A Sociolinguistic Investigation Of The Functions Of Shaanxi Dialect In Xianyang

The relationship between standard language and regional dialects has being one of the fucuses of sociolinguistic study home and abroad, and great achievements has been made in this field. According to Dai Qingxia, in China, one of the three major areas of language relationship is the one between the national standard language and the regional varieties. In recent years, with the promotion of Putonghua, the living space of dialects are squeezed in different degree which arouse increasing attention both in and outside the academic circle. From "the conflict between Putonghua and Shanghai dialect" to "the competition of Guangdong dialect and Putonghua", we can see that dialects’ living space directly affected the harmony and steadiness of our society. The use of dialects have been surveyed by many scholars, but the research on Shaanxi dialect, especially the social functions of it in Xianyang community is rarely seen. Thus this study tries to investigate and analyze the conflict and harmony between Shaanxi dialect and Putonghua from the perspective of macro-linguistics. Meanwhile, it looks into the social roles Shaanxi dialect plays in the life of local people and interpret the social functions of Shaanxi dialect in Xianyang. The term "Shaanxi dialect" in this research, studied in contrast with Putonghua, refers to all kinds of Shaanxi dialects used in Xianyang community in general.This study, by restricting Putonghua and Shaanxi dialect in the scope of diglossia, adopts the quantitative research methods and chooses the students and their parents from a middle school in Xianyang as the subjects to get to know the situation of Putonghua and Shaanxi dialect in Xianyang community. According to the subjects’code-switching and the attitude towards Putonghua and Shaanxi dialect, the author of the thesis makes a further interpretation about the social functions of Shaanxi dialect. Through the research, the author tries to answer the following questions objectively:Frist, whether the living space of Shaanxi dialect is squeezed by Putonghua? Second, does Shaanxi dialect enjoy a high prestige in Xianyang at the moment? Third, what kinds of social functions does Shaanxi dialect have?The study finds that Shaanxi dialect still enjoys a high prestige in Xianyang community in spite of the promotion of Putonghua. In Xianyang community, it not only acts vigorously as a low variety in people’s daily communications, but also is the carrier of local culture, the expression of group identity and the link of contacting people’s hometown passion. This study also finds that both cognitive factors and emotional factors are included in the attitude towards Putonghua and Shaanxi dialect in Xianyang. Therefore, in the promotion and the popularization of Putonghua, we should not ignore the people’s loyalty and affection to dialects.Although the study is limited to the research in Shaanxi dialect in Xianyang, the author hopes that it could arouse wider attention from the society and the government, which in turn can help protect regional dialects so that our society can develop more harmoniously and sustainable.