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Phonetic features of the Hakka dialect of the Chinese language of Mei County

Skomorokha Eva

ORCID: 0009-0003-0822-9408

Student, Department of Oriental Languages, Siberian Federal University

660041, Russia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Krasnoyarsk, Svobodny Ave., 82a

Skomorokha10@mail.ru
Chzhan Yui

Senior Lecturer, Department of Oriental Languages, Siberian Federal University

660041, Russia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Krasnoyarsk, ul. Pr. Svobodny, 82a

yuzhang0829@foxmail.com

DOI:

10.25136/2409-8698.2024.5.41004

EDN:

EPUQSL

Received:

15-06-2023


Published:

02-06-2024


Abstract: This work is devoted to the study of phonetic features of the Hakka dialect of the Chinese language of Mei County. The material for this article was videos from the Chinese social network Bilibili. The object of the study is the Hakka dialect of the Mei County Chinese language. The subject of the study is linguistic features. The article discusses in detail the structure of the phonetic system of the dialect, namely the features of the tonal system, the system of initials and finals. Special attention is paid to the features that are uncharacteristic for Mandarin: the difference in the number of tones, the specificity of sounds, combinations of sounds that are absent in the generally accepted dialect. The phonetic characteristics presented in the article are illustrated by examples from the speech of the Hakka dialect speaking people of Mei County. In this article, the authors are of the opinion that dialects are an integral part of Chinese culture that requires special attention. The relevance of the work is justified by the tendency to preserve dialects, therefore, it is aimed at popularizing the Hakka dialect, a detailed study of its aspects. The study analyzed the following points: the current dialect situation in China, the role of dialects as a component of the cultural code of the country, the phonetic structure of the Hakka dialect of Mei County, its connection with the language of the Tang era. A special contribution to the research of the topic is the systematization of the currently existing information in the form of tables, as well as a description of the phonetic features of the dialect.


Keywords:

dialect, Chinese dialectology, Hakka, Meixian county, preserving linguistic diversity, pronunciation, sound, tone, phonetic features, Mandarin

This article is automatically translated.

The current dialect situation in China is ambiguous. Based on the opinion of Russian scientists, it becomes clear that with the emergence of a policy aimed at spreading putonghua, the idea of neglecting the interests of individuals for the sake of the "common good" is clearly being traced [3]. In particular, the number of speakers of the Hakka dialect as a non–native has changed over the decades - there is a downward trend from 3.6% to 3.5% [4]. And although there is an article in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China confirming the right of the population to "use their languages and develop their writing," the process of replacing dialects with the national language is actively underway in the country [2]. In recent years it has become the slogan of "" / shu? p?t?nghu?, gu?f?n y?ng z?, w?nm?ng zu? r?n, which means "speak Putonghua, use the standard characters and be a cultured person". It is implied that anyone who does not use putonghua everywhere becomes a person of low social or educational level [3].

At the same time, examining the works of Chinese authors, we observe the opposite situation: dialects are not only not being displaced, on the contrary, they are given special attention. There is a document confirming this position on the website of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China. The message of this paper is the following: "" / f?ngy?n y? p?t?nghu? h?b? g?ng r?ng, which translates as "dialects and Putonghua complement each other and flourish together". Chinese schools and universities are hosting "dialect lessons" aimed at spreading and introducing the younger generation to the use of dialect vocabulary. In addition, in the Chinese Internet space, there are such lexemes as "" / f?ngy?ng?ng – a joke based on differences in dialects, "" / f ? ngy ? n b ? oh ? – the people's policy of supporting dialects, "" / f ? ngy ? n w?ish? - a nickname for the defender dialects , etc . All this indicates a positive trend in maintaining the development of dialects.

Dialects contain many stable expressions or lexemes specific to a particular region. With the loss of language, a part of culture is also lost, which is so important in describing the diversity of Chinese civilization. According to S.A. Barov, the disappearance of a part of culture will become a serious problem for the country, since China lacks a unifying religious principle, "it is culture for the Chinese that becomes a kind of common source of their historical uniqueness" [3]. Among the achievements in the "battle" for the preservation of dialects can be attributed Cantonese opera or musical performances in South Fujian dialects included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of the People's Republic of China and UNESCO. Nevertheless, there are still many gaps in the field of Chinese dialectology that need to be filled.

Dialectology is a science dealing with the study of territorial varieties of a language, that is, dialects, in their synchronous state and historical development. The term "dialectology" goes back to the Greek roots: dialektos – dialect, dialect; logos – teaching, knowledge [5]. Speaking of Chinese dialectology, it has a number of features. Firstly, in the Chinese language there is a special term for "dialect" - ? / / f?ngy?n. The history of this term, which literally translates as "local words", goes back deep into antiquity. Initially, it was opposed to the term /zh?ngy?n "correct pronunciation". In addition, Chinese dialects, according to Alexey Nikolaevich Aleksakhin, are so different that representatives of different dialect groups have great difficulty interacting with each other, or their oral communication is completely impossible [1].

When choosing a dialect, we considered the least studied dialects in the Russian-speaking space. In preparation for the study, it was found that the Hakka dialect of Mei County is included in the list of the most popular, but at the same time, the percentage of research on this dialect is small. Therefore, we chose him. The choice of the county is justified by the following factors: the territory of this county is home to the largest number of people who speak this dialect. Moreover, the dialect variant of this area is considered the official model of Hakka.  

The phonetic system of the Hakka dialect has 17 initials, including 1 zero initial sound. The dialect is characterized by such a phenomenon as aspiration:  ? [t?u?18] [t?u?] [t?uk31]. Initials, finals are divided into four categories: "verchneyaickaya consonants" (/ sh?sh?ngy?n), "perednezadny consonants" ( / ch?t?uy?n) and vowels of the second and third categories of Chinese phonology ( / zh?ngch?y?n – science that analyzes the pronunciation of Chinese characters with a table of syllables as the primary method, is a branch of Chinese phonology). So, being originally sounds [?],[ts?],[s], during the transformations they became fixed in the Hakka dialect in the following form: [t?],[t],[t],[?]. The sound of iniziale [k]?[k?]?[h]?[?] due to the influence of other southern dialects such as Cantonese, the dialect of the province of Minya: ? [k?i18] [kian] [hian] [?a18]?as [?iu18] [?i18]. An interesting process is the formation of the initials [f] and [v], which appeared as a result of the fusion of different sounds: initially, the sounds [x] and [h] were combined, after which only the sound [h] remained, and then, forming the syllable "hu" with the vowel [u], the sound [h] was gradually ousted. Thus the Chinese of the Hakka dialect is fixed to the sounds [f] and [v]: ? [f?n304] [fa] [fi] [fi18]?mobile [fan18] [v?n] [va].

Table 1. Initials of the Hakka dialect of Mei County

b [p] ?

p [p?] ?

m [m] ?

f [f] ?

v [v] ?

d [t] ?

t [t?] ?

n [n] ?

l [l] ?

 

g [k] ?

k [k?] ?

ng [?] ?

h [h] ?

(?)

z [?]

c []

 

s [s]

 

If we talk about the finales inherent in the dialect, then there are much more of them. The following table shows the 74 finals included in the Hakka phonetic system of Mei County.

Table 2. Finals of the Hakka dialect of Mei County

ii [?] ?

i [i] ?

u [u] ?

a [a] ?

ia [ia] ?

ua [ua] ?

o [?] ?

io [i?] ?

uo [u?] ?

[?] ?

i? [i?]

u? [u?] ?

ai [ai] ?

iai [iai] ?

uai [uai] ?

oi [?i] ?

 

 

au [au] ?

iau [iau] ?

 

u [?u] ?

i?u [ieu] ?

 

 

iu [iu] ?

 

 

iui [iui] ?

ui [ui] ?

am [am] ?

iam [iam] ?

 

m [?m] ?

 

 

em [?m] ?

im [im] ?

 

an [an] ?

ian [ian] ?

uan [uan] ?

on [?n] ?

ion [i?n] ?

uon [u?n] ?

n [?n] ?

i?n [i?n] ?

u?n [u?n] ?

en [?n] ?

in [in] ?

 

 

iun [iun] ?

un [un] ?

ang [a?] ?

iang [ia?] ?

uang [ua?] ?

ong [] ?

iong [i] ?

uong [u] ?

 

iung [iu?] ?

ung [u?] ?

ab [ap] ?

iab [iap] ?

 

b [?p] ?

 

 

eb [?p] ?

ib [ip] ?

 

ad [at] ?

iad [iat] ?

uad [uat] ?

od [?t] ?

 

 

d [?t] ?

i?d [i?t] ?

u?d [u?t] ?

ed [?t] ?

id [it] ?

 

 

iud [iut] ?

ud [ut] ?

ag [ak] ?

iag [iak] ?

uag [uak]?

og [?k] ?

iog [i?k] ?

uog [u?k] ?

 

iug [iuk] ?

ug [uk] ?

m [m] ?

n [n] ?

ng[?] ?

 It is necessary to distinguish between the sounds [?] and [i], which are indicated as "ii" and "i" respectively when writing pinyin. If the vowel sound acts as a final, the sound "y" is placed before it, in the recording it looks like this: yi,ya,yo,y?,yai,yau,yu,yui,yam,yim,yan,yin,yun,yang,yong,yung,yab.yib,yad,yid,yud,yag,yog,yug. Special attention should be paid to the fact that Hakka lacks the "final of the constricted mouth" (the last of the four degrees of vowel openness), that is, the sound [?] familiar in Putonghua. Nevertheless, in the phonetic system of the dialect, 6 finals [-p][-t][-k][-m][-n][-?][-?] have been preserved, originating in the Middle Chinese language: ? [kap12] [tt31] [siak12]? [ [kam]? [ [tn18]? [ [t18]. In many words that came from the middle Chinese language, the sound [-?] replaced by the sound [n]: ? [t?n32] [s?n] [kin32].

The tone system of the Hakka dialect is noteworthy in that it does not include the 4 tones familiar to Putonghua speakers, it includes 6 tones.

Table 3. The tonal system of the Hakka dialect of Mei County

Tone

Tonal value

Pinyin

Example

Smooth tone ()

44

sa1

Rising Tone ())

11

sa12

Descending-ascending tone (?))

31

sa10

Descending tone ()

53

sa30

Lower incoming tone ()

1

sat31

Upper incoming tone (?))

5

sat13

 Unlike putonghua, in which a large number of words are pronounced in the fourth tone, the first tone prevails in Meixian Hakka. For example, the conventional reading of the characters ? / zh?, ? / zu?, ? / b?i, ? / d?, ? / ji?, ? / Shi, ? / zh?ng, ? / b? characterized by a fourth tone, while in Hakka they will read the first tone. The distinctive characteristic of the dialect is the last 2 tones indicated in the table. They go back to the terminology of ancient phonetics, represent the incoming tone and are associated with the ancient tradition of preserving rhyme, they are indicated on the letter as follows: / y?nr? – the lower incoming tone, the lowest; ? / y?ngr? – the upper incoming tone, the highest.  These tones are pronounced very quickly, much shorter in shape than the previous ones. Their feature is the construction of the syllable: the initial is the vowel sound (a, o, i, e), in place of the final is the consonant sound (b, d, g). Thus, we get the following combinations of sounds: ab, ad, ag, od, og, ib, id, eb, ed. When reading, the consonantal sound is not pronounced, however, it limits the attempt to pronounce a vowel sound, which is why the tone is short. In modern Chinese, the preservation of rhyme is not particularly important, but this tradition is still present in southern dialects [9].

The phonetic features of the Hakka dialect of Mei County are more clearly manifested in examples taken from the oral speech of native speakers of the dialect.

Table 4. Examples from the oral speech of Hakka speakers

¹

An example on Hakka

An example in Putonghua

Hakka

Pinyin

Translation

Comment

1

ngai2 he4  hag1 ga1 ngin1

w? sh? k?ji?r?n

I am a native speaker of Hakka.

Unique combinations of sounds for Hakka: ngai, hag, ngin; use of incoming tone: hag1.

2

n2 siid5 hai4 fan4 mo3

n? ch?le f?n ma

Have you eaten?

Unique combinations of sounds for Hakka: siid, mo; use of the incoming tone: siid5; double vowel "i" in the syllable: siid5; short consonant sound n.

3

gi2 tang4m1siid1 hag1ga1fa4

t? t?ng b? d?ng k?ji? hu?

 

He doesn't understand Hakka.

Unique combinations of sounds for Hakka: gi, siid, hag; use of an incoming tone: siid1, hag1; double vowel "i" in a syllable: siid1; short consonant sound m.

          These sentences are examples of the live speech of a native speaker of the Hakka dialect. Based on them, we can clearly observe significant differences in the phonetic structure. The above features are determined by the rules of grammar and phonetics of the ancient Chinese language. Thus, the Hakka dialect is still sometimes called the term "" / t ? ng y ? "language of the Tang era", which indicates a direct connection with the linguistic structure of those times. Thus, by studying the peculiarities of this dialect, at the same time there is an acquaintance with the history of one of the most significant periods of cultural development in the history of China.

Summing up all of the above, it is worth highlighting the main points of the study. Firstly, the article highlighted the real dialect situation in China. As we can see, it is currently ambiguous, since there is a difference of opinion regarding the present situation of dialects and Putonghua between the Chinese and Russian scientific community. Secondly, the work was devoted to the study of the phonetic component of the dialect. The systems of initials and finals of the dialect were described and systematized, and the Hakka tone system of Mei County was considered. It was concluded that in many ways the phonetic system is built according to the rules of the ancient Chinese language, and the influence of neighboring southern dialects is observed. Thirdly, the difference between the Hakka dialect and the official language was once again emphasized. It reflects the historical and cultural component of the Chinese people, so the authors consider it necessary to pay attention to the issue of preserving dialects.

References
1. Aleksahin, A.N. (1987). Hakka dialect. Moscow: Science.
2. Baglaeva, A.S. (2021). The problem of preserving dialects in China as a result of modern politics, 237-240. Foreign languages in the modern world.
3. Barov, S.A., Egorova, M.A. (2019). Cantonese dialect in modern china: the problem of conservation. RUDN Journal of Language Studies Semiotics and Semantics, 10(1), 152-166. doi:10.22363/2313-2299-2019-10-1-152-166
4. Gutin, I.Y. (2018). Language situation in special administrative region of Hongkong, PRC and language politics. International research journal, 2(68), 79-83. doi:10.23670/IRJ.2018.68.020
5. Kasatkin, L.L. (2005). Russian dialectology. Moscow: Academy.
6. Rybnikar, A.A. (2013). Study of china dialects by Russian scientists. In the world of science and art: issues of philology, art and culturology, 9(28), 113-118.
7. Yahontov, S.E. (2016). Chinese dialect classification. In Kolpachkova, E.N. (Ed.), Problems in Chinese and General Linguistics. Sergey Yakhontov anniversary volume in honor of his 90th birthday (pp. 117-125). Saint-Petersburg: NP-Print Studio.
8. Yahontov, S.E. (2016). Written and spoken Chinese in the VII–XIII centuries AD. In Kolpachkova, E.N. (Ed.), Problems in Chinese and General Linguistics. Sergey Yakhontov anniversary volume in honor of his 90th birthday (pp. 182–195). Saint-Petersburg: NP-Print Studio.
9. Hao Pengfei. (2011). 广西贺州市桂岭镇客家话研究. [«Research on Hakka Dialect in Guiling Town, Hezhou City, Guangxi»]. Guangxi Normal University, 199.
10. Zhang Xue, Yang Zirong. (2022). 普通话和梅县客家话的词汇比较研究. [A Comparative Study on the Vocabulary of Putonghua and Meixian Hakka]. Macau University of Science and Technology International College, 12–14.
11. Yan Shuhuei. (2022). 近四十年来客家方言研究的:历史经验与当代反思. [Hakka dialect research in the past forty years: historical experience and contemporary reflection]. Jiangxi: Journal of Gannan Normal University, 17–23.
12. Xu Rong. (2012). 汉语方言深度接触研究. [Research on In-depth Contact with Chinese Dialects]. Fudan University.
13. Xie, Liuwen, & Huang, Xuezhen. (2007). 客家方言的分区(稿). [Division of Hakka Dialects (manuscript)], 238–249. Beijing: Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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The article submitted for consideration "Phonetic features of the Hakka dialect of the Chinese language of Mei County", proposed for publication in the journal "Litera", is undoubtedly relevant, due to the growing interest in the study of the Chinese language and culture in our country. The article deals with topical issues of phonology of the Chinese language and dialectology, introducing the reader to the dialects and features of the Chinese language. The author examines the Hakka dialect of Mei County, which is one of the most popular, but at the same time, the percentage of research on this dialect is small in China. We also note the presence of a relatively small number of studies on this topic in Russian linguistics. The article is innovative, one of the first in Russian linguistics devoted to the study of such issues. The author turns, among other things, to various methods to confirm the hypothesis put forward. The following research methods are used: logical-semantic analysis, hermeneutical and comparative methods. This work was done professionally, in compliance with the basic canons of scientific research. The study was carried out in line with modern scientific approaches, the work consists of an introduction containing the formulation of the problem, the main part, traditionally beginning with a review of theoretical sources and scientific directions, a research and final one, which presents the conclusions obtained by the author. It should be noted that the introductory part does not contain historical information on the study of this issue both in general (areas of research) and in particular. There are no references to the work of the predecessors. The author does not provide data on the practical material of language research. Structurally, we note that the basic canons of scientific research are not fully observed in this work. The work consists of an introduction containing a statement of the problem, but it does not mention the main researchers of this topic, the main part, which does not begin with a review of theoretical sources and scientific directions. The disadvantages include the lack of clearly defined tasks in the introductory part, the ambiguity of the methodology and the progress of the study. The conclusion in this paper is too concise, since the conclusion should present the results of the study and its prospects, and not list what has been done. The bibliography of the article includes 13 sources, among which scientific works are presented in both Russian and Chinese. A larger number of references to references to fundamental works, such as monographs, PhD and doctoral dissertations, would undoubtedly enhance the theoretical significance of the work. The comments made are not significant and do not detract from the overall positive impression of the reviewed work. The work is innovative, representing the author's vision of solving the issue under consideration and may have a logical continuation in further research. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using its results in the teaching of university courses on the theory and practice of translation, comparative study of Russian and Chinese culture, practice of the Chinese language, as well as courses on interdisciplinary research. The article will undoubtedly be useful to a wide range of people, philologists, undergraduates and graduate students of specialized universities. The article "Phonetic features of the Hakka dialect of the Chinese language of Mei County" can be recommended for publication in a scientific journal.