Tianjin dialect

Tianjin
Thiên tân thoại Tiānjīnhuà
Native to	People's Republic of China
Region	City ofTianjin Sabah,Malaysia
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Mandarin Jilu Mandarin Tianjin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	tjin
Glottolog	tian1238
IETF	cmn-u-sd-cntj

TheTianjin dialect(simplified Chinese:Thiên tân thoại;traditional Chinese:Thiên tân thoại;pinyin:Tiānjīnhuà) is aMandarin dialectspoken in the city ofTianjin,China. It is comprehensible to speakers of other Mandarin dialects, though its greatest deviation from the others lies in its individual tones, and the lack ofretroflex consonants.The regional characteristics make the dialect an important part of the Tianjin city identity, and sharply contrasts with thedialect of nearby Beijing,despite relatively similar phonology.

Characteristics

The Tianjin dialect is classified underJilu Mandarin,a subdivision ofMandarin Chinesedialects also spoken inHebeiandShandongprovinces.Despite Tianjin being a neighbor ofBeijing,its dialect sounds very different from theBeijing dialect,which is the basis forStandard Chinese.

The tones of the Tianjin dialect correspond to those of the Beijing dialect (and hence Standard Chinese) as follows:

Tone name	1 Yin Ping	2 Yang Ping	3 Shang	4 Qu
Tianjin	˨˩(21)	˧˥(35)	˩˩˧(113)	˥˧(53)
Beijing	˥(55)	˧˥(35)	˨˩˦(214)	˥˩(51)

The differences are minor except for the first tone: Where it is high and level in Beijing, it is low and falling in Tianjin. All words with the first tone, including the name "Tianjin", are affected, giving the Tianjin dialect a downward feel to people from Beijing.

The Tianjin dialect also includes fourtone sandhirules, more than the Beijing dialect. They are,

1. Tone 1 + Tone 1 → Tone 3-Tone 1: Thiên tântiān jīnis pronounced /tǐanjīn/ (usingPinyintone diacritics)
2. Tone 3 + Tone 3 → Tone 2-Tone 3: Thủy quảshuǐ guǒis pronounced /shuíguǒ/ (as in Standard)
3. Tone 4 + Tone 4 → Tone 1-Tone 4: Hiện tạixiàn zàiis pronounced /xiānzài/
4. Tone 4 + Tone 1 → Tone 2-Tone 1: Thượng banshàng bānis pronounced /shángbān/

There are some other patterns that differentiate the Tianjin dialect from the Beijing dialect. One is the pronunciation of ngạ ( ngạ ) aswò( ngọa ) instead ofè.

Lastly, the Tianjin dialect lacks the retroflex consonants (Quyển thiệt âm) prevalent in Beijing, not unlikeTaiwanese Mandarin.Thus,zh(ㄓ) becomesz(ㄗ),sh(ㄕ) becomess(ㄙ),ch(ㄔ) becomesc(ㄘ), andr(ㄖ) becomesy( nhất ) — that is,Nhânis pronouncedyěninstead ofrén,andNhượngis pronouncedyàng( dạng ) instead ofràng.However, the use of the-er( nhi ) diminutive is common in the Tianjin dialect, as it is throughout the north and northeast. (See:Erhua.)

Chinese speakers commonly stereotype the Tianjin dialect as aggressive- or confrontational-sounding, though it is not difficult for speakers of other Mandarin dialects to understand.

See also

• List of Chinese dialects

Further reading

• Li, Qian & Chen, Yiya & Xiong, Ziyu (2019)."Tianjin Mandarin".Illustrations of the IPA.Journal of the International Phonetic Association.49(1): 109–128.doi:10.1017/S0025100317000287{{cite journal}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link),with supplementary sound recordings.