| dc.description.abstract | This thesis is an exploration of the Hakka Dialects of Pingjiangxien Huangjindong（平江縣黃金洞）, Youxian Luansan（攸縣鸞山） and Xintianxian Menlouxiaxia（新田縣門樓下） villages in Hunan. We intend to investigate the characteristic changes of the lexicon as well as the language shift as a result of extended periods of time and distance from their hometowns of these Hakka immigrants who had moved from their original hometowns in the Min,Yue and Gan provinces and had continual contact with speakers of other dialects in their new residences since the Ming and Ching Dynasties.
This thesis is comprised of six chapters. The first is the preface which explains the motivation and purpose, the research method and steps taken, an annotated bibliography of related articles, as well as a situational account of the history and geography of the place and people being researched.The second chapter is an explanation of the phonetic system, which is divided into consonants, vowels and tone sandhi.Aside from discussing the particular meanings of words in each geographical area, the third chapter further compares the Hakka dialects of the three areas surveyed with the dialects spoken in their points of origin. This data is summarized into four parts: (1) reflecting the limitations and transitions of the geographical locations; (2) the variety of word usage due to language contact; (3) common traces of cultural change; and (4) evident localization of vocabulary usage.Through a comparison of neighboring dialects, the fourth chapter analyzes the ratio and methods of borrowings from the Xiang and Gan dialects into the Hakka dialects. There are five major types of borrowings: partial word types, partial phonetic, complete word types, complete phonetic, as well as hybird. Moreover, it will be observed through the proximity relationships and the quantity of these borrowings, that Hunan Hakka had traditionally been predominately influenced by the Gan dialect, but with noticeable inroads being made by the distinctive qualities of the Xiang dialect in recent years.The fifth chapter is a discussion of the simultaneous existence of the distinctly Hunan Hakka dialects with regards to morphology, word formation and the ability of derivation.Furthermore, we will delve into the distinctive qualities of each of the aforementioned dialects.The sixth chapter is the conclusion, in which the unique characteristics of the Hunan Hakka dialects are generalized. Finally, an examination of the shortcomings of this study as well as possible future approaches to further this line of research will be proposed. | en_US |