A Descriptive Study of Shaoyang County Xiang Dialects in China

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26770152
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Chuogakuin University
• Principal Investigator: WANG ZHENYU 中央学院大学, 商学部, 講師 (70532191)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 漢語方言 / 湘語 / 邵陽県方言

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to survey and describe the dialects of Shaoyang County, which belong to the Chinese Xiang dialects. These dialects retain many ancient characteristics already lost by other Chinese dialects including the voiced consonants. First, I went to Shaoyang County and recorded the phonological system, vocabulary and grammar of each investigation spot using a questionnaire. Next, I built a database of the dialects. Finally, based on my analysis on the variation between spots, I have published four articles and made five presentations at conferences. The research filled in many blanks in the current knowledge of Xiang dialects and resulted in the accumulation of a significant dialect data on the study of Chinese dialects.

Free Research Field

言語学