Language And Linguistics, Volume 7, Issue 2 (2006-04). pp. 545-568.
Language:
Chinese
Abstract:
The author seeks to disprove the notion that the Hakka language was brought by Han immigrants from the Central Plains (Zhongyuan). Rather Hakka developed from the Yi, Yao, & She dialects after integration with the northern dialects. There is a saying, "Wherever there is a mountain, there the Hakka dwell; wherever the Hakka dwell, there is a mountain." This saying implies that the Hakka must have been mountain dwellers. There are close connections among the Yi, She, & Hakka languages. In addition, the history of sinograms, archaeology, & folklore show that the Han languages originated in the South & that the Hakka language actually preserves many features of the southern languages. For example, the N+A sequence in Hakka is just the opposite of the A+N sequence in the northern Han languages, because Hakka preserves the sequence of the southern Han languages. Besides that, "the alternation of intonation" is used at the switches of the singular pronouns, which is consistent with the principle in its sources, the Yi, Yao, & She dialects. On the other hand, the Hakka language keeps one southern tradition - the AAe enriched structure, which, however, does also occur in the northern dialects, but as a result of southern influence. The -ma ending on Hakka nouns can be interpreted as a modifier meaning 'large' & connoting femininity, just as in Yi, Yao, & She. This conclusively proves that Hakka originated in the south. Part of the "semi-muddy initial of the rising tone" pronounced Yinping (upper even tone) can be found in the Hakka language, as well as the She dialect from the south. So, we see once more that the Hakka linguistic groups are related to the She & the Yi from the south. The [f-] & [v-] labio-dental sounds in Hakka come from the common "-v" rhymes in the mother tongues such as the Yi. The "muddy initial of the rising tone," pronounced differently in formal or informal context, also comes from the She language. Since these people started studying Mandarin from the north, only the illiterate kept an exactly original pronunciation. We can conclude from all this that She is the origin of the Hakka language. After the people had learned Mandarin, northern pronunciation started to influence She, & gradually, the late southern Han language (Hakka) was formed. 97 References. Adapted from the source document