Strata of standardization: The Phong Nha dialect of Vietnamese (Quảng Bình Province) in historical perspective

Abstract

The present research, based on first-hand data, is intended as a contribution to the study of the present-day diversity of lesser-described Vietnamese dialects, and of the range of evolutionary paths to which they testify. The Vietnamese dialect of the hamlet of Phong Nha (commune of Sơn Trạch, county of Bố Trạch, Quảng Binh) is one of the “heterodox” dialects of Vietnamese, which are known to present considerable interest for the historical study of Vietnamese and of the Vietic group at large. These dialects are the product of the southerly expansion of Vietnamese over related (Vietic) languages, a process which involved various interferences. Comparative evidence reveals strata of standardization: some words are phonologically identical to Standard Vietnamese; others are of Southern Vietic stock, as demonstrated by the absence of telltale historical changes that took place in Vietnamese, such as the spirantization of medial stops; still others appear to be the result of hybridization.