On Nong (侬)
释侬
Wuyun Pan 潘悟云; Zhongmin Chen 陈忠敏

Abstract 摘要
The present paper deals with the word nong (侬) in the dialects of southeast China. First, we examine the geographical distribution of nong in southeast China and the phonetic/semantic development of nong. We point out that the original meaning of nong is the clan name and the ethnonym of the Baiyue nationality. Nong as a substratum word, still remains in some modern southeast dialects. Its meaning has developed to "person", "ethnonym" and "the first person pronoun" after the Baiyue nationality was assimilated by the Han nationality. Second, in some southeast dialects nong (Dong 冬 final) is spelled as the Deng 登 final, which reflects the fact that there was an unrounding of the Dong final in some early period and the unrounded sound of the southeast dialects was eroded by pressure from the more prestigious rounded sound further north, resulting in survival of the unrounded sound only in relic forms in the colloquial layers of the modern southeast dialects. This conclusion demonstrates that an understanding of historical layering in the history of Chinese dialects can correct inadequacies in the classical comparative method. Third, there are very complicated personal pronoun systems in the modern Wu dialects. The major reasons are: 1) The ancient Wu dialects had their own system of personal pronouns which was different from the Mandarin. Later on, however, the Wu dialects were gradually eroded by the more standard dialects from the north, and the northern forms of personal pronouns became prevalent in Wu step by step. So the two levels of personal pronouns overlap each other. 2) When the new forms of personal pronouns from the north entered the Wu dialects, there was competition between the old forms and new forms in the same dialects, and the two forms influenced each other. As a result of the competition, the system of the personal pronouns in some Wu dialects is irregular. 3) As personal pronouns constitute one kind of function words, their pronunciations have undergone an unusual change which makes the system of the personal pronouns in the Wu dialects more and more complicated. 4) Combining shi 是 with the personal pronouns yields the stressed case of the personal pronouns.

北部吴语的 “侬”用于第二人称，可说是最具有吴语特色的语词。可是，凡是熟悉中国古典作品的人都会知道，古代的吴地是以“侬”作为第一人称的。为什么“侬”字会从古代的第一人称变作现代的第二人称呢？

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