Linguistic Convergence and Divergence in Guangzhou (Canton City): Social Variation of Vernacular Written Cantonese

This paper reports on part of a larger sociolinguistic study based on a written survey conducted on 116 Cantonese-Mandarin bilingual speakers in Guangzhou who are biliterates in Standard Written Chinese (SWC) and Vernacular Written Cantonese (VWC). This paper examines how VWC converges towards, or diverges from, the standard, SWC, across different social groups. A series of VWC variables at different linguistic levels are selected from the survey for a frequency distribution analysis with eight social variables (gender, age, education, income, occupation, SWC and VWC proficiency, and self identity). The findings suggest that the patterns of using VWC by the different social groups vary at the lexical and syntactic levels. Based on the study of the subjects' written responses to the survey, it is predicted that VWC would remain entrenched in the Cantonese-Mandarin community in Guangzhou. Nonetheless, the exact form of the VWC item is unstable and is easily influenced by SWC.