Studies on the Xiang dialects : typology and transitional grammar

Abstract

The Xiang dialects spoken in Hunan and northern Guangxi are a grouping that is difficult to define using shared linguistic features, owing to a complex history of migration through the region where they are spoken (Coblin 2011). However, in terms of comparative Sinitic typology Xiang occupies a compelling spot, representing a combination of features from the north and south, and a high degree of internal variation. This has led many to characterize the grouping as transitional (Norman 1988: 208; Wu 2005; Chappell 2015, 2017; Szeto & Yurayong 2021), a term which in itself raises many questions about precisely how this manifests. The argument put forward in this thesis is that ‘transitionality’ is a key concept necessary for understanding Xiang. To this end, an exploration of the different ways transitionality manifests in Xiang is conducted through three studies each addressing it on different levels of linguistic analysis. Data for two of these studies was collected through elicitation of narratives following the Pear Stories paradigm (Chafe 1980), resulting in a small corpus of 47 recordings representing 16 locations across Hunan. Study #1 looks at phonetic variation and patterning in the use of hesitation markers across Xiang varieties, finding that the phonetic form of these items represents a mix of features of the north and south. Study #2 analyses the syntax-semantics of bare-classifier constructions in four Xiang varieties, based on Wang’s (2015) typology of constructions across Sinitic. These are then formalized in a constraint-based account which does away with the null categories and transformations of previous accounts. Study #3 discusses lexico-morphological variation in narrative elicitation, exploring the different sources of variation in five dialects representing differing relative levels of convergence with Mandarin. The findings across all of these studies support a re-interpretation of Xiang not in terms of shared features, but in terms of the combination of typological features.