Kunshan dialect
| Kunshanese | |
|---|---|
| 崑山閒話 / 昆山闲话 khuen-sae ghae-gho | |
| Pronunciation | [kʰuən˥ sɛ˥˨ ɦɛ˩˧ ɦo˨˩] |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Kunshan county |
| Ethnicity | Wu Chinese-speaking people |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Chinese characters | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| ISO 639-6 | suji |
| Linguasphere | > 79-AAA-dbb > |
The Kunshan dialect, or Kunshanese, is the Chinese variety traditionally spoken in the county of Kunshan, Suzhou prefecture.[1][2] It is classified as a Northern Wu variety closely related to nearby Suzhounese and Shanghainese.[1][3] Like other Northern Wu varieties, it has a large phonemic vowel inventory and voiced initials as described in the Qieyun System.
As a Northern Wu variety, Kunshanese is mutually intelligible with other Northern Wu varieties, as well as Taizhounese,[4] but not with more distantly related lects such as Cantonese, Standard Mandarin, or even Wenzhounese, another Wu Chinese variety. Note that Kunshan Opera is not performed in Kunshanese, unlike that of nearby Shaoxing; Zhongzhouyun, a Mandarinic rime system, is used instead.
Phonology
Initials
The /ɦ/ and null initials are often realised similarly, especially in flowing speech.[7] /h/ is at times written as /x/.[5]
Voiced initials only appear with light tone categories, whereas voiceless ones only appear with dark tones.
Finals
| Medial | Nucleus | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ∅ | a | ɔ | o | ɛ | ei | ø | ã | ən | oŋ | aʔ | oʔ | əʔ | syllabic consonant | ||
| ∅ | ɿ, ʮ | a | ɔ | o | ɛ | ei | ø | ã | ən | oŋ | aʔ | oʔ | əʔ | əl | |
| i | i | ia | iɔ | ɪ | iã | in | ioŋ | iaʔ | iɪʔ | m | |||||
| u | u, əu | ua | uɛ | uei | uø | uã | uən | uaʔ | uoʔ | n | |||||
| y | y | yø | yn | yoʔ | yəʔ | ||||||||||
Narrower features are as follows:[9][10]
- /i/ is often fricated, like in Suzhounese. In other words, there is a sibilance-like "hissing" quality when /i/ is pronounced.
- /u/ is slightly fronted and may also be labialised into [f̩] or [v̩] depending on the initial.
- /o/ is often very raised ([o̝]).
- /ɛ/ is often centralised to [e̞].
- /ø/ nuclei are at times slightly backed and approach [ɤ].
- A nasal coda may be heard after an /ã/ nucleus.
- /iɪʔ/ may be realised as [iəʔ] when following alveolo-palatal, velar, or glottal initials.
Tones
Kunshanese has seven citation tones and a complex tone sandhi system.
| Tone number | Wugniu Tone | Tone name | Tone letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | yin ping (陰平) | ˥ (55) |
| 2 | 2 | yang ping (陽平) | ˩˧ (13) |
| 3 | 3 | shang (陰上) | ˥˨ (52) |
| 4 | 5 | yin qu (陰去) | ˦˩˨ (412) |
| 5 | 6 | yang qu (陽去) | ˨˩˧ (213) |
| 6 | 7 | yin ru (陰入) | ˥ʔ (5) |
| 7 | 8 | yang ru (陽入) | ˨˧ʔ (23) |
References
Citations
- ^ a b Che (2005), pp. 1.
- ^ Wu (2006), pp. 1.
- ^ Wang (2011), pp. 4.
- ^ Ruan (2010), pp. 17.
- ^ a b Che (2005), pp. 2.
- ^ a b Wu (2006), pp. 5.
- ^ Wang (2011), pp. 9.
- ^ Che (2005), pp. 2–3.
- ^ Che (2005), pp. 3.
- ^ Wu (2006), pp. 6.
Works cited
- Che, Yuqian (2005). 昆山方言研究 [A Study on the Kunshan Dialect] (Thesis) (in Simplified Chinese). Soochow University.
- Wu, Linjuan (2006). 昆山方言研究 [The Research about Kunshan Dialect] (Thesis) (in Simplified Chinese). Northwestern Normal University.
- Wang, Yingxin (2011). 昆山方言语音研究 [A Study on the Kunshan Dialect] (Thesis) (in Simplified Chinese). Nanjing University.
- Ruan, Yongmei (2010). "台州方言在吴语中的内外关系". Journal of Ningbo University (Liberal Arts Edition) (in Simplified Chinese). 23 (1).