I dialetti mandarini nel Xinjiang, traduzione e introduzione a tre articoli specialistici.

Abstract

This thesis is a translation of three works by Professor Dong Yinqi of Xinjiang University that focuses on the Chinese dialects of this region. The first text gives a comprehensive introduction on Xinjiang’s Chinese dialects, focusing on their formation and the close relation that this region’s peculiar history of migration from China proper has with nowadays dialects and how they came to life. The second text goes deep into the phonological characteristics of the two dialect subgroups of the region and analyze the initials, finals and tones of these dialects. The last text focuses on the lexicon on these dialect subgroups and draws connection between them, Chinese traditional literature, and the languages of ethnic minorities living in the area. In the introduction, I will give a few facts about Xinjiang Autonomous Region in regard of its geography, history and ethnic composition in order to highlight the specificity of this region. Then I will move on to introduce and explain which are the Chinese dialects in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region according and also what are their respective characteristics and where they came from. We will see that these dialects have a close relation with the neighboring provinces and also with the languages of the ethnic minorities. This thesis also includes my personal analysis of these texts where I will also explain the problem and the choices made in the translation process. Finally, I will also include a brief glossary of the main technical terms.