From traditional ‘nyaemz slei’ to modern pop song: Inheritance and change of the rhyme scheme of Yang Zhuang chanted poetry

Abstract

“Nyaemz slei” is a traditional chanted poetry of Yang Zhuang, a branch of Tai speaking ethnic group in the southwestern Guangxi, China, with a population of around 1 million (Jackson 2011). The Yang Zhuang society has a rich tradition of oral literature, which is heavily dominated by “nyaemz slei”. The rhyme scheme of “nyaemz slei” integrates both the Kam-Tai tradition of waist-foot rhyming, and the rhyming tradition of Han Chinese “lüshi” (eight-line regulated verse) (Liao and Tai 2018 in press). This rhyme scheme is so deeply rooted in Yang Zhuang society, that to a certain extend it is inherited by modern Yang Zhuang pop songs since their first appearance in early 2000s. This paper will illustrate how the traditional “nyaemz slei” rhyme scheme preserved and changed in modern pop song by examples from the first Yang Zhuang pop song album “Beih Nongx” (Brothers and Sisters). It shows that although modern Yang Zhuang pop songs break through the limitation on syllable and verse numbers, they often strictly follow the rhyme scheme of “nyaemz slei”. For example, they often maintain both the waist-foot rhyming hesitated from the Kam-Tai tradition and the tail rhyming adapted from Han Chinese tradition, in which the tail rhyming often happens on level tone syllables, and the waist-foot rhyming often happens on non-level tone syllables. At the same time, modern Yang Zhuang pop songs often maintain the “nyaemz slei” tradition, that level and non-level tone syllables are used alternatively as the foot rhyme along the verses. The inheritance of traditional rhyming scheme in modern pop songs is not unique to Yang Zhuang. Similar observations can also be made in the rhyming scheme of modern Chinese and Thai pop songs. It shows that the adaptation of traditional rhyming scheme into modern pop music is a common phenomenon in the region. (301 words) References: Liao Hanbo and Tai Chung-pui. 2018 in press. Genre and rhyming scheme of “slei naz” of Zhuang ethnic group at Debao, Guangxi: an illustration from “Folksongs in the Debao Song Market”. Studies of Ethnic Literature (in Chinese). Jackson, Eric M, Emily H. S. Jackson, and Lau Shuh Huey. 2011. A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Dejing Zhuang Dialect Area. Nanning: SIL International, East Asia Group.