of China(cid:708)(cid:1025)(cid:3281)(cid:16833)(cid:16340)(cid:3332)(cid:3282)
(cid:19610) Zhongguo Yuyan Dituji(cid:709).
There are two main axes of this structuring. One is the territorial
distribution of the language (the main source of its analysis is the Language
Atlas of China). The second axis is diachronic, based on the thesis that the
Middle Chinese language is the common point of origin from which the
miscellaneous varieties of modern Chinese have evolved.
Lexical diversity constitutes the additional dimension. Dialectal vocabu-
lary is not analyzed in reference to Middle Chinese; it is usually studied
through comparisons with the national standard. Generally, it is catalogued
without any systematic etymologizing.
The more precise structuring includes the analysis of phonetics, and
lately also lexical diversity. Grammatical differences still remain rather
unrevealed, although they are now more and more often taken into
consideration.
Many aspects of life in China are at present changing, the country is
going through economic, political and social transformations. This situation
naturally influences the language, even more so due to the strict language
policy, which aims at promoting the national standard called Putonghua.
Thus, Chinese dialectologists face the challenge of preserving as much
information about the current linguistic situation as possible.
x Preface
The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects is one of the greatest
achievements of modern Chinese dialectology and Chinese linguistics in
general. This book tries to reveal the role the Dictionary plays in analyzing
the spectrum of linguistic differentiation and what kind of information it
provides, sketching firstly a background of the development and current
state of Chinese dialectology and dialectal research. The assumption is to
show respect to this unquestionably grand achievement, and also to empha-
size a critical distance to some of the views presented in the Dictionary.
The Dictionary is inseparably bound with the Language Atlas of China
(Zhongguo Shehui Kexueyuan yu Aodaliya Renwen Kexueyuan 1987,
1989), thus the point of view represented in the Atlas is relevant for this
study and constitutes a significant part of this book.
The dialects of Chinese naturally interact with the non-Chinese lan-
guages which are spoken on the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
In order to make the picture of the linguistic situation in China complete,
languages of ethnic minorities are listed in the book (Chapter 2.2.). They
are excluded from the general analysis, though without neglecting their
importance.
Technical notes
The simplified Chinese characters (cid:708)(cid:12628)(cid:1319)(cid:4395) ji(cid:897)nt(cid:899)zì(cid:709) have been used
throughout the text, except for few cases when the unsimplified forms (cid:708)(cid:13333)
(cid:1319)(cid:4395) fánt(cid:899)zì(cid:709) had to be applied.
[*] after Chinese characters indicates that the character is used as a
homonym to represent sounds, because the word itself does not have its
own character (for a more detailed explanation see Chapter 7.2.4.1.)
An empty square (‘(cid:438)’) is used instead of Chinese characters, where a
character which can represent the sound does not exist (see Chapter
7.2.4.1.).
The (cid:8733)(cid:16833)(cid:6352)(cid:19911) Hàny(cid:903) P(cid:431)ny(cid:431)n (hereafter called pinyin) Romanization
system is used for the transliteration of proper names (for exceptions see
below) as well as for linguistic terms and the like.
The pinyin transcription of titles of books in Chinese has been provided
without the indication of tones.
The IPA transcription is applied for the pronunciation of dialectal words
and sentences, with the following exceptions (according to the rules listed
in Chapter 7.1.5.):