Gansu 2

Listen to Gansu 2, a 22-year-old man from Jin Chang, Gansu Province, China. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 22

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 08/09/1989

PLACE OF BIRTH: Jin Chang, Gansu Province

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Han Chinese

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: Subject was in his second year at university when the recording was made.

AREA(S) OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

Subject had been living in Suzhou, Jiangsu, for the 18 months prior to the recording.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

There have been no foreign influences, as he does not study English. The English he does speak was learned from Chinese teachers at school. There is a slight trace of RP at times, suggesting a possible strong British influence from his school teacher(s) themselves.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/04/2011

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I come from Gansu, Jinchang. (Ah, ah) the city of – (ah) the city I lived (ah) is a new city. (Ah) Its history only twenty years. (Ahh) Jinchang is a industry city. I – I first learn English in my (ah) middle school. (Ah) and I (ah) didn’t (ah) learn it well. (Ah) I think (ah) the, the, the English is very hard. (Ah) and I will learn it (ah, ah) in my future.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/04/2011

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

Short readings from the analects of Confucius

The subject now goes on to read the following abstracts from the Analects of Confucius in his own Lanzhouhua dialect, a sub-dialect of Lan-Yin Mandarin (see the commentary below). This is close in sound to the standard Putonghua (Beijing Mandarin), which can be heard on theHebei1 sample.

KEY: A = Mandarin (Simplified); B = Mandarin (Pingyin); C = Dialect (Pingyin); D = English.

孔子: 论语 – Kǒng zǐ : lún yǔ – Kon zi:leng yu – Confucius: Lun Yu

學而第一 – xué ér dì yī – Xué ér dì yī – Chapter One

A: 1-1:-  子曰: 學而時習之、不亦說乎。

B: yī-yī :-  zǐ yuē: xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū.

C: yī-yī :-  zǐ yuē: xué ér shí xí zhī, bù yì yuè hū.

D: 1-1:-  The Master said: Is it not pleasure to learn, and practice what is learned time and again?

A: 1-2:- 有朋自遠方來、不亦樂乎。

B: yī-èr:-  yǒu péng zì yuǎn fāng lái, bù yì lè hū.

C: yī-èr:-  yǒu péng zì yuǎn fāng lái, bù yì lè hū.

D: 1-2:-  Is it not happiness to have friends coming from distant places?

A: 1-3:-  人不知而不慍、不亦君子乎。

B: yī-sān:  rén bù zhī ér bù yùn, bù yì jūn zi hū.

C: yī-sān:  rén bù zhī ér bù yùn, bù yì jūn zi hū.

D: 1-3:-  Is it not virtue for a man to feel no discomposure when others take no note of him?

為政第二 – wéi zhèng dì èr – wéi zhèng dì ér – Chapter two

A: 2-2:-  子曰:「詩三百,一言以蔽之,曰:『思無邪』。

B: èr-èr:- zǐ yuē: shī sān bǎi, yī yán yǐ bì zhī , yuē: sī wú xié.

C: èr-èr:-  zǐ yuē: shī sān bǎi, yī yán yǐ bì zhī , yuē: sī wú xié.

D: 2-2:-  The Master said: In the Book of Odes there are three hundred poems, but they may be summarized in a single sentence: Think no evil.

A: 2-7:-  子游問孝。子曰:今之孝者,是謂能養。至於犬馬,皆能有養;不敬, 何 以別乎。

B: èr-qī:-  zǐ yóu wèn xiào. zǐ yuē: jīn zhī xiào zhě, shì wèi néng yǎng. zhì wū quǎn mǎ, jiē néng yǒu yǎng; bù jìng, hé yǐ bié hū.

C: : èr-qī:-  zǐ yóu wèn xiào. zǐ yuē: jīn zhī xiào zhě, shì wèi néng yǎng. zhì wū quǎn mǎ, jiē néng yǒu yǎng; bù jìng, hé yǐ bié hū.

D: 2-7:-  Zi You asked what filial piety was. The Master said: Nowadays, providing support for one’s parents is considered filial piety. But dogs and horses can also do this. If there is no respect, what is the difference?

A: 2-10:- 子曰:「視其所以,觀其所由,察其所安。人焉叟哉?人焉叟哉?

B: èr-shí :-  zǐ yuē: shì qí suǒ yǐ , guān qí suǒ yóu, chá qí suǒ ān. rén yān sǒu zāi? rén yān sǒu zāi?

C: èr-shí :-  zǐ yuē: shì qí suǒ yǐ , guān qí suǒ yóu, chá qí suǒ ān. rén yān sǒu zāi? rén yān sǒu zāi?

D: 2-10:-  The Master said: Watch what a man does. Find out his motives. See how he takes his ease. How then can the man hide his true self? How can the man hide his true self?

Commentary

The subject has lived most of his life in his hometown. Gansu is the long, snaking province in northwestern China. It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and has the Yellow River(Huang Jiang) flowing through its southern part. Historically, Gansu is of great significance for two reasons, firstly as the birthplace of the Chinese Nation, which began in 221 BCE with the rise of the Qin dynasty around the modern city of Tianshui (translation: Heaven Water), which was then known as Qinting. Secondly, the entire province lay along the northern route of the Silk Road that ran from Chang ‘An (now Xian) to Constantinople (now Istanbul).

Gansu was also the site of three important prehistoric (Chinese Neolithic) cultures: the Dadiwan culture, which flourished from 6,000 to 3,000 BCE; the Majiayao culture from 3,100 to 2,700 BCE; and the Qijia culture from 2,400 to 1,900 BCE.

The Silk Road came into being during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 CE), and this established the whole Gansuas an economically prosperous zone. During the Sui (581 – 518 CE) and Tang (618 – 907 CE) dynasties, the exploitation of resources such as agriculture and gold turned the area into the most prosperous in China.

The sample’s hometown is Jinchang City in central Gansu province. It lies west of the Yellow River, north of the Qilian Mountains, and south of the Alashan Plateau. The southwest of the city borders Qinghai Province, and the northwest borders Inner Mongolia. Cultural sites such as the Han and Qing dynasty Great Walls are popular tourist attractions while the relatively undeveloped natural environment is also a draw for tourists.

The dialect spoken in Gansu is Lan-Yin, one of the eight dialects of Mandarin. (The modern standardized Putonghua is based on Beijing Mandarin.) The dialect is also spoken in northern Xinjiang, and the name is a compound of the capitals of the two provinces,Lanzhou and Yinchuan, which are also two of its principal sub-dialects.

In general, no two Mandarin-speaking areas have exactly the same set of tone values. On the other hand, most Mandarin-speaking areas have very similar tone distribution and many have four tones that correspond quite well to the Beijing tones.

The northern Mandarin dialects employ many neutral tones for the second syllables of words (syllables whose tone contour is so short and light that it is difficult or impossible to discriminate). However, in many areas, especially in the south, the tones of both syllables are made clear; this is also characteristic of the other Chinese languages in the south. The result is that northern and southern mandarin dialects are often not mutually intelligible. The Lanzhou sub-dialect has its own subtle characteristics, and it is on this that the unique language of the Peking Opera is based.

Noticeable characteristics, which can be heard on the recordings, include the problems with [s] and [sh], [z] and [zh] pairs. There are also some examples of the /θ/- /s/ and /ʒ/- /s/ and the /v/ and /w/minimal pair transpositions.

COMMENTARY BY: Bill McCann

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/04/2011

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