Sichuan 2

Listen to Sichuan 2, a 20-year-old woman from Chengdu, Sichuan 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): 25/12/1989

PLACE OF BIRTH: Chengdu, Sichuan Province

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: Han Chinese

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: At the time of the recording, the subject was in her second year at university.

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

Subject came to live in Suzhou, Jiangsu, 18 months before the date of the recording.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Influences are not too many. She did have native English-speaking teachers in her final year at school, but she does not think that they have had a major influence, as the classes they gave were not very frequent. She is an English major.

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): 28/04/2010

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

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

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

OK, I – I’ll tell something about my hometown. (ah) My hometown is Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. Although (ahm) the whol – the whole Sichuan Province is [unclear], but the (ah) the city of Chengdu is plain and it is famous for its beautiful sceneries such as Mount Ermei, Mount Qincheng, Du Fu Humble Cottage, and Jiuzhai – (ah) Jiuzhaiguo Valley and so on. (ahm) And, but as we all know, (ah) what is most (ah) what is most known to us is its beautifu – its delicious snacks. It is said that it has the largest (eh) amount of snacks in China, (ah) so if you come to Chengdu you can enjoy the (ah) delicious, delicious food such as hot-pot. (Ahm – ahm) hot and sour (ah), rice (ah), rice (ah, ah) rice noodles and li – rice (ah) dumplings such as (ah) so (ahm). I hope if you have a chance (ah), you can come to Chengdu and you will enjoy yourself. That’s all.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 28/04/2010

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

The subject now goes on to read the following abstracts from the Analects of Confucius in her ownSichuandialect. A reading in Putonghua (Mandarin) can be heard on the Jiangsu 7 sample.

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

孔子: 论语 – Kǒng zǐ : lún yǔ – Kong zi : lun yu – Confucius: Lun Yu

學而第一 – xué ér dì yī – xio er di yie – 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 : xio er si xi zi, bu yi yue fu.

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 zi yuan fang lai, bu yi le fu.

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 zi er bu yun, bu yi jun zi fu.

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 – Wei zeng di ni – 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: si san bei, yi yan yi bi zi, yue , si wu xie.

D: 2-2:- The Master said: In the Book of Odes there are three hundred poems, but they may be summarized 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 zi xiao ze, si wei leng yang. zi yu quan ma, jie leng you yang, bu jin, ho yi bie fu

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, si qi suo yi, guan qi suo you ,ca qi suo an, ren yan sou zai? ren yan sou zai?

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

Some notable pronunciation features to listen out for are the l/n/r minimal-pair problems common in Asia and also a delightful pronunciation of “snacks” as “snakes” – which one occasionally comes across in China.

COMMENTARY BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 28/04/2010

The archive provides:

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