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Wenzhounese

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(Redirected fromWenzhou dialect)
Not to be confused withWenzhou people.
Wenzhounese
Oujiang
Ôn châu thoại/Ôn châu thoại
ü-cōu-rōo
iu1 chiou1 gho6
Pronunciation[ʔjytɕɤuɦo]
Native toWenzhou,Zhejiang,China
RegionSoutheastern China, and in Wenzhou immigrant populations inNew York City;Paris;MilanandPrato,Italy
EthnicityWenzhounese
Native speakers
(4.2 million cited 1987)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Chinese characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3None(mis)
ISO 639-6qjio (Oujiang)
wzhu (Wenzhou proper)
Glottologouji1238
Linguasphere79-AAA-dh (incl.
79-AAA-dhd Wenzhou)
This article containsIPAphonetic symbols.Without properrendering support,you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbolsinstead ofUnicodecharacters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Wenzhounese(simplified Chinese:Ôn châu thoại;traditional Chinese:Ôn châu thoại;pinyin:Wēnzhōuhuà,Wenzhounese:Iu Chiu ho), also known asOujiang(Âu giang thoại;Âu giang thoại;Ōujiānghuà),Tong Au(Đông âu phiến;Đông âu phiến;Dōng'ōupiàn) orAu Nyü(Âu ngữ;Âu ngữ;Ōuyǔ), is the language spoken inWenzhou,the southern prefecture ofZhejiang,China. It is the most divergent division ofWu Chinese,with little to nomutual intelligibilitywith other Wu dialects or any othervariety of Chinese.It features noticeable elements in common withMin Chinese,which is spoken to the south inFujian.Oujiangis sometimes used as the broader term, andWenzhoufor Wenzhounese proper in a narrow sense.

Given its long history and the isolation of the region in which it is spoken, Wenzhounese is so unusual in itsphonologythat it has the reputation of being the least comprehensible dialect for an averageMandarinspeaker.[2][3]It preserves a large amount of vocabulary ofclassical Chineselost elsewhere, earning itself the nickname "theliving fossil",and has distinct grammatical differences from Mandarin.[4][5]

Wenzhounese is one of fivevarieties of Chineseother than Standard Mandarin used for broadcasting byChina Radio International,alongsideCantonese,Hokkien,Teochew,andHakka.

Classification

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Wenzhounese is part of theWugroup of Chinese dialects, sharing many linguistic features with them.[6][7]These are spoken over the Zhejiang and southJiangsuprovinces.[8]Wenzhounese is seen as a typical representative of southern Wu.[9]

Geographic distribution

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Wenzhounese is spoken primarily in Wenzhou and the surrounding southern portion ofZhejiang,China. To a lesser extent, it is also spoken in scattered pockets ofFujianin southeastern China. Overseas, it is spoken in increasingly larger communities in the United States inFlushing Chinatownin the Queens borough of New York City, and theChinatowns in BrooklyninNew York City.[10][11][12]Wenzhounese is also spoken by someOverseas Chinesecommunities in Europe, in particular Italy, France, and Spain.[13]It is used more widely among theChinese people in Italythan Mandarin.[14][15]Over 80% of the Chinese diaspora that are resident in the city ofPrato,Tuscany, were born in Zhejiang Province.[16]

Dialects

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Wenzhounese can be generally divided into the following three dialects:

  • Northern Dialect, including dialects spoken in Wenzhou, Ouhai, Yongqiong, Yongjia, and some towns in Yueqing like Liushi and Baixiang.
  • Southern Dialect, includingRui'an dialect,Wencheng dialect,Longgang dialect, Pingyang dialect, etc.
  • Northeastern Dialect, which is spoken in the city of Yueqing.

The most important difference between eastern Wenzhounese dialects such as Wencheng and Wenzhou proper are tonal differences (Wencheng has no falling tones) and the retention of/f/before/o/:

Bát Phong Đáo Hiểu đắc
Pinyin (Standard Mandarin) bā fēng dào xiǎodé
Wenzhou pʊ hoŋ tɜ ɕiate
Wencheng po foŋ tɶ ɕɔti

The tones of all other Oujiang dialects are similar to Wenzhounese. (Wenzhounesepuutranscribes the lengthenedentering tone.)

Phonology

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See also:Wenzhounese romanisation

Consonants

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Consonantsof the Wenzhou dialect[17]
Labial Alveolar (Alveolo-)
palatal 		Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ̟ ŋ
Plosive voiced b d ɡ
voiceless p t k
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
Affricate voiced dz dʑ
voiceless ts tɕ
aspirated tsʰ tɕʰ
Fricative voiceless f s ɕ h
voiced v z ɦ
Approximant l j

/l/is lateral, and/j/ispalatal.

Vowels

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Vowelsof the Wenzhou dialect[17]
Front Central Back
Unrounded Rounded
Close i y ɨ u
Close-mid e ø o
Open-mid ɛ ɜ
Open a
Diphthong aiaueiøyɤu/ouiɛuɔ/yɔ

The onlycodais thevelar nasal,in/aŋeŋoŋ/andsyllabic[ŋ̩].

Tone

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Citation tones

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Wenzhou has threephonemic tones.While it has eight phonetic tones, most of these are predictable: Theyīn–yángtone splitdating from Middle Chinese still corresponds to the voicing of the initial consonant in Wenzhou, and theshǎngtones are abrupt and end inglottal stop(this has been used as evidence for asimilar situationindependently posited forOld Chinese).[18]Therùtones, however, are unusual in being distinct despite having lost their final stops; in addition, thevowel has lengthened,and the tone has become more complex than the other tones (though some speakers may simplify them to low falling or rising tones).[19]

Tone chart of Wenzhou dialect[20]
Tone number Tone name Tone contour
1 yīn píng ( âm bình ) ˧33
2 yáng píng ( dương bình ) ʱ˧˩31
3 yīn shǎng ( âm thượng ) ˧˥ʔ35
4 yáng shǎng ( dương thượng ) ʱ˨˦ʔ24
5 yīn qù ( âm khứ ) ˦˨42
6 yáng qù ( dương khứ ) ʱ˩11
7 yīn rù ( âm nhập ) ˧˨˧ː323
8 yáng rù ( dương nhập ) ʱ˨˩˨ː212

Theshǎngandrùtones are barely distinguishable apart from the voicing of the initial consonant, and so are phonetically closer to two tones than four. Chen (2000) summarizes the tones as M & ML (ping), MH (shǎng), HM & L (qu), and dipping (MLM,rù); not only are thepíngandqùpairs obviously distinct phonetically, but they behave as four different tones in the ways they undergotone sandhi.[clarification needed]

As inShanghainese,in Wenzhounese only some of the syllables of a phonological word carry tone. In Wenzhounese there may be three such syllables, with the tone of any subsequent (post-tonic) syllables determined by the last of these. In addition, there may be pre-tonic syllables (clitics), which take a low tone. However, in Wenzhounese only one tonic word may exist in aprosodic unit;all other words are reduced to low tone.

Tone sandhi

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Up to three tonic syllables may occur together, but the number of resulting tones is reduced bytone sandhi.Of the six phonetic tones, there are only fourteen lexical patterns created by two tonic syllables. With one exception, theshǎngandqùtones reduce to HM (yīn qù) before any other tone, and again with one exception, therùtone does not interact with a following tone. Theshǎngandrùtones change a preceding non-rùtone to HM, and are themselves never affected.

lexical
sandhi[20]		 2nd syllable
-M -ML -HM -L -MH -(M)LM
1st
syl-
a-
ble 		M- M.M L.L MLM.HM HM.MH HM.LM
ML- L.M
HM- HM.M HM.ML HM.L
L- HM.ML
MH-
(M)LM- (M)LM.M L.L (M)LM.HM (M)LM.L (M)LM.MH (M)LM.LM

(Sandhi that are exceptions to the generalizations above are in bold.)

With a compound word of three syllables, the patterns above apply to the last two. The antepenultimate tonic syllable takes only two possible tones, bydissimilation:low if the following syllable (in sandhi form) starts high (HM), high otherwise. So, for example, the unusually long compound noun "daily necessities" (lit., 'firewood-rice-oil-salt-sauce-vinegar-tea') has the underlying tones

|ML.MH.ML.ML.HM.HM.ML|

Per sandhi, the last two syllables become L.L. The antepenult then dissimilates to H, and all pre-tonic syllables become L, for:

/L.L.L.L.H.L.L/

At a phrasal level, these tones may separate, with a HM tone, for example, shifting to the beginning of a phrase. In the lexicalized phrase "radio receiver" ('wireless telephone tube'), the underlying tones are

|ML.HM.L.L.ML|

Per sandhi, the last two become HM.ML. There is no dissimilation, explained by this being grammatically a lexicalized phrase rather than a compound. The HM shifts forward, with intermediate syllables becoming M (the tone the HM leaves off at):

/HM.M.M.M.ML/

Although checked (MLM) syllables rarely change in compound words, they can change in phrases: "tall steel case" is underlyingly M.MLM.HM. The middle syllable shifts to HM, and sandhi operates on this *HM.HM sequence to produce HM.ML. The HM then shifts back, yielding /HM.M.ML/.

Such behaviour has been used to support arguments that contour tones in languages like Chinese are single units and they are independent of vowels or other segments.[21]

Grammar

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Morphology

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Wenzhou has a tonaldeicticmorpheme. To convey the sense of "this", theclassifierchanges its tone torù(dipping), and a voiced initial consonant is devoiced. For example, from/pa˧/'group' there is/pa˧˨˧/'this group', and from/le˧˩/'some (people)' there is/l̥e˧˨˧/'these (people)'.[21]

Syntax

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Like other Chinese dialects, Wenzhou dialect has mainlySVO languagestructure, but in some situations it can be SOV or OSV. SOV is commonly used with verb+suffix, the common suffixes are quá khứ khởi lạc lai lao đắc hoàn.

ex. Thư ( cấp ) cừ hoàn, ( cá ) bình thủy pai khứ

Romanization

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Main article:Wenzhounese romanisation

Reputation for eccentricity

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Wenzhounese is reputed to have been used during theSecond Sino-Japanese Warduring wartime communication viacode talkersand in theSino-Vietnamese Warfor programming militarycode.[22][23]There is a common rhymed saying in China that reflects this comprehension difficulty: "Fear not the Heavens, fear not the Earth, but fear the Wenzhou man speaking Wenzhounese" (ThiênBấtPhạ,ĐịaBấtPhạ,Tựu phạÔn châu nhânThuyếtÔn châu thoại).

Examples

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There are several sub-branches of Oujiang dialects, and some are not mutually intelligible with the Wenzhou city dialect and the Wencheng dialect, but neighboring dialects are often mutually intelligible. For example, there are 2 dialects spoken in Li'ao Village in theOuhai Districtof Wenzhou: one spoken in Baimen ( bạch môn ), where the local people have khương as their surname, and one spoken in Wangzhai ( vương trạch ), where local people have normally vương or hoàng as their surname. Their dialects are almost fully mutually intelligible, except for a few vocabulary items. An example would be the word for "garbage" ( lạp ngập ), which is/ʔlutsuu/in the Baimen dialect and/ʔladʒee/in the Wangzhai dialect.

Numbers in Oujiang Dialects

Dialect Nhất Lưỡng Tam Tứ Ngũ Lục Thất Bát Cửu Thập
Wenzhou ʔjɐi liɛ2 sa1 sɨ3 ŋ2 ləɯ tsʰɐi pʊ tɕɐɯ2 zɐi
Rui'an ʔja la2 sɔ1 sɨ3 ŋ2 ləɯ tsʰa pʊ tɕɐɯ2 za

(The long vowels transcribe the lengthenedrutone.)

Literature in Wenzhounese

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A translation of part of theNew Testament,specifically thefour gospelsand the book ofActs,was published in 1894 under the title "Chaò-Chḯ Yi-sû Chī-tuh Sang Iah Sing Shī: Sz̀ fuh-iang tà sź-du 'ae-djüe fa üe-tsiu t'û¹-'ò",with the entire book in Romanized Wenzhou dialect.[24]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^"Native Speakers Chart".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-05-13 – via sinolect.org.
  2. ^"Wēnzhōuhuà dàodǐ yǒu duō nàn dǒng? Lián" FBI "dōu méi fǎ pòyì"Ôn châu thoại đáo để hữu đa nan đổng? Liên "FBI" đô một pháp phá dịch.Sōuhú xīnwénSưu hồ tân văn(in Chinese). 2015-08-17.Retrieved6 September2017.
  3. ^"Zuì nán dǒng shí dà fāngyán páiháng bǎng Wēnzhōuhuà pái dì-yī Dōngběihuà diàndǐ"Tối nan đổng thập đại phương ngôn bài hành bảng ôn châu thoại bài đệ nhất đông bắc thoại điếm để.Rénmín wǎngNhân dân võng(in Chinese). 2013-12-13.Retrieved6 September2017.
  4. ^"Culture and Demographics".Wenzhou Municipal People's Government Official Web Portal.2013-05-29.Retrieved2019-01-20.
  5. ^Châu tam giác nhiệt thoại.Wúxiàn xīnwén(in Cantonese). 2013-12-15.
  6. ^Lin, Jingxia (2021). "Typological Shift in Lexicalizing Motion Events: The Case of Wenzhou".Linguistic Typology.25(1): 1–38.doi:10.1515/lingty-2020-5002.hdl:10356/148947.S2CID219072573.
  7. ^Norman, Jerry (1988).Chinese.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 199.ISBN0-521-22809-3.
  8. ^Pan, Wuyun(1991). "An Introduction to the Wu Dialects". In Wang, William S.-Y. (ed.).Languages and Dialects of China.Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series, No. 33. Chinese University Press. pp. 235–291.JSTOR23827040.
  9. ^Cao, Jianfen; Maddieson, Ian (1992)."An Exploration of Phonation Types in Wu Dialects of Chinese".Journal of Phonetics.20(1): 82.doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30255-4.
  10. ^Zhao, Xiaojian(2010).The New Chinese America: Class, Economy, and Social Hierarchy.New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. p. 103.ISBN978-0-8135-4691-9.
  11. ^"WenZhounese in New York".WenZhounese.info.Retrieved2010-10-01.
  12. ^"Wenzhounese in NYC".Facebook.Retrieved2010-09-30.
  13. ^Dinh, Hinh T.; Rawski, Thomas G.; Zafar, Ali; Wang, Lihong; Mavroeidi, Eleonora (September 2013).Tales from the Development Frontier: How China and Other Countries Harness Light Manufacturing to Create Jobs and Prosperity.Washington, DC: World Bank.doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9988-0.hdl:10986/15763.ISBN978-0-8213-9988-0.
  14. ^Paciocco, Adua (2018). "Performing Chinese Diasporic Identity through Mandarin: The Case of Italian-Schooled Chinese Migrant Youth in Prato (Italy)".Journal of Language, Identity & Education.17(4): 207–221.doi:10.1080/15348458.2018.1437348.S2CID149952501.
  15. ^Deng, Grazia Ting; Xiao, Allen Hai (2016). "Aspiring to Motility: Chinese Petty Entrepreneurs in Italy". In Sagiyama, Ikuko; Pedone, Valentina (eds.).Transcending Borders: Selected Papers in East Asian Studies(PDF).Firenze: Firenze University Press. pp. 3–25. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 9, 2021.
  16. ^Denison, Tom; Arunachalam, Dharmalingam; Johanson, Graeme; Smyth, Russell (2009). "The Chinese Community in Prato". In Johanson, G.; Smyth, R.; French, R. (eds.).Living Outside the Walls: The Chinese in Prato.Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 2–24.ISBN978-1-4438-0356-4.
  17. ^abShen, Kecheng thẩm khắc thành; Shen, Jia thẩm già (2009).Wēnzhōuhuà cíyǔ kǎoshìÔn châu thoại từ ngữ khảo thích(in Chinese). Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe. pp. 758–760.
  18. ^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.JSTOR2718766.
  19. ^Rose, Phil (2008). "17. Oujiang Wu tones and acoustic reconstruction". In Bowern, Claire; Evans, Bethwyn; Miceli, Luisa (eds.).Morphology and Language History: In Honour of Harold Koch.Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. Vol. 298. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. p. 237.doi:10.1075/cilt.298.21ros.ISBN978-90-272-4814-5.
  20. ^abChen, Matthew Y. (2000).Tone Sandhi: Patterns Across Chinese Dialects.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 476.
  21. ^abBao, Zhiming (1999).The Structure of Tone.New York: Oxford University Press. p. 119.ISBN0-19-511880-4.
  22. ^"Wǎngyǒu zǒngjié zuì nán dǒng fāngyán: Wēnzhōuhuà ràng dí jūn qiètīng yě tīng bù dǒng"Võng hữu tổng kết tối nan đổng phương ngôn: Ôn châu thoại nhượng địch quân thiết thính dã thính bất đổng.Wǎngyì xīnwénVõng dịch tân văn(in Simplified Chinese). Archived fromthe originalon 2018-12-10.Retrieved2019-01-20.
  23. ^Quan vu việt nam chiến tranh kỳ gian trung phương sử dụng đích mật mã ngữ ngôn, hữu nhất thuyết nhận vi tịnh bất thị ôn châu thoại, nhi thị lai tự ôn châu thương nam huyện ( đương thời nhưng chúc bình dương huyện ) tiền khố nhất đái đích man thoại, tham kiếnPhóng kim tầm cổ chi tam: Phác sóc mê ly thuyết man thoại[permanent dead link],Thương nam quảng điện võng(in Chinese)
  24. ^Chaò-Chḯ Yi-sû Chī-tuh Sang Iah Sing Shī: Sz̀ fuh-iang tà sź-du 'ae-djüe fa üe-tsiu t'û¹-'ò.Dà-ìang sing-shï whaỳi yiáng-ge. 1894. p. 564.(in Wenzhounese).

General sources

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  • Qian Nairong(1992).Dāngdài Wúyǔ yánjiū.(Contemporary Wu linguistics studies). Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe. ( tiền nãi vinh. 1992. Đương đại ngô ngữ nghiên cứu. Thượng hải giáo dục xuất bản xã )ISBN7-5320-2355-9
  • Shen, Kecheng (2009).Wēnzhōuhuà cíyǔ kǎoshì.Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe. ( ninh ba: Ninh ba xuất bản xã, 2009.)
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