基于Praat的宜兴方言“拨”语音实证研究

Praat-Based Empirical Phonetic Study of the Word “Bo” in Yixing Dialect

摘要: 本研究旨在探究宜兴方言阴入词“拨”[poʔ]、[pəʔ]两种语音变体与词义、词性的对应关系，旨在初步验证吴语“语法虚化伴随语音弱化”规律，并分析该词语音变异的区域特征。研究选取6名宜兴不同区域发音人，设计涵盖实义动词、给予动词、虚化标记(使役、被动介词)等用法的口语例句，借助Praat软件提取发音时长、共振峰F2、基频F0等声学参数，结合听辨、频谱分析及独立样本t检验开展研究。初步实验结果显示，仅“拨”表“拨动/调拨”实义时读[poʔ]，虚化用法均读[pəʔ]；东部发音人可清晰区分两类变体，西部、南部发音人则统一读[pəʔ]；两类变体在五项声学参数上差异极显著(p < 0.001)。结论表明，宜兴方言“拨”存在词义–语音单向映射，语法虚化显著伴随语音弱化，西部、南部语音合流为局部变异，方言正处于语音弱化动态扩散阶段，契合吴语“拨”的演变链条。

Abstract: This study aims to explore the correspondence between the two phonetic variants [poʔ] and [pəʔ] of the checked syllable “bo” in Yixing dialect and its lexical meanings and parts of speech, verify the law of “phonetic weakening accompanied by grammatical bleaching” in Wu Chinese, and analyze the regional characteristics of the phonetic variation of this word. Six native speakers from different regions of Yixing were selected as participants, and spoken sentences covering the usages of “bo” as a notional verb, a dative verb, and grammaticalized markers (causative verb and passive preposition) were designed. With the aid of Praat software, acoustic parameters including pronunciation duration, formant F2 and fundamental frequency (F0) were extracted, and the research was carried out through auditory discrimination, spectrogram analysis and independent-samples t-test. The results show that “bo” is pronounced [poʔ] only when it conveys the notional meaning of “stirring or allocating”, while it is uniformly pronounced [pəʔ] in all grammaticalized usages. Speakers from eastern Yixing can clearly distinguish the two variants, whereas those from western and southern Yixing consistently use [pəʔ]. Extremely significant differences (p < 0.001) were observed between the two variants in all five acoustic parameters. The conclusion confirms a unidirectional mapping between lexical meaning/part of speech and phonetic form of “bo” in Yixing dialect. Grammatical bleaching is significantly accompanied by phonetic weakening. The phonetic merger in western and southern Yixing is a local variation, and the dialect is in a dynamic diffusion stage of phonetic weakening, which aligns with the evolutionary chain of “bo” in Wu Chinese.