Abstract
This thesis deals with the phonological behavior and developments of the Nantong dialect, which belongs to the Tongtai group of Jianghuai Mandarin. Logical entailment, when applied to dialect comparison, can lead to discoveries of the gradual spread of particular sound changes lost in history. Mainly through this discovery process, the following phonological phenomena can be noted in Nantong or Tongtai: 1. The partial merger of *ng-, *n-, *l- occurred before high front vowels in Nantong; 2. Of all the consonant initials, nasal consonants are most likely (m- being more likely than n-) to lower the following high back vowel u; 3. In terms of phonological condition, the syllable initial u becomes the voiced fricative v in the following order: first in front of mid front vowels, then u# itself becoming vu#, finally in front of the low back vowel a in closed syllable while ua# remains unaffected; 4. -i is more likely than -y to maintain the difference between ts- and tc-; 5. -i is more likely than -y to palatalize t and th; 6. The combination of l- and -y- is most stable in open syllable, while in closed syllable a following glottal stop is a more likely environment than a nasal final for ly- to become li-. This thesis also attempts to provide explanation for the sound changes of the Ri initial, the origin of the categorical combination of tc- and -y- at the expense of ts- and -u-, and the probable vowel shift schwa > open e > a > o in Nantong.