A Study On The Historical Evolution Of "[k(?)(?) T(?)i(?)u]圪蹴" In Xinzhou Dialect From The Perspective Of Historical Linguistics

"[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴",is a typical dialectal word commonly used in northern areas,such as Shanxi,Shaanxi,Shandong and Inner Mongolia.It generally means crouching or squatting.In Xinzhou city,Shanxi Province,it’s also representative.In the meantime,it has unique cultural meaning and represents Xinzhou’s special customs.Xinzhou city,as a historical city first built in West Han dynasty,is a medium city in the north of Shanxi province.Xinzhou dialect belongs to the Wutai part of Jin dialects.Whether in pronunciation,vocabulary or grammar,it has its own distinctive and unique features.Till now,few scholars have ever done a systematic research on it.In this thesis,the author aims to discuss and explore language change by investigating the historical evolution of the word "[k(?)?tei(?)u]圪蹴" in Xinzhou dialect from the perspective of historical linguistics.The word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴" is composed of two morphemes:"[k(?)?]圪"(an affix,has no meaning)and "[tciau]蹴 "(means to step,kick,crouch,etc).The study firstly makes an investigation on the historical development of these two morphemes in the aspects of pronunciation,structure,and meaning;and then analyzes the historical development of the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴",furthermore,the study compares and contrasts the sounds and meanings of this word in Xinzhou and its surrounding areas;and finally finds out the factors which impact the changes of the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴"in the history and the factors which result in the different sounds and meanings of the word in different regions.In order to make a detailed investigation on the historical development of the word"[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴",the study looks for the related materials and recordings of the word from the ancient books,journals,Internet,etc.Materials from Peking University corpus are used and analyzed.Furthermore,by making interviews and field work,the author collects the living corpus from the people who live in the dialectal areas involved in this study.Taking language contact,wellentheorie(wave theory)and the theory of lexical diffusion as the theoretical foundations,this study aims to explore and find the answers to the following questions:What is the origin of the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴"?Is it a loanword from mandarin?Do the historical changes of sounds and meanings of the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴" have rules?(Or are the historical phonological and semantic changes regular?)If any,what are these rules?How do geography and society influence the sound and meaning of the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴"?What are the specific and representative factors?Through the investigations on the historical development of "[k(?)?]圪","[tci(?)u]蹴"and "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴",the author has found that the grammatical function and meaning of "[k(?)?]圪" have changed a lot,the pronunciation and meaning of "[tci(?)u]蹴",have varied during the history,and the word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴" originates from the dialect,and then was used in mandarin.The main factors which influence the historical development of the word can be concluded as the geographical environment,specific cultural backgrounds,and language contact.Although in this study only a word "[k(?)(?) t(?)i(?)u]圪蹴" in Xinzhou dialect has been discussed,the author further discusses the facts and laws of language change with the help of the investigation and analysis on the historical evolution of the word.Furthermore,the study provides more useful information for further research.