| Acknowledgements | 第4-5页 |
| Abstract | 第5-6页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-13页 |
| Chapter One INTRODUCTION | 第13-21页 |
| 1.1 Research Background | 第13-16页 |
| 1.1.1 Historical Linguistics | 第13-14页 |
| 1.1.2 Language Evolution | 第14-15页 |
| 1.1.3 Background Information of Xi'an Dialect | 第15-16页 |
| 1.2 Purpose of the Study | 第16-17页 |
| 1.3 The Significance of the Study | 第17-18页 |
| 1.4 Research Questions and Methodology of the Study | 第18-19页 |
| 1.4.1 Research Questions | 第18页 |
| 1.4.2 Research Methods | 第18-19页 |
| 1.5 Structure Outline | 第19-21页 |
| Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW | 第21-31页 |
| 2.1 Previous Studies on Historical Linguistics | 第21-23页 |
| 2.2 Strength and Limitations of Previous Study on Historical Linguistics | 第23-24页 |
| 2.3 Previous Studies on Xi'an Dialect | 第24-27页 |
| 2.4 Strength and Limitations of Previous Study on Xi'an Dialect | 第27-31页 |
| Chapter Three THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK | 第31-43页 |
| 3.1 Feature Geometry Theory | 第31-36页 |
| 3.2 Lexical Diffusion Theory | 第36-39页 |
| 3.3 Language Competition | 第39-43页 |
| Chapter Four PHONETC EVOLUTION OF "XUAN" IN XI'AN DIALECT | 第43-55页 |
| 4.1 Phonetic Structure of "Xuan" in Different Historical Periods | 第43-49页 |
| 4.2 Phonetic Comparison Within Xi'an Dialect and With Surrounding Dialects | 第49-52页 |
| 4.3 The Motivation of Phonetic Evolution of "Xuan" | 第52-55页 |
| Chapter Five THE SEMANTIC EVOLUTION OF "XUAN" | 第55-67页 |
| 5.1 Origin of "Xuan" and its Semantic Evolution in Xi'an Dialect | 第55-61页 |
| 5.2 The Usage of "Xuan" in Mandarin | 第61-64页 |
| 5.3 The Usage of "Xuan" in Modern Xi'an Dialect | 第64-67页 |
| Chapter Six CONCLUSIONS | 第67-71页 |
| Works Cited | 第71-75页 |
| 攻读硕士学位期间的科研成果 | 第75页 |
