The Hangzhou dialect

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1992This dissertation is a description of the dialect of Hangzhou, including phonology, grammar, and lexicon. The history and classification of the dialect are also discussed. The data upon which the description is based was compiled during fieldwork with native speakers in Hangzhou in 1988-89 and Summer 1990. The methodology used is that of the descriptive dialectologist. The dissertation comprises seven chapters:Chapter One presents a survey of the history of the city of Hangzhou from Han times to the present. Particular attention is paid the development of the city's population. It is argued that the northern immigrants who flocked to Hangzhou when it was established as the capital of the Southern Song (1127-1279) inexorably reshaped the dialect of the city.Chapter Two outlines the system of initials, finals, and tones of the dialect.Chapter Three analyzes other treatments of Hangzhou phonology that have been published in the past century and outlines the phonological developments that they reveal.Chapter Four examines various aspects of Hangzhou lexicon and morphology and argues that, while in both lexicon and syntax there is an obvious mixture of Northern and Southern features, Northern elements dominate overall.Chapter Five summarizes the major features of Hangzhou syntax. The areas discussed include adverbs, the copula, existential sentences, interrogatives, aspect, negation, the passive, the disposal form, complements, and modifiers marked with /tie?/. Where significant, it is noted how the dialect compares with Beijing on the one hand and with the surrounding Wu dialects on the other.Chapter Six is a detailed inventory of phonological correspondences between Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and the Qieyun system. Significant exceptions are listed.Chapter Seven reviews features of Hangzhou phonology and grammar and argues that the dialect is most successfully classified as a conservative Mandarin dialect that was engendered in the city by the northern immigrants who inundated Hangzhou in the Southern Song. Yet it is also shown that the dialect is developing typological Wu features and that these developments are given impetus by the city's isolation in Wu territory