The character used here to represent ‘niang’ is 娘 but that obviously can't be the etymologically correct character for the above meanings (i.e.: what, how, etc.).
- Etymologically Correct Character For The Sichuanese ‘niang’ Meaning "What"?
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Many characters like this are just used to help people write the pronunciation. I think most of them cannot find a correct character cause it is used for speaking.– zzyJul 23, 2015 at 6:08
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the following does not even come close to answering the question, is just a comment: cf. 啷个 baike.baidu.com/view/2938296.htm 基本信息 方言读音：1、làngge（表疑问） 2、lǎngge（表肯定）...– user6065Jul 23, 2015 at 6:14
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@S.Rhee thats quite a different pronunciation, but interesting direction.– Mou某 ♦Jul 23, 2015 at 6:19
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1Not an answer, but a suggested resource: The 方言词汇 is a spectacular book, including surveys of common vocab across many dialects, using etymologically correct character choices (or commenting when one is not easily available). For example, 东西 will be listed in the various 吴 dialects as 物事, along with a pronunciation (~meh zy), rather than picking characters that sound like the pronunciation (e.g., 么子).– Stumpy Joe PeteJul 23, 2015 at 6:21
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@StumpyJoePete do you have a z.cn or dang dang link– Mou某 ♦Jul 23, 2015 at 6:39
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2 Answers
There is a better link to the article that is quoted above in this post on Sina Blog, which will let you search the whole article in your browser.
The article mentions the use of 合音字 in Qionglai and related Sichuan dialects, i.e. one character writing two syllables. Examples the author gives include “不晓” 写作 “表”，and “那样” 写作 “浪”. Possibly 娘 is simply a 合音字 for the interrogative form 哪样.
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Although I will say, I've seen 表 written as 嫑 which seems to be a far more convincing character for “不晓”. Might "浪" have a more convincing character too?– Mou某 ♦Jul 25, 2015 at 7:10
Here's a partially supported theory. I hope someone comes up with better evidence:
- The closest translation of
什么into 成都话 is啥(子) = sa˩˧ tsɿ˥˧. - I believe that the
娘in question is actually哪in a certain context. For evidence, I give the following example.怎样is哪个样(子) = naŋ˥˧ ko˩˧ iaŋ˩˧ tsɿ˥˧. - I don't have the foggiest clue why
哪is only in some circumstances pronouncednaŋ˥˧.
My source is a "freely" available copy of 汉语方言词汇. Note that it's not searchable and is therefore somewhat tedious to use. I don't speak any variety of 四川话 and I have not found corroborating resources.
answered Jul 23, 2015 at 7:10
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啷个 occurs at least ６ times in 《饥饿的女儿》 虹影著，also cf. news report from Chongqing:“我们都没看到啷个跳下来的，听到声音才过来看。”(男子欲跳河轻生结果摔在河岸上 重伤入院 文章来源: 重庆晨报 于 2015-02-11)– user6065Jul 23, 2015 at 19:06
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@S.Rhee Do we know how that's actually pronounced? I presume that 啷 is another phonetic rendering (like 娘), so this might support my answer. Jul 23, 2015 at 21:22
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as Chongqing dialect （applying to 《饥饿的女儿》 and 重庆晨报) iciba／baike only have the pronunciations indicated above （comment ＃２）– user6065Jul 23, 2015 at 21:43
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@S.Rhee It'd be nice to have IPA for it. Given that 四川話 is famous for it's n-l merger, it's hard to know whether it's phonetically an [l] or an [n] from that. Jul 23, 2015 at 21:50