港大中文學院

2022/23 School of Chinese Research Student Seminar

粵劇官話的歷史層次——從兩句台詞說起

Historical Strata in the performance language of Cantonese Opera: Examining the issue in two lines from the repertoire

Speaker: Mr. YU Shing

Date & Time: February 17, 2023 (Fri) 5:30-6:45pm 

Venue: CPD-3.29, Central Podium Level 3, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU 

Language: Putonghua & Cantonese

Mode of Delivery: 100% Face-to-face

現代粵劇主要以廣州話作為表演語言，所以又名為「廣府大戲」。現代粵劇形成在民初，在它形成之前，最初在廣東、廣西本地班的大戲所用的表演語言不是廣州話，而是官話。由於它只用在舞台表演，因此被稱為「戲棚官話」，戲行內人一般稱其為「中州音」，也稱「正字」或「中原音韻」；甚至有人認為戲棚官話就是「桂林官話」或「桂林話」。

然而，戲棚官話有別於任何自然官話方言，它在發展的過程中是不斷吸收不同的方言元素。我們希望透過對戲棚官話的歷史層次進行分析，從而嘗試為粵劇的發展提供一些佐證。

Cantonese opera is descended from the opera (xìqǔ 戲曲) forms of other provinces, and the performance language is a Mandarin based variety rather than Cantonese. Since this Mandarin variety is only used in the performances of the art, it is referred to as Xìpéng Guānhuà (‘stage-Mandarin’ or ‘performance-Mandarin’ 戲棚官話). Cantonese opera insiders sometimes refer to performance-Mandarin as Zhōngzhōu yīn (中州音), zhèngzì (正字) or Zhōngyuán yīnyùn (中原音韻); some even claim that it is a form of Guìlín Mandarin or Guìlín dialect. However, performance-Mandarin is completely different from any natural language. This is because in the process of its development it continuously absorbed different dialect elements.

This project analyzes performance-Mandarin with reference to historical strata so as to seek out the various origins of the dialect features it contains. The linguistic evidence uncovered contributes to a richer understanding of the developmental history of Cantonese opera.

ALL are welcome*

*Pre-registration (Click HERE) is requested.