Pixel International Conferences

The Kunming dialect is a subdialect of the Yunnan dialect, originated from the southwest region of China. Since the 1950s, the Chinese government has promoted the policy of the Chinese standard language. Due to language contact between the Kunming dialect and standard Chinese, native speakers in Kunming city have experienced changes in the sound of their mother tongue (Lu, 1990) especially in the tonal changes. This research aims to investigate the tonal changes of the Kunming dialect using experimental methods. The study has three objectives: (1) To investigate the tonal changes of native speakers from different ages at Kunming city; (2) To compare the Kunming dialect spoken by native speakers from different career backgrounds; and (3) To analyze the influence of standard Chinese pronunciation on these two groups of respondents while pronouncing the tones of Kunming dialect. The tonal differences of their mother tongue, especially the fundamental frequency (F0) and values of tones and resonant peaks (F1, F2), produced by these two groups of respondents from different ages, would be further analyzed using the Praat and Mini-Speech-Lab software. In order to generate quantitative statistical data, mixed-mode research methods would be used to collect research data. The sound data of the participants would be analyzed using two-way ANOVA. The theoretical and conceptual frameworks for this study will be based on the language change theory proposed by Labov (2001) and the experimental sound approaches suggested by Shi Feng (2008). The study aims to identify the linguistic rules and social factors that cause and influence the tonal changes and variations of the Kunming dialect and provide useful information to the residents of Kunming on how to preserve their mother tongue and prevent the dialect from becoming endangered.