chineselanguageintro4 - THE CHINESE LANGUAGE Overview and...

Unformatted text preview: THE CHINESE LANGUAGE: Overview and Recent Findings Chris Wen-Chao Li San Francisco State University Outline 1. Terminology 2. Classification • Genetic Affiliation • Dialect Variation • Historical Development 3. The Modern Standard Language • Definitions • Pluricentricity • Social Perceptions 4. Language Structure • • • • Syllable structure Consonants Vowels Tones 5. New Developments Terminology: 中文、華語、國語、漢語、普通話 China (mainland) Mandarin (Modern Standard Chinese) (written) All Chinese dialects Hong Kong Macau Singapore 中文 普通話 中文 國語 中文 華語 中文 普通話 國語 （國語） (spoken) Taiwan （華語） 中文 漢語 formal 中文 中文 華語 華文 中文 漢語 中文 漢語 formal （中文informal） （華文） 漢語 formal （中文inf） 漢語 formal （中文inf） Overseas Chinese Terminology Debate: 國語 vs 普通話 (2000-present) Against 國語 “national language”： • discrimination against non-Han minorities Against 普通話 (Sun 2004; Cao 2004)： • Intended meaning: 普遍通用 “common language” as in “shared language” • Lay connotations: 普普通通 “common language” as in “ordinary, unremarkable language” • [NOTE: socialist/communist background] Spoken Language: Genetic Affiliations View from without • Language family • Neighboring languages View from within • Dialect classification • Classification methods • Degree of diversity View from Without: Sino-Tibetan Family Tree View from Without: Sino-Tibetan & Neighboring Languages View from Without: Language admixture Neighboring language groups (Altaic; Kam-tai; Austro-asiatic; Austronesian) • Mandarin: Sino-Altaic mixture (Hashimoto 1976; 1980; 1984; 1986) • Cantonese/Min: Mixture with Austroasiatic (Zhou and You 1987) Language admixture View from Without: (DNA evidence) 《中國姓氏 : 群体遺傳和人口分布》 • 其實南北兩地的漢族血緣相差甚遠，甚至比 中國少數民族的差距還要大。這項研究發 現，從生物遺傳學的角度來說，中國的漢族 只是文化上而非血緣上的完整群體。 (袁義達 2005) Language admixture View from Without: (DNA evidence) View from Within: The Chinese Language Family CLASSIFICATION METHODS LINGUISTIC: Sound change -- path of evolution from reconstructed ancestor language PHILOLOGICAL: Status of rhyme dictionary and rhyme table categories View from Within: The Chinese Language Family 官話 Mandarin (Northern) 中原 NorthernCentral 吳 Wu (Shanghai) 江南 Yangtze (Central) 湘 Xiang (Hunan) 贛 Gan (Jiangxi) 漢語 Chinese 客家 Kejia / Hakka 華南 Southern 粵 Yue / Cantonese 閩 Min / Hokkien 閩南 Southern Min (Taiwanese) 閩北 Northern Min (schema from Ao 1996) View from Within: View from Within: Classification Controversies 閩南、閩北 • One category or two? • Transition areas: – Wu to Min – Min to Yue 徽語 晉語 (between Wu and Gan) (unevolved mountain Mandarin) • Glottal stop endings • Early/middle Mandarin syntax 方言孤島 (islands) Degree of Diversity (1) To the historical linguist Chinese is rather more like a language family than a single language made up of a number of regional forms. The Chinese dialectal complex is in many ways analogous to the Romance language family in Europe: both have their roots in a large-scale imperial expansion that took place in the centuries just preceding and just following the birth of Christ, the Qin-Han empire in the case of China and the Roman empire in the case of Europe; in both instances the imperial language was carried by armies and settlers to areas previously occupied by speakers of different languages; in the course of their development both were affected by these ‘substratum languages’; in both cases, the newly developing vernaculars existed alongside an antiquated written language and were profoundly influenced by it. In view of these parallels, it would not be surprising if we found about the same degree of diversity among the Chinese dialects as we do among the Romance languages, and in fact I believe this to be the case. To take an extreme example, there is probably as much difference between the dialects of Peking and Cháozhōu as there is between Italian and French; the Hăinán Mĭn dialects are as different from the Xīān dialect as Spanish is from Rumanian. (Norman 1988, p. 187) Degree of Diversity (2) if speakers of Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian coexisted at the moment in a single political unit, if they had been using Latin as their common written form of communication up to the 20th century … they could be … compared to the speakers of the four large dialectal areas in China. (Kratochvil 1968, pp. 15-16) Language vs Dialect Mutual intelligibility: the distinction between language and dialect is based on the notion “mutual intelligibility”. Dialects of the same language should be mutually intelligible, while different languages are not. (Hock 1988:381) "the term Chinese denotes a family of mutually unintelligible languages" (Bloomfield 1933: 44) Language vs Dialect Tradition Western (academic) Chinese (academic) Lay View Key distinction mutual intelligibility political unity, genetic affiliation and shared writing system prestige or official recognition; Max Weinreich: ‘A language is a dialect with an army and a navy’; Scope of language speech takes precedence over orthography orthography takes precedence over spoken language language includes both orthographic and spoken forms; dialects have only a spoken form Application to Chinese Cantonese and Mandarin are different languages (mutually unintelligible); ‘the term Chinese denotes a family of mutually unintelligible languages’ (Bloomfield 1933: 44) Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the same language ; ‘to deny that the Chinese have a common language is tantamount to denying that they have a common nation’ (Li Wang 1956: 287-290) Mandarin is a language because it is officially sanctioned; Cantonese, Taiwanese, Shanghainese etc are all ‘dialects’ due to lack of official status Periodization (historical development) 上古音 Old Chinese (600 BC–265 AD) 中古音 Middle Chinese (265-1269) 官話 Mandarin (1269–present) • Early Mandarin (1269—1455) • Middle Mandarin (1455—1795) • Modern Mandarin (1795—present) 上古音 Old Chinese Consonant clusters Case grammar (600 BC–265 AD) 上古音 Old Chinese Consonant clusters (600 BC–265 AD) (c.f. Tibeto-Burman) 各 MSC 客 恪 落 洛 絡 酪 kə kʰə kʰə lwo lwo lwo lwo Old Chinese klak 監 MSC Old Chinese 艦 鑑 鑒 鰹 籃 藍 tɕjɛn tɕjɛn tɕjɛn tɕjɛn tɕjɛn lan lan kram 上古音 Old Chinese (600 BC–265 AD) Case grammar 2nd person 1st person Singular Plural 余/吾 ngwo 我 nga Singular Plural 汝 nja 爾 nji 中古音 Middle Chinese (265-1269) FEATURES • stop endings [p], [t], [k] • 8 tones (up from 4 in Old Chinese) • Complex system of finals 中古音 Middle Chinese (265-1269) 合 急 骨 博 德 錄 MIDDLE CHINESE hap kip kut pok tik lok Cantonese hap kap kut pok tik lok Taiwanese hap kip kut pʰok tik lok Mandarin xə tɕi ku po tə lu 中古音 Middle Chinese (265-1269) rhyme dictionaries (切韻、廣韻), rhyme charts (韻鏡、七音略；四聲等子、切韻指掌圖) 官話 Mandarin (1269—present) FEATURES • loss of stop endings [p], [t], [k] • loss of [m] ending: 林 [lim] > [lin] • palatalization of velars: 經、輕、興 [k, kʰ, x > tɕ, tɕʰ, ɕ] 官話 Mandarin (1269—present) DOCUMENTATION • Early Mandarin (1269—1455): – Opera manuals (中原音韻) – Mongolian-Chinese concordance (蒙古字韻) • Middle Mandarin (1455—1795): – Korean language primers – 老乞大[諺解] – 朴通事[諺解]) • Modern Mandarin (1795—present): – European missionary records (Matthew Ricci etc) Periodization: Summary Features Similar to 學而時習之，不亦說呼 Old Chinese 上古音 (600 BC-265) (1) Fewer tones (2) Simpler consonants & vowels (3) Consonant clusters Tibetan; nonSinetic SinoTibetan languages grok njəh djəh djəp djək pjət zjak zwat hjoh Middle Chinese 中古音 (265-1269) (1) 8 tones (2) 入聲 [p], [t], [k] codas (3) Complex vowel system Cantonese, Southern Min hiok2 nia2 si2 sit2 tsik1 put4 yat4 jok4 ho1 Early Mandarin 早期官話 (1269-1455) (1) 分尖團 (績≠機、七≠欺、西≠嘻) (1) [v]未、尾 vs [w] 為、位 (2) [uan] 關 vs [uon] 官 (3) Initial [ŋ]: 我、安、愛 Peking opera; 晉語 ɕio ri ʂr si tʂy pu i jo xu Standardization (Historical Koines) 洛陽 (earliest—circa 600 AD) • 自茲厥後，音韻鋒出，各有土風，遞向非笑，“指馬”之喻，未知孰是。共以帝王都 邑，參校方俗，考覈古今，為之折衷，權而量之，獨金陵與洛下耳。南方水土和 柔，其音清舉而切詣，失在浮淺，其辭多鄙俗。北方山川深厚，其音沈濁而訛 鈍，得其質直，其辭多古語。然冠冕君子，南方為優；閭里小人，北方為愈。易 服而與之談，南方士庶，數言可辯。隔垣而聽其語，北方朝野，終日難分。而南 染吳越，北雜夷虜，皆有深弊，不可具論。(《顏氏家訓‧音辭篇》) 南京 (600—1850) • “one must understand the way in which such words are pronounced by the Chinese. Not just any Chinese, but only those who have the natural gift of speaking the Mandarin language well, such as those natives of the Province of Nân kīng.” Francisco Varo (1627-1687) 北京 (1850--present) • “the Nanking Mandarin is more widely understood than that of Peking ... the Peking dialect must be studied by those who would speak the language of the imperial court” Joseph Edkins (1823-1905) Standardization (Modern Attempts) 老國音（1919） 新國音（1926） 普通話 Standardization: 老國音（1919） Decided upon by the 讀音統一會 (Pronunciation Unification Committee) Codified in the《國音字典》 (Ministry of education, 1919) 「京音為主，兼顧南北」-- artificial language incorporating phonological features of all major dialects • Preservation of stop endings • Peking opera sharp vs blunt (尖團) distinction • Initials [v], [ŋ] Failure – artificial language with no native speakers Standardization: 新國音（1926） Manifesto: 「受過中等教育的北京本地人的話為國語的標準」 "speech of Beijing locals educated to the level of secondary school" 《國語統一問題》(張士一：1920) Eventually adopted by 增修國音字典委員會 (1924- 1926) Codified in 《國音常用字彙》(Ministry of Education, 1932) Basis of 國語 – used in Taiwan to this day Standardization: 普通話（1955） Decided upon at two major conferences • 全國文字改革會議 (1955) • 現代漢語規範問題學術會議 (1955) Standard used in mainland China (PRC) to this day (but not in Taiwan) Standardization: 普通話（1955） Phonology 以北京語音為標準音 based on the pronunciation of Beijing (colloquial element more prominent than in 1926) Lexicon 以北方方言為基礎方言 based on the vocabulary of the Mandarin dialects of northern China o Not just Beijing, but all of northern China o Northern dialects only, doesn’t include South Syntax 以典範的現代白話文著 based on the syntax of exemplary works of modern vernacular literature 作為語法規範 o Refers to early 白話文authors such as魯迅、郭沫若、茅盾 o Syntax not limited to a particular locality (e.g., Beijing) Pluricentricity English (British, American, Australian) Spanish (Spain, Latin America) Chinese (mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong) Pluricentricity: Pronunciation Mainland (1955) vs Taiwan (1926) standards 星期 危險 企業 垃圾 說服 口吃 角色 (week) (danger) (business) (garbage) (persuade) (stutter) (role) Mainland xīngqī wēixiăn qĭyè lājī shuōfú kuchī juésè Taiwan xīngqí wéixiăn qìyè lèsè shuìfú kŏují jiăosè Pluricentricity: Lexicon Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong usages Taiwan Hong Kong Mainland China Taxi 計程車 迪士 出租汽車 Bus 公共汽車（公車） 巴士 公交車 Kindergarten 幼稚園 幼稚園 幼兒園 Police Station 警察局 警察局 公安局 Pluricentricity: Orthography Traditional vs simplified characters Traditional characters (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, overseas Chinese communities) 關 氣 樂 Japanese kanji (Japan) 関 気 楽 Simplified characters (mainland China, Singapore) Pluricentricity: Romanization Pinyin vs Wade-Giles vs Tongyong MAJOR DISTINCTIONS: • Syllable boundaries • Aspirated vs unaspirated initials • Alveopalatal sibilants Hanyu Pinyin Wade-Giles Tongyong 錢其琛 Qian Qichen Ch’ien Ch’i-chen Cian Cichen 毛澤東 Mao Zedong Mao Tse-t’ung Mao Zedong Which Standard to Follow? LAY LINGUIST Politically-determined Socially-determined Determined by people in power (emperors, kings, governments) – rulers set the standards, people follow Standards depend on social aspirations: • Who you want to be like • What groups you would like to become a member of (bankers, surfers, rappers) • Common denominator: upper middle class Common people imitate the speech of rulers or people in high positions (emperors, kings, governments) Upper middle class instigates change • Women more status conscious than men o Women: refined, prestige forms o Men: localized forms; covert prestige Political capitals enjoy prestige Cultural capitals enjoy prestige Beijing / Government issued guidelines Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei (Li 2004) Social Perceptions: Chinese in America Beijing General reliable, natural, intelligent soft, wealthy, elegant (scores high on "solidarity") (scores high on "status") Lexicon Syntax Taipei Overseas Chinese community favor Taipei lexicon because it is seen as more "prestigious" or "socio-economically advanced" Overseas Chinese community favor Beijing syntax because it is seen as more "correct" Li, Ling. (1991). "Language variation and change in Mandarin: The Mainland Chinese speech community in the United States". Master’s thesis, University of Michigan State. International Chinese / Cosmopolitan Mandarin (Yuppies in Beijing) “…new elites are emerging, and they form the basis for a rising Chinese middle class whose status is not based on party membership. Among them are members of a new professional group that has emerged as a direct result of China’s participation in the global market.” “Working for international businesses engages the yuppies in a market in which [Beijing Mandarin] is only one of the varieties of Mandarin – others include Taiwan Mandarin, Hong Kong Mandarin, Singapore Mandarin and so on…in the business world, when you reach a certain level, you’ll find, that is to say, a Greater China integration.” (Zhang 2005: 454) International Chinese / Cosmopolitan Mandarin (Yuppies in Beijing) “The most striking difference between the state professionals and the yuppies lies in their use of the ‘cosmopolitan’ full tone variant…the use of the full-tone realization of a neutral tone is identified as non-local and non-mainland.” [e.g., 明白、學生、先生、小姐] Other details of cosmopolitan Mandarin: lack or rhotacization (also characteristic of formal speech in Beijing); females more cosmopolitan than males (Zhang 2005: 449-450) Linguistic Features: Syllable Structure (聲母) (initial) 韻母 final (介音) (medial) 韻 rime 韻腹 nucleus 鳥 腦 ɑ u ɑ u ɑ u ɑ 咬 i i n (韻尾) (coda) u n 凹 i 壓 那 n ɑ ɑ 阿 倆 ɑ l i ɑ Syllable Structure: Impossible Syllables “rain” (diphthong plus nasal ending) will be pronounced as [ren] “like” (stop ending) will be pronounced “lai” or “lai-kuh” “bring” (consonant cluster) will be pronounced “bu-ling” or “bing” Consonants series \ features labial alveolar alveolar sibilant palato-alveolar sibilant retroflex velar pharyngeal -cont +voice -cont voice +nasal +cont voice [p] [t] [ts] [tɕ] [tʂ] [k] [pʰ] [tʰ] [tsʰ] [tɕʰ] [tʂʰ] [kʰ] [m] [n] [f] +cont +voice [l] [s] [ɕ] [ʂ] [ɻ] [x] [∅] Unusual Consonants Retroflex [tʂ], [tʂʰ], [ʂ], [ɻ] ── 知、吃、詩、日 • ...does not have the tip of the tongue curled up and backwards, as it does in Indian sounds symbolized in a similar way • produced with the upper surface of the tip of the tongue (Ladefolged and Wu 1984: 271) Unusual Consonants Alvelpalatals [tɕ], [tɕʰ], [ɕ] ── 雞、七、西 • articulated with the blade of the tongue placed against the front part of the palate • simultaneously the free front part of the tongue is raised toward the alveolar ridge (Norman 1988: 140) • listed in IPA chart, but no place in table of consonants Impossible Vowel-Consonant Combinations Velar plus [i]: ghee, key, hee [f] + [i]: fee [r] + [a]: raw Vowels front High Mid-high Mid-low low central iy ɨ e back u ɘ ɤo ɛ ʌ ɑ Finals (1) 1 a 2 o 3 ɤ 4 5 ja wa wo jɛ ɨ 6 i 7 u y 8 9 ɑu 10 ɑi 11 ou 12 ei jɑu wɑ i jou wei Finals (2) 13 an 14 15 wan jɛn ɘn 16 ɥɛn wɘn in 17 18 yn 19 20 wɑŋ oŋ ʌŋ 21 22 jɑŋ joŋ ɑŋ iŋ ɘɹ Unusual Vowels Front high rounded vowel [y] 魚 (teach as rounded [i]) Apical vowels [z] 子 and [ɻ] 是 (teach as prolonged consonant) Vowels Absent in English Monophthongal [e] 也 Monophthongal [o] 我 Monophthongal [u] 五 Impossible Vowel Combinations iai uau oi Tone Level vs contour Application to Chinese Nature of Tone 3 (Duanmu 2000) • Mid-utterance • Utterance final Tonogenesis Non-telelogical explanation Loss of voicing contrast: • Early Middle Chinese (4) • Late Middle Chinese (8) Tone Sandhi Prevalent across Chinese dialects (Chen 2000) Beijing Mandarin: 3 3 > 2 3 Longer sequences: sensitive to metrical and syntactic structure • 展覽管理 (2323); 展覽館裡 (2223) • 狗很好養(3223) • 我想請李總統洗冷水澡 (2323223223) Neutral Tone Confusion between two separate phenomena • Tonelessness 姐姐 • Weak stress 小姐 Neutral Tone: Intrinsic Tonelessness Function words and particles: 了、的、著、嗎、呢、啊、呀、喔、啦 Kinship terms (2nd syllable): 爸爸、弟弟、姊姊、奶奶、舅舅、寶寶 Neutral Tone: Intrinsic Tonelessness reduplicated verb 走走、看看、聽聽、試試 directional complement （上、下、進、出）＋ 來、去 localizer 上、裡 lexical weak stress 先生、學生、朋友、東 西、衣服、舒服、地方、覺得、關係、意思 Change in Progress Beijing [standard only] [w] > [v]: 文、為、外、望 Taipei (Shanghai) [standard only] [n] / [ŋ] merger： 心/星；民/名；林/零 THE END 謝謝 Thank you! Chris Wen-Chao Li [email protected] (415) 3381034 ...
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