A Study on the Differences between Laohekou Dialect and Putonghua

The following is my personal inference, for reference only.

The ancient "Putonghua" in China was called "Elegant Speech" and "Central Plains Pronunciation". However, because China is separated by mountains and rivers, the language has not only been like this since ancient times, but perhaps there was no common language like Putonghua in ancient times, so the elegant words in ancient China refer to Putonghua, which is more appropriate.

In ancient China, different dynasties had different official languages. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Western Han Dynasty, Mandarin-Chang 'an in Guanzhong, Eastern Han Dynasty, Western Jin Dynasty-Luoyang, Eastern Jin Dynasty-Jinling, Sui and Tang Dynasties-Chang 'an, Luoyang, Northern Song Dynasty-Luoyang, Kaifeng, Southern Song Dynasty-Jinling, Yuan Dynasty-Dadu, Ming and Qing Dynasties-Beijing. Language change is an uninterrupted gradual process, and now the local accent in those places is far from being "elegant" at that time.

According to the records of ancient rhyme books, Er Ya in Sui Dynasty, Qieyun and Guang Yun in Song Dynasty, the ancient "Andrew in the Central Plains" has the following characteristics:

1. Eight tones: Eight modes in the Eight Diagrams of Zhouyi. Eight tones are divided into yin and yang, and yin and yang are divided into four tones: "going up". It means "above the sun", "above the sun", "away from the sun", "in from the sun", "out from the sun" and "in from the sun". The hearing in the octave is roughly as follows: "Loud and comfortable"; "loud and strong" means rising and heavy turbidity; "A distinctive long road of mourning" refers to a light and sharp voice and a long tail.

2. Rusheng: consonant rhyme.

3. Sharp and group voice

4. Total Turbidity System (Ancient Chinese disappeared from the Northern Song Dynasty)

Judging from the above results, compared with southern dialects, today's Putonghua (Northern Mandarin) at least retains the characteristics of ancient Chinese, that is, "elegance in the Central Plains".

However, in various dialects in the south, the characteristics of ancient Chinese are more or less preserved. But none of them can be said to be exactly the same as ancient Chinese. Wu dialect, especially southern Zhejiang dialect, has obvious characteristics of ancient Baiyue language, and is rich in literary and colloquial readings. Fujian dialect is repeatedly overlapped by the phonology of ancient Chinese in different periods, among which Minnan dialect is considered as the modern Chinese dialect closest to ancient Chinese. Cantonese retains more features of middle ancient Chinese. Among them, Guangdong Fengkai Cantonese retains a complete set of ancient Chinese voiced system, which is very similar to the pronunciation of "Yayan" recorded in Qieyun in Sui Dynasty. Therefore, it is "the living fossil of China ancients before the Song Dynasty". Xiang dialect is the result of the integration of ancient Chu dialect and Central Plains pronunciation. Hakka dialect was formed under the influence of northern immigrants in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and retained many characteristics of ancient Chinese. Jiaying section of Hakka dialect was formed at the latest because a large number of immigrants from the Central Plains moved directly from the Central Plains to Meixian, the hinterland of Hakka, so its pronunciation was very close to the language of the Central Plains in the Song Dynasty. Gan dialect is similar to Hakka dialect in formation and pronunciation, but it was formed earlier than Hakka dialect.

In ancient times, the common people generally spoke local accent, while the literati and the common people in the Central Plains generally spoke Mandarin. It can be inferred that Mandarin is closer to classical Chinese.

Therefore, among all Chinese dialects, Min dialect is closest to the ancient Chinese before "Five Wild Flowers", Cantonese is closest to the ancient Chinese in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Hakka dialect is closest to the language of the Central Plains in Song Dynasty. After the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiang Jing, the original Chinese sound, moved closer together.