A Study On The Phonological System Of Tongwei(Pingxiang Town) Dialect

Tongwei County is located on the east side of Dingxi,in the middle of Gansu Province.Its dialect belongs to the Longzhong section of Central Plains Mandarin.Tongwei(Pingxiang town)Dialect Phonology(hereinafter referred to as “Tongwei dialect”)is the research object of this paper.The research content mainly includes the initial consonants and finals of Tongwei dialect,the matching relationship of initial consonants and finals,homophony syllabary,the tonal modification,and the comparison of ancient and modern phonetic system to reveal the features of Tongwei dialect phonetics.Tongwei dialect has 29 initial consonants,32 finals,and 3 single tones.The tonal modification of Tongwei dialect include tone sandhi,affix“Er(儿)”,affix“Zi(子)”,assimilation,alienation,reductions,synaeresis,literary and colloquial reading and etc.In a synchronic comparison with Beijing accents,Tongwei dialect has 8 more initial consonants than Beijing accents,respectively [v,z,(?)],7 fewer finals than Beijing accents and no nasal finals,there are 7 nasalized rhymes([(?)]group and[(?)]group)and 2 round-lip vowels in the tongue lobe,respectively [(?)],(?)].In terms of initial consonants,[(?)],[(?)],[(?)],[(?)] are a set of laminal initial consonants,which only combine the finals of beginning with [u];the voiced labiodental fricative [v] is only combined with the monophthong [u];[(?)],[(?)],the initial consonant only spells the finals that begin with [i] and [y];[x],it would be more in the back of your throat,it also has throat friction when it meets the finals that begin with “u” and don’t begin with[i],[u],[y];[(?)] only concatenate the finals that begin with [u],but except [u] single finals.In terms of finals,[u] match[p],[p’],[m],[f],[t],[t’],[l],[k],[k’] each other with obvious lip-tooth friction,and the actual tone value is [v];[(?)] has a small retroflexion action and a large opening,which is similar to [a].In terms of tones,there are only three mono-syllable tones,the entering tone is level tone,and the actual pronunciation of level ton,falling-rising tone,and falling tone.In a diachronic comparison with the mid-ancient Chinese phonology,in terms of initial consonant,Yi(疑)and Ying(影)initial consonant confluence;Ni(泥)and Lai(来)initial consonant mixed at front of broad sound today;Lai(来)initial consonant divided into two initial consonants [l]and [(?)];when the initial consonants of “Jian(见)” series meet the second class characters of the opening(finals beginning with [a],[o],[(?)]),today they are read [k],[k’],[x] in Tongwei dialect;“Zhi”(知)group,“Zhuang”(庄)group and“Zhang”(章)group characters are divided into [(?)] group,[(?)] group and [(?)] group initial consonants according to conditions;the “Ri”(日)initial consonant now reads[z],[(?)],[(?)] three initial consonants.In terms of finals,the Middle Ancient times“Ma”(麻)final of “Jia”(假)meets“Jing”(精)group and the initial consonants of “Jian”series,which reads [(?)],meet “Zhi”(知)group and “Zhuang”(庄)group and the Ri initial consonant reading [(?)] today,and the rest reading [(?)];In the Middle Ancient times,most of the characters of rhyme group“Xie(蟹)” and rhyme group“Zhi(止)”are confluenced now,the rhyme part that opening mouth of“Xie”(蟹)and “Zhi”(摄)meets some of the characters of the initials group“Xiao”(晓)group,is pronounced low-pitched soun in Beijing dialect but broad sound in Tong Wei dialect;“Xian” and“Shan(山)”positive rhyme merge today,read [(?)],[(?)],[(?)],[(?)],“Dang(宕)”and“Jiang(江)” positive rhyme merge,too,read [(?)],[(?)],[(?)];Rhyme groups “Shen”(深),“Zhen(臻)”,“Zeng(曾)”,“Geng(梗)”,“Tong(通)”positive rhyme confluence,read[(?)],[(?)],[(?)],[(?)].In terms of tones,there are three tones,namely: level tone,falling-rising tone,and falling tone;level tone does not distinguish between yin and yang,ancient Qing,and second voiced entering tone now return to level tone,the Middle Ancient times falling-rising tone clear and second voiced initial consonants now read falling-rising tone;the Middle Ancient times falling-rising tone is all voiced characters,and the falling tone words are read falling tone today.As an important part of Central Plains Mandarin,Tongwei dialect has its own features in pronunciation,vocabulary,and grammar.The comprehensive description and analysis of Tongwei dialect’s phonetic system will reflect the current situation of Tongwei dialect’s phonetics systematically.