Selected Topics On Taihe Dialect

Taihe County, located in the northwest of Anhui Province, belongs to Zhengcao area of Zhongyuan Mandarin. Based on the description of the phonetic system of Taihe dialect, the thesis chooses three themes to describe, discuss and explore their academic value according to some characteristics of the dialect. The thesis strives to explore the characteristics of Taihe dialect and discovers the rules of the development of language. The contents are as follows:The introduction is mainly concerned with the overview of history, geography, humanity and language of Taihe County, the literature review of the Taihe dialect and relevant dialects and the informants and the source of linguistic data.Chapter Two describes the phonetic system of Taihe dialect and its characteristics in three aspects of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.The next three chapters cover three topics with respect to the distinct language phenomena of Taihe dialect in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Chapter Three explores the reasons for the phenomenon of sound change from four levels of the pronunciation physiology, phonological structure, voice systems and dialects, according to distribution patterns and historical level of labiodentalization of initials in zhao (照) group with hekouhu (合口呼) in Taihe dialect. Conclusion is thus drawn that the phenomenon of sound change is due to the decategorialization of consonants caused by vowels within the internal phonological structure of Zhongyuan Mandarin.Chapter Four first introduces the suffix-zi(子) and suffix-er (儿) in Taihe dialect. Then it studies the relations between the above two sides based on data from questionnaires. It further explores the reasons of the ebb and flow of suffix-zi (子)and suffix-er(儿)in Taihe dialect from four aspects of age differences, gender differences, differences between urban and rural areas and the development of language. It is then found that this phenomenon vividly reflects the mutual competition between Zhongyuan Mandarin and Jianghuai Mandarin with suffix-zi(子)in the transitive zone.Chapter Five describes the syntax and semantics of "ke (可)VP" interrogative sentence in Taihe dialect and it is inferred that "ke(可)VP" interrogative sentence, common in Jianghuai Mandarin, also appears in Taihe dialect, located at the border zone of Zhongyuan Mandarin and Jianghuai Mandarin, which also proves the transitive nature of Taihe dialect.The thesis concludes that the evolution of dialect is not only with its own rules of development, but is inseparable from the environmental impact of geography and history as well. Taihe County, situated in the north of the Huaihe River in Anhui Province, is the contact frontier between Zhongyuan Mandarin and Jianghuai Mandarin. Since the two Mandarins are in close contact in the region, the dialect features the mutual penetration of the two. The study of this thesis will help explore the relations between the two kinds of Mandarin so as to explore the rules of language development.