Northern Wu, or Taihu Wu, is the largest subbranch of Wu Chinese, [1] and is spoken in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and northern Zhejiang. [2] These languages are noted for their extremely high number of vowels, even compared to some Germanic languages, [3] and highly complex tone sandhi. [4] This article will use Wugniu [5] and IPA for transcription.
Much like other Sinitic languages, Northern Wu languages almost universally have an initial-final-tone syllable structure. The final can be further split into the glide, nucleus and coda. For the most part, contemporary Northern Wu languages only permit nasals and the glottal stop (/ʔ/) in coda position, [6] though there is evidence to suggest that this was not the case in some historical varieties. [7] There are plentiful initials in Northern Wu, [8] more than many other Sinitic languages such as Cantonese or Changshanese, partially due to the preservation of voiced initials, which will be explained in more detail in other sections.
Much like other Wu languages, Northern Wu languages tend to preserve historical voiced initials, [9] which is a feature only found in several other lects along the Yangtze River, such as Old Xiang. [10]
Northern Wu languages' initials are generally similar. The following is a table of all the commonly-found Northern Wu phonemic initials, with their common urban realizations, Wugniu romanization, and example syllables. [5] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ 美悶梅門 | n ⟨n⟩ 拿囡內男 | ɲ ⟨gn⟩ 粘扭泥牛 | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ 砑我外鵝 | ||
Plosive | plain | p ⟨p⟩ 布幫北 | t ⟨t⟩ 膽懂德 | k ⟨k⟩ 干公夾 | ( ʔ ) 鴨衣烏 | |
aspirated | pʰ ⟨ph⟩ 怕胖劈 | tʰ ⟨th⟩ 透聽鐵 | kʰ ⟨kh⟩ 開擴康 | |||
voiced | b ⟨b⟩ 步盆拔 | d ⟨d⟩ 地動奪 | ɡ ⟨g⟩ 葵共軋 | |||
Affricate | plain | ts ⟨ts⟩ 煮增質 | tɕ ⟨c⟩ 舉精腳 | |||
aspirated | tsʰ ⟨tsh⟩ 處倉出 | tɕʰ ⟨ch⟩ 丘輕切 | ||||
voiced | dz ⟨dz⟩ 茶從鋤 | dʑ ⟨j⟩ 旗羣劇 | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f ⟨f⟩ 飛粉福 | s ⟨s⟩ 書松色 | ɕ ⟨sh⟩ 修血曉 | h ⟨h⟩ 花荒忽 | |
voiced | v ⟨v⟩ 扶服浮 | z ⟨z⟩ 樹石十 | ʑ ⟨zh⟩ 徐秦絕 | ɦ ⟨gh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨w⟩ 鞋移胡雨 | ||
Lateral | l ⟨l⟩ 拉賴領 |
Some varieties in Suzhou and Jiaxing have retroflex initials, [16] [17] much like some Mandarin varieties. Compare the following examples. [5]
Beijing | Changshu | Changzhou | Shengzhou | |
---|---|---|---|---|
張 | zhāng /tʂaŋ⁵⁵/ | can1 /tʂaŋ⁵²/ | tsan1 /tsaŋ⁵⁵/ | tsan1 /tsã⁵³⁴/ |
常 | cháng /tʂʰaŋ³⁵/ | jan2 /dʐaŋ³⁴/ | zan2 /zaŋ²¹³/ | dzan2 /dzã²¹³/ |
船 | chuán /tʂʰuan³⁵/ | zhe2 /ʐe³⁴/ | zoe2 /zɤ²¹³/ | zoen2 /zœ̃²¹³/ |
Northern Wu, much like other Wu varieties, preserves voicing in its initials. [9] The exact mechanism in which this is realized is discussed below.
Again, much like other Wu languages, [2] Northern Wu preserves the Middle Chinese ri initial (日母) as a nasal. Compare the following, where ⟨gn⟩ is used to notate / ɲ /: [5]
Beijing | Guangzhou | Xi'an | Seoul (Sino-Korean) | Shanghai | Beilun | Anji | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
日 | rì | jat6 | ěr | il | gniq8 | gniq8 | gniq8 |
玉 | yù | juk6 | yǔ | ok | gnioq8, gniuq8 | gnioq8 | gnioq8 |
Note that 日 here is pronounced in the colloquial pronunciations rather than literary ones.
Many Northern Wu varieties have sibilants that undergo palatalization (尖團合流 [ zh ]). [18] This process is becoming more common among younger speakers. [16] [19]
Old Suzhou | Old Wuxi | Shanghai | New Suzhou | New Wuxi | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
精 | tsin1 | tsin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 |
經 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 |
齊 | zi2 | zi6 | zhi6 | ji6 | ji6 |
旗 | ji2 | ji6 | ji6 | ji6 | ji6 |
The voiced initials in Northern Wu languages are realised with breathy voice. [20] This functions much like a phonemic depressor and lowers the pitch of the realization. [6] Some linguists, such as Y. R. Chao, transcribe these phones not as voiced consonants, but as voiceless consonants followed by / ɦ / or / ʢ /. [8] [21] More recently, potentially due to Standard Mandarin influence, the younger generation has merged the pronunciation of the unaspirated voiceless series with the (breathy) voiced series. [22] However, the functional load of the breathy voice is already relatively low, due to the fact that tonal distribution lends to disambiguation between historically voiced and voiceless syllables. This breathy voice is at times known as "murmur". [23] [24]
Some speakers, particularly in Shanghai, may constrict their throats when pronouncing voiceless (unaspirated) initials to further disambiguate breathy and modal initials. [25] This construction may result in the pronunciation of an implosive.
In various suburban Shanghainese varieties, the unaspirated voiceless series is realised as implosives. [26] [27] [28] [29] This feature appears to also have been in urban (Puxi) Shanghainese, though it is lost today. [30]
The glottal fricatives / h / and / ɦ / are phonotactically part of a plosive series with / ʔ /. Spectral analyses have found that these three phones show three-way differences parallel to stops. [31] Younger speakers also tend to merge /ɦ/ with /ʔ/, not /h/, as would be expected if it were phonotatically a fricative. [32] As the /ʔ/ has been analyzed as a null initial in the past, [33] it could be said that Northern Wu languages have a three-way null initial contrast.
Finals vary significantly more than initials in Northern Wu languages. As such, only noteworthy phonological and diachronic features will be discussed. For detailed analyses of individual lects, refer to their specific pages.
A feature found in many Wu languages, including Northern Wu, is the raising of the historical ma (麻) rimes. [34] They are typically realised as / o /, though some lects such as Shanghainese or Wuxinese may raise it even higher and having it merge with / u /. [35] The exact sets of words that undergo raising varies from lect to lect, though in general, the southern two branches (Linshao and Yongjiang) have more raising than northern ones. [5] [36]
Haimen | Qingpu | Wuxi | Tonglu | Ningbo | Beijing | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
爬 | bo2 | bo2 | bu2 | buo2 | bo2 | pá |
茶 | dzo2 | zo2 | zeu2 | jiuo2 | dzo2 | chá |
下 | gho4 | gho6 | wu6 | wo6 | gho6 | xià |
家 | ka1 | ka1 | ka1 | kuo1 | ko1 | jiā |
Notice how the two localities in Zhejiang, Tonglu and Ningbo, both pronounce the word 家 with a raised vowel, whereas those in Jiangsu and Shanghai do not. Northern varieties tend to retain the /a/ value after velars, whereas Linshao and Yongjiang do not. [37]
Northern Wu lects along the Grand Canal tend to front the Qieyun Middle Chinese 侯 rime (ie. Wugniu eu). [38] Y. R. Chao suggested that this is due to influence from Hangzhounese. [39] Chao raises the example of 歐洲後頭的狗 "the dog behind Europe", pronounced as [ sic ][eitseiɦeideikə'kei], taken from his native Changzhounese. Compare Standard Mandarin Ōuzhōu hòutóu de gǒu. [39]
The Northern Wu languages exhibit interesting behaviour regarding Qieyun Middle Chinese shan (山) and xian (咸) rimes (ie. Wugniu ae). Some varieties lose the nasal coda completely, whereas others retain it. Some also leave some sporadic nasalization. [40] They typically also have abnormally raised, rounded, or fronted vowels and more complex distribution when compared to other lects, thus resulting in noticeable differences. This behaviour is also exhibited in Hangzhounese. [41]
Modern reflex | Historical class | Conditions | Examples | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yunshe (韻攝) and division (等) | Yun (韻) | |||
i | Open III 咸 | 鹽 | 幫, 泥, 精 and 日 series; velars | 貶 尖 染 厭 |
嚴 | Unconditional | 嚴 劍 欠 醃 | ||
Open IV 咸 | 添 | 端, 泥, 見 and 曉 series | 店 念 嫌 兼 | |
Open III 山 | 仙 | 幫, 泥, 精, 見 and 影 series | 變 剪 連 延 | |
元 | Unconditional | 建 言 軒 堰 | ||
Closed III 山 | 仙 | most terms of 泥 and 精 series and two irregular 以 initial terms | 戀 泉 宣 沿 | |
e | Open I 咸 | 覃 | Sporadic | 耽 堪 坎 勘 |
談 | (Historical) dentialveolars | 膽 淡 籃 三 | ||
Open II 咸 | 咸 | Unconditional | 站 攙 減 陷 | |
銜 | 攙 衫 監 艦 | |||
Closed III 咸 | 凡 | Unconditional | 凡 泛 帆 範 | |
Open I 山 | 寒 | (Historical) dentialveolars | 丹 坦 懶 傘 | |
Open II 山 | 山 | Unconditional | 扮 產 揀 限 | |
刪 | 班 棧 姦 晏 | |||
Closed I 山 | 桓 | Sporadic labials | 慢 蔓 般 瘢 | |
Closed III 山 | 元 | 非 series | 反 翻 飯 萬 | |
ue | Closed I 山 | 桓 | two irregular terms | 慣 款 |
Closed II 山 | 山 & 刪 | Velars | 關 慣 環 幻 | |
Closed III 山 | 元 | one irregular term | 挽 | |
oe | Open I 咸 | 覃 | Velars | 甘 敢 蚶 酣 |
Open III 咸 | 鹽 | (Historical) retroflex | 占 陝 閃 禪 | |
Open I 山 | 寒 | Velars | 看 乾 汗 安 | |
Open III 山 | 仙 | 知, 章 and 日 series | 展 戰 善 然 | |
Closed I 山 | 桓 | 幫 series and (historical) dentialveolars | 搬 短 暖 酸 | |
Closed II 山 | 刪 | 莊 series | 篡 閂 栓 | |
Closed III 山 | 仙 | 知 and 章 series | 轉 傳 磚 船 | |
uoe | Closed I 山 | 桓 | Velars | 官 寬 歡 碗 |
Closed II & III 山 | 刪 & 元 | Sporadic | 婉 宛 | |
ioe | Closed III 山 | 仙 | Velars and 日 initial | 軟 卷 拳 院 |
元 | Velars | 勸 願 怨 遠 | ||
Closed IV 山 | 先 | Velars | 犬 縣 玄 淵 |
Qieyun description | Yixing | Kunshan | Jiaxing | Wuhang | Zhoushan | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
山 | Open Grade II 山 | sa1 | sae1 | sae1 | sae1 | sae1 |
凡 | Closed Grade III 咸 | va2 | vae2 | vae2 | vae2 | vae2 |
鹽 | Open Grade III 咸 | ye2 | ie2 | ye2 | ye2 | ghien2 |
天 | Open Grade IV 山 | tie1 | thie1 | thie1 | thie1 | thien1 |
川 | Closed Grade III 山 | chioe1 | tshoe1 | tshoe1 | tshae1 | tshoen1 |
南 | Open Grade I 咸 | ne2 | noe2 | noe2 | nae2 | nei2 |
Several Northern Wu varieties have a very large number of contrastive high vowels. [43] [44] This contrast is typically realised in the form of rounding or frication. [43] [45] [46] This frication can be notated as a lowering or raising of the vowel or as a glide insertion. Typically, frication in non-apical vowels happens to contrast terms with historical nasal codas. [5] [47]
Syllable | Suzhou | Changzhou | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Wugniu | IPA | Wugniu | IPA | |
天 | thie1 | /tʰi⁴⁴/ | thie1 | /tʰiɪ⁵⁵/ |
梯 | thi1 | /tʰiⱼ⁴⁴/ | thi1 | /tʰi⁵⁵/ |
鳩 | cieu1 | /tɕy⁴⁴/ | ciou1 | /tɕy⁵⁵/ |
居 | ciu1 | /tɕyⱼ⁴⁴/ | ciu1 | /tɕiɤɯ⁵⁵/ |
絲 | sy1 | /sɿ⁴⁴/ | sy1 | /sɿ⁵⁵/ |
書 | syu1 | /sʮ⁴⁴/ | syu1 | /sʮ⁵⁵/ |
Codas in Northern Wu are relatively simple compared to other Sinitic languages. In most modern Northern Wu varieties, only a single nasal phoneme and a checked coda (typically transcribed /ʔ/) are permitted in coda position.
Northern Wu languages typically only have one final nasal phoneme. [2] [5] [18] [48] This is typically realised as [n], [ŋ], [ȵ] or a nasalization of the nucleus vowel, typically in free variation. [49]
Aside from nasals, Northern Wu languages typically only permit /ʔ/ in coda position, [50] though some modern varieties and historical texts still preserve /k/. [7] [51] This is different to other coastal Southern Chinese languages, as they typically do not merge all checked codas into one category. [2] It is also noteworthy that the coda is often realised as a shortening of the vowel rather than an actual [ʔ], [52] [53] which contrasts with Oujiang varieties, which typically lengthen checked syllables. [54] Compare the following syllables. [5]
Historical coda | Edkins (1868) [55] | Shanghai | Haining (Xiashi) | Shangyu | Yinzhou | Wenzhou | Hong Kong | Xi'an | Tokyo (Go'on) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
立 | -p | lih | liq8 /liɪʔ˩˨/ | liq8 /liəʔ˨/ | liq7 /liɪʔ˥/ | liq8 /liʔ˩˨/ | lei8, li8 /lei˨˩˧/,/li˨˩˧/ | laap6 /laːp˨/ | lǐ /li˧˩/ | ryuu /ɾjɯː/ |
法 | fah | faq7 /faʔ˦/ | faq7 /faʔ˥/ | faq7 /fɐʔ˥/ | faq7 /faʔ/ | ho7 /ho˨˩˧/ | faat3 /faːt˧/ | fǎ /fa˧˩/ | hou /hoː/ | |
鐵 | -t | t’ih | thiq7 /tʰiɪʔ˦/ | thiq7 /tʰiəʔ˥/ | thiq7 /tʰiɪʔ˥/ | thiq7 /tʰiʔ˥/ | thi7 /tʰi˨˩˧/ | tit3 /tʰiːt˧/ | tiě /tʰiɛ˧˩/ | teti /tetɕi/ |
七 | t’sih | chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˦/ | chiq7 /tɕiəʔ˥/ | chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˥/ | chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˥/ | tshai7 /tsʰai˨˩˧/ | cat1 /tsʰɐt˥/ | qǐ /tɕi˧˩/ | siti /ɕitɕi/ | |
角 | -k | kók | koq7 /koʔ˦/ | koq7 /koʔ˥/ | koq7 /koʔ˥/ | koq7 /koʔ˥/ | ko7 /ko˨˩˧/ | gok3 /kɔːk˧/ | juǒ /tɕyɤ˧˩/ | kaku /kakɯ/ |
落 | lok | loq8 /loʔ˩˨/ | loq8 /loʔ˨/ | loq8 /loʔ˧/ | loq8 /loʔ˩˨/ | lo8 /lo˨˩˧/ | lok6 /lɔːk˨/ | luǒ /luɤ˧˩/ | raku /ɾakɯ/ |
Tone plays a critical role in Northern Wu and impacts the realisation of both initials and finals. [8] [56] [57] It disambiguates between both monosyllabic words via underlying tone [58] and polysyllabic terms through the use of tone sandhi. [59] Northern Wu languages can theoretically have up to twelve phonemic tones, depending on analysis. These lects can be found in places in Suzhou and Jiaxing, such as Wujiang. [60] [61]
Phonemic tones in Northern Wu is traditionally analysed based on four historical tone categories, which are further divided in half based on the voicing of the initial. Those that pair with voiceless initials are known as "dark" (陰) tones and the opposite is true for "light" (陽) ones. This yields a total of eight tones. The hypothetical maximum of 12 tones are achieved when aspiration conditions a further tone split through the dark tones.
Historical Category | Phonation | Example words | Category | Wugniu | Songling | Tongli | Pingwang |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level | Plain | 剛丁三安 | Whole dark level 全陰平 | 1 | 55 | 55 | 55 |
Aspirate | 開粗天偏 | Partial dark level 次陰平 | 33 | 33 | 33 | ||
Voiced | 陳唐寒人 | Light level 陽平 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 24 | |
Rising | Plain | 古短比好 | Whole dark rising 全陰上 | 3 | 51 | 51 | 51 |
Aspirate | 口草體普 | Partial dark rising 次陰上 | 42 | 42 | 34 | ||
Voiced | 近厚老染 | Light rising 陽上 | 4 | 31 | 31 | 23 | |
Departing | Plain | 蓋對漢送 | Whole dark rising 全陰去 | 5 | 412 | 412 | 513 |
Aspirate | 臭菜退戲 | Partial dark rising 次陰去 | 312 | 312 | 313 | ||
Voiced | 樹共飯帽 | Light rising 陽去 | 6 | 212 | 212 | 213 | |
Checked | Plain | 各百說發 | Whole dark rising 全陰入 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Aspirate | 尺切拍曲 | Partial dark rising 次陰入 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
Voiced | 局服岳六 | Light rising 陽入 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Note that, unlike Yue languages, the dark checked tone split is conditioned by aspiration, not vowel length. [62]
Although there are Northern Wu lects with a high number of tones, it is also noteworthy that contemporary Shanghainese in particular only has at most five phonemic tones, by merging tones 2 and 4 with 6, and tones 3 with 5. [18] [63] A typical Northern Wu variety has 7–8 tones. [64] [65] [66] [24]
Level | Rising | Departing | Checked | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Voiceless | 1 | 5 | 7 | |
Voiced | 6 | 8 |
For the most part, light tones can only occur with voiced initials, and dark tones can only occur with voiceless initials. In general, the light counterpart of a dark tone tends to be a lowered (or depressed) equivalent of the dark tone, as explored above. [6] Compare the pronunciations of the dark and light departing tones in the following Wu varieties: [5] [18] [67]
Tone 5 | Tone 6 | |
---|---|---|
Jiangyin | 423 | 213 |
Suzhou | 513 | 31 |
Pinghu | 445 | 13 |
Haiyan | 35 | 213 |
Xiaoshan | 53 | 31 |
Ningbo | 44 | 213 |
Shanghai | 334 | 113 |
Neutral tones (Chinese :輕聲), informally transcribed as 0 or not transcribed at all, are found in tone sandhi and in some grammatical particles. For instance, the perfective particle 了, leq in Shanghainese should be tone 8 due to its voiced and checked nature, though it in reality functions without a tone. [33] This phenomenon can also be observed in Standard Mandarin, though it is more pronounced in Northern Wu due to the grammatical nature of Northern Wu sandhi.
Northern Wu languages all have tone sandhi, both left-prominent (hereafter LPS) and often right-prominent (RPS). [68] [a] LPS is typically found in polysyllabic words, whereas RPS is typically found in verb-object constructions. This is a feature that is shared among Wu languages, though in Northern Wu, sandhi chains generally share similar contours. [69] This, coupled with the fact that this sort of complex tone sandhi cannot be found in the Qieyun system or reconstructions of Middle Chinese, would suggest that this sandhi is a Wu shared innovation, and that Northern Wu languages share a recent common origin. [69]
There are five general types of contours: [68]
LPS in Northern Wu is typically regarded as highly complex. Northern Wu varieties are traditionally analysed to have unique sandhi chains for each tone category of every syllable, which results in complex charts that sprawl several pages. [70] However, these analyses can usually be simplified, and not all combinations yield unique sandhi chains. Shanghainese LPS, for instance, has traditionally been analysed to only preserve phonemic tone on the first or head syllable, and drop it on all subsequent syllables, [18] [71] which may thus be considered somewhat similar to pitch accent in some languages. However, some younger speakers insert a rising tone contour on traditionally voiced initials to perhaps mimic the depression effect.
This is similar to some analyses of Suzhounese and Hangzhounese. Checked tones in Suzhounese can be analysed to preserve the underlying tone of the first two syllables, [72] [b] whereas Hangzhounese sandhi is conditioned based on whether the second syllable belongs to the rising or non-rising category. [73]
Tone number | Disyllabic | Trisyllabic | Quadrisyllabic | |
---|---|---|---|---|
First syllable | Second syllable | |||
7 | 1, 2 | 44 23 | 44 23 0 | 44 23 44 0 |
3 | 22 33 | 22 33 0 | 22 33 44 0 | |
5, 6 | 55 523 | 55 52 33 | 55 52 22 33 | |
7, 8 | 44 44 | 44 44 0 | 44 44 22 0 | |
8 | 1, 2 | 22 33 | 22 33 0 | 22 33 44 0 |
3 | 22 51 | 22 51 0 | 22 51 11 0 | |
5, 6 | 22 523 | 22 52 33 | 22 52 22 33 | |
7, 8 | 33 44 | 33 44 0 | 33 44 22 0 |
The tone category of the third and fourth syllables do not matter. [72]
RPS primarily occurs on verbs in verb-object constructions, [74] and often is only relevant to monosyllables. They also occur in certain situations such as quantitative adjectives and a handful of irregular words. This can be used to disambiguate between certain constructions, such as the famous 炒麪 example, [75] but also the following: [59]
LPS | 九桶 /tɕiɵ⁴²dõ³³/ | 半天 /pie³³tʰie⁵⁵/ |
---|---|---|
RPS | 酒桶 /tɕiɵ³³dõ/ | 變天 /pie⁴²tʰie⁵⁵/ |
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or to inflect words. All oral languages use pitch to express emotional and other para-linguistic information and to convey emphasis, contrast and other such features in what is called intonation, but not all languages use tones to distinguish words or their inflections, analogously to consonants and vowels. Languages that have this feature are called tonal languages; the distinctive tone patterns of such a language are sometimes called tonemes, by analogy with phoneme. Tonal languages are common in East and Southeast Asia, Africa, the Americas and the Pacific.
There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast part of mainland China. The varieties are typically classified into several groups: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Xiang, Gan, Jin, Hakka and Yue, though some varieties remain unclassified. These groups are neither clades nor individual languages defined by mutual intelligibility, but reflect common phonological developments from Middle Chinese.
Wu is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang province, and parts of Jiangsu province, especially south of the Yangtze River, which makes up the cultural region of Wu. The Wu languages are at times simply called Shanghainese, especially when introduced to foreigners. The Suzhounese variety was the prestige dialect of Wu as of the 19th century, but had been replaced in status by Shanghainese by the turn of the 20th century, coinciding with a period of rapid language change in the city. The languages of Northern Wu constitute a language family and are mutually intelligible with each other, while those of Southern Wu neither form a phylogenetic language family, nor are mutually intelligible with each other.
Suzhounese, also known as the Suzhou dialect, is the variety of Chinese traditionally spoken in the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu, China. Suzhounese is a variety of Wu Chinese, and was traditionally considered the Wu Chinese prestige dialect. Suzhounese has a large vowel inventory and it is relatively conservative in initials by preserving voiced consonants from Middle Chinese.
The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the city of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Shanghainese, like the rest of the Wu language group, is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin.
Jin is a group of Chinese linguistic varieties spoken by roughly 48 million people in northern China, including most of Shanxi province, much of central Inner Mongolia, and adjoining areas in Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces. The status of Jin is disputed among linguists; some prefer to include it within Mandarin, but others set it apart as a closely related but separate sister group.
Xiang or Hsiang, also known as Hunanese, is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages, spoken mainly in Hunan province but also in northern Guangxi and parts of neighboring Guizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces. Scholars divided Xiang into five subgroups, Chang-Yi, Lou-Shao, Hengzhou, Chen-Xu and Yong-Quan. Among those, Lou-shao, also known as Old Xiang, still exhibits the three-way distinction of Middle Chinese obstruents, preserving the voiced stops, fricatives, and affricates. Xiang has also been heavily influenced by Mandarin, which adjoins three of the four sides of the Xiang-speaking territory, and Gan in Jiangxi Province, from where a large population immigrated to Hunan during the Ming dynasty.
The Fuzhou language, also Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of the Eastern Min branch of Min Chinese spoken mainly in the Mindong region of Eastern Fujian Province. As it is mutually unintelligible to neighbouring varieties in the province, under a technical linguistic definition Fuzhou is a language and not a dialect. Thus, while Fuzhou may be commonly referred to as a 'dialect' by laypersons, this is colloquial usage and not recognised in academic linguistics. Like many other varieties of Chinese, the Fuzhou dialect is dominated by monosyllabic morphemes that carry lexical tones, and has a mainly analytic syntax. While the Eastern Min branch it belongs to is relatively closer to other branches of Min such as Southern Min or Pu-Xian Min than to other Sinitic branches such as Mandarin, Wu Chinese or Hakka, they are still not mutually intelligible.
The Sinitic languages, often synonymous with the Chinese languages, are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute a major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is a primary split between the Sinitic languages and the rest of the family. This view is rejected by some researchers but has found phylogenetic support among others. The Macro-Bai languages, whose classification is difficult, may be an offshoot of Old Chinese and thus Sinitic; otherwise, Sinitic is defined only by the many varieties of Chinese unified by a shared historical background, and usage of the term "Sinitic" may reflect the linguistic view that Chinese constitutes a family of distinct languages, rather than variants of a single language.
A checked tone, commonly known by the Chinese calque entering tone, is one of the four syllable types in the phonology of Middle Chinese. Although usually translated as "tone", a checked tone is not a tone in the phonetic sense but rather a type of syllable that ends in a stop consonant or a glottal stop. Separating the checked tone allows -p, -t, and -k to be treated as allophones of -m, -n, and -ng, respectively, since they are in complementary distribution. Stops appear only in the checked tone, and nasals appear only in the other tones. Because of the origin of tone in Chinese, the number of tones found in such syllables is smaller than the number of tones in other syllables. Chinese phonetics have traditionally counted them separately.
Erhua, also called "erization" or "rhotacization of syllable finals", is a phonological process that adds r-coloring or the er sound to syllables in spoken Mandarin Chinese. Erhuayin is the pronunciation of "er" after rhotacization of syllable finals.
The Hangzhou dialect is spoken in the city of Hangzhou, China and its immediate suburbs, but excluding areas further away from Hangzhou such as Xiāoshān (蕭山) and Yúháng (余杭). Its number of speakers has been estimated to be about 1.2 to 1.5 million. It is a dialect of Wu, one of the Chinese varieties.
Wenzhounese, also known as Oujiang, Tong Au or Au Nyü, is the language spoken in Wenzhou, the southern prefecture of Zhejiang, China. It is the most divergent division of Wu Chinese, with little to no mutual intelligibility with other Wu dialects or any other variety of Chinese. It features noticeable elements in common with Min Chinese, which is spoken to the south in Fujian. Oujiang is sometimes used as the broader term, and Wenzhou for Wenzhounese proper in a narrow sense.
The Guanzhong dialect is a dialect of Central Plains Mandarin spoken in Shaanxi's Guanzhong region, including the prefecture-level capital city of Xi'an. Since the speech of Xi'an is considered the prototypical Guanzhong speech, the Guanzhong dialect is sometimes referred to as Xi'anese.
The phonology of Standard Chinese has historically derived from the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. However, pronunciation varies widely among speakers, who may introduce elements of their local varieties. Television and radio announcers are chosen for their ability to affect a standard accent. Elements of the sound system include not only the segments—e.g. vowels and consonants—of the language, but also the tones applied to each syllable. In addition to its four main tones, Standard Chinese has a neutral tone that appears on weak syllables.
The Zhangzhou dialects, also rendered Changchew, Chiangchew or Changchow, are a collection of Hokkien dialects spoken in southern Fujian province, centered on the city of Zhangzhou. The Zhangzhou dialect proper is the source of some place names in English, including Amoy, and Quemoy.
Taihu Wu (吳語太湖片) or Northern Wu (北部吳語) is a Wu Chinese language spoken in much of the southern part of the province of Jiangsu, including Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, the southern part of Nantong, Jingjiang and Danyang; the municipality of Shanghai; and the northern part of Zhejiang province, including Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Huzhou, and Jiaxing. A notable exception is the dialect of the town of Jinxiang, which is a linguistic exclave of Taihu Wu in Zhenan Min-speaking Cangnan county of Wenzhou prefecture in Zhejiang province. Speakers in regions around Taihu Lake and Hangzhou Bay, are the largest population among all Wu speakers. Taihu Wu dialects such as Shanghainese, Shaoxing and Ningbo are mutually intelligible even for L2 Taihu speakers.
The Fuqing dialect, or Hokchia, is an Eastern Min dialect. It is spoken in the county-level city of Fuqing, China, situated within the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou. It is not completely mutually intelligible with the Fuzhou dialect, although the level of understanding is high enough to be considered so.
Old Mandarin or Early Mandarin was the speech of northern China during the Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. New genres of vernacular literature were based on this language, including verse, drama and story forms, such as the qu and sanqu.
Hokkien is a Southern Min language spoken in southern Fujian and Taiwan. It has one of the most diverse phoneme inventories among Sinitic languages.