Phonological Changes due to Usage: Saving a Chinese Dialect

The effort we put into enunciating words varies from setting to setting. For example, when we are asked to pitch a grant proposal, we generally speak as intelligibly and deliberately as we can, placing emphasis on key words and articulating consonants. Whereas when our parents call to ask if we want bologna sandwich or macaroni for dinner, we mumble because frankly, either sounds delicious. Now, imagine if you consistently use one language in formal settings (e.g. presenting your grant idea) and another in casual settings (e.g. chatting with parents). What would happen to the phonology of either language? I grew up with my grandparents in Shanghai, where I attended Elementary School. It is state policy that schools must teach in Mandarin, in an effort to standardize spoken language. As a result, the younger generation of the city grows up heavily exposed to Mandarin, especially in public spaces. Although they speak as much Shanghai dialect at home, Shanghainese nevertheless underwent dramatic phonological changes. Responsible for jumpstarting the city’s language preservation project to record “pure” Shanghainese speakers, Shen Xiaoming, vice mayor of Shanghai, explained that “Shanghai dialect sounds differently when it is uttered by younger Shanghai residents born in the 1980s and 1990s” (CNN). What accounts for such differences? One aspect would certainly be the proliferation of Mandarin, but an equally important driving force behind the lenition, or weakening, of Shanghainese is a different need it serves in the communication of its younger speakers. Chapter 3 (Phonology) of Language Files describes sound changes based on the implicational law, which states the unilateral correlation between a less uncommon sound to its more common counterpart. The book argues that for the sake of consistency and efficiency, less common sounds are used less frequently, sometimes dying out of the language, given that they do not significantly improve clarity of communication. Shanghainese is unique from Mandarin and Canto in its voiced onsets (Zhu). Understandably, this phonological trait seems to be the first to go in the way younger Shanghai residents speak their dialect. I worked with my father, a native speaker of Shanghainese, to compile a brief list of phonological changes that we observed from younger speakers. [ŋwu] → [wu] ‘I/me’ [ɦjavɛ] → [javɛ] ‘dinner’ [ɦoŋ] → [oŋ] ‘red’ [GuGu] → [kuku] ‘brother’ As we can see from the examples above, these onsets that otherwise add finer quality to the phonology of Shanghainese are omitted or heavily assimilated. Being a Shanghainese speaker myself, I would say that I have no trouble interpreting either pronunciation in casual speech. In such cases, ease of pronunciation understandably supersedes intelligibility. Because of social changes the city has endured, Shanghainese has become more and more confined in private and family settings, where casual speech predominates. In our discussion, my father has pointed out several differences in my Shanghainese as compared to the way he was brought up speaking it. In the past, he simply did not bother correcting me because he understood what I meant. Compare this to an elementary school setting, where students are regularly corrected and led through vocal practices by the teacher to learn Mandarin. It’s no surprise that Shanghainese has had trouble maintaining its traditional phonology. Citation: “Shanghai Steps up Efforts to save Local Language.” CNN Travel. CNN, 31 Mar. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. Zhu, Xiaonong. A Grammar of Shanghai Wu. Lincom Europa, 2006