吴语描写借词的地理变异

The Geographic Variations in Descriptive Loanwords in Wu Dialect

描写借词指以“洋、番”等修饰性成分加上本地原有词语构成的、用来给外来事物命名的一类词语。该文针对明清以来吴语中的描写借词,考察它们在吴语中的地理分布情况。基于方言词典的语料,吴语在“洋”系列描写借词的使用上较为统一,在数量、种类以及词形上近似,表明吴语各地区对外来工商业产品的传播接受快,其进入语言层面的过程非常迅速。吴语在“番”系列描写借词的使用上差异较大,尤其是南部吴语中的“番”系列描写借词较为特殊,在货币用词及称谓词的使用上与北部吴语有明显不同,与闽语、粤语的方言点更相近。这种现象揭示了在吴语方言中“洋”“番”两个系列描写借词有不同的传播路径,北部吴语内部接触更为密切,南部吴语则与闽语、粤语接触更为密切。

Descriptive loanwords refer to a class of words used to name foreign things,which are composed of modifiers such as"Yang"and"Fan"and local original words.We investigate the geographical distribution of descriptive loanwords in Wu dialect since Ming and Qing dynasties.Based on the corpus of dialect dictionaries,Wu dialect is relatively unified in the use of"Yang"series of descriptive loanwords,and similar in quantity,type and morphology,indicating that the process of receiving foreign industrial and commercial products in various areas of Wu dialect and entering the language level is very rapid.There are great differences in the use of"Fan"series of descriptive loanwords in Wu dialect,especially the"Fan"series of descriptive loanwords in southern Wu dialect,which are obviously different from the northern Wu dialect in the use of currency words and appellation words,and are more similar to the dialects of Min and Cantonese.This phenomenon may reveal that the two series of descriptive loanwords"Yang"and"Fan"in Wu dialect have different transmission paths,and the northern Wu dialect has closer contact with the internal dialect,while the southern Wu dialect has closer contact with Min dialect and Cantonese.