Guangxi 8

Listen to Guangxi 8, a 22-year-old man from Lang Shui, Rong Xian, Guangxi, China. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 22

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 11/11/1991

PLACE OF BIRTH: Lang Shui, Rong Xian, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Han Chinese

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: university

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS: N/A

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 28/11/2013

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Now I would like to introduce my hometown to you. My hometown named Rong County, which is located in the middle of Guangxi, China. Rong County is the biggest place about producing shaddock. Besides, there is a famous loft [pavilion] in Rong County called Zhen Wu Ge. It’s one of the famous lofts in the south of China. Next to Zhen Wu Ge, a royal garden stands on the ground. Do you know Yang Yu Huan, who was the most beautiful woman in Tang Dynasty? This royal garden is used to remember her. Of course, my middle school is also very beautiful, just like a flower garden. People here are friendly, and they all speak Ca- Can- Cantonese. Do you want to have a trip in China? Welcome to Rong County.
[The subject now goes on to read abstracts from the Analects of Confucius in his own Rongxianhua dialect. (See the detailed commentary below.) He has also provided a partial pinyin transliteration. A reading in Putonghua (Mandarin) can be heard on the Hebei 1 sample.] That’s all. Thank you.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 14/12/2013

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY):  N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

SHORT READINGS FROM THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIUS

KEY: A = Mandarin (Simplified); B = Mandarin (Pinyin); C = Dialect (Pinyin); D = English.

孔子: 论语 – Kǒng zǐ : lún yǔ – Kon zi: len yu – Confucius: Lun Yu

 

學而第一 – xué ér dì yī – Xué ér dì yī – Chapter One

A: 1-1:-       子曰: 學而時習之、不亦說乎。

B: yī-yī :-    zǐ yuē: xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū.

C: yī-yī :-    zi yue: xue er shi xi zhi, bu yi yue hu.

D: 1-1:-       The Master said: Is it not pleasure to learn, and practice what is learned time and again?

A: 1-2:-       有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。

B: yī-èr:-     yǒu péng zì yuǎn fāng lái, bù yì lè hū.

C: yī-èr:-     you peng you yuan fang lei,bu yi le hu.

D: 1-2:-       Is it not happiness to have friends coming from distant places?

A: 1-3:-       人不知而不慍、不亦君子乎。

B: yī-sān:    rén bù zhī ér bù yùn, bù yì jūn zi hū.

C: yī-sān:    Ren bu zhi er bu wen, bu yi jun zi hu.

D: 1-3:-       Is it not virtue for a man to feel no discomposure when others take no note of him?

為政第二 – wéi zhèng dì èr – wéi zhèng dì ér – Chapter two

A: 2-2:-       子曰：「詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰：『思無邪』。

B: èr-èr:-     zǐ yuē: shī sān bǎi, yī yán yǐ bì zhī , yuē: sī wú xié.

C: èr-èr:-     zi yue; shi san bai shou,yi yan yi bi zhi ,yue; si wu xie.

D: 2-2:-       The Master said: In the Book of Odes there are three hundred poems, but they may be summarised in a single sentence: Think no evil.

A: 2-7:-       子游問孝。子曰：今之孝者，是謂能養。至於犬馬，皆能有養；不敬,    何 以別乎。

B: èr-qī:-     zǐ yóu wèn xiào. zǐ yuē: jīn zhī xiào zhě, shì wèi néng yǎng. zhì wū quǎn mǎ, jiē néng yǒu yǎng; bù jìng, hé yǐ bié hū.

C: : èr-qī:-   zi you wen xiao .zi yue; jin zhi xiao zhe ,shi wei neng yang. Zhi yu quan ma , jie neng you yang; bu jing,he yi bie hu.

D: 2-7:-       Zi You asked what filial piety was. The Master said: Nowadays, providing support for one’s parents is considered filial piety. But dogs and horses can also do this. If there is no respect, what is the difference?

A: 2-10:-     子曰：「視其所以，觀其所由，察其所安。人焉叟哉？人焉叟哉？

B: èr-shí :- zǐ yuē: shì qí suǒ yǐ , guān qí suǒ yóu, chá qí suǒ ān. rén yān sǒu zāi? rén yān sǒu zāi?

C: èr-shí :- zi yue: shi qi suo yi ,guan qi suo you, can qi suo an. Ren yan sou zhai ? Ren yan sou zhai? That’s all, thank you.

D: 2-10:-     The Master said: Watch what a man does. Find out his motives. See how he takes his ease. How then can the man hide his true self? How can the man hide his true self?

COMMENTARY

This is a good, strong, and robust accent that owes nothing to accent reduction. The substitution of the /l/ and /r/ phones is quite noticeable here; listen to the pronunciation of “Rong County” in the unscripted speech, for example. Also, he occasionally displays the common Chinese characteristic of substituting the /v/ and /w/ phones. The close association of the /r/ and /t/ phones seems to present something of a difficulty; listen for “territory” and “unsanitary” in the scripted reading. Interestingly, the characteristic of suppressing the plosive final /d/ and /t/ phones that we have seen elsewhere in Guangxi is not in evidence here.

The subject’s local dialect is Rongxianhua, a sub-dialect of the Yulin dialect and a member of the Goulou group of Yue sub-dialects. These Yue dialects are among the most conservative of Chinese dialects regarding the final consonants and tonal categories of Middle Chinese. Some Chinese linguists have suggested that the Yulin dialect is the best surviving example of what ancient spoken Chinese would have sounded like. For more information on these, see the Guangxi 5 sample.

A general introduction to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region can be found in the commentary for the Guangxi 1 sample. The subject’s hometown is Lang Shui, in Rong Xian, a county lying between Yulin and Wuzhou; it shares its southern border with Guangdong. It has a small, by Chinese standards, population of approximately 700,000 people. The famous Taoist sanctuary Du Qiao Shan (都峤山) and the equally famous Zhen Wu Ge (真武阁) are located in Rong Xian. It is under the jurisdiction of Yulin City, the history of which is reviewed in the Guangxi 5 sample.

The Zhen Wu Pavilion is a piece of architecture that is very famous in China. It is dedicated to Zhen Wu, a legendary god of ancient China, one of whose major functions was to protect against fire. Built entirely in wood, it is only three stories high and features suspended columns. It was constructed without the use of nails or metals of any sort. Built in the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE), it was expanded during the Ming Dynasty (1358 – 1644). The more than 3,000 individual timbers were used in the construction, using the traditional tenon and mortise technique. The four main pillars are suspended onto the second floor and support the upper part of the structure.

The Taoist temple on Du Qiao mountain dates from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 – 220 CE). A Buddhist element was added during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 CE) and was later joined by a Confucianism so that all three major philosophical/religious strands in Chinese thought were brought together on this one site. The religious elements suffered under the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368), and the Confucian and Buddhist elements only slightly recovered during the Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing (1644 – 1911) Dynasties.

COMMENTARY BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 14/12/2013

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