Shaoguan Hakka Dialect and Shaoguan Dialect

Shaoguan is the base of Hakka people, and Hakka dialect is the most popular dialect in this area. Hakka dialect is called Shaoguan dialect among Shaoguan people (different from old Shaoguan dialect). According to the fact that Shaoguan immigrants come from different regions, the dialects of Nanxiong, Renhua and Shixing in northeast Guangdong are classified as Hakka dialects, which are regarded as the old Hakka dialects extending from southern Jiangxi to northern Guangdong, but from Lechang, Qujiang and Ruyuan. Comrade Xiong once divided Hakka dialect in northern Guangdong into northern Guangdong and Shaonan in Guangdong and Taiwan. The dialects in northeast Guangdong, including Nanxiong Wujing and Renhua Changjiang, should also be classified as Hakka dialects in this area.

According to A Brief History of Guangdong, during the Yongjia period of the Western Jin Dynasty, a few people from the Central Plains entered northern Guangdong (including Shaoguan) along the west of the Yangtze River via Poyang Lake, indicating that Hakka dialect was popular in Shaoguan as early as the Jin Dynasty, but today most of the migration of Hakka people in Shaoguan generally began in the Song Dynasty and ended in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and most of them migrated in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. Shaoguan Hakkas moved directly from Fujian, and also moved around through Jiangxi and Hunan provinces or counties in eastern and northern Guangdong. For some Hakka villagers who claim that their ancestors moved from counties in eastern Guangdong and northern Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty, their origins will still be related to Fujian. It is understood that the Hakkas who migrated to northern Guangdong in the early Song Dynasty were part of the Chen family in Kunshan and Wengyuan. Their ancestors originally lived in Jiangxi, but moved to Ling Du in the seventh year of Jiayou (1062). Liu, a native of Pengcheng, became an official in Guangdong. He lived in Chaozhou first and then moved to Meixian, Xingning and Wengyuan. When the Ming Dynasty replaced the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Youliang once proclaimed himself emperor in the south. It is said that when Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Chen Youliang in northern Guangdong, he was accidentally shot in the back. In a rage, he ordered the destruction of Shaoguan. After this catastrophe, there were only over 100 people left in Shaoguan, and many Hakkas only filled in northern Guangdong from southern Fujian, southern Jiangxi and eastern Guangdong. Now, descendants of Hakkas who moved to Shaoguan in Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially during Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty. From the late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, Hakkas participated in the fourth and fifth migrations together with other Hakka base cities, such as Nanxiong Xinfeng Hakkas moved to Zengcheng and Conghua in Guangzhou, Wengyuan Hakkas moved to Luchuan in Guangxi, and Ruyuan Lechang Hakkas moved to Linshui and Yilong in Sichuan. All these reflect the important role and position of Shaoguan in the formation and development of Hakkas.

Shaoguan Hakka dialects are widely distributed; Wengyuan, Xinfeng, Renhua, Shixing and Nanxiong are pure Hakka dialect areas; Qujiang, Lechang and Ruyuan counties and cities, Hakka dialect accounts for the majority; In Zhenjiang and Wujiang counties, Hakka dialect is not dominant, but in quite a few towns, especially in urban areas, Hakka dialect is basically accessible. Therefore, Hakka dialect is the most important Chinese dialect in Shaoguan. According to the distribution data of Shaoguan Hakka compiled by Tan and Guangdong Hakka Overseas Friendship Association, the current population of Shaoguan (2003) is about 3156,900, with Hakkas accounting for more than 80% and about 2,636,400. It can be known that there were 520,500 people using other dialects in Shaoguan at that time.

The Atlas of Chinese Language (Second Edition), Volume B 1- 17, 20 12, divides Shaoguan Hakka dialect into two parts according to phonetic types: one is Longhua piece of Guangdong Hakka dialect, which is mainly distributed in Qujiang, Wujiang, Zhenjiang, Ruyuan and Xinfeng in Shaoguan and has a population. The second is the Hakka dialect in northern Guangdong, mainly distributed in Lechang, Renhua, Wengyuan, Shixing and Nanxiong in Shaoguan, with a population of about1769,600.

Shaoguan is a Hakka-dominated area. In Shaoguan City and its seven counties and three districts, Hakkas account for 80% of the total population, the whole area of Shaoguan City accounts for more than 80%, and the areas where dialects and Cantonese are commonly used are less than 20%. Hakka accounts for 60.8% in Shaoguan city (including Qujiang 83.5% (2), Zhenjiang Wujiang unknown, conservative accounting for half of the local area); Nanxiong 97.6 1% two county-level cities? Lechang 70%; 1 autonomous county milk source accounts for 80%; Xinfeng 100%, Wengyuan 99.55%, Shixing 98% and Renhua 98% in 4 counties; It stands to reason that Shaoguan dialect is mainly Hakka dialect. However, in the center of Shaoguan, there is a "dialect island phenomenon" dominated by vernacular. According to local people's introduction and information search, it was not long before the vernacular was introduced into Shaoguan, and the early vernacular population moved from Qingyuan County in the late Qing Dynasty. Before and after the Japanese invaders occupied Guangzhou in the Republic of China (1938), most of the rural and market (street) vernacular population moved from Guangzhou and its surrounding vernacular counties (called "going to Japan"). At that time, Shaoguan became the temporary capital of Guangdong Province (1935- 1945) because of the relocation of the provincial capital Guangzhou and Nanfan. After the recovery, most of them gradually moved back to their original places, but some of them settled in this area. Today, a considerable number of Cantonese residents in Shaoguan are descendants of Guangfu people who lived in northern Guangdong at that time, and the aborigines called them "Shao San Dai".

At this time, Guangzhou dialect has not been popularized. People in our city basically speak our own dialect, and only Hakka dialect and our own dialect are used abroad. The real influence of our local dialect was the anti-localism political movement in the 1950s. In this political movement, at that time, the cadres of the Street Committee in Shaoguan asked our own people not to speak our own dialect, because outsiders could not understand it, so our own people could only speak our own dialect secretly at home and Cantonese outside. After the political movement, the local people gradually got used to speaking Cantonese, and the local dialect gradually withdrew from the communication stage. After the three major reforms, due to international reasons, especially during the Cold War, Sino-Soviet relations continued to deteriorate and the atmosphere of war was rich. In order to protect industry, the state has taken a fancy to Shaoguan, which is mountainous, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and has sufficient water resources. It was decided to move Guangdong's heavy industry to Shaoguan, and at the same time, heavy industry enterprises such as Shaoguan Iron and Steel Plant, Shaoguan Smelter, Shaoguan Gear Factory, Fankou Lead-zinc Mine, Dabaoshan Coal Mine and Quren Coal Mine were established, so that many Guangzhou laborers participated in the third-line construction when moving. Coupled with the "exile" of a group of educated youth and intellectuals in Guangzhou during the Cultural Revolution, the population of "Guangfu dialect" in Guangzhou gradually increased. However, Hakka dialects are mainly used in the suburbs of Shaoguan city and the vast rural areas, and are also distributed in a small amount in urban areas of China. In rural areas with a small population, vernacular dialects are dominant. However, due to the increasing popularity of radio and television and frequent exchanges between Guangzhou and Shaoxing, local young people in Shaoguan are more proud of speaking vernacular. More and more other dialects speak vernacular, some vernacular villages have been or are being transformed into vernacular villages, and the descendants of boat people have basically changed to vernacular. Although the local dialect was very popular in Shaoguan 82 years ago, when the surrounding Hakkas came to town to communicate with the locals, it was not the Hakkas but the locals who used the local dialect. Now, after more than 82 years of development, Shaoguan has evolved from the original Hakka dialect area to the Hakka Cantonese dialect area, forming a dialect pattern of "Hakka Cantonese".

However, since the reform and opening up, due to the strong political and economic advantages of the Pearl River Delta and Shaoguan City, the power of Cantonese has been expanding. At present, Cantonese-speaking areas have gradually extended from Shaoguan City to the urban areas of counties (cities, districts) and even the central areas of towns and villages. For example, in Lecheng Town and Henan Township (now Lechang City), where Lechang used to speak Hakka dialect and dialect, in recent years, some people in Shi Ping Town began to speak Cantonese which is very close to Guangzhou dialect, while Renhua and Ruyuan (except residents who speak Yangshan dialect around Gumushui and Tai Po) spoke Cantonese.

Shaoguan, like Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities, is an immigrant city with strong inclusiveness and innate language talent. It speaks Hakka like Meizhou, Guangzhou like Guangzhou, and Mandarin like Shenzhen. Shaoguan people do not exclude foreigners, nor do they exclude foreigners' languages. After the spread of Cantonese and Putonghua in Shaoguan, it was recognized by local Hakkas and local dialect citizens. At present, most urban dialect and Hakka speakers can speak Mandarin, and about 75% of them can speak Cantonese. But in informal situations, people prefer to talk in Hakka dialect and Hakka dialect. Shaoguan people are happy to use Mandarin and Cantonese when they meet people who can't speak Hakka and Hakka. Many Guangfu people and mainlanders who have lived in Shaoguan for twenty or thirty years can't speak Hakka or Cantonese yet, but they don't feel much inconvenience in life.

You Rujie and Zou (2004) believe that the social language life in China can be divided into top-level languages, high-level languages and low-level languages according to the social functions of languages (or dialects of the same language). The top language is generally Mandarin, and the difference between a high-level language and a low-level language is different. In Shaoguan, Shaoguan dialect belongs to a low-level dialect, while Putonghua belongs to a top-level dialect. Which dialect do Hakka and Cantonese belong to? Before Cantonese entered Shaoguan, Hakka dialect was undoubtedly an advanced dialect in Shaoguan, and Cantonese gradually became the mainstream language in Shaoguan mainly from the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Although it is expected to replace Hakka as the advanced dialect in Shaoguan at present, Hakka has been spreading every day for thousands of years, spread by everyone, with wide space and dense frequency. Its geographical area and population account for the vast majority of the city, which is common in urban and rural areas, and it is also a language exchange between Yao nationality and local Han nationality in Shaoguan. It can be seen that Hakka dialect is the "master" in Shaoguan dialect. Although Cantonese is also popular in Shaoguan, Hakka dialect belongs to Shaoguan local language. The local people in Shaoguan are Hakkas, and their daily life language is Hakka in 7 counties and cities of Shaoguan 1 area. Although government agencies in these places require Mandarin, Hakka people usually speak Hakka in their work exchanges, which will attract people's attention. From the cultural point of view, Hakka language is one of the main contents of Hakka culture, and Hakka culture is the mainstream culture in Shaoguan. As the base camp of Hakka culture, Shaoguan plays an important role in maintaining the core values of Hakka culture. This trend will remain for a long time. Shaoguan dialect belongs to Guangzhou dialect in a broad sense, which is a dialect formed by Guangzhou dialect going north to Shaoguan and Shaoguan local integration of language. It is as new as Hong Kong dialect, Zhanjiang dialect in the province, Wuzhou dialect in Guangxi and Nanning dialect, and it is the product of the expansion of Guangzhou dialect in modern times. Compared with other dialects in Shaoguan, it is a real Hakka dialect. Strictly speaking, Shaoguan dialect is not the language that best conforms to the local definition. Since the fall of Guangzhou in 1938, Shaoguan dialect, including Lechang dialect, Yingde dialect and Lianzhou dialect, has a history of only 83 years, and it was moved from the Pearl River Delta to Shaoguan in the recent War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period. Therefore, this is why the residents who speak Cantonese in Shaoguan can be called "Old Shaoguan" so far, and most of them have only three or four generations of living history, while those who speak Hakka and dialects in the suburbs have a living history of 500 to 600 years in Shaoguan genealogy, and their descendants have 15-20 generations. Shaoguan dialect is a strong dialect, but it is far from the core base camp of Cantonese. It often exists in the form of an island in Shaoguan dialect, surrounded by local Hakka dialects, with obvious traces of its influence, and some features bring local Hakka elements, which is also the result of long-term integration and bilingual infiltration.