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Siyi Yue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Siyi
Seiyap, Sze Yup
Native toGuangdong,China;Sze Yup Chinese communities inHong Kong,Southeast Asiaand theAmericas.
RegionSze Yup
Native speakers
3.9 million (2010)[citation needed]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3None(mis)
ISO 639-6siiy
Glottologsiyi1236
Linguasphere77-AAA-mb
Siyi (lower right), among other Yue andPinghuagroups in Guangxi and Guangdong
Chinese name
ChineseBốn ấp phương ngôn
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSìyì fāngyán
Bopomofoㄙˋ ㄧˋ ㄈㄤ ㄧㄢˊ
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsei3 jap1 fong1 jin4
other Yue
Taishaneseɬi˧jip˥foŋ˧ŋun˨
Alternative Chinese name
ChineseBốn ấp lời nói
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSìyìhuà
Bopomofoㄙˋ ㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsei3 jap1 waa2
other Yue
Taishaneseɬi˧jip˥va˧˨˥
A speaker of Siyi Yue, recorded inChina.

Siyi(SeiyaporSze Yupin Cantonese;Chinese:Bốn ấp phương ngôn;pinyin:Sìyì fāngyán;Jyutping:sei3 jap1 fong1 jin4meaning "Four Hamlets" ) is a coastal branch ofYue Chinesespoken mainly inGuangdongprovince, but is also used in overseas Chinese communities. Within the province, it is mainly spoken in theprefecture-level cityofJiangmen,but pockets exist outside Jiangmen, including theDoumenandJinwandistricts inZhuhai,GuzheninZhongshanandJun'aninFoshan.Taishanese,which was one of the most important Chinese dialects inChinese Americancommunities, is considered a representative dialect.

Etymology

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The name "Sze Yup"or" Seiyap "(Chinese:Bốn ấp;pinyin:Sìyì;Cantonese Yale:sei yāp;lit.'Four Counties') refers to the historical four counties of Jiangmen prefecture:Xinhui,Taishan,EnpingandKaiping.

Since a fifth county,Heshan,was added to the prefecture in 1983, this region is referred to as the "Five Counties" (Chinese:Năm ấp;pinyin:Wǔyì;Cantonese Yale:nǵh yāp) in the province; but for historical reasons, the term "Seiyap" is still used amongst the overseas Chinese communities.

It has also been calledDelta Cantonese[1]because all the aforementioned counties are in thePearl River Delta.

Geographic distribution

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The Siyi dialect is mainly distributed along thedrainage basinof the Tan river (Chinese:Đàm giang), as well as part of the region west of the main stream of theXi River,near to the confluence of the two rivers. Most of the region in which Siyi is spoken is administered by the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen, including theJiangmen city districtsofJianghai,Peng gian gand Xinhui, as well as thecounty-level citiesofTaishan,Kaiping,Enpingand the southeastern part ofHeshan,but the dialect is also spoken in parts ofZhuhai,the town of Guzhen inZhongshanand the town of Jun'an inFoshan.In terms of geographic extremes, Siyi is spoken furthest north in Yayao ( nhã dao ), Heshan; furthest south inXiachuan Island,Taishan; furthest east in Hongqi ( hồng kỳ ), Zhuhai; and furthest west in Naji ( kia cát ), Enping. The total geographic area of the region is approximately 9000 square kilometers and the total number of speakers is estimated at 3.9 million in 2010.

References

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  1. ^Luk, Bernard H. K. "The Chinese Communities of Toronto: Their Languages and Mass Media." In:The Chinese in Ontario.Polyphony: The Bulletin of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario. Volume 15, 2000. Start p.46.CITED: p.47(Archive).

Further reading

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  • Cheng, Theresa M. (1973). "The phonology of Taishan".Journal of Chinese Linguistics.1:256–322.
  • Lee, Gina (1993).Comparative, Diachronic and Experimental Perspectives on the Interaction Between Tone and the Vowel in Standard Cantonese(PDF)(Ph.D. thesis). Ohio State University.
  • McCoy, John (1966).Szeyap Data for a First Approximation of Proto-Cantonese(Ph.D. thesis). Cornell University.