“Cultural soft power” is an expression which has increased in popularity in recent years, and this has profoundly affected people’s views on the international situation. Language is the basis for the dissemination of information. It is an important indicator for the measurement of a country’s soft power.

Historically, the sea has been an important channel for the spread of Chinese language and culture. The Chinese language system as an integrated whole can be said to comprise Chinese and Chinese dialects both within and outside of Chinese territory, while the sea can be seen as a bridge connecting Chinese and Chinese dialects around the world. Since there has been no study of Chinese and Chinese dialects from the perspective of the sea, we propose the concept of “Ocean dialects”, so as to try and explore the status quo of Chinese coastal dialects, island dialects and overseas Chinese dialects, and provide reference and foundation for China’s maritime strategy and language planning from a new perspective.

China’s ocean dialects are part of the overall group of the Chinese dialects. The path of dissemination of Chinese language and culture can be divided into three levels: the first one goes from the inland to the coast; the second from the coast to the islands; and the third from the coast (the islands) to overseas.

The first level: the coastal Chinese dialects. This is where the core area of the ocean dialects is located. From the north to the south, along China’s coastline, this area covers eight provinces (or autonomous regions): Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Northern Chinese, Wu Chinese, Yue Chinese, and Hakka Chinese are prevalent in this large area. Commonly recognized Southeastern Chinese dialects are often used at this level. The second level is represented by the island dialects of Chinese. According to statistics, a total of ten groups of islands exist within China, and language varieties spoken by people living on these islands include Northern Chinese, Wu Chinese, Min Chinese, Yue Chinese and Hakka Chinese, with the last four dominating. The third level is the Chinese dialects spoken in overseas Chinese communities. Chinese people have spread throughout the five continents. Early migrants were mainly uneducated laborers bringing with them the dialects and cultures of their ancestral homeland. In order to survive, overseas Chinese chose to live together in communities, therefore there are Chinatowns and Chinese settlements of different sizes around the world, each with different dialects.

Chinese ocean dialects are an organic whole

The three levels of Chinese ocean dialects can be said to constitute an organic whole. The first level is the root of the ocean dialects, with the dialects in this area distributed in blocks in the Chinese mainland, and representing the basis of the Chinese language and Chinese culture; the second level is the stretch of coastal dialects, an area of transit between the sea and land, where the dialects are to be found in a chain-like distribution; and the third level is a further extension of the ocean dialects. Dialects at this level scatter in spots around the world. It is obvious that it is hard to talk about the relation between Chinese dialects within and outside of China without mentioning the ocean as a carrier.

Unevenness in the studies on the three levels of the ocean dialects

Studies of the first level, that of the coastal dialect, have been proceeding steadily and achieved fruitful results. On the second level, that of the inhabited islands, in-depth and meticulous research on Yue, Min and Hakka Chinese has been conducted. Research on the dialects of the Hainan Island and Chongming Island has also made its achievements. Yet, when it comes to the dialects of other inhabited islands, little research has been done. At the third level, there used to exist only some scattered reports on the overseas Chinese dialects, a situation that did not begin to change until the 1990s. Since then, about 20 books have been published on the subject and a number of international symposiums on overseas Chinese dialects have been held, signifying that research in this area has officially become part of the field of studies on Chinese dialects and cultures. Research is however still only in the ice-breaking stage.

Reaching an understanding of the three levels of ocean dialects and of the relevant research has the purpose of protecting, developing and using the ocean dialects. Following the strategy of invigorating China through culture, it is high time to reflect on how to deepen research on the first level, accelerate the pace of research on the second level, and explore how to expand research on the third level of Chinese ocean dialects.

Undoubtedly, research on the first level will continue to progress; research on the second level, although still facing many gaps and difficulties, will advance fast once we set about probing into the dialects of the inhabited islands. The biggest difficulty lies with research on the third level.

So far, linguistic studies of the overseas Chinese have been rare. From ancient times until modernity, the history of overseas migration is on the one hand the history of Chinese conquering the ocean, and on the other hand, the history of Chinese dialects spreading across the ocean to the whole world. The Chinese ocean dialects, especially the overseas dialects, are a bridge connecting China and the world. The study of these dialects has to be brought to a new level.

Overseas Chinese dialects between tradition and change

Studies on overseas Chinese dialects, such as the dialects spoken in Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, suggest that overseas Chinese dialects are going through an era of both passing down tradition and of change, of infiltration and of replacement, of increased diffusion and of return.

Overseas Chinese dialects retain the basic characteristics of ancient Chinese and of the dialects of their speakers’ ancestral home. However variation is manifested in the larger number and increasing scope of borrowed words and in the natural and fluent code-switching carried out by overseas Chinese people. Different languages and dialects modify overseas Chinese dialects through erosion and penetration. For example, certain borrowed words and the consonant f contained in some words of the Min Nan Chinese spoken in Chinese communities in Southeast Asia are not seen in the variant spoken in China. However, the penetration does not only go one-way. Overseas Chinese dialects are finding their way into the languages of foreign countries, as shown by English words borrowed from Yue Chinese, and Malay words borrowed from Min Nan Chinese. The expected crisis derives from the fact that dialects in overseas Chinese communities are atrophying in varying degrees: users are aging and the new generation speaks them little or do not even speak the dialects at all.

There is also the issue of overseas Chinese dialects being replaced by new ones. Once the original Chinese communities disappear, their dialects will cease to exist. New communities will however emerge with new dialects, such as the rise of a “flusing” community in the U.S. and communities in Europe speaking Wu Chinese. It is sure that with China’s growing economy and the upsurge in foreign business and emigration of the Chinese people, these new communities are going to increase.

The emergence and development of the second and third levels of ocean dialects is the outcome of the spread of the Chinese language via the ocean, which includes both the spread of the Chinese language as a whole and the entry of elements of Chinese dialects into other languages. At the same time, Chinese dialects are also acquiring new elements from other languages. For example in the 84 farms run by overseas Chinese in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Yunnan, Jiangxi, and Jilin from the fifties until the eighties, new words were added into the local dialects from the foreign languages spoken by the overseas Chinese.

Ocean dialects demonstrate how Chinese dialects develop and spread, thus this research has both linguistic and cultural implications. Unfortunately the imbalance in the research at the three different levels, and especially the deficiency in the area of overseas Chinese dialects, has to some extent restricted the overall progress of the research on Chinese dialects. New effort is needed to change this situation.

The authors are from the Research Center on Chinese Dialect, Jinan University; and the Humanities School of Zhanjiang Normal University.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 583, 14th of April, 2014.

The Chinese link: http://www.csstoday.net/xueshuzixun/guoneixinwen/89049.html

Translated by Du Mei

　　Revised by Gabriele Corsetti