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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1080

Part of Session 192: Margins vs Megapoles (Other abstracts in this session)

Dialect Endangerment as an Issue: A study of lexical retention rates among three generations of Dongping speakers

Authors: Xu, Daming
Submitted by: Xu, Daming (China Center for Linguistic and Strategic Studies, Nanjing University, China, People's Republic of)

Along with the issue of language endangerment, an issue is also raised about the endangerment of Chinese dialects. The issue assumes importance in view of the fact that at least half a billion people in China are active speakers of those dialects. To examine the issue, we conducted an investigation into the speech community of Daimiao, which is a rural town with 36,000 residents located in the Dongping County of Shandong Province, where the Dongping dialect is predominantly spoken.

The investigation includes a questionnaire survey on language use and language attitudes and a study of lexical retention rates of dialectal expressions. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 200 middle school students and the lexical study involves 9 speakers divided into three age groups to represent three generations each spanning 25 years. 

The questionnaire survey shows that all students are native speakers of the local dialect with 97% claiming also mastery of Putonghua, the national standard. The students rated both the local dialect and Putonghua positively on a five-point scale with some more weighting on the latter: 3.53 vs. 4.25. Of the four sub-categories of evaluation, three also show higher ratings for Putonghua (Pleasant to hear, Useful, and Prestigious), and only one (Endearing) shows higher rating for the local dialect). The students were also asked whether they spoke the local dialect the same way as their parents did. The answers were: 69% Yes, 30% Unsure and 1% No.

The lexical retention rates study shows a trend of the loss of local expressions among the three generations. Of the 604 expressions, which is taken as the base, the retention rates of the three generations are: Old 94%, Middle 77% and Young 64%, which indicates a 13~17% rate of intergeneration reduction. Meanwhile the results show varying retention rates among 20 different semantic categories ranging from 92% (Daily Activity) to 58% (Culture and Education), and a range of retention rates among words in different parts of speech from 100% (Particles of mood and exclamation) to 76% (Adverbs).

The results of the investigation show that the local dialect retains, for the major part, its vitality and functionality albeit under the pressure of standardization. The pressure of standardization is explicitly from education and implicitly from economy. Like the majority of the rural communities in China, Daimiao finds itself in the big socioeconomic context of urbanization. 71% of the surveyed students said that they intended to seek employment outside the community, where they would have to speak Putonghua.

Both linguistic and social factors are found to be involved in the issue of dialect endangerment. In the case of Daimiao, so far the process of standardization seems smooth enough since it happens in a gradual way. The speakers try to manage communication and livelihood under the current socioeconomic conditions the best way they can. However, we have to see the delicate conditions and the potential conflicts imbedded in such an endeavor.