A Study On The Social Variation Of Zhanjiang Cantonese Tones

In the studies of tonal variation in Cantonese dialects,most of the previous studies focused on Guangfu Cantonese,and less attention had been paid to dialects outside the Pearl River Delta as well as experimental phonetic and social variation studies of them.Combining fieldwork,experimental phonetics analysis,and statistical methods from the perspective of phonetic social variation,this paper collects citation tone [tone(s)hereinafter] output data of 61 Zhanjiang(Xiashan)Cantonese native speakers,objectively describes the tonal system of Zhanjiang Cantonese,comprehensively analyses how the social factors including age,gender,and dialect background influence the pitch,duration and dynamic space of Zhanjiang Cantonese tones,and discusses the commonality and individuality of tonal variation among several Cantonese dialects.Speakers participating in the recording are divided into three age groups(teenager,young adult,and middle-aged adult),two gender groups(male and female),and three dialect groups(purely Zhanjiang Cantonese background,with Guangzhou Cantonese background,and with Leizhou Min background).Based on the pitch and duration data,it can be concluded that Zhanjiang Cantonese has a seven-tone system,in which Yinshang is merged into Yangshang and Yangqu into Yangping,while the division of the former pair is only found in the elderly population.As to the characteristics and social variation of each tone,more findings are revealed.First,Yinping has a complex contour,which triggers tonal divergence and builds a continuum from high-rising to high-flat,but the influence from Guangzhou Cantonese inclines to flatten the tone pattern.Second,after the merging of Yinshang and Yangshang,the new low-rising Shang shifts gradually toward a low-falling-rising tone,which is more significant in female speakers’ system,and the younger the male speaker,the more inclined they are to accept the transition.Third,the merging of Yangqu into Yangping makes it unnecessary for speakers to distinguish the two tones from each other,resulting in the merged Yangping adopting a falling-level pattern,and thus becoming the longest tone of Zhanjiang Cantonese;Besides,under the influence of Guangzhou Cantonese,a few speakers tend to separate Yangping and Yangqu.Fourth,there is a tendency for the speakers to merge Xiayinru and Yangru and it is mainly reflected in male teenagers’ tonal system;Meanwhile,Yangru of male teenagers is significantly shorter than other male speakers,which may be to enhance the distinction between the longer Xiayinru and itself.Fifth,the three Ru tones all represent pitch declination;And due to the combined effect of Ru-tones’ downstep,tone merger,and the complex contour of Yinping,Zhanjiang Cantonese doesn’t represent the traditional corresponding pattern of Shu and Ru tones which shows in Standard Guangzhou Cantonese.Sixth,unlike Guangzhou Cantonese,Leizhou Min has almost no evident impact on the tonal variation of Zhanjiang Cantonese,for which the disproportionate language prestige and different tonal systems between them are the major reasons.Based on the conclusions above,combined with the discussion of the tonal variation among different Cantonese dialects,the commonality of Cantonese tonal variation lies in the comparability of variation characteristics,while its individuality is represented through the independence and autonomy of variation types and speed of each dialect.