Abstract
<em>This paper gives a brief introduction on a research of an ongoing tonal variation in Lanzhou dialect, a northwest Chinese Mandarin. After doing data collection and sample analyses, we find that the tonal variation in this dialect appears in two ways: “Yinping” has two variants: a falling contour and a level contour; “Shangsheng” and “Qusheng” are merging. This phenomenon has been examined from three perspectives: a) phonology of Lanzhou dialect; b) perception test; c) social factors in language variation.</em>
Highlights
Many studies on Chinese tone change have focused more on its results than on its progress
This paper gives a brief introduction on a research of an ongoing tonal variation in Lanzhou dialect, a northwest Chinese Mandarin
After scrutinizing all the literatures concerning Lanzhou dialect (Huang, 1960; LZU, 1963; Gao, 1980; Liu, 1983; Wang, 1984; Song, 1991; Wang & Zhao, 1997; Zhang, 2003; Liu, 2004; Zhang, 2005; Luo, 2007; Zhang & Mo, 2009; Deng, 2009; Zhang, 2012), we find shangsheng has been described variously as falling, convex, level and rising contours in different documents; yinping citation tone was recorded as a falling contour in most cases except Song (1991) and Zhang (2005), which deviates from our intuition and research
Summary
Li Yi1* & Tianxin Wen Foreign Language Department, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China 2 The High School Attached to Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China * Li Yi, Foreign Language Department, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
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