The Study On The Phonology Of Xihua Dialect

This paper discusses the phonetic issue of the Xihua dialect, from the aspects of synchrony and diachrony and based on thorough investigation, and the methods of description and comparison are taken. The paper has six chapters, the outline of which is as follows:The first chapter is the introduction, divided into four sections,including the historical and geographical survey of Xihua, the attribution of the dialect, the current research, the purpose and significance of the research, and also the object and methods of the research, as well as how to choose dialect sites and pronunciation cooperationers. This chapter focuses on the current study of Xihua dialects, and also the purpose and significance, and definites the study object of this paper is Xihua dialects.The second chapter is the phonetic system of Xihua Dialect, there are five sections. This chapter stresses on an objective description of the system of consonants, tones and vowels, as well as the coordination between consonants and vowels in Xihua dialect. It simply concludes the feature of consonants, tones and vowels in Xihua dialect, based on an objective description.The third chapter is the diachronic comparison study, comparing the dialect with "Guangyun" Zhongyuan Yinyun"and "Zhongzhou Yinyun" to trace the development of Xihua dialect.The main content of this chapter are the comparisons of consonants, vowels and tones. The consonants are ranged following the structure of medieval phonology system, which is the4consonants categaries and12vowel groups, while the vowels are also organized by the medieval phonology system’s16vowel types, the modern part of sound is put forward according to the19rhymes in "ZhongYuanzYinYun",while the tone is range in the common4tones pattern. It tries to reveal the phonetic characteristics of Xihua dialect and the historical evolution by thorough comparison.The fourth chapter is ralated to the synchronic comparison. In order to highlight the characteristics of Xihua dialect, there is a comparison between Xihua dialects and mandarin as well as its surrounding dialects, paiticularly on consonants, vowels and tones.The fifth chapter is about the phonology-related issues within the dialect. This chapter is divided into two sections, emphasis has been put on the grammatical and phonetical phenomenon of "li""lei" and "zi’The sixth chapter is the conclusion, it concludes the whole paper and also puts forward an outlook on the Xihua dialects.Regarding the exsitance of Xihua dialects and based on a thoroughly description, this paper summarizes its phonetical characteristics and the evolvement rule of Xihua dialects.