Language variation in regional Putonghua: A case study of Ningbo
This paper investigates the production and perception of two mergers (dental-retroflex fricative/affricates /s/~/ʂ/, /ts/~/tʂ/, and /tsh/~/tʂh/ and alveolar/velar nasal finals /n/~/ŋ/) in the variety used in Ningbo, a coastal city in east China where the local non-Mandarin Wu variety (Ningbonese) co-exists with the ‘standard’ Putonghua. Production and perception data was collected through sociolinguistic interviews and a matched-guise experiment. Results show that the merger of dental-retroflex fricative/affricates is less frequent than that of the alveolar/velar nasal finals. Additionally, the former merger is more frequent in male speakers while difference across genders is smaller for the latter feature. The perception study indicates that the former merger is linked to a lack of status (e.g. education level, standardness) while the latter does not. The overall results suggest that the merger of dental-retroflex fricative/affricates is stigmatised and non-standard whereas the merger of alveolar/velar nasal finals signals a regional identity.
