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Rigidity of System Boundary among Major Chinese Dialect Groups in Nineteenth-Century Singapore: A Study of Inscription Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Mak Lau-Fong
Mak Lau-Fong
Affiliation:
National University of Singapore
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Abstract

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The study attempts to delineate the degree of system rigidity of three major dialect groups, namely, the Cantonese, the Hakkas and the Hokkiens. The principal source of data is derived from inscriptions collected by Chen and Tan (1972). The findings reveal that at the individual level the system boundary of the Hokkiens was more rigid than that of the Cantonese and the Hakkas. This confirms earlier observations made at the organizational level.

Earlier observations dictate that after 1854 the Cantonese and the Hakkas were, at the organizational level, not on good terms. This was, however, not the case at the individual level. We also found that the system boundary of religious organizations, i.e., temples and burial ground bodies, was least rigid.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 1980 , pp. 465 - 488
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1980

References

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