Jiangsu 34

Listen to Jiangsu 34, a 20-year-old man from Zhang Jia Gang, Jiangsu Province, China. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 20

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 25/11/1989

PLACE OF BIRTH: Zhang Jia Gang, Jiangsu Province

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Han Chinese

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: university

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

At the time of this recording, subject was studying in Suzhou, near his hometown of Zhang Jia Gang.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

The subject has had some exposure to native English-speaking teachers in his high school and in university.

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): 14/05/2010

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Ah, my hometown is, ah, Zhang Jia Gang; ah, in the past he was a small city belong to – to Wuxi – the city of Wuxi. But, ah, in the1990s it had belong to Suzhou and until now. I spent my schoolday during Zhang Jia Gang and, ah, I think the city is, ah, beautiful and it’s very – it’s a fitted place for human. And my first vision to learn English is, ah, at my 9 years old. Ah, I visited some places in China, like Chengdu, Shenzhen, and, ah, Beijing. And now I study in Suzhou, near my hometown. [The subject now goes on to read abstracts from the Analects of Confucius in his own Zhangjiaganghua dialect. (See the detailed commentary below.) He has not provided a pinyin transliteration. A reading in Putonghua (Mandarin) can be heard on the Hebei 1 sample.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 19/07/2013

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 (Pingyin); C = Dialect (Pingyin); 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 :-

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:-

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:

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:-

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:-

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 :-

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 very strong accent with no real evidence of accent reduction. He exhibits many of the common characteristics commonly found in Chinese speakers of English. The problem with successive ‘s’ sounds persists and can be heard in both the scripted and unscripted speech.

The subject’s dialect is Zhangjiaganghua, a sub-dialect of the Suzhou dialect, Suzhouhua. This linguistic area is located 6 km to the northeast of the old town and was an isolated community until the 1990s. The Readings from Confucius in this sample should be compared with those in the other Suzhouhua samples to hear the very real differences between the various sub-dialects. The Jiangsu samples 16, 17, and 32 are from the three areas in the old city, whilst Jiangsu samples 14 and 31 are from the Tai Hu area in the southwest.

Zhang Jia Gang is situated on the southern bank of the lower reaches of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River and has a population close to 1.3 million. Until the 1990s, it was a small, isolated farming town surrounded by fish farms and with a small fishery port. Archaeological evidence suggests that the area was occupied and exploited 8,000 years ago during the Chinese Neolithic. Its opening to foreign trade in 1993 led to a massive economic development, and the city is now amongst China’s most successful economic performers; its GDP has recently been ranked number 3 in the National Top 100 cities.

COMMENTARY BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 19/07/2013

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