Swatow dialect

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Swatow dialect
Shantou
汕頭話 Suan¹tao⁵ uê⁷
Native to China
RegionMainly in Shantou, southeastern Guangdong province.
Early forms
Peng'im
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottolog shan1244
Linguasphere 79-AAA-jif
Shantou map2005.jpg
  Swatow dialect

The Swatow dialect, also known as the Shantou dialect, is a variety of Chinese mostly spoken in Shantou in Guangdong, China. It is typically classified in the Teochew group of dialects [3] , and is regarded as the representative dialect of Teochew Min. [4]

Contents

History

Although numerous Romanized materials labeled as "Swatow dialect" were produced from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century, their phonological systems actually reflected the dialect of the prefectural city of Chaochowfoo. [5] The modern Swatow dialect did not take shape until the 1940s. As a modern emerging city, Swatow's residents were mainly immigrants from various parts of the Chaoshan region and their descendants. Between the establishment of Swatow as a city in 1921 and 1934, a large influx of immigrants increased the population from 60,000 to 193,000, with an average annual growth of 10,000. Thereafter, population growth slowed, and the various dialects began to merge, gradually developing into a stable phonological system. By around 1946, the present-day phonological system of the Swatow dialect had already taken shape and come to be regarded as the norm. [6]

Phonology

Swatow dialect has 18 initials, 91 rimes, and 8 tones. [7]

Initials

Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal
plain sibilant
Nasal /m/
/n/
/ŋ/
Plosive/
Affricate
tenuis/p/
/t/
/ts/
/k/
/ʔ/
aspirated/pʰ/
/tʰ/
/tsʰ/
/kʰ/
voiced/b/
/g/
Continuant voiceless/s/
voiced/l/
/z/
/h/

Rimes

Swatow dialect has at least the following rimes:

Nucleus- a -- ɛ̝ -- -- ɯ -- i -- u --ai--au--oi--ou--ui--iu-∅-
Medial∅-i-u-∅-u-∅-i-∅-∅-∅-∅-u-∅-i-∅-∅-∅-∅-
Coda-∅a
ia
ua
e
ue
o
io
ɯ
i
u
ai
uai
au
iau
oi
ou
ui
iu
- ◌̃ ã
ĩã
ũã

ũẽ
ĩõ
ɯ̃
ĩ
ãĩ
ũãĩ
õĩ
ĩũ
- ʔ
iaʔ
uaʔ

ueʔ

ioʔ


oiʔ
- m am
iam
uam
im

- ŋ
iaŋ
uaŋ


ioŋ
ɯŋ


ŋ̩
- p ap
iap
uap
ip
- k ak
iak
uak
ek
ok
iok
ik
uk

Tones

No.12345678
Tonesdark level
陰平
dark rising
陰上
dark departing
陰去
dark entering
陰入
light level
陽平
light rising
陽上
light departing
陽去
light entering
陽入
Tone contour˧ (33)˥˧ (53)˨˩˧ (213)˨ (2)˥ (55)˧˥ (35)˧˩ (31)˥ (5)
Example Hanzi

Tone sandhi

Swatow dialect has extremely extensive tone sandhi rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. The two-syllable tonal sandhi rules are shown in the table below:

Tone sandhi of first syllable
Original citation toneTone sandhi
dark level
33
33
light level
55
31(22) [i]
dark rising
53
24
light rising
35
31
dark departing
213
55
light departing
31
31
dark entering
2
5
light entering
5
2
  1. In the newer variety, the light level tone has the same sandhi as the light rising and departing tone. In the older variety, however, its sandhi is 22.

Notes

  1. Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese. [1] [2] [3]

References

  1. Mei, Tsu-lin (1970), "Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 30: 86–110, doi:10.2307/2718766, JSTOR   2718766
  2. Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984), Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p. 3, ISBN   978-0-7748-0192-8
  3. 1 2 Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Glottolog 4.8 - Min". Glottolog . Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7398962 . Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. Li, Xinkui (1994). guang dong de fang yan: 岭南文库. 广州: 广东人民出版社. p. 266-267. ISBN   9787218009605.
  5. Xu, Yuhang (July 2013). "The Phonological System of the Chaozhou Dialect in the Nineteenth Century". Journal of Chinese Studies. 57: 223–244.
  6. Shi, Qisheng (1988). "从口音的年龄差异看汕头音系及其形成". 中山大学学报. 3: 102–107.
  7. Shi, Qisheng (1997). Shantouhua Yindang. 上海: 上海教育出版社. ISBN   7532053075.

Further reading