The role of geography in the Northwest China linguistic area

Abstract

The frontier regions between Gansu and Qinghai provinces in China form a linguistic area in which Sinitic languages and non-Sinitic languages share similar syntactic features. Geographic factors have undoubtedly played a significant role in causing these neighboring languages to develop parallel characteristics. A phonological feature attested in the Gansu-Qinghai area is the reduced tone system. However cities and surrounding regions show two distinctive patterns in tone evolution. Important cities in Northwestern China form a network which is not necessarily following the spread of tone simplification, while peripheral regions are undergoing a tone reduction process. Sociocultural factors work together with geospatial factors in forming linguistic areas.