On Chinese Dialect Classification -- A Case Study Examining the Affiliation of the Dialects of Harngjou and Jennjiang
汉语方言分类 – 杭州与浙江方言属性关系案例考证
Richard Vanness Simmons

Abstract 摘要

INTRODUCTION – PRINCIPLES AND METHOD
This essay is about dialect classification. Questions of Chinese dialect classification first engaged my attention when I undertook the research for my dissertation on the language of Harngjou 杭州 and whether it is a Mandarin of Wu dialect. I continue to grapple with the issues of classification in my present research on dialects in Jehjiang 浙江 and Jiangsu江蘇 at the Mandarin-Wu dialect boundary. As my research progresses, I have come to realize that we need a theoretical design that identifies just what Chinese dialect classification is attempting to do and how it should be done. To fulfill that need, I present here a short, preliminary theoretical outline. I also briefly demonstrate the theory in practice using data from my recent research. In the process I will argue that some traditional tools of the classification workshop, notably the biological model of dialect relationship, reconstruction of proto-systems, and the Middle Chinese- Chiehyunn 切韻 – phonological system, need to be reevaluated.

CASE STUDY: A CLASSIFICATION OF SOME DIALECTS IN THE HUHNING-HARNG REGION