On The Language Features And Functions Of Rongshui Dong Songs

Due to historical reasons, the Dong (Kam) People developed no writing system of their own language. So they turn to songs for passing cultures and traditions. As a result, songs become an encyclopedia of their life. These invaluable songs, however, are now in danger of extinction in face of globalization and other reasons. Therefore, it is of great need and significance to record, transcribe and study these oral traditions.Based on Rongshui Dong songs collected through fieldworks, this thesis attempts to record, transcribe and translate the Dong songs, and gives a detailed analysis on these oral discourses by using knowledge of linguistics, with the hope to reveal its language features and functions. On one hand, the study of linguistic features of Rongshui Dong songs falls into three aspects, namely, prosodic features, lexical features and syntactic features. The study of prosodic features mainly focuses on internal rhymes, waist rhymes, end rhymes and alliteration. In the analysis of lexical features, the use of liner words and word order changes are explored. The discussion of syntactic features is devoted to the use of repetition and parallelism. On the other hand, the study of functions of Rongshui Dong songs mainly focuses on aesthetic funcions. discourse functions, pragmatic functions and social functions.The study reveals that in the collected Dong songs, line lengths are various, and the use of rhymes is flexible. Distributions of internal rhymes, waist rhymes and end rhymes are not set in lines. And end rhymes occur mainly in even lines within a stanza. Alliteration realized by the repetition of the sound/m/in some syllables makes the alliterative syllables stand out. Strengthening musical rhythms, highlighting syllables and phonological cohesion are the main functions of the use of rhymes and alliteration. In the lexical level, liner words occur in the fixed initial position and final position of lines function as discourse markers in providing information to audiences. Word order changes emphasize information of the reversed words through positional exchanging, violating the constituent order SVO and violating ABB form of adjectives of Dong language. In the syntactic level, repetition and parallelism of words and lines are cohesive devices in the songs. As oral literatures, Rongshui Dong songs are employed to record cultures, exchange work and life experience as well as to communicate with people.