Hear the Ancient: Cultural Heritage in Northern Shaanxi Dialect

Author: Wang Keming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The author spent many years in northern Shaanxi and discovered that the dialect of northern Shaanxi preserves a large number of ancient words. He spent ten years reviewing numerous ancient texts to trace the origins of these archaic remnants in the dialect. The book not only uses ancient texts to verify the dialect but also showcases the unique folk customs of northern Shaanxi through it. The book records 3,900 distinctive colloquial words of northern Shaanxi. The recording principle is based on words the author personally heard and used in his daily life, excluding those found in written texts. Some of the northern Shaanxi words and phrases collected in the book were obtained from conversations with cadres, workers, and farmers in places like Yan'an and Yulin, while many others came from dozens of farmers in Jiayugou Village. Based on his own sense of life in northern Shaanxi, the author categorizes the northern Shaanxi words into seven sections: "Ancient Northern Shaanxi Words for Human Body Parts," "Ancient Northern Shaanxi Verbs for Actions," "Ancient Words in Northern Shaanxi Daily Life," "Ancient Northern Shaanxi Words for Interpersonal Interactions," "Ancient Northern Shaanxi Words Related to Marriage, Funerals, Beliefs, and Spiritual Support," "Ancient Northern Shaanxi Words for Heaven, Earth, and Nature," and "Ancient Function Words in Northern Shaanxi Dialect." Additionally, there are 42 categories such as "Family: The Word 'Da' Used for a Thousand and Five Hundred Years" and "Labor: Before the Invention of Characters, 'Geng' Was Called 'Jie.'" These categories do not strictly adhere to the norms of dialect surveys. The author also includes over 230 photographs in the text to help readers understand the meanings of the words or gain insights into northern Shaanxi. At the end of the book, there is a phonetic index and a stroke index.