Vietnamese Dialects A Case Of Sound Change Through Contact

Among Vietnamese dialects, the southern dialect of Quang Nam is notable for its rimal peculiarities. These properties have not generally been reported for any other Vietnamese dialects. However, some features - in particular, the vowel [.] and correspondence between [aw] and [o] - have recently been observed in small dialects of the north-central Ha Tinh region. The Thanh Hoa dialect, spoken in a province which lies between the northern and north-central regions of Vietnam, bears certain close similarities to Quang Nam dialect, yet does not share the features in the same way as they are shared between Quang Nam and the Ha` Tinh subdialects. The paper argues for a link between these three non-standard varieties, Quang Nam, Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa dialects, each belonging to a different major dialectal group (and each geographically separated from one another). Through an examination of the similarities and differences between these dialects, focusing on the Ha` Tinh subdialect, it is argued that historical migration is the cause of sound change in the Quang Nam dialect. The paper claims that Quang Nam dialect was based on the speech of migrants from Thanh Hoa province, and has subsequently integrated certain features from the speech of Ha Tinh migrants.