A Brief Research on the Hakka Dialect in the Novel Ling Nan Yi Shi

Wang Siqi

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies,Guangzhou,China

Email:01710027@oamail.gdufs.edu.cn

[Abstract] Huang Yan's novel Ling Nan Yi Shi is the first Hakka novel in Chinese history.This is a precious novel showing Hakka dialect hundreds of years ago.This paper analyzed the vocabulary of Hakka dialect in the book,the meaning of most words in this novel have no obvious change,and 70%of the words are still used in modern dialects.Its language is influenced by such powerful dialect as Cantonese.

[Keywords] The novel Lingnan Yi Shi;Hakka dialect;Dialect Vocabulary

Introduction

The novelLing Nan Yi Shi,which was written in 1793,is a popular novel in Chinese history.Its author Huang Yan,is the first person who use Hakka to write.Huang Fengyu,the youth from Jiaying of Guangdong Province,visited his aunt in Conghua during the Ming Dynasty.He encountered all kinds of hardships on his way.The author uses a lot of Hakka dialects in the book,including Hakka vocabulary,folk songs,the ubiquitous Hakka environment and the Hakka landform,that shows the original appearance of Hakka dialect hundreds of years ago.

The novelLing Nan Yi Shiis regarded as"the original work of Hakka novels".It is a rare material of dialect history.Previous scholars pay more attention to its literary,historical and philological values.However,its linguistic value is seldom discussed.With the help of this novel,the author intends to explore the Hakka dialect 200 years ago and the changes of Hakka dialect vocabulary,and provide reference material for the compilation of dialect dictionary and the study of historical dialect.

The author Huang Yan of the novelLing Nan Yi Shiwas also called Nai An Zi,Huaxi Yishi.From Zhang Qi's preface,it can be inferred part of the author's life:"When I had been living for 40 years,I find my family is so poor.I like traveling.I live in a small broken house and have no achievements in life." (Huang,1990,p.1) There are many editions of this book.In this paper,the main research material isA Collection of Ancient Novels:Ling Nan Yi Shi.It is photocopied by Wen Dao Tang edition of Fudan University.We also refer to the 1995 edition of Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House.

In this paper,the examples are extracted from the novelLing Nan Yi Shi,and marked with the page number at the end of the sentence.The explanation of modern Hakka words is based onModern Chinese Dialect Dictionary·Meixian dialect dictionary(Li,1995).At the same time,the investigation of Meixian dialect is supplemented.At the same time,the examples in Peking University CCL modern Chinese corpus are used for reference.

Ancient and Modern Synonymous Hakka Dialect Vocabulary in Ling Nan Yi shi

We compare the Hakka words in the novelLing Nan Yi Shiand modernMeixian Dialect Dictionary,and divide them into two categories according to the standard of meaning change:in ancient and modern,meanings are the same and in ancient and modern,meanings are different.

There are 38 Hakka words in the novelLing Nan Yi Shi,of which 28 words have the same meaning in ancient and modern times.For example,打叠,紧,系,岩,山精,跟问,索,火,几多,身家,昼,撩拨,做差,自家,敛,真个,凭,斫,打帮,食,闹热,面皮,衫裤千祈,转去,转...来.Because there is little difference,we will only give two words as examples.

真个

见贼徒真个散去（p.56）

难道许玉英夫人真个又来救我？（p.427）

"Indeed;Really." The first example here is when Huang Cong saw that the thieves outside the door had really dispersed,they went back to cottage happily.The second case is that after listening to Hong Yijia's Fairy dream,Huang Fengyu speculates whether Mrs.Xu really came to save him again.

Meixian Dialect Dictionarydoes not include this word.In the Tang Dynasty,this word known as"真箇",is very common in modern Hakka dialect.It is often used as an interrogative word to express the tone of confirmation:"真个？".It means"really?"

几多

足像忙问道："还要几多呢？"（p.708）

"How much?"When Mao Mian who came back to negotiate with Raoyou's wife on behalf of He Zuxiang,and told He Zuxiang that the money was much less.He Zuxiang asked,"How much more do you need?"

Meixian Dialect Dictionarycontains the word,which means "how much,ask the number" (Li,1995,p.16).It can be used with nouns such as person,money and year,for example,"I don't know how many years it will be before we meet again."

As an interrogative pronoun,"几多"has been used as early as in the Northern Song Dynasty:Yu Xin's"listening to the poetry of pounding clothes at night,his song is full of sorrow." Since then,the use cases have been seen in all dynasties.However,the difference is that"几多"is often found in the works of spoken language rather than in the works of classical Chinese with a higher degree of writing.

Ancient and Modern Non Synonymous Words of Hakka Dialect in the Novel

Ling Nan Yi Shi

There are non synonymous words in the novelLing Nan Yi Shi,which can be divided into two.Words that their meaning existed in ancient times,but not in modern times and words which meaning is so different in modern and ancient times.

There are words in the ancient times but not in the present

亚官仔

我看尔这亚官仔，雪条般嫩的屁股，若舍不得银子，那时大老爷发起怒来，我们就要爱护尔，恐怕也护不得（p.417）

"亚官仔" means "young master,young master".Here,when the officers blackmailed Huang Fengyu,they called him "亚官仔",which means they thought that he would not be able to bear the hardship of beating with a stick.Meixian Dialect Dictionarydoes not include this word.The older generation of Hakka people have confirmed this expression,but it is not commonly used nowadays.

Guangdong New LanguageVolume 11:"Everything small in Guangzhou is called 仔.A good family son is called 亚官仔..."It is inferred that the word was introduced into Hakka area from Cantonese area.

Guan Ningjie (2011) pointed out that in the 19th century,with the self adjustment of the dialect system,words such as "亚官仔" gradually weakened,and the colloquial characteristics became increasingly obvious.At the same time,under the impact of Hong Kong Cantonese,it was replaced by some disyllabic words.For example,the word "亚官仔"is replaced by"靓仔",while"亚娘仔"is replaced by"靓妹"(Guan,2011,p.158).These words introduced into the Hakka area are constantly updated,so that"亚官仔","亚娘仔"and other words gradually disappear in the Hakka dialect.

散仔

永安贼徒虽有众数十万，分屯险要，然皆散仔，无足轻重（p.1026）

"散仔"means"loafer".This sentence was said by Zhuge Tong when Huang Fengyu invited Meiying and Zhuge Tong to discuss the strategy of dealing with lan Neng.Zhuge thinks that although there are many thieves in Yong'an,they are not enough to be afraid because they are"散仔".Guangdong New Languagedoes not include it,nor does it appear in modern Hakka dialect,but it still exists in Cantonese dialect.Guangdong New Languagevolume 11:"All small things in Guangzhou are called 仔...The peddler are called 贩仔,the wanderer are called 散仔,the boatman are called 火仔,the scoundrel are called 打仔..."

Zhou Yue(2017)pointed out that hooligans are called"散仔"in Beiliu dialect(Zhou,2017,p.35)Beiliu dialect is one of the Cantonese dialects.To sum up,it can be basically judged that "散仔" is a Cantonese word,which once circulated in Hakka areas,but has disappeared.

Different Words in Ancient and Modern Times

定着

先生定着，万无一失（p.50）

"Calm down;don't worry."Here is a sentence that Huang Fengyu said to Mr.Zhang when the bandits in huodai mountain plundered Meihua village.That is to say,let Mr.Zhang not worry about it and be absolutely safe.

Zhang Shumin(2014)pointed out that"定着"in Meizhou and Kuala Lumpur Tai Po Hakka dialect means"certain"(Zhang,2014,p.30).Lin Lifang(1999)also gives an example of"佢定着学得会开车"(he is sure to learn how to drive)(Lin,1999,p.53).That is to say,"定着"is understood as"certain,affirmative",which is used as an adverb.

In the book,"定着"is understood as"calm,rest assured",and it is also used as a verb as a predicate.Therefore,no matter what sense is taken from modern Hakka,the meaning and the usage in the book are slightly different from those in modern Hakka.

思量

思量邀个读书中朋友相伴同行（p.446）

思量在路上细细来缠他（p.453）

怎敢思量做起我的主人公来（p.915）

"Think about;plan".This word appears in 14 places in the book,all of which are interpreted as "considering and planning".Meixian Dialect Dictionarydoes not include this word,but it often appears in modern Hakka dialect.In modern Hakka spoken language,"思量"is often used to express"sympathy,concern"and other meanings.

For example,the children's song"Chi Geng Zi"says,"煮兜爷食爷欢喜，煮兜娭食娭思量"That is to say,the father will be very happy if you cook for your father,while the mother will be considerate and distressed if you cook for your mother.The last sentence means that no wife cares about me.

According to the CCL modern Chinese corpus of Peking University,the word"思量"was still used as a verb in the Qing Dynasty,followed by something to express the meaning of"consideration".However,in the Republic of China,it began to appear that"thinking"was directly followed by a person to express"concern".It can be seen that the meaning of the word "思量" has changed from "consideration and planning" to "care and consideration" in the past two hundred years.

Conclusion

After a comprehensive analysis of the Hakka words in the novelLing Nan Yi Shi,we find the following phenomena.

Most of the ancient and modern non synonymous Hakka dialect vocabulary have rich and abstract meanings,and 70%of the Hakka words in the novelLing Nan Yi Shiare still used in modern dialects.Most of the changed words are more abstract in meaning.With the continuous subdivision of the meaning of words,some of them shrink in meaning,indicating a single meaning or being replaced by other words.

In contrast,the meaning of monosyllabic words change little,such as"炙","食","索"and so on.Some concrete words commonly used in daily life to express specific actions or things also change little,such as "衫裤","面皮",and so on.

The Hakka dialect was influenced by the surrounding dialects.With the convenience of transportation and the popularization of communication,the communication between different regions is deepening.The interaction between dialects is deeply reflected in the borrowing and disappearance of dialect vocabulary.

Meizhou is an important area in Guangdong,so Hakkas in Guangdong are closely related to Cantonese users,which leads to the emergence of loanwords.Guangdong dialect areas such as Guangzhou have a high degree of economic and cultural development,so they strongly import a large number of Cantonese into the neighboring Hakka areas.This kind of vocabulary phenomenon also appears in Hakka and Putonghua,such as the word "闹热" in the book.Ye Xueping (2010) pointed out that the Hakka dialect in Meixian describes the prosperous and active scene with more"闹热"and less"热闹".However,with the regional exchanges,the Hakka dialect has gradually used the word"热闹"under the influence of modern Mandarin.Nowadays,few young people use the word"闹热".

Acknowledgements

This paper is the result of the project"The system of'Guangyun-Jijiyun'rhyme books in Song Dynasty,the construction of database and the construction of rhyme book history in Song Dynasty(19ZDA255)".