| Abstract |
This study investigates sound change and variation in old Tongan-based Southern Min in Hsinchu City and Hsinfong Hongmaogang. The aim is to probe how much, and how pronunciations have diverged from their origins in these areas and through which process divergence takes place, "dialect borrowing" or "natural, internal change.” The results reveal that: (1) In the initials, most middle-aged and elderly Hsinfong speakers keep initial [dz], while most Hsinchu City residents do not. (2) In the finals, in〈關觀〉word groups [ũĩ] is generally observed in Hsinchu City, while it is not found in Hsinfong. Some elderly Hsinfong speakers still keep [ɨ] and [ǝ] However, in Hsinchu City, while [ǝ] is simply disappear in Hsinchu City. Evidence shows that most characteristics of the old Tongan-based Southern Min has undergone change in Hsinchu City. (3) In the tones, the higher register entering tone [5] and [34] is observed in Hsinchu City, while only [5] is seen in Hsinfong. This research shows that the major mechanism of sound change in these dialects is through dialect borrowing and not through natural or internal change.
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