毕业论文-粤语方言的起源与发展.doc

目 录摘要.1关键词.1第1章 相关概念的论述.21.1 语言的定义及功能.21.2 语系的划分及分布.21.3 我国五大语系.3 1.3.1 我国五大语系的内容及其分布.4 1.3.2 汉藏语系的分类及分布.4第2章 粤语的起源与发展.62.1 粤语简介.62.2 粤语的起源.62.3 粤语的形成与发展.7第3章 粤语起源和发展中的人地关系.9小结.9参考文献.101粤语方言的起源与发展摘要：粤语发源于北方的中原雅言，是于秦汉时期传播至两广地区与当地古越语相融合产生的一种语言，也是今天港澳和两广地区使用人数最多的语言。为更进一步了解粤语的起源与发展，探究其中的人地关系，本文从语言、语系、我国五大语系以及汉藏语系等相关概念出发，交代了粤语的归属，引出粤语。然后对粤语的起源、形成和发展作了论述，最后还对其中蕴含的人地关系作了分析，探究出在粤语的形成与发展中蕴含着五点人地关系。关键词：粤语 起源 发展 人地关系Abstract:Cantonese originated in the north of the central plains, Sylvia is spread in the qin and han dynasties to the areas of guangdong and the integration of local language guile of a language that is spoken by the largest number of people today, Hong Kong and Macao and the region of guangdong language. To further understand the origin and development of cantonese, to explore the relationship of population and land, this article from language, language, Chinas five major languages and sino-tibetan related concepts, narrates the cantonese, cantonese. Then the origin of cantonese, the paper discusses the formation and development, and analyses the relationship between to which contain the, explore contains five o clock in the formation and development of cantonese people relationship.Key words: Cantonese Origin Development Man-earth relationship第一章 相关概念的论述1.1 语言的定义及功能语言就广义而言，是一套的沟通以及符号、表达方式与处理规则。狭义而言，是指生物同类之间由于沟通需要而制定的具有统一编码解码标准的声音讯号。我们日常说的语言就是指人类沟通所使用的语言自然语言。语言的功能主要分为社会功能和思维功能两方面，其中社会功能包括信息传递功能和人际互动功能。语言是思维工具和交际工具。它同思维有密切的联系，是思维的载体和物质外壳以及表现形式。语言是符号系统，是以语音为物质外壳，以语义为意义内容的，音义结合的词汇建筑材料和语法组织规律的体系。语言是一种社会现象，是人类最重要的交际工具，是进行思维和传递信息的工具，是人类保存认识成果的载体。语言具有稳固性和民族性。人类创造了语言之后又创造了文字。文字是语言的视觉形式。文字突破了口语所受空间和时间的限制，能够发挥更大的作用。1.2 语系的划分及分布语系是具有共同来源的诸语言的总称，是具有共同历史渊源的若干具有亲属关系的语言组成体系。界上的语言现在约有两千种以上，一些语言为几亿乃至近十亿人使用，如汉语、英语、俄语，另一些语言则只为几千乃至几百人使用，如鄂伦春语、赫哲语。世界上的语言根据其特点和发源是否共同与否，即根据语言的历史来源，按照语言的亲属关系把世界上的语言分为若干语系，语系以内根据亲属关系的远近再分为若干语族，语族以下再分为若干语支。（图1）这样，同一语支的语言关系最近，共同点最多；语支不同而语族相同的语言，关系比较远一些；语族不同而语系相同的语言，关系最疏远，但是是仍然有来源上和结构上的共同性。 19世纪，欧洲的比较学派研究了世界上近一百种语言，发现有些语言的某些语音、词汇、语法规则之间有对应关系，有些相似之处，他们便把这些语文语系归为一类，称为同族语言；由于有的族与族之间又有些对应关系，又归在一起，称为同系语言，这就是所谓语言间的谱系关系。目前人们一般把世界的语言划分为九大语系：汉藏语系、印欧语系、阿尔泰语系、闪含语系、乌拉尔语系、伊比利亚高加索语系、马来玻里尼西亚语系、南亚语系、达罗毗荼语系。此外，还有非洲和美洲的一些语言和一些系属不明的语言。 汉藏语系主要分布在亚洲东南部，使用人口有十几亿。印欧语系是最大的语系，分布地区遍及欧洲、美洲、大洋洲和亚洲、非洲的部分国家，使用人口约占世界人口的一半。阿尔泰语系主要分布在中亚和中国的东北、西北地区，以及蒙古、土耳其、阿富汗等国，使用人口约八千余万。闪含语系，又称亚非语系，主要分布在西亚和北非地区，使用人口约一亿七千余万，其中操阿拉伯语的就有上亿人。乌拉尔语系主要分布在芬兰、匈牙利、捷克、前苏联和前南斯拉夫境内。使用人口约二千万，使用人口约五百万。马来玻里尼西亚语系，又称南岛语系，主要分布在太平洋群岛、东南亚地区和中国的台湾等地，使用人口约一亿七千余万。南亚语系主要分布在缅甸、柬埔寨、印度的东北部和中国的云南一带，使用人口约一千二百余万。达罗毗荼语系，又称南印度语系，主要分布在印度的东南部和斯里兰卡的北部地区，使用人口约一亿三千余万。同时，在非洲、美洲、大洋洲还存在着大量的语言。有人把这些语言分为爱斯基摩阿留申语系、澳大利亚语系、巴布亚语系、尼日尔科尔多凡语系、尼罗撒哈拉语系、科伊桑语系、北美印第安诸语言、中南美印第安诸语言等。此外，还有一些系属不明的语言，如日语、朝鲜语、越南语、巴斯克语等。（图2） 图1 语言的亲属关系图 图2 世界语系分布图1.3 我国五大语系 我国有五十六个民族，使用八十种左右的语言，说它“左右”是因为有的是语言还是方言不好界定，还有的语言可能还未发现。有的同一个民族就使用两种以上的语言，如苗族、瑶族。有的两个民族使用同一种语言，如汉族和回族。它们分属五个语系：一是汉藏语系。这是我国也是世界上最大的语系，由汉语和藏缅、壮侗、苗瑶三个语族组成。属于汉藏语系的民族大约有三十二个。二是阿尔泰语系。这是是我国的第二大语系，包括突厥、蒙古、通古斯满三个语族,属于这个语系的民族有十七个。三是澳亚语系，也称南亚语系，主要分布在我国的云南西部地区，有佤语、布郎语、崩龙语。四是马来亚及波利尼西亚语系，又称为南岛语系。我国只有高山语属于此语系的印度尼西亚1.3.1 我国五大语系的内容及其分布 图3 五个语系具体的系属和亲属远近关系语族。五是印欧语系。我国塔吉克语和俄罗斯语属于此语系。它们具体的系属和亲属远近关系如图3所示。1.3.2 汉藏语系的分类及分布汉藏语系的语种及分类历来说法不一，比较通行的有两种分类法。一种是分为汉语、藏缅语族、苗瑶语族、壮侗语族。另一种分类法以美国学者白保罗为代表。他把汉藏语系分为汉语和藏-克伦语两大类，又在藏-克伦语下面分藏缅语和克伦语两类。他认为苗瑶语、壮侗语同汉语不存在发生学上的关系，其相同或相似之处或来自相互借用，或来自类型学上的一致。他还认为苗瑶语和壮侗语在发生学上同印度尼西亚语有密切关系,应属同一语系,称澳泰语系。后来他的观点又进一步发展，于1965年提出了建立澳泰语系的主张。以上两种不同分类法分歧的焦点在于：苗瑶语、壮侗语同汉语之间相同或相似之处是发生学上的同源关系，还是类型学上的一致或是借用关系。除已确定的语言外，还有一些话是不是独立的语言有待进一步确定。如佯僙话、村话、临高话、木雅话、尔苏话、尔龚话等。随着汉藏语系语言调查的深入，今后还有可能发现一些新的语言。图4 我国方言分布图现今人们通常采用上述第一种分类法，即苗瑶语、壮侗语属汉藏语系。按这种分类法，汉藏语系的分布地区主要在中国、泰国、缅甸、不丹、锡金、尼泊尔、印度、孟加拉、越南、老挝、柬埔寨等亚洲各地，此外，在世界其他各地也还有不少汉藏语系语言的使用者。由于汉藏语系语言和方言的界限不易划清，对语言数目也有各种不同的估计。美国学者R.谢飞认为大约有300种语言和方言,日本学者西田龙雄估计约有400种语言和方言。使用人口在10亿以上,约占世界人口的1/4，仅少于印欧语系。中国是使用汉藏语系语言的人口最多，语种也最多的国家。到目前为止，已确定的语言有30多种，分属不同的语族、语支。其中汉语分布遍及全国各地，下分官话、吴、湘、赣、客家、粤、闽等7大方言。第2章 粤语的起源与发展2.1 粤语简介粤语，又作广东话，是汉族广府民系的母语。属汉藏语系汉语族的声调语言，含完整的九声六调，较完美地保留古汉语特征，拥有完善文字系统，可以完全使用汉字表达，是唯一除普通话外在外国大学有独立研究的中国汉语。粤语以珠江三角洲为分布中心，在中国的广东、广西、香港、澳门、海南，东南亚的新加坡、印度尼西亚、马来西亚、越南等以及北美、欧洲和澳洲、新西兰、圣诞岛等华人社区中广泛使用。在粤语核心地区广东省8000万本地人口中，粤语使用者近6000万；也有媒体认为，在广东省的1亿人口中，使用人数超过6700万。2.2 粤语的起源粤语发源于北方的中原雅言，即汉族母语。是于秦汉时期传播至两广地区与当地古越语相融合产生的一种语言。它的名称来源于中国古代岭南地区的“南越国”。从汉人大规模入粤最早的历史来考察，粤语形成于西江中部。它的主要来源是中原古汉语和古南越语。据考古发现，大约从西周时代开始，岭南粤人与中原汉人就有来往。不过，由于有五岭之隔，这种来往极为有限。秦末，汉人赵佗在番禺建立南越国。由于岭南一带远离中原，交通不便，这些汉族移民进入岭南之后，他们使用的汉语也就逐渐偏离了中原汉语的发展轨迹而形成了自己的某些特点，与南越族本土语言百粤语融合遂形成了早期的粤语，即粤语的雏形。2.3 粤语的形成与发展粤方言是汉语中的一支历史比较悠久的方言。形成雏形后，它此后的形成发展还经历了一个相当漫长的历史过程。下面从九个历史阶段来论述粤语的形成与发展。 第一个历史阶段，是先秦时期。特别是战国时期，有大量的楚人来到岭南，才开始大规模地传播汉语，是粤方言分化的最初阶段。所以，楚方言的一些词语，仍保留在今天的粤方言之中。如扬雄方言作“南楚谓眄曰睇”，这个睇即是广州话表“看”的，今天也依旧在用，如“我黎睇睇”，意思是“我来看看”。第二个历史阶段，是秦汉时期。自上古时期，居于岭南地区的多个原始部族被居于中原地区的华夏族人泛称为南越族。秦始皇南下攻取“百越“后，华夏族人来到岭南地区，当时的华夏族语言开始传入岭南地区。秦朝灭亡后，南海郡尉赵佗兼并桂林郡和象郡称王，建立了短暂的南越国。在汉朝的鼎盛时期，华夏族融合当时百越族演变成汉族。中原语言和当地古越语本土语言形成粤语，闽越、南越、扬越等即百越。粤方言接受中原汉语更多的影响，原住民民族语言古百越语的许多特点也在粤方言中沉淀下来。第三个历史阶段，是在晋代。中原相继发生了“八王之乱”和“五胡乱华”，大批士民向南迁徙，岭南地区汉族人口大量增加，这是中国历史上中原人口南迁的第一次高峰期。当时中原传入的汉语与以前形成的古粤语混合，拉近了古粤语和中原汉语的差别。这一时期是粤语的成长时期。他们所带来的中原汉语，又给正在形成的粤方言增加了新的影响，使粤方言接受更多汉语共同语的特点。如斗门、新会、台山、开平、恩平等地的粤方言，鼻音声母带有同部位的塞音，反映了魏晋时期中原汉语的语音特点。 第四个历史阶段，是在唐代。在唐朝鼎盛时期，岭南地区的汉族人口进一步增加，与汉族长期接触的原住民已被汉化。而在汉族分布较少的山区，原始部族则继续保持自己的语言文化。这一阶段粤语仍受中原汉语影响，成为一种既能对应中古汉语发音但有独立词汇文法的语言，有自己相对独立的语音体系和词汇系统以及语法结构。如今天粤方言的语音系统，与隋唐时期的语音系统中古音系有着极其严整的对应规律，即今天粤方言的语音面貌表现出了与隋唐汉语共同语十分接近的现象。第五个历史阶段，是在宋代以后。宋朝时期，北方更再次沦陷到外族手中，以致中原人逃至岭南地区，这是中国历史上中原人口南迁的第二次高峰期，也是最后一次拉近粤语和中原汉语差别的时期。宋代的粤方言，大概已与现代的粤方言相差无几，它所用的语音和词汇，已经奠定了现代粤方言的基础。 第六个历史阶段，元朝。在元朝，蒙古人迁都至位于燕云十六州内的大都即今天的北京，并以当地话作为官方语言，当时的中原汉语与中古汉语和粤语的差别在此后不停变大：当时的中原汉语已急剧地向北京官话方向发展，北京官话的入声迅速消失，又出现了不属于“平上去入”传统四声的轻声声调；已经定型的粤语则不受元朝影响而独立发展。 第七个历史阶段，明朝至清朝中期。在这一时期，中原的官话韵尾进一步消失。又有连接i/u韵母的g/k/h声母被完全颚音化成j/q/x声母；粤语则平稳而缓慢地变成现代粤语，最明显的是不再分辨z/c/s声母和j/q/x声母，又按粤语韵母长短把阴入声派入上下两种阴入声。第八个历史阶段，清朝末期。由于清朝闭关自守，仅留下广州作为与其他国家进行贸易的口岸，很多外国人来到中国后掌握的汉语是粤语而非官话，不少京官为了与外国人经商议事也常常接触粤语，使得粤语首次逆向传播到中原。在这一时期又有大量的粤人迁移到美洲、澳洲和东南亚等各地，粤语开始传播到世界各地。 第九个历史阶段，近代。中华民国成立时，虽然有用北方白话取代文言文正式书写的趋势，但粤语的实际使用没有多大限制，一度还有把粤语定为全国普通话的提议。但建国之后，在全民推广北方语言作为普通话的运动中，粤语受到普通话的影响越来越大，以致在中国大陆粤语分布区的许多年轻的一代不懂得一些专门名词的粤语读法。这种情况的出现使得不少以粤语为母语的人士开始产生一种母语危机感，不但粤语，中国各地的方言都受到普通话很大的影响。意识到这种情况，为了保护中华语言及文化的多样性，在政府的支持下，有关学者已经开始了对这些语言的保护性研究工作。 第3章 粤语起源和发展中的人地关系 通过结合前文粤语的形成与发展，考虑岭南当地的地理环境，我总结了以下5点粤语起源和发展中的人地关系。 一是因为我国多山地和水源，且由于气候的原因，所以我国古时是农耕社会。这决定了无论是当时的中原雅言亦或者是古越语都是以农耕社会形态为根基的，是从根本上区别于畜牧社会的语言的。 二是岭南与中原地区地理位置相距甚远，中间又有山岭相隔。所以在先秦以前，两地人们日常交流的语言基本上是各自发展，语音语调是存在很大的不同的。三是岭南地区多山地，因为这一地理原因，导致今天的粤语在广东各地都有较大的不同。在晋代，中原战乱频发，社会动荡，大批汉人为躲避战事逃到岭南地区。在地势较好，汉人聚集的地方，中原汉语与当地人的语言相融合。而在山地中，汉人所到之处较少，这些地区的语言所受中原的影响较少。四是因为中原多平原，且在地理位置上邻近北方少数民族，岭南地区于北方较偏远，又有山川相隔。所以宋朝以后，中原地区受北方少数民族侵略，其语言也受北方少数民族语言的影响，而粤语基本不受北方少数民族语言的影响。此时，中原汉语与粤语的差别开始慢慢增大。粤语由于地形和地理位置的原因反而成为保留较多古时中原雅言的方言。五是由于岭南较远离京城且邻海，这样的地理位置致使在清朝闭关锁国的政策下，广州成为当时唯一一个可以对外贸易的通商口岸。此时的粤语开始接触到完全与本土语言不同的外语，多为英语。到近代，又由于香港和澳门的割地，使英语开始融入到粤语中。今天我们使用的粤语中依然还存在着许多由英文衍生出来的词，如巴士，来自英文单词“bus”；贴士，来自单词“tips”；士多，来自单词“store”等等。小结粤语是我的母语，同时也是除普通话外世界上华人使用的最多的方言。但是随着国家对普通话的推广，粤语很多地道的方言词汇已经被越来越多的人所遗忘，粤语似乎已经越来越不“地道”了。虽然粤语不是我国使用人数最多的语言，但是追根溯源，它却是最原汁原味保留我们祖先中原雅言的方言。所以我选择了粤语的起源与发展作为我的论述题目，同时还对其中的人地关系做了分析。通过本文的学习和书写，我对粤语的根源有了更深的了解，也对语言和语系有了大致的了解。不知不觉一个学期快过去了，人文地理课程也邻近尾声。在这近一个学期的学习中，我在一个又一个有趣的专题中增长了不少有关人文地理的知识，也增加了对人文地理的兴趣。作为一名城市规划的学生，需要有多个学科的知识储备，人文地理是其中的一门。人文地理的课程虽然结束了，但是在今后的学习和生活中，我会不断地增进自己这方面的知识，不断地自我完善、自我补充。参考文献【1】甘于恩 粤语与文化研究参考书目 广东科技出版社 2007.11【2】甘于恩 广东粤方言概要 暨南大学出版社 2002【3】陈晓锦 粤语西翼考察 暨南大学出版社【4】麦仕治 麦仕治广州俗话书经解义【5】甘于恩 广东方言与文化探论 中山大学出版社 2007【6】李立林 东莞粤语语音的音韵研究J 暨南大学 2010【7】陈志清 粤语音韵研究J 暨南大学 2001【8】沈阳 语言学常识十五讲 北京大学出版社 2005.11【9】叶蜚声、徐通锵 语言学纲要 北京大学出版社 1997.04您好，为你提供优秀的毕业论文参考资料，请您删除以下内容，O(_)O谢谢！A large group of tea merchants on camels and horses from Northwest Chinas Shaanxi province pass through a stop on the ancient Silk Road, Gansus Zhangye city during their journey to Kazakhstan, May 5, 2015. The caravan, consisting of more than 100 camels, three horse-drawn carriages and four support vehicles, started the trip from Jingyang county in Shaanxi on Sept 19, 2014. It will pass through Gansu province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and finally arrive in Almaty, formerly known as Alma-Ata, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Dungan in Zhambyl province. The trip will cover about 15,000 kilometers and take the caravan more than one year to complete. The caravan is expected to return to Jingyang in March 2016. Then they will come back, carrying specialty products from Kazakhstan A small art troupe founded six decades ago has grown into a household name in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. In the 1950s, Ulan Muqir Art Troupe was created by nine young musicians, who toured remote villages on horses and performed traditional Mongolian music and dances for nomadic families. The 54-year-old was born in Tongliao, in eastern Inner Mongolia and joined the troupe in 1975.He says there are 74 branch troupes across Inner Mongolia and actors give around 100 shows every year to local nomadic people. I can still recall the days when I toured with the troupe in the early 80s. We sat on the back of pickup trucks for hours. The sky was blue, and we couldnt help but sing the folk songs, Nasun says. The vastness of Inner Mongolia and the lack of entertainment options for people living there, made their lives lonely. The nomadic people were very excited about our visits, Nasun recalls. We didnt have a formal stage. The audience just sat on the grass. Usually, the performances became a big party with local people joining in. For him, the rewarding part about touring isnt just about sharing art with nomadic families but also about gaining inspiration for the music and dance. Ulan Muqir literally translates as red burgeon, and todays performers of the troupe still tour the regions villages and entertain nomadic families, but their fame has spread around the world. On May 16 and 17, nearly 100 singers and dancers from the troupe performed at Beijings Poly Theater. Their show, titled Ulan Muqir on the Grassland, depicted the history and development of the art troupe. Being from the region allowed me to embrace the culture of Inner Mongolia and being a member of the troupe showed me where I belonged, Nasun, the art troupes president, who is also a renowned tenor, tells China Daily. During a tour in 1985, he went to a village and met an elderly local man, who told him a story about his friendship with a solider from Shenyang, capital of Northeast Chinas Liaoning province, decades ago. The solider gave the old man a handmade saddle when they bid farewell. The story inspired Nasun to write Carved Saddle, a song that later became one of his most popular numbers. Now, every year, Nasun recruits young singers and dancers for the troupe. The troupe has also designed a new repertoire, which is mostly based on the daily lives of Mongolian people, especially the lives of nomadic families, and has combined contemporary musical elements with folk songs of the region. Haimu, a 25-year-old khoomei (a local variant of overtone singing) singer, joined the troupe three years ago. Along with a six-member band, he performs fast songs and soft ones that he writesall while playing the horse-head fiddle.Although I learned the piano since childhood and grew up listening to various kinds of music, to me, the folk music of Inner Mongolia is the root, he says. Performing in remote villages is pleasant. I feel at home on the boundless grasslands, and the warm people there make me feel fulfilled. The first round of spring auction season in Beijing ended last week, but it failed to create much spring in the art market. Although two pieces of Chinese painting fetched more than 100 million yuan, the decline in trading volume and sale rate showed a downturn this year. In the “Grand View: Chinese Painting Highlight” session at China Guardian 2015 spring auctions, Pan Tianshous representative work Eagle, Rock and Flora hit a record auction price of 279 million yuan, while Li Kerans masterwork Jinggang Mountain fetched 126.5 million yuan, an unexpected high in recent years. However, the trading volume fells to 1.87 billion yuan from 2.22 billion yuan in the same period the year before. The Huangchen 2015 Spring Auctions, which recorded 42.5 million yuan in total sales, experienced the same. The section number went down to 5 from 12 compared to last year. According to expert Shao Jianwu, the art market did not attract much excitement this year due to the booming stock market and the persistent problems of forgery and fake deals. The two pieces of Chinese painting notched up high price this spring due to their own value not due to a revival in the market. The successful transaction of two works with a hammer price of more than 100 million yuan once again confirms that valuable and rare works of high quality always earn the long-lasting high price. Chinese painting and calligraphy is still the pillar of the market. However, the overall sales rate has dropped slightly, which reflects the demand for the ordinary auction goods has weakened,” said the president of China Guardians Hu Yanyan. Besides, the entry of new buyers also makes certain changes to the direction of purchasing. In a word, the overall market trend is very unpredictable. Although China Guardian 2015 Spring Auctions has achieved remarkable results, it does not mean that the market has walked out of the predicament. We still have to wait for the big economic boom to invigorate the art market.” Even so, the hot pursuit of some special items appeared this spring. A special session of China Guardian Spring Auctions titled “Fine GiltBronze Buddhist Images” achieved a great deal with total sales volume of 41.89 million yuan and 92 percent sale rate. The 5th Shamar Rinpoche Statue from 16-17th century of Tibet was sold for 5.06 million yuan. The Beijing Chengxuan Auctions featured almost 2,800 items of coins and stamps in three sessions with good sale rate. The Huachen Auctions also set a special session of photographs under the condition of large-scale decline of auction sessions. There was a palpable dull thud of disappointment that accompanied the return of the imperial entourage of Zhen Huan to her homeland. It followed a couple years of hushed excitement as Chinese fans were fed tidbits about their proud concubine who was supposed to conquer the high ground of the North American market. Zhen Huan is, of course, the title character of The Legend of Zhen Huan, a 2011 television series that swept China off its feet and later took other Asian countries by storm. Two years ago, it was reported that HBO, a premium cable service headquartered in the United States, was going to air it in North America after some modification. Now, a condensed version that provides English subtitles but no dubbing has finally been made available on Netflix for online streaming. This version, highly anticipated as a milestone in Chinas cultural foray overseas, has been widely panned by its home audience. Retitled Empresses in the Palace, the American version has been shortened from its original 76 episodes at 45 minutes each, to six 90-minute episodes. The quick pacing threw off many native viewers, who are accustomed to a more leisurely daytime-soap-style narrative rhythm. (Chinese TV stations would run two or three episodes every day.) I did not finish the full-length version and found the truncated one not difficult to follow. Whats lost, I believe, are the interesting setups and pauses that illuminate the Chinese art of storytelling. Much of the plot is still there. It is the flavor that was sacrificed. The American edition uses the framework of the Empress Dowager in her senior years reminiscing at the beginning and the end of each episode, hinting at whats to come and recapping the key points. This device, not used in the original, is culturally understandable but artistically mediocre. What puzzles me is the two new songs for the opening and end credits. They were written in English, but sung by Chinese with an uncomfortable accent. They were obviously designed to appeal to an English-speaking base, but do not jibe with the Chinese dialogue. Speaking of the dialogue, the English translation, picked apart by some Chinese, is too literal for my taste. I can imagine a typical American hit by a flurry of royal ranks, addresses and greetings, even multiple names and titles for the same person. The first half hour must be a swamp to wade through, very much like my experience of getting through a Tolstoy tome with its endless inflections of names transliterated into lengthy Chinese. I see the choice of verbatim translation as an effort for conveying exotica. It is fairly competent, with no error that I could detect, but fails to rise above words or capture the essence of the language. A cultural product usually crosses over to a foreign territory first by an emphasis on the commonalities. But whether inside or outside China, the temptation to sell it for the differences is just too great. Sure, the sumptuous sets and costumes are a big attraction, but the narrative technique has becomehow shall I put it?a bit anglicized, which is necessary for cultural export. Judging by the responses, this legend, which, contrary to the claim of the English trailer, is totally fictitious, has departed from China but not yet landed on American shores. I am a big fan of