馬來西亞福建話元音分布特徵

本文從台灣、閩南、馬來西亞方言點比較，以及語言接觸演變角度，探討馬來西亞福建話元音分布現象。馬來西亞巴生與檳城兩地的福建話分屬泉州腔與漳州腔，其元音分布共同特徵為e、o偏高，o、ɔ都屬於後圓唇元音，兩組音之間僅以高低區分。檳城漳州腔福建話屬於七元音系統，i、u、e、o、ɛ、ɔ、a均衡分布，巴生福建話則有八元音i、ɨ、u、e、ə、o、ɔ、a；兩地元音系統有別但都穩定地維持四個舌位高度，這些元音分布呼應傳統漳泉音系，但與現今台灣或廈門地區分布狀態有別。不同的緣由可能為各區域語言的趨同演變，致使福建話（閩南語）在不同地區出現差異演變；台灣與福建地區的華語普遍優勢，導致閩南語元音往三個舌位高度發展成為主流演變；馬來西亞華語發展較晚，通行的英語和福建話相似，具完整四舌位高度區別。

This paper explores the vowel distribution of Malaysian Hokkien dialects through a comparison to vowels used in Taiwanese and Minnan languages. The Hokkien dialects spoken in the Malaysian cities of Klang and Penang belong to the Quanzhou accent and the Zhangzhou accent, respectively. The common characteristics of their vowel distribution are that e and o are relatively high, and both o andɔare back rounded vowels. The only difference between the two vowels is their tongue height. Penang Zhangzhou-accented Hokkien has a seven-vowel system with a balanced distribution of i, u, e, o,ɛ,ɔ, and a, while Klang Hokkien has eight vowels, i,ɨ, u, e,ə, o,ɔ, and a. The vowel systems of the two languages are different, but they both maintain a stable four-vowel tongue height, and their vowel distribution echoes the traditional Zhangquan phonology although it is different from that of present-day Taiwanese or Xiamenese. The reasons for the differences may be that areal language convergence has led to a differential evolution of Minnan languages in different regions; the dominance of Mandarin in Taiwan and Fujian has led to a three-vowel tongue height change; and the remaining four-tongue-height distinction in Malaysian Hokkien may be associated with a similar tongue-height distinction in English.