(1) Overseas distribution
At present, there are people who speak the Cantonese dialect on all continents of the world, mainly immigrants and their descendants. In Chinatowns in many countries, the Canton dialect is called "Tang dialect", giving people the feeling that it is "The Words of the Tang People" and can be passed unimpeded.
Bordering the South China Sea, Nanyue has always had a relatively stable political situation, with convenient conditions for maritime trade and overseas development of immigration, so the earliest immigrants in ancient Chinese were mostly people in their own regions.
There are four main cases of Cantonese emigration abroad:
The first is to carry out trade near the ports in Southeast Asia, where maritime transportation is more convenient and trade is more developed, and become overseas Chinese due to various reasons. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, the economic development of the Guangfu area was relatively fast, as the main gateway of China, foreign trade was relatively developed, the Guangfu people had more opportunities to contact foreign commodities and information, and the awareness of the commodity economy was stronger. Capitalism in Shunde sprouted earlier, and many people took the initiative to invest and settle down overseas.
The second is to defect to relatives and friends or go abroad at their own expense to earn a living, so as to emigrate to other countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, but also in the Americas, Africa and other places. Chronicle of Guangdong Province. According to the "Overseas Chinese Chronicle", this kind of Chinese workers who emigrated overseas as free immigrants had 3 million to 4 million people in the more than 100 years after the Opium War, of which more than 60% were Guangdong nationals. According to the Shunde County Chronicle, "affected by the world economic depression, silk prices plummeted, and a large number of female silk reeling workers in the county lost their jobs and went to Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia as domestic helpers." About two or three thousand people to all over Southeast Asia."
The third is to be "sold piglets" as laborers to Southeast Asia, North and South America, Oceania and Africa. In order to develop colonies and national resources, Western countries recruited and even abducted a large number of "indentured Chinese workers", commonly known as "piglets", from the coastal areas of Guangdong to work as coolies. According to statistics, nearly 3 million Chinese (including transshipes) who arrived in the Straits Settlements from 1801 to 1925 were contract chinese workers. They are mainly from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, and guangdong nationality accounts for about 60%--70%", "The Pearl River Delta and neighboring coastal areas bear the brunt of it, and bankrupt farmers and craftsmen have become the main ones they abduct, plunder and sell. Object. According to the Chronicle of Shunde County, "In the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871), he Jiaxi, a sheep, was 'sold to Ipoh, Malaya'"
Fourth, they emigrated overseas because of political factors or to avoid war, and the destinations were mainly the Americas, Oceania and the Southeast. Second. During the Taiping Rebellion, the Wushu Coup, the Xinhai Revolution, and the Republic of China, many Cantonese were forced to leave their homes and go overseas in an attempt to survive. In particular, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement had a great influence on the Liangguang region, and many people in Xinhui, Guangzhou and other places fled abroad due to the failure of the uprising. The "Chronicle of Shunde County" says: "After the failure of the '329' Guangzhou Uprising in the third year of Xuanun (1911), a large number of Shunde members of the Nationalist Army fled overseas, and there were hundreds of tin mines founded by Overseas Chinese in Malaya alone." "Before and after the fall of Shunde in the 28th year of the Republic of China (1939), the county people flocked to Southeast Asia and southeast and South Africa. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, people still arrived in Vietnam. In the 30 years of the Republic of China, there were 3637 overseas Chinese in Madagascar, of which 75% were Shunde nationals. ”
Chronicle of Guangdong Province. The "Overseas Chinese Chronicle" estimates that "there are about 7 million overseas Chinese and Ethnic Chinese with ancestral Cantonese origins (1980s data quoted in the note)", "Cantonese Cantonese cantonese people, mostly concentrated in North America and Oceania, especially the United States, Canada and Australia, and many in Southeast Asia". < Guangdong Province. According to the Chronicle of Population: "Cantonese nationals are the most in the Americas, accounting for about 90% of overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese in the Americas (data from the early 1990s - citation note)." Since overseas Chinese and ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia have re-immigrated after accumulating certain assets to expand their industries, and hong Kong and Macao residents and wealthy families in the contemporary Pearl River Delta have also invested in immigrants or pushed their children to study abroad for employment, the main overseas Chinese residence of Cantonese people has gradually changed from Southeast Asia to a relatively developed capitalist country.
Those who are in the Gentiles, because of the language barrier and poor communication, naturally the same voice and the same breath gather together and take care of each other. The first is to live in the same place with the same family, maintain the living habits, customs and traditional concepts of the hometown, and look forward to the feeling of not leaving the land; The second is that the same ethnic group is closely linked, communicating in the same language, relieving the loneliness of being separated from the hometown, and seeking mutual help and mutual love. As for immigrants of different ethnic groups or different provinces, because of language problems, the degree of interconnection is naturally not as good as the former, especially those who emigrate abroad in the era when Mandarin was not yet widespread.
With the formation of overseas Chinese society in overseas Chinese, overseas Chinese associations have gradually developed, most of which are clan organizations, hometown associations or various fraternities based on blood or geographical relations. Because various friendship and mutual assistance activities are held from time to time, as well as public welfare, welfare, cultural and educational undertakings, individuals' sense of belonging to these organizations is reflected, thus maintaining the sense of hometown and ensuring that the language of the hometown is not forgotten. Some larger overseas Chinese groups have also set up educational undertakings to help overseas Chinese solve the problem of their children going to school, which has provided fertile ground for future generations of overseas Chinese to understand their hometown culture and learn their hometown language. Because of this, the Canton dialect in Cantonese, where immigrants live in Canton, is unimpeded and can be spread from generation to generation. Most of the overseas Chinese from Madagascar shunde are immigrants from the Lecong region at the end of the 19th century, which has been passed down for generations for more than 100 years, and many people still have a strong Cantonese accent.
It can be seen that the Cantonese who emigrated overseas brought the Canton dialect to all parts of the world. In the Case of Shunde dialect alone, there are sound tracks in more than 50 countries or regions. The "Shunde County Chronicle" lists the distribution of overseas Chinese in Shunde, and to peek at the leopard, it can be seen that the Cantonese dialect is widely distributed overseas. Transcribe as follows: "The distribution of expatriates in Asia in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, Japan; Africa is distributed in Mauritius, Reunion (French overseas province), Madagascar, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, East Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Senegal, Nigeria; Europe's distribution in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Albania; North America in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad), Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica; South American distribution in Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia; Oceania is distributed in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and other places. Among them, the large number of people are Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Madagascar, South Africa and other countries and regions, generally 4000 to 5000 people, many more than 10,000. ”
Of course, with the acceleration of the pace of global integration, the new generation of Cantonese expatriates receive information from the outside world quickly and respond quickly, easily integrated into the mainstream culture of expatriates, and the opportunity to use the Canton dialect in daily exchanges will be less and less. Most of the descendants of those who have studied abroad in the past 20 or 30 years and then settled in Western countries have "learned to listen to and speak" the Canton dialect, and the next generation may even feel difficult to understand. However, with the continuous improvement of the comprehensive strength of the Cantonese area, especially the implementation of the strategy of the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the frequency of Cantonese people going to the world with a strong posture continues to increase, and the sound waves of the Canton dialect will still spread to every corner of the world.
(2) Domestic distribution
The Canton dialect is mainly spoken in parts of the Pearl River Delta, western Guangdong, northern Guangdong, Eastern Guizhou, Southern Guizhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Hainan. From the history of the development of the Cantonese dialect, it can be seen that its trajectory was initially pushed eastward from the ancient Cantonese-speaking area in the middle of the Xijiang River, formed in the Pearl River Delta, and then radiated outward from the Pearl River Delta. Therefore, the salient feature of the distribution of the Cantonese dialect is that it is mainly distributed along the river in the middle and lower reaches of the Xijiang River.
1. The main stream of the Xijiang River and the Pearl River Delta region
Originating in Yunnan Province, the Pearl River is more than 2,300 kilometers long and has different historical names for different sections of the river. Generally speaking, after the Gui River flows into the Xun River, the section below Wuzhou is called the Xijiang River. Wuzhou, the old Guangxin area, is the birthplace of Guangxin culture. Guangxin culture develops from Guangxin to the east through the Xijiang River; After the Cantonese culture was formed in the Pearl River Delta, it was then retroactively fed along the Xijiang River. Therefore, from Wuzhou to Yunfu, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Guangzhou, and then to Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Macao in the west wing of the Pearl River Delta, and Dongguan, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other places in the east wing of the Pearl River Delta, they are the mainstream areas of Cantonese culture, which are spoken in Cantonese dialect, and their pronunciation is the most representative, or the most "white". It is worth noting that the western wing of the Pearl River Delta belongs to the Xijiang River Basin, and the spoken dialect is basically Cantonese; However, the east wing is mainly the Dongjiang River Basin, which is greatly influenced by the Dongjiang culture, so dongguan, Huizhou, and the eastern part of Shenzhen use More Hakka dialect, and some places even speak Teochew dialect. Hong Kong is an exception, originally a small fishing village, also mainly Hakka, but later developed into an international metropolis, mainly relying on immigrants from the Canton area centered on Guangzhou, so it was deeply influenced by Cantonese culture. After years of evolution, Hong Kong now basically speaks Cantonese, and its pronunciation is basically the same as That of Cantonese.
The Cantonese dialect commonly spoken in the Pearl River Delta in this region is generally called "Cantonese dialect", also known as Cantonese "Cantonese piece", so it can be said to be a narrow Cantonese dialect. There are not many phonetic differences between the regions in the Cantonese dialect region, and they can communicate smoothly with each other, but there are also some differences. This dialect area mainly includes the following areas:
(1) Guangzhou film. Among them, the pronunciation of the old city is recognized as the standard pronunciation of Cantonese (Cantonese).
(2) Nanfan Shun tablets. It includes Foshan, southern Guangzhou, northern Zhongshan, and northeastern Jiangmen.
(3) Fragrant mountain tablets. It includes most of Zhongshan and Zhuhai.
(4) Hong Kong and Macao films. Including Hong Kong and Macau.
(5) Wanbao tablets. Including Dongguan, Huizhou, Shenzhen central and western regions.
The Cantonese dialect spoken in cities along the Central Xijiang River in this area is closer to Guangzhou dialect, such as Wuzhou, Yunfu and Zhaoqing urban dialects.
2. Xunjiang and Yujiang areas
Taking Wuzhou as the demarcation point, the upper reaches of the narrow Xijiang River are the Xun River, and further up, the southern branch is the Yujiang, Yongjiang, and Left and Right Rivers, and the northern branch is the Qianjiang, Hongshui, and Liujiang, of which the Xunjiang and Qianjiang rivers belong to the middle reaches of the Broad Xijiang. This area was originally not the territory of the Central Plains people, the Central Plains language is not common, and the ethnic languages derived from various ethnic groups, including the ancient Yue, are complex; However, in history, the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the Guangxin region have been traced back with the Xijiang River, which has had a definite impact on the language of this region. After the Qing Dynasty, merchants in the two Guangdong areas mostly communicated in the vernacular (Cantonese dialect), and then developed in the folk. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a large number of Cantonese people came to this area to avoid war, and vernacular gradually became the main communication language of cities along the river. The "Chronicle of Nanning City" says that after the soldiers of the Zhu Dynasty Di Qing's Southern Expedition to Tunshu stayed in Nanning, their language gradually formed a plain language. Later, Ping dialect was also influenced by the vernacular, and many pronunciations converged with the vernacular, and even the two could be simply communicated, so some people included ping dialect in the series of Cantonese dialects.
The Cantonese dialect spoken in this area is generally called "Yongxun Cantonese", and the biggest feature of its distribution is that it is along the river, mainly distributed in developed towns, especially commercial areas and docks,-- and some suburban townships are also distributed. This area can be said to be the westernmost part of the Canton dialect area.
3. Guijiang, Beiliujiang, Nanliujiang area
From Wuzhou to the northwest, there are Gui River and Li River, and southwest to the North River. The area between the Three Rivers of Guijiang, Hejiang and Xijiang was once the political and cultural core area of Guangxin as the capital of Lingnan, which lasted for more than 300 years, and the Guangxin language formed by the fusion of Han and Vietnam may become the standard language of this area. Later, the political center moved eastward, and the Guangdong dialect, which developed from the Guangxin language, in turn had an impact on the region. The Wuzhou Chronicle of dialects says: "Suburbs. Except for some distant ancestors who migrated south from the Central Plains down the Gui River, most of them migrated from Guangdong and nearby counties in the Ming and Qing dynasties. So today, the Cantonese dialect, which is widely spoken near Wuzhou, including the Beiliu River Basin, has preserved more traces of ancient Cantonese, which is more obvious in rural areas, and is called "Gou Tuo Cantonese" by scholars (there is a Gou Leak Mountain known as the "22nd Cave Heaven of Taoism"). Urban areas such as Wuzhou District are more open, and the language spoken is quite close to Guangzhou dialect.
The Nanliu River Basin, once part of the Southern Silk Road, was developed in the later period, and its pronunciation is relatively close to the Cantonese dialect, which is called "Qinlian Cantonese" by scholars, represented by Qinzhou dialect and Lianzhou dialect.
4. Hejiang, Nanjiang, Suijiang area
Not far from Fengkai in the lower reaches of Wuzhou, the He River joins the Xijiang River, which flows from north to south through Buchuan, Zhongshan, Hezhou, and Fengkai. This is the birthplace of Guangxin culture. The lower reaches of Fengkai are immediately adjacent to Yunan, and there is the Luoding River (formerly known as the South River) to inject the Xijiang River. The Sui river flows through Huaiji, Quang Ninh and Sihui and then joins the Beijiang River and then joins the Xijiang River. This area was also an important docking channel of the Lingnan Sea and Land Silk Road, and the Cantonese dialect spoken was called "Luoguang Dialect".
5. Jianjiang and Moyangjiang areas
Originating in Xinyi, the Jian River flows from north to south through Gaozhou, Huazhou, Dianbai and Maoming, and flows into the South China Sea from Wuchuan. The Moyang River originates in Yangchun and flows into the South China Sea in yangdong. The area includes Zhanjiang, Maoming, Yangjiang, in the Eastern Han Dynasty set up Gaoliang County, southward migration Han and indigenous slang culture integration, and later absorbed the Cantonese culture and Minnan culture, the formation of Gaoliang culture, later known as Gaoyang culture. The Gaoyang dialect is the representative ethnic group of the Guangfu people in western Guangdong, and the language spoken is called "Gaoyang dialect", represented by Gaozhou dialect and Yangjiang dialect.
6. Tanjiang area
The Tanjiang River originates in Yangdong and flows from west to east through Enping, Kaiping and Taishan, and is injected into the South China Sea in Xinhui. The county chronicles of this area say that the Han population was mainly from the Nanxiong immigrants of the Song Dynasty. "Heshan County Chronicle" Yun, the indigenous people are the Baiyue people, "first to avoid the Yuan soldiers, and then by the Ming rulers, forced to conceal the ethnic composition, most of the Yao people moved, a small number of those left have mixed with the Han people under the mountain, and gradually integrated with the local Han people", indicating that there were still unhythmic Yue people during the Ming Dynasty in this area. The "Chronicle of Xinhui County" says: "According to the existing genealogy, more than 70% of the ancestors of the residents of present-day Xinhui County are survivors of the Song army from the Battles of Nanxiong Zhujie Lane and Yahai. Most of the indigenous peoples of Xinhui were assimilated by the Han Chinese. "Migration from Nanxiong to the Pearl River Delta is the main force that gave birth to Cantonese culture, which shows that Cantonese culture has taken root in the region more than 800 years ago. Due to the sparse population of the land, the poor people from other places have since moved people one after another, such as the "Chronicle of Taishan County": "During the Yongzheng and Qianlong years, 300,000 Hakka people moved from Huiyang, Chaozhou, and Jiaying Prefectures to Chixi." Many immigrants and a small number of indigenous people have been fused for many years to form a common language with the Cantonese dialect as the main body, and the "Siyi Cantonese" with both Min and Hakka components, distributed in parts of Jiangmen Wuyi and Doumen and Zhongshan.
7. Beijiang area
Beijiang has always been an important way for the Central Plains to enter Lingnan, and the part close to Guangzhou City belongs to the scope of Guangdong Province. After the Song and Yuan dynasties, the Cantonese culture has been formed, playing a leading role in the Pearl River Delta, the influence of the northern culture is difficult to extend southward, and the immigrants who have not continued to migrate south have settled in the Beijiang River Basin, making northern Guangdong a Hakka-dominated area. Since the shipping capacity of the Beijiang River is far inferior to that of the Xijiang River, the development of Cantonese culture to the north and the Deep people is also difficult, so the early Cantonese dialect rarely dates back to northern Canton. "Shaoguan City Chronicle" Yun: "The spread of the Cantonese dialect in northern Guangdong was first the Guangdong merchants who traveled to and from Qujiang, Lianxian and other places in the Qing Dynasty, and settled down in the local area", "Especially during the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Guangdong provincial government and some organs and schools moved to Shaoguan, Lianxian, Lechang and other places, and Guangzhou dialect became the lingua franca of officialdoms, organs and schools in northern Guangdong." It can be seen that the history of the Cantonese dialect entering northern Guangdong is not long. Therefore, the pronunciation of this region is very close to Guangzhou dialect, belongs to the Guangdong area, and is mainly distributed in coastal towns.
8. Dongjiang area
The Dongjiang River is one of the main streams of the Pearl River system, originating in Xunwu, Jiangxi Province. Somewhat similar to the Beijiang area, this is a mixed area of Guangfu folk and Hakka ethnic groups, the part near Guangzhou belongs to the Guangfu area, and the phonetic belongs to the Guangdong area.
9. Northwest Region of Joan
The northwestern part of Hainan Island, bordering the Beibu Gulf and close to Liangguang, has always been the initial foothold of mainland immigrants on Hainan Island. Hainan was originally the land of Baiyue, dominated by Li culture. According to the Chronicle of Hainan Province, during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Lady Xian of Gaoliang, Guangdong, brought Western Guangdong culture into Hainan, and since then there have been continuous mainland coastal immigrants Qiong, who are known as "new guests" who migrated from Enping, Kaiping, Gaoming, Heshan, Xinning, Yangjiang and other places under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou and Zhaoqing Province after Daoguang. Because most of the Cantonese immigrants settled in Danzhou in the northwest, over time they formed a "Danzhou dialect" that not only retained some characteristics of the Cantonese dialect, but also infiltrated some common characteristics of the dialects of various dialects in Hainan. "Danzhou dialect belongs to the Chinese Cantonese dialect system, mainly distributed in 22 townships in the central, western and northern regions of the county, with more than 500,000 people, accounting for about 80% of the total population( early 1990s data citation note)."
10. Aquatic area
History. Most of the social, economic and cultural development is linked by rivers. People who travel back and forth on rivers and rivers call boats their homes all year round, with no fixed living areas but a common language. This language is distributed in rivers or offshore waters, does not belong to any area on land, but communicates with different places along the coast. The language commonly spoken by people on the water is called "Xujia dialect". The history of the existence of the egg family is relatively long, in the 1980s, there was also a water school in Shunde, and the students were mainly the children of the egg family, and most of them spoke the egg family dialect. The Xu family flows along the river, although it does not settle ashore, but it needs to communicate with the land residents, so the egg family dialect must also develop with the development of the land language, and the habit of living in the waters will adapt to the language along the waters. Therefore, the Egg dialect in the Cantonese area can be communicated with the Cantonese dialect.
11. Other areas
After all, Cantonese culture has a strong position in Guangdong Province, and the Cantonese dialect penetrates into different areas of the province and even the border areas of neighboring provinces. In the urban areas of Hakka and Chaoshan dialects, there are many people who know the Cantonese dialect; Hainan, which was once under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province, also has cantonese dialect speakers in government organs, factories and mines, and farms. Furthermore, today's population movements, information dissemination and cultural integration are unprecedented, and traces of the Cantonese dialect can be seen all over the country.
From the above analysis, the distribution of Cantonese dialects is basically related to the water, and different river basins have their own genres. Shunde is located in the middle of the Pearl River Delta, the confluence of the mainstream of the Xijiang River and the Beijiang River, integrating various Cantonese cultures, and Shunde dialect should belong to the mainstream part of the Canton dialect.
Source: Cantonese Dialect Shunde Dialect
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