Rice-cultivating Vocabulary In Sanjiang Dong(Kam)

Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County,with the largest population of Dong nationality in China,at present,still retains the typical Dong culture,production mode and lifestyle,which are derived from the rice-cultivating activity.All aspects contain precious study value ranging from the types of rice plants,production process and implements of production to food derived from rice-cultivating culture.However,due to the globalization of economy,these cultures and lifestyle,which have been passed down to the present for thousands of years without stop,together with the words containing these important cultural connotations,are at stake.Therefore,the study of rice-cultivating vocabulary in Sanjiang County is of great significance.There are three questions to be studied in this paper:(1)How many categories of rice-cultivating vocabulary in Sanjiang Dong language can be classified?(2)What are the features of those words in word-formation?(3)What historical and cultural information do they contain? Thus,based on the data collected from our own fieldwork in Sanjiang County,with theoretical methodology from such related fields as documentary linguistics and anthropo-linguistics,this paper aims to make a systematic analysis of the rice-cultivating vocabulary from three aspects,namely,words classification,phonetic structure,and semantics.Cultural connotations of these words will also be probed.Analysis reveals that rice-cultivating vocabulary in Sanjiang Dong language can be divided into five categories according to semantic fields: rice plants,production process,implements,natural resources and food.In terms of syllable number,these words can be divided into monosyllabic words,disyllabic words and polysyllabic words.In terms of word formation,these words can be divided into simple words and compound words,among which compound words are the most,mainly including compound nouns and compound verbs.In terms of cultural connotation,Sanjiang Dong contains abundant words related to diet and festivals,which embody the central role played by the rice-cultivating culture in Dong’s production mode and lifestyle.In addition,the words related to rice plants and production technology reflect the homologous relationship between Sanjiang Dong language and other branches of Kam-Tai group,which strongly shows that they had mature technology of rice-cultivating and rice-processing before differentiation.