Abstract
Yi-lan dialect preserves the most traditional features of Chang-chou-based dialect in Taiwan. This dialect is well-known as with traditional phonological characteristics such as [ũĩ] and [iŋ]. This study probes several questions about the sound variations and changes of Yi-Lan dialect: (1) the sound change and variation of [ũĩ], [iŋ] and its vowel system; (2) the variation of the yang-entering original tone. The research is based on a survey of the dialect-speakers of different age groups from five dialectal sites of northern and southern Yi-lan. The results show that (1) [ũĩ] is found fading in all five sites. And [iŋ], as one of the important characteristics of the dialect, is fading in northern Yi-lan too. And the research found that the young speakers, aged 20-35, in northern Yi-lan pronounce the five-vowel system (/i, e, a, u, ɔ/) rather than the six-vowel one (/i, e, a, u, o, ɔ/). (2) The results also show that the [33] tone dominates the glottal stop yang-entering original tone as the major variation in the Yi-lan dialect. And the [-p], [-t], and [-k], the yang-entering original tone, at north-creek zone change from [33] to [32] as the investigated age group being younger.