Phonological Study On Dalian Dialect

Dalian lies on the southern tip of Liaodong peninsula in northeast China, including six districts, three county-level cities and one county. The entire Dalian Dialect belongs to Denglian group, Jiaoliao Mandarin of Mandarin Dialects. Dalian is the place where Jiaoliao Mandarin which originated in Shandong peninsula began to spread to Liaodong peninsula. Formed as the result of immigration from Jiaodong to Liaodong, Dalian Dialect not only possesses common characteristics of the whole Jiaoliao Mandarin, but also shares much more similarities with the dialect spoken on Jiaodong Peninsula(Jiaodong Mandarin), northwest of Shandong Peninsula across Bohai Strait. Both of the two districts are the most representative places of Jiaoliao Mandarin.Through comprehensive field investigation of all ten administrative districts of Dalian, ten dialectal localities are selected together with phonetic materials containing more than 2500 characters, according to"Concise Charts of Chinese Dialects Investigation"and"Charts of Chinese Dialects Investigation". Based on first-hand data collected from dialect investigation and the integration of gains of former research on Jiaoliao Mandarin, a close and comprehensive description of Dalian Dialect is made, involving three aspects: initials, finals and tones. Moreover, a further analysis is made by comparing Dalian Dialect to Medieval Chinese phonology, Modern Mandarin as well as characteristics of Jiaodong Mandarin. By integrating description, comparison, statistical analysis, strata analysis and other methods of research, this thesis reveals synchronic phonological features of Dalian Dialect, summarizes diachronic evolution rules from the Medieval phonology, and finally discusses several unique features of Dalian Dialect in special subjects.