Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.9, 2013

The Formation Models of Different Literary and Colloquial Readings and the Literary and Colloquial Readings in Beijing Dialect

(Abstract)

Li Lan

Based on previous research on literary and colloquial readings, this study summarizes the formation models of literary and colloquial readings in modern Chinese dialects as follows: mutual borrowing, influence of a prestige dialect, and coverage of powerful loanwords. Our study of the literary and colloquial readings in Bijie dialect of Guizhou Province shows that the mixing of dialects is also an important cause for different literary and colloquial readings. According to its phonological features, geographical distribution, source of immigrants, and historical and cultural backgrounds, modern Beijing dialect is a mixed dialect that has emerged from Hebei and Shandong immigrants living together in the northeast during the Ming and Qing dynasties. As such, we can decompose the literal and colloquial readings of Beijing dialect into different dialectal levels: whereas its literary readings are those of Shandong dialect, its colloquial readings are those of Hebei dialect. The literary and colloquial readings of Beijing dialect actually reflect the dialectal variations of different sources.