A Study On The Kunshan Dialect

Kunshan is located in the region between Suzhou and Jiangsu,Jiading and Qingpu are close to its southeast.To its west are Wujiang and Suzhou while to its northeast is Taicang.In recent years with its fast development in economy,The city is getting more and more wellknown and become a more open place.More because of the population structure changing and the policy of "Using the Mandarine" delivered by the government, the dialect contact is much common than before, thus Kunshan dialect is going through continues change. So doing a research on Kunshan dialect turns to be extremely valuable and significant.This reseach,founded on fieldwork,collects a large amount of materials.Through the carefully description and comparison, we try to probe the phonetic system of Kunshan dialect, and to trace the rule of diachronic changes and to discuss the difference among the region,in an effort to reflect the feature of the dialect thoroughly,systematically,faithfully.Five chapters are included in this paper.The first chapter is the introduction. Firstly the geography, history, the administrative system and the demographic profile as well as the general situation of Kunshan dialect and the history of related study of Kunshan City are introduced. Then research significance and research methodology of this paper is explained. Besides, symbols used in the text to represent the pronunciation and basic facts about interviewee are also illustrated.With a total of five sections, the second chapter is phonetic system of Kunshan dialect, including initial, final and tone systems system of Kunshan dialect and its characteristics. Besides, phonological structure of Kunshan dialect is also introduced in this chapter. The form of the coordination of initials, finals and tones is also incorporated.Chapter three is about the comparison of Kunshan dialect and middle-ancient pronunciation, three sections are included totally. The first section is initials comparison. Through the comparison of Kunshan dialect initial system and that in middle-ancient period, the corresponding laws are clarified. In the second section, the author explored the evolution and development of Kunshan dialect finals by the comparison of Kunshan dialect final system and that in middle-ancient period. Then the third section is about the comparison of tones in Kunshan dialect and middle-ancient period.With three sections, the fourth chapter is about the differences of Kunshan dialect in varied regions and at different times. The first section is about the regional differences of Kunshan dialect. Categorized forms are made to demonstrate the differences on Kunshan dialect initials, finals and tones in different specific areas. The second section is about the differences of old and new Kunshan dialect. Categorized examples are given to describe the differences of old and new Kunshan dialect on initials, finals and tones. In the third section, the distinguishing pronunciation of colloquial and written Kunshan dialect and its characteristics are illustrated.The fifth chapter is a table of homophone in Kunshan dialect which takes finals as classification basis.