‘Face’-related expressions in the Minnan Dialect of Chinese

IF 1.7 2区 文学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Language Sciences Pub Date : 2022-11-01 DOI:10.1016/j.langsci.2022.101510
Jiejun Chen , Dániel Z. Kádár , Juliane House
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Abstract

In this study, we investigate the use of ‘face’-related expressions in the Minnan Dialect of Chinese. Minnan is often referred to as a ‘conservative’ dialect because of its large inventory of archaic and local expressions, including a rich variety of ‘face’-related expressions. To date, little research has been dedicated to this ‘face’-related inventory in Minnan, supposedly because it is often assumed that ‘face’ is a homogeneous notion in Chinese. In this paper, we critically revisit this assumption. In our study, we first collected and categorised Minnan dialectal ‘face’-related expressions and their use with the aid of data drawn from audio-recorded conversations, online videos, dictionaries, literary works and interviews. The results pointed to significant differences between Minnan ‘face’-expressions and their Mandarin counterparts. We then distributed a test to two groups of speakers: speakers of Mandarin who were not fluent in Minnan and a group of Minnan speakers. The aim of this test was to find out whether both groups can interpret Minnan ‘face’-related expressions in a written form. We hypothesised that Minnan ‘face’-related expressions in a written form can easily be interpreted by Mandarin speakers because Mandarin and Minnan use roughly the same writing system. However, this hypothesis was falsified because a significant number of Minnan ‘face’-related expressions triggered various types of interpretational difficulties for Mandarin-speakers for various reasons. This outcome indicates that Minnan ‘face’-related expressions should be studied as a repertoire, which is different from but related to Mandarin.

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闽南话中与“脸”相关的表达
在本研究中,我们调查了闽南方言中“脸”相关表达的使用情况。闽南语通常被认为是一种“保守”的方言,因为它有大量的古代和地方表达,包括各种各样的“脸”相关表达。到目前为止,很少有研究专门针对闽南的“面子”相关清单,可能是因为人们通常认为“面子”在汉语中是一个同质的概念。在本文中,我们批判性地重新审视这一假设。在我们的研究中,我们首先收集和分类了闽南方言“脸”相关的表达及其使用,并借助于录音对话、网络视频、词典、文学作品和访谈等数据。结果表明,闽南人的“脸”表情与普通话的“脸”表情存在显著差异。然后,我们对两组说话者进行了测试:一组说普通话但闽南语不流利的人,另一组说闽南语的人。这个测试的目的是找出两组人是否能理解闽南“脸”相关的书面表达。我们假设闽南语“脸”相关的书面表达很容易被普通话使用者理解,因为普通话和闽南语使用大致相同的书写系统。然而,这个假设被证明是错误的,因为大量闽南“脸”相关的表达由于各种原因引发了普通话使用者各种类型的解释困难。这一结果表明,闽南“脸”相关的表达应该作为一个剧目来研究,它与普通话不同,但又有联系。
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来源期刊
Language Sciences
Language Sciences Multiple-
CiteScore
2.90
自引率
0.00%
发文量
38
期刊介绍: Language Sciences is a forum for debate, conducted so as to be of interest to the widest possible audience, on conceptual and theoretical issues in the various branches of general linguistics. The journal is also concerned with bringing to linguists attention current thinking about language within disciplines other than linguistics itself; relevant contributions from anthropologists, philosophers, psychologists and sociologists, among others, will be warmly received. In addition, the Editor is particularly keen to encourage the submission of essays on topics in the history and philosophy of language studies, and review articles discussing the import of significant recent works on language and linguistics.
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