Classification of Yue and Pinghua: A lexicostatistical approach

This paper addresses the classification debate over Yue and Pinghua by adopting lexicostatistical analysis, a method of language classification seldom employed in Chinese Dialectology. By comparing the core vocabulary of 15 dialects of Yue and Pinghua, the preliminary results of this study support the classification schemes which treat Yue and Southern Pinghua as a single group, and Northern Pinghua as another group (e.g. Qin 2000; Wu 2001). However, the results also reveal an unexpectedly high degree of diversity among the Goulou subgroup of Yue dialects, which, given the subgroup’s special status in the classification problem of Yue and Pinghua (Li 2001, 2005; Qin 2000; Wu 2001), potentially has a huge impact on the classification problem. Instead of providing a definite answer to the classification debate, this study argues that further studies on Goulou Yue are required to settle the dispute.