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Sinitic languages

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Not to be confused withSemitic languages.
For the sociolinguistic treatment of Chinese, seeVarieties of Chinese.For other languages spoken in China, seeLanguages of China.
Sinitic
Chinese
EthnicitySinitic peoples
Geographic
distribution		East Asia,Southeast Asia,Central Asia,North Asia
Linguistic classificationSino-Tibetan
  • Sinitic
Proto-languageProto-Sinitic
Subdivisions
ISO 639-5zhx
Glottologsini1245(Sinitic)
macr1275(Macro-Bai)
Map of Sinitic languages in China and Taiwan

TheSinitic languages[a](simplified Chinese:Hán ngữ tộc;traditional Chinese:Hán ngữ tộc;pinyin:Hànyǔ zú), often synonymous with theChinese languages,are agroupof East Asiananalytic languagesthat constitute a major branch of theSino-Tibetan language family.It is frequently proposed that there is a primary split between the Sinitic languages and the rest of the family (theTibeto-Burman languages). This view is rejected by some researchers[4]but has found phylogenetic support among others.[5][6]TheMacro-Bai languages,whose classification is difficult, may be an offshoot ofOld Chineseand thus Sinitic;[7]otherwise, Sinitic is defined only by the manyvarieties of Chineseunified by a shared historical background, and usage of the term "Sinitic" may reflect the linguistic view thatChineseconstitutes a family of distinct languages, rather than variants of a single language.[b]

Population

[edit]

Over 91% of the Chinese population speaks a Sinitic language.[9]Approximately 1.52 billion people are speakers of the Chinese macrolanguage, of whom about three-quarters speak a Mandarin variety. Estimates of the number of global speakers of Sinitic branches as of 2018–2019, both native and non-native, are listed below:[10]

Branch Speakers pct.
Mandarin 1,118,584,040 73.50%
Yue 85,576,570 5.62%
Wu 81,817,790 5.38%
Min 75,633,810 4.97%
Jin 47,100,000 3.09%
Hakka 44,065,190 2.90%
Xiang 37,400,000 2.46%
Gan 22,200,000 1.46%
Huizhou 5,380,000 0.35%
Pinghua 4,130,000 0.27%
Dungan 56,300 0.004%
Total 1,521,943,700 100%

Languages

[edit]
Further information:List of varieties of Chinese
L1 speakers of Chinese and other Sino-Tibetan languages according toEthnologue

DialectologistJerry Normanestimated that there are hundreds of mutually unintelligible Sinitic languages.[11]They form adialect continuumin which differences generally become more pronounced as distances increase, though there are also some sharp boundaries.[12]The Sinitic languages can be divided into Macro-Bai languages and Chinese languages, and the following is one of many potential ways of subdividing these languages. Some varieties, such asShaozhou Tuhua,are hard to classify and thus are not included in the following briefs.

Macro-Bai languages

[edit]

This is a language family first proposed by linguistZhengzhang Shangfang,[13]and was expanded to include Longjia and Luren.[14][15]It likely split off from the rest of Sinitic during theOld Chineseperiod.[16]The languages included are all considered minority languages in China and are spoken in theSouthwest.[17][18]The languages are:

All other Sinitic languages henceforth would be considered Chinese.

Chinese

[edit]

The Chinese branch of the family is classified into at least seven main families. These families are classified based on five main evolutionary criteria:[9]

  1. The evolution of the historical fully muddy (Toàn trọc;Toàn trọc;quánzhuó) initials
  2. The distribution of rimes across the four tone qualities, as conditioned by voicing and aspiration of initials
  3. The evolution of the checked (Nhập;rù) tone category
  4. The loss or retention of coda position plosives and nasals
  5. The palatalisation of thejiàninitial (Kiến mẫu;jiànmǔ) in front of high vowels

The varieties within one family may not be mutually intelligible with each other. For instance,WenzhouneseandNingboneseare not highly mutually intelligible. TheLanguage Atlas of Chinaidentifies ten groups:[19]

with Jin, Hui, Pinghua, and Tuhua not part of the seven traditional groups.

Mandarin

[edit]

Varieties of Mandarin are used in theWestern Regions,theSouthwest,Huguang,Inner Mongolia,Central Plainsand theNortheast,[19]by around three-quarters of the Sinitic-speaking population.[10]Historically, the prestige variety has always been Mandarin, which is still reflected today inStandard Chinese.[20]Standard Chinese is now an official language of theRepublic of China,People's Republic of China,SingaporeandUnited Nations.[9]Re-population efforts, such as that of theQing dynastyin the Southwest, tended to involve Mandarin speakers.[21]Classification of Mandarin lects has undergone several significant changes, though nowadays it is commonly divided as such, based on the distribution of the historical checked tone:[19]

as well as other lects, which do not neatly fall into these categories, such as MandarinJunhuavarieties.

Varieties of Mandarin can be defined by their universally lost -m final, low number of tones, and smaller inventory ofclassifiers,among other features. Mandarin lects also often have rhoticerhuarimes, though the amount of its use may vary between lects.[9]Loss of checked tone is an often cited criterion for Mandarin languages, though lects such as Yangzhounese and Taiyuannese show otherwise.

Mandarin Non-Mandarin Gloss
Beijing Jinan Zhengzhou Xi'an Taiyuan Chengdu Nanjing Guangzhou Meizhou Xiamen Anyi
Âm in iẽ iən iẽ iəŋ in in iɐm im im im 'sound'
Tâm ɕin ɕiẽ siən ɕiẽ ɕiəŋ ɕin sin sɐm sim sim ɕim 'heart'

Northeastern and Beijing Mandarin

[edit]

Northeastern Mandarin is spoken inHeilongjiang,Jilin,most ofLiaoningand northeasternInner Mongolia,whereas Beijing Mandarin is spoken in northernHebei,most ofBeijing,parts ofTianjinandInner Mongolia.[19]The two families' most notable features are the heavy use ofrhoticerhuaand seemingly random distribution of the dark checked tone, and generally having four tones with the contours of high flat, rising, dipping, and falling.

Tone contour of historically dark checked tone (Âm nhập) characters
Northeastern/Beijing Other Gloss
Harbin Changchun Shenyang Beijing Heyuan Chaozhou Suzhou Hefei Wuhan
Khách ˨˩˧ ˥˧ ˨˩˧ ˥˧ ˥ ˨˩ ˥˥ ˥ ˨˩˧ 'guest'
Bát ˦˦ ˦˦ ˧˧ ˥˥ ˥ ˨˩ ˥˥ ˥ ˨˩˧ 'eight'
Bắc ˨˩˧ ˨˩˧ ˨˩˧ ˨˩˧ ˥ ˨˩ ˥˥ ˥ ˨˩˧ 'north'

Northeastern Mandarin, especially in Heilongjiang, contains many loanwords from Russian.[24]

Term Pronunciation Meaning Origin
Bặc lưu khắc bǔliúkè 'rutabaga' брюкваbryukva
Mã thần mǎshén 'machine' машинаmashina
Ba li tử bālízi 'jail' полицияpolitsiya

Northeastern Mandarin lects can be divided into three main groups, namely Hafu (includingHarbinneseandChangchunnese), Jishen (includingJilinneseandShenyangnese), and Heisong. Notably, the extinctTaz languageofRussiais also a Northeastern Mandarin language. Beijing is sometimes included in Northeastern Mandarin due to its distribution of the historical dark checked tone,[22][23]though is listed as its own group by others, often due to its more regular light checked tones.[19]

Jilu Mandarin

[edit]

Jilu Mandarin is spoken in southern Hebei and westernShandong,[19]and is often represented withJinannese.[25]Notable cities that use Jilu Mandarin lects includeCangzhou,Shijiazhuang,JinanandBaoding.[26][27]Characteristically Jilu Mandarin features include merging the dark checked into the dark level tone, the light checked into light level or departing based on themanner of articulationof theinitial,and vowel breaking intongrime series' (Thông nhiếp) checked-tone words, among other features.

Jilu Mandarin can be classified into Baotang, Shiji, Canghui and Zhangli.[28]Zhangli is of note due to its preservation of a separate checked tone.

Jiaoliao Mandarin

[edit]
Distribution of Jiaoliao Mandarin varieties

Jiaoliao Mandarin is spoken in theJiaodongandLiaodong Peninsulae,which includes the cities ofDalianandQingdao,as well as several prefectures along the China-Korea border.[19]Like Jilu Mandarin, its light checked tone is merged into light level or departing based on the manner of articulation of the initial, though its dark checked is merged into the rising. Itsrìinitial (Nhật mẫu) terms are pronounced with anull initial(apart from openzhǐrime series (Chỉ nhiếp khai khẩu) finals), unlike the/ʐ/of Northern and Beijing Mandarin.[29]

Based on, for example, the pronunciation of thepalatalizedjiàninitial (Kiến mẫu),[19]Jiaoliao Mandarin can be divided into Qingzhou, Denglian and Gaihuan areas.[28]

Yantai Weihai Qingdao Dalian Gloss
Giao ciau ciau tɕiɔ tɕiɔ 'to hand in'
Kiến cian cian tɕiã tɕiɛ̃ 'to see'

Central Plains and Lanyin Mandarin

[edit]

Central Plains Mandarin is spoken in theCentral PlainsofHenan,southwesternShanxi,southernShandongand northernJiangsu,as well as most ofShaanxi,southernNingxiaandGansuand southernXinjiang,in famous cities such asKaifeng,Zhengzhou,Luoyang,Xuzhou,Xi'an,XiningandLanzhou.[30][31][32]Central Plains Mandarin lects merge the historical checked tones with a lesser muddy (Thứ trọc) and clear (Thanh) initial together with the rising tone, and those with a fully muddy (Toàn trọc) initial are merged with the light level tone.[19]

Lanyin Mandarin, spoken in northern Ningxia, parts of Gansu, and northern Xinjiang, is sometimes grouped with Central Plains Mandarin due to its merged lesser light and dark checked tones, though it is realised as a departing tone.

Subdivision of Central Plains Mandarin is not fully agreed upon, though one possible subdivision sees 13 divisions, namely Xuhuai, Zhengkai, Luosong, Nanlu, Yanhe, Shangfu, Xinbeng, Luoxiang, Fenhe, Guanzhong, Qinlong, Longzhong and Nanjiang.[33]Lanyin Mandarin, on the other hand, is divided as Jincheng, Yinwu, Hexi, and Beijiang. TheDungan languageis a collection of Central Plains Mandarin varieties spoken in the formerSoviet Union.

Jin

[edit]
Distribution of Jin varieties

Jin is spoken in most ofShanxi,westernHebei,northernShaanxi,northernHenanand centralInner Mongolia,[19]often represented byTaiyuannese.[25]It was first proposed as a lect separate from the rest of Mandarin byLi Rong,where it was proposed as lects in and around Shanxi with a checked tone, though this stance is not without disagreement.[34][35]Jin varieties also often has disyllabic words derived from syllable splitting ( phân âm từ ), through the infixation of/(u)əʔl/.[9]

Bổn

pəŋ꜄

→

Bạc

pəʔ꜇

Lăng

ləŋ꜄

Bổn {} bạc lăng

pəŋ꜄ → pəʔ꜇ ləŋ꜄

'stupid'

Cổn

꜂kʊŋ

→

Cốt

kuəʔ꜆

Long

꜂lʊŋ

Cổn {} cốt long

꜂kʊŋ → kuəʔ꜆ ꜂lʊŋ

'to roll'

As per the Language Atlas by Li, Jin is divided into Dabao, Zhanghu, Wutai, Lüliang, Bingzhou, Shangdang, Hanxin, and Zhiyan branches.[19]

Southwestern Mandarin

[edit]

Spoken inYunnan,Guizhou,northernGuangxi,most ofSichuan,southernGansuandShaanxi,Chongqing,most ofHubeiand bordering parts ofHunan,as well asKokangof Myanmar and parts of northernThailand,Southwestern Mandarin speakers take up the most area and population of all Mandarinic language groups, and would be the eighth most spoken language in the world if separated from the rest of Mandarin.[19]Southwestern Mandarinic tends to not haveretroflex consonants,and merges all checked tone categories together. Except forMinchi,which has a standalone checked category, the checked tone is merged with another category. Representative lects includeWuhanneseandSichuanese,and sometimesKunmingnese.[25]

Southwestern Mandarin tends to be split into Chuanqian, Xishu, Chuanxi, Yunnan, Huguang and Guiliu branches. Minchi is sometimes separated as a remnant of Old Shu.[36]

Huai

[edit]
Distribution of Huai varieties

Huai is spoken in centralAnhui,northernJiangxi,far western and easternHubeiand most ofJiangsu.[19]Due to its preservation of a checked tone, some linguists believe that Huai ought to be treated as a top-level group, like Jin. Representative lects tend to beNanjingnese,HefeineseandYangzhounese.[25]The Huai of Nanjing has likely served as a national prestige during the Ming and Qing periods,[37]though not all linguists support this viewpoint.[38]

The Language Atlas divides Huai into Tongtai, Huangxiao, and Hongchao areas, with the latter further split into Ninglu and Huaiyang. Tongtai, being geographically located furthest west, has the most significant Wu influence, such as in its distribution of historical voiced plosive series.[19][39][40]

Tongtai Non-Tongtai
Nantong Taizhou Yangzhou Hangzhou Fuzhou Huizhou
Địa tʰi tʰi ti di tei ti
Bệnh pʰeŋ pʰiŋ pin biŋ paŋ piaŋ

Yue

[edit]
Distribution of Yue varieties (including Pinghua)

Yue Chinese is spoken by around 84 million people,[10]in westernGuangdong,easternGuangxi,Hong Kong,Macauand parts ofHainan,as well as overseas communities such asKuala LumpurandVancouver.[19]Famous lects such asCantoneseandTaishanesebelong to this family.[9]Yue Chinese lects generally possesslong-short distinctionsin their vowels, which is reflected in their almost universally split dark-checked and often split light-checked tones. They generally also tend to preserve all three checked plosive finals and three nasal finals. The status of Pinghua is uncertain, and some believe its two groups, Northern and Southern, should be listed under Yue,[41]though some reject this standpoint.[19]

Checked tone contours in Yue lects
Tone Dark Light
Short Long Short Long
Examples Bắc Bát Nhập Bạch
Guangzhou ˥˥ ˧˧ ˨˨
Hong Kong ˥˥ ˧˧ ˨˨
Dongguan ˦˦ ˨˨˦ ˨˨
Shiqi ˥ ˧
Taishan ˥˥ ˧˧ ˨˩
Bobai ˥˥ ˧˧ ˨˨
Yulin ˥ ˧ ˨ ˨˩

Yue is generally split intoCantonese(which itself containsYuehai,Xiangshan, andGuanbao),Siyi,Gaoyang,Qinlian,Wuhua,Goulou(which includesLuoguang),Yongxunand the two Pinghua branches.[19]Siyi is generally agreed to be the most divergent, and Goulou is believed to be the one which is closest related to Pinghua.[41]

Hakka

[edit]

Hakka Chinese is a direct result of several migration waves from Northern China to the South,[42]and is spoken in easternGuangdong,parts ofTaiwan,westernFujian,Hong Kong,southernJiangxi,as well as scattered points in the rest of Guangdong,Hunan,GuangxiandHainan,along with overseas communities such as inWest KalimantanandBangka Belitung IslandsinIndonesia,by an estimated total of 44 million people.[19][10]Some believe that Hakka is closely related to other groups, such as Gan, Yue, or Tongtai.[43][44][45]Hakka varieties generally have no voiced plosive initials and preserve the historicalrìinitial (Nhật mẫu) as an n-like sound.[19][46]

Realization of the historicalrìinitial in Hakka
Meizhou Changting Hsinchu Hong Kong Yudu
Nhân ȵin neŋ ȵin ŋɡin niẽ
Nhật ȵit ni ȵit ŋɡit nie

Hakka can be divided into Yuetai, Hailu, Yuebei, Yuexi, Tingzhou, Ninglong, Yuxin and Tonggui.[19]Meizhouneseis often used as the representative variety of Hakka.[25]

Min

[edit]
Distribution of Min varieties in mainland China, Hainan and Taiwan

Min Chinese is a direct descendant of Old Chinese, and is spoken inChaoshanandZhanjiangofGuangdong, Hainan,Taiwan,most ofFujianand parts ofJiangxiandZhejiang,by around 76 million people.[10]Due to significant amounts of migration, many people inSoutheast AsiaandHong Kongare also able of speaking Min varieties. Lects such asTeoswa,Hainanese,Hokkien(incl.Taiwanese) andHokchiuare all Min varieties.[19]

Since Min descended from Old Chinese rather than Middle Chinese, it has some features that would be out of place in other varieties. For instance, some words with thechenginitial (Trừng mẫu) are not affricates in Min. This, interestingly, has led to many languages, such asOccitan,Inuktitut,Latin,MāoriandTelugu,loaning the Sinitic word for 'tea' (Trà) with a plosive. Min varieties also have a very large number of words withliterary pronunciations.[9]

Selection of reflexes of thechenginitial
Min Non-Min
Fuzhou Quanzhou Chaozhou Putian Jian'ou Haikou Leizhou Lanzhou Guiyang Changsha
Trà ta te te tɒ ta ʔdɛ te tʂʰa tsʰa tsa
Trần tiŋ tan tʰiŋ tɛŋ teiŋ ʔdaŋ taŋ tʂʰən tsʰən tsən

Min can primarily be split into Coastal and Inland Min varieties. The former contains theSouthern Minbranches of Quanzhang (Hokkien), Chaoshan (Teoswa),DatianandZhongshan,theEastern Minbranches of Houguan and Funing, Qionglei Min, as well asPuxian Min,whereas the latter includesNorthern,CentralandShaojiang Min.Shaojiang Min acts as a transitional area between Min, Gan, and Hakka.[20][34]

Wu

[edit]
Distribution of Wu varieties

Wu Chinese is spoken in most ofZhejiang,Shanghai,southernJiangsu,parts of southernAnhuiand easternJiangxiby around 82 million people.[19][10][47]Many large cities in theYangtze Delta,such asSuzhou,Changzhou,NingboandHangzhou,use a Wu variety. Wu varieties generally have a fricative initial in their negators, a three-way plosive distinction, as well as a checked coda preserved as aglottal stop,except for Oujiang lects, where it has becomevowel length,and Xuanzhou.[47][40]

An example of a tripartite division of plosives
Shanghai Suzhou Changzhou Shaoxing Ningbo Taizhou Wenzhou Jinhua Lishui Quzhou
Thông tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰoŋ tʰɔŋ tʰaŋ
Đông toŋ toŋ toŋ toŋ toŋ toŋ toŋ toŋ tɔŋ taŋ
Đồng doŋ doŋ doŋ doŋ doŋ doŋ doŋ doŋ dɔŋ daŋ

Shanghainese,SuzhouneseandWenzhouneseare usually used as representatives of Wu.[25]Wu Chinese varieties generally have a massive number of vowels, which rivals evenNorth Germanic languages.[48][49]TheDondac varietyhas been observed to have 20 phonemic monophthongal vowels, according to one analysis.[50]

Qian Nairongdivides Wu intoTaihu(or Northern Wu),Taizhou,Oujiang,ChuquandWuzhou.Northern Wu is further divided into Piling, Suhujia, Tiaoxi, Linshao, Yongjiang, and Hangzhou, though Hangzhou's classification is unclear.[40][47]

Hui

[edit]

Huizhou Chinese is spoken in westernHangzhou,southernAnhuiand parts ofJingdezhen,by around 5 million people.[19][10]It is identified as a top-level group by the Language Atlas, though some linguists believe in other theories, such as it being a Gan-influenced Wu variety, due to an identifiable basis of Old Wu features.[9][51][52][53]Hui varieties are phonologically diverse, and some features are shared with Wu, such as the simplification of diphthongs.[54]Hui can be divided into Jishe, Xiuyi, Qiwu, Jingzhan and Yanzhou branches, with Tunxinese and Jixinese being representatives.

Gan

[edit]

Gan Chinese is spoken in northern and centralJiangxi,parts ofHebeiandAnhuiand easternHunan,by 22 million people,[19][10]sometimes believed to be related to Hakka.[43][44]Gan varieties tend to notpalatalizeterms with thejianinitial (Kiến mẫu) and have an f-like initial in closedxiaoandxiainitial (Hợp khẩu hiểu hạp lưỡng mẫu) terms, among other features.[55]

Pronunciation of terms with axiaorxiaoinitial and closed medial in Gan
Nanchang Yichun Ji'an Fuzhou Yingtan
Hôi ϕɨi fi fei fai fɛi
Hồ ϕu fu fu fu fu

Gan can also be divided into Northern and Southern groups. The Northern group was formed during theTang dynasty,whereas the Southern group was developed based on Northern Gan.[9]The Language Atlas sees Gan divided into Changdu, Yiliu, Jicha, Fuguang, Yingyi, Datong, Dongsui, Huaiyue, and Leizi branches.[19]Nanchangneseis often chosen as the representative.[25]Shaojiang Min is identified to be influenced or even closely related to Fuguang Gan.[56]

Xiang

[edit]
Distribution of Xiang varieties in Hunan and Guangxi

Xiang Chinese is spoken in central and westernHunanand nearby parts ofGuangxiandGuizhouby an estimated 37 million people.[19][10]Due to migrations, Xiang can be split into New and Old Xiang groups, with Old Xiang having fewer Mandarin-influenced features.[57][9]Xiang varieties have universally lost their checked codas, but the majority of them still have a unique preserved checked tone contour. Most also have a three-way plosive distinction, like Wu varieties.[19]

One way of dividing Xiang varieties sees five distinct families, namely Changyi, Hengzhou, Louzhao, Chenxu, and Yongzhou.[58]Changshaneseand one ofShuangfengneseorLoudineseare usually taken as Xiang representatives.[25]

Internal classification

[edit]
After applying the linguistic comparative method to the database of comparative linguistic data developed byLaurent Sagartin 2019 to identify sound correspondences and establish cognates, phylogenetic methods are used to infer relationships among these languages and estimate the age of their origin and homeland.[59]

The traditional, dialectological classification of Chinese languages is based on the evolution of the sound categories ofMiddle Chinese.Little comparative work has been done (the usual way of reconstructing the relationships between languages), and little is known about mutual intelligibility. Even within the dialectological classification, details are disputed, such as the establishment in the 1980s of three new top-level groups:Huizhou,JinandPinghua,although Pinghua is itself a pair of languages and Huizhou maybe half a dozen.[60][61]

Like Bai, theMinlanguages are commonly thought to have split off directly fromOld Chinese.[62]The evidence for this split is that all Sinitic languages apart from the Min group can fit into the structure of theQieyun,a 7th-centuryrime dictionary.[63]However, this view is not universally accepted.

Points of contention

[edit]

Like many other language families, Sinitic languages have had problems with classification. The following are a few examples.

Southern China

[edit]

Traditionally, thelect of urban HangzhouandNew Xiangof easternHunanare not considered Mandarin.[19]However, linguists such as Richard VanNess Simmons and Zhou Zhenhe have observed that these two varieties possess more qualifying features ofMandarinlanguages.[40][64]For instance, the vowels of the second division of thejia(Giả) initial is often raised and backed in Wu and Xiang, while they are not in Hangzhounese and New Xiang.

Traditionally Mandarin Traditionally Wu Traditionally Xiang Gloss
Beijing Nanjing Nantong Shanghai Suzhou Wenzhou Hangzhou Changsha Shuangfeng
Hoa xua xuɑ xuo ho ho kʰo hua fa xo 'flower'
Qua kua kuɑ kuo ko ko ko kua kua ko 'melon'
Hạ ɕia ɕiɑ xo ɦo ɦo ɦo ia xa ɣo 'down'

Nantongnese has heavy Wu influence, which has led to it also having raised and backed vowels.

DanzhouneseandMaihuaare both traditionally consideredYuelects.[19]Recent research, however, has noted that these are both are more likely unclassified.[65]Maihua, for example, may be a Yue-Hakka-Hainanese Minmixed language.[66]

Dongjiang Bendihua (Đông giang bổn địa thoại) is spoken in and aroundHuizhouandHeyuan.Its classification has always been unclear, though the most common standpoint is that it is considered Hakka.[19][67]

Northern China

[edit]

The variety spoken in theGanyu DistrictofLianyungang(Cống du thoại) is listed as a variety ofCentral Plains Mandarinin theLanguage Atlas of China,[19]though its tonal distribution is more similar toPeninsular Mandarinvarieties.[68]

Relationships between groups

[edit]

Jerry Normanclassified the traditional seven dialect groups into three larger groups: Northern (Mandarin), Central (Wu, Gan, and Xiang), and Southern (Hakka, Yue, and Min). He argued that the Southern Group is derived from a standard used in the Yangtze valley during theHan dynasty(206 BC – 220 AD), which he called Old Southern Chinese, while the Central group was transitional between the Northern and Southern groups.[69]Somedialect boundaries,such as between Wu and Min, are particularly abrupt, while others, such as between Mandarin and Xiang or between Min and Hakka, are much less clearly defined.[12]

Scholars account for the transitional nature of the central varieties in terms ofwave models.Iwata argues that innovations have been transmitted from the north across theHuai Riverto theLower Yangtze Mandarinarea and from there southeast to the Wu area and westwards along theYangtze Rivervalley and thence to southwestern areas, leaving the hills of the southeast largely untouched.[70]

A quantitative study

[edit]

A 2007 study compared fifteen major urban dialects on the objective criteria oflexical similarityand regularity of sound correspondences, and subjective criteria of intelligibility and similarity. Most of these criteria show a top-level split with Northern,New Xiang,andGanin one group andMin(samples at Fuzhou, Xiamen, Chaozhou),Hakka,andYuein the other group. The exception was phonological regularity, where the one Gan dialect (Nanchang Gan) was in the Southern group and very close toMeixian Hakka,and the deepest phonological difference was betweenWenzhounese(the southernmost Wu dialect) and all other dialects.[71]

The study did not find clear splits within the Northern and Central areas:[71]

  • Changsha (New Xiang) was always within the Mandarin group. No Old Xiang dialect was in the sample.
  • Taiyuan (Jinor Shanxi) and Hankou (Wuhan, Hubei) were subjectively perceived as relatively different from other Northern dialects but were very close in mutual intelligibility. Objectively, Taiyuan had substantial phonological divergence but little lexical divergence.
  • Chengdu (Sichuan) was somewhat divergent lexically but very little on the other measures.

The twoWu dialects(Wenzhou and Suzhou) occupied an intermediate position, closer to the Northern/New Xiang/Gan group in lexical similarity and strongly closer in subjective intelligibility but closer to Min/Hakka/Yue in phonological regularity and subjective similarity, except that Wenzhou was farthest from all other dialects in phonological regularity. The two Wu dialects were close to each other in lexical similarity and subjective similarity but not in mutual intelligibility, where Suzhou was closer to Northern/Xiang/Gan than to Wenzhou.[71]

In the Southern subgroup, Hakka and Yue grouped closely together on the three lexical and subjective measures but not in phonological regularity. The Min dialects showed high divergence, with Min Fuzhou (Eastern Min) grouped only weakly with theSouthern Mindialects ofXiamenandChaozhouon the two objective criteria and was slightly closer to Hakka and Yue on the subjective criteria.[71]

Internal comparison

[edit]

The following section will be dedicated to comparing non-Bai and non-Cai–Long Sinitic languages. Though all stem from Old Chinese, they have all developed differences with each other.

Writing system

[edit]
POJ inscription
An example of Hokkien written exclusively in the Latin alphabet.

Typographically, the vast majority of Sinitic languages useSinographs.However, some varieties, such asDunganandHokkien,have alternative scripts, namelyCyrillicandLatin alphabets.Even between varieties which use Sinographs, characters are repurposed or invented to cover for the difference in vocabulary. Examples includeTịnh;'pretty' in Yue,[72]𠊎;'I', 'me' in Hakka,[46]Tức;'this' in Hokkien,[73]Vật;'to not want' in Wu,[48]Mạc;'do not' in Xiang, andCa;'ill-tempered' in Mandarin.[74][24]Note that both traditional and simplified characters can be used to write any lect.

Phonology

[edit]

Phonologically speaking, though all Sinitic languages possesstones,their contours and the total number of tones vary wildly, fromShanghainese,which can be analysed to have only two tones,[48]toBobainese,which has ten.[75]Sinitic languages also vary wildly in their phonological inventories and phonotactics. Take for instance/mɭɤŋ/(Môn nhi;'door (diminutive)') seen in Pingdingnese,[20]or/tʃɦɻʷəi/(Thủy;'water') of Xuanzhounese,[76]which both show syllables which do not follow the (single) consonant-glide-vowel-consonant syllable structure of more well-known lects. Tone sandhi is also a feature which not all lects share. Cantonese, for instance, only has a very weak system,[77]whereas Wu varieties not only have complex, intricate systems, which affect almost all syllables, but also uses it to mark for grammaticalpart of speech.[48][49]Take for instance, this simplified analysis of Suzhounese tone sandhi:[78]

Unchecked Tone Sandhi
chain length →
↓ 1st char tone cat 		2 char 3 char 4 char
dark level (1) ˦ ꜉ ˦ ˦ ꜉ ˦ ˦ ˦ ꜉
light level (2) ˨ ˧ ˨ ˧ ꜊ ˨ ˧ ˦ ꜉
rising (3) ˥ ˩ ˥ ˩ ꜌ ˥ ˩ ˩ ꜌
dark departing (5) ˥˨ ˧ ˥˨ ˧ ꜊ ˥˨ ˧ ˦ ꜉
light departing (6) ˨˧ ˩ ˨˧ ˩ ꜌ ˨˧ ˩ ˩ ꜌
Checked tone sandhi
chain length → 2 char 3 char 4 char
2nd char
tone cat 		1st char
darkness
level (1, 2) dark (7) ˦ ˨˧ ˦ ˨˧ ꜊ ˦ ˨˧ ˦ ꜉
light (8) ˨ ˧ ˨ ˧ ꜊ ˨ ˧ ˦ ꜉
rising (3) dark (7) ˥ ˥˩ ˥ ˥˩ ꜌ ˥ ˥˩ ˩ ꜌
light (8) ˨ ˥˩ ˨ ˥˩ ꜌ ˨ ˥˩ ˩ ꜌
departing (5, 6) dark (7) ˥ ˥˨˧ ˥ ˥˨ ˧ ˥ ˥˨ ˨ ˧
light (8) ˨ ˥˨˧ ˨ ˥˨ ˧ ˨ ˥˨ ˨ ˧
checked (7, 8) dark (7) ˦ ˦ ˦ ˦ ꜉ ˦ ˦ ˦ ˨
light (8) ˧ ˦ ˧ ˦ ꜉ ˧ ˦ ˨ ꜋

Grammar

[edit]

Disregarding phonology, grammar is the feature of Sinitic languages which differ the most. The majority of Sinitic languages do not possess tenses, though exceptions include Northern Wu lects such as Shanghainese andSuzhounese,though it is largely breaking down in Shanghainese due to Mandarin influence.[49][79]Sinitic languages generally also have no case marking, though lects such as Linxianese and Hengshannese do possess case particles, with the latter expressing it through tone change.[80][81]Sinitic languages generally have SVO word order and possess classifiers.

Verb usage may be different between Sinitic languages. Notice the double verb marking seen in lects such asBeijingese,in these sentences meaning "today I go to Guangzhou":[82]

Beijingese:

Kim thiên

Jīntiān

today

Ngã

wǒ

1sg

Đáo

dào

arrive

Quảng châu

Guǎngzhōu

Guangzhou

Khứ

qù

go

{ kim thiên } ngã đáo { quảng châu } khứ

{Jīntiān} wǒ dào {Guǎngzhōu} qù

today 1sg arrive Guangzhou go

Wuxinese:

Kim a

cin1-a1

today

Ngã

ngeu4

1sg

Quảng châu

kuaon3-cieu1

Guangzhou

Khứ

chi5

go

{ kim a } ngã { quảng châu } khứ

{cin1-a1} ngeu4 {kuaon3-cieu1} chi5

today 1sg Guangzhou go

Indirect object marking

[edit]

Sinitic languages tend to vary greatly in how they mark indirect objects. The area which varies tends to be the placement of the indirect and direct objects.[9][20]

Mandarinic, Xiang, Hui, and Min languages often place the indirect object (IO) before the direct object (DO). Some lects have switched to IO-DO structure due to Mandarin influence, such asNanchangeseandShanghainese,though Shanghainese also has the alternative word order.

On the other hand, Gan, Wu, Hakka, and Yue languages tend to place the DO in front of the IO.

Classifiers

[edit]

Like other East Asian languages such asJapaneseandKorean,Sinitic languages have a system ofclassifers,however, use of classifiers vary greatly in features such asdefiniteness.[20]In Cantonese, for instance, they can be used to mark possession, which is rare in Sinitic while common in Southeast Asia.[9]

Ngã

ngo5

1SG

Bổn

bun2

CL

Thư

syu1

book

Ngã bổn thư

ngo5 bun2 syu1

1SG CL book

'my book'

CáandChỉare the most common generic classifiers cross-linguistically.[9]As previously mentioned, Mandarinic languages tend to have fewer classifiers whereas the Southern non-Mandarinic varieties tend to have more.[20]

Demonstratives

[edit]

Sinitic languages can vary greatly in their system ofdemonstratives.[20]Standard Mandarinand other Northeastern varieties have a two-way system:Giá;zhè(proximal) andNa;nà(distal), but this is not the only system found in Sinitic languages.

Wuhannesehas a neutral demonstrative, which can be used regardless of the distance to the deictic center.[84][85]Similar systems are found in Northern Wu lects such as Suzhounese andNingbonese.[49][20]

[c]

nɤ35

DEM

Thị

sɿ35

COP

Sinh

sən55

unripe

Đích

ti

P

,

[c]

nɤ35

DEM

Thị

sɿ35

COP

Thục

səu213

ripe

Đích

ti

P

[c]Thị sinh đích,[c]Thị thục đích

nɤ35 sɿ35 sən55 ti {} nɤ35 sɿ35 səu213 ti

DEM COP unripe P {} DEM COP ripe P

In the above sentence,/nɤ³⁵/can be translated as both 'this' and 'that'. Though Wuhannese has this system of a one-term neutral system, it also has a two-way proximal-distal system. This is the same for most other lects with a one-term system.

Even within two-way systems, which is the most common system, terms could have developed to mean the opposite distance from the deitic center. Cantonese嗰;go²(distal) and ShanghaineseCách;geq(proximal) are both etymologically fromCá,for instance.[72][48]

Many Sinitic languages have three-way systems, but the three distances are not always the same ones. For instance, whereas Guangshan Mandarin has a person-oriented proximal, medial, and distal system, Xinyu Gan has a distance-oriented close, proximal, and distal system. Gan especially has many varieties with a three-way system, sometimes even marked with tone and vowel length rather than just changing the term used.[20][86]

A small number of varieties possess even four- or five-term demonstrative systems. Take for instance the following:[20]

Dongxiang Zhangshu
Close ꜀ko kọ꜆
Proximal ꜁ko ko꜆
Distal ꜀e ꜃hɛ
Yonder ꜁e ꜃hɛ̣

These two lects use tone change and vowel length respectively to distinguish between the four demonstratives.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^From Late LatinSīnae,'the Chinese', probably from ArabicṢīn'China', from the Chinese dynastic nameQin.(OED). In 1982,Paul K. Benedictproposed a subgroup of Sino-Tibetan called "Sinitic" comprisingBaiand Chinese.[1]The precise affiliation of Bai remains uncertain[2]and the termSiniticis usually used as a synonym for Chinese, especially when viewed as a language family rather than as a language.[3]
  2. ^SeeEnfield (2003:69) andHannas (1997)for examples. The Chinese terms often translated as 'language' and 'dialect' do not correspond well to those translations. These areNgữ ngôn;yǔyán,corresponding tomacrolanguageorlanguage cluster,which is used for Chinese itself;Phương ngôn;fāngyán,which separates mutually unintelligible languages within ayǔyán;andThổ ngữ;tǔyǔorThổ thoại;tǔhuà,which corresponds better to the familiar Western linguistic use of 'dialect'.[8]
  3. ^abThis term was not assigned a character.

References

[edit]

Citations

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  6. ^Sagart et al. (2019).
  7. ^van Driem (2001:403) states "Bái... may form a constituent of Sinitic, albeit one heavily influenced by Lolo–Burmese. "
  8. ^Bradley (2012),p. 1.
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Works cited

[edit]
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