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Wenchang dialect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wenchang
文昌话
Native toSouthern China
RegionWenchang, Hainan
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3
GlottologNone
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The Wenchang dialect (simplified Chinese: 文昌话; traditional Chinese: 文昌話; pinyin: Wénchānghuà) is a dialect of Hainanese spoken in Wenchang, a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan, an island province in southern China.

It is considered the prestige form of Hainanese, and is used by the provincial broadcasting media.

Phonology

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The initials of the Wenchang dialect are as follows:[4]

Wenchang dialect initials
Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop / Affricate voiceless t k ʔ
voiced implosive ɓ ɗ
voiced b d g
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative voiceless ɸ s ɕ h
voiced (w) (j) ɦ
Lateral l

The semivowels [w] and [j] are in complementary distribution with [ɦ], and may be treated as allophones of the same phoneme.[5] The voiced stops /d/ and /g/ occur with only about ten words each.[6]

There are five vowels, /i/, /u/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/ and /a/.[7] The high vowels /i/ and /u/ may also occur as medials.[8]

The possible finals are:[9]

Wenchang dialect finals
Vocalic codas Nasal codas Stop codas
a 阿 ai 爱 au 后 am 暗 an 安 aŋ 红 ap 盒 at 达 ak 北
ɛ 下 ei 事 eiŋ 英 eik 益
i 皮 iu 手 in 新 ip 邑 it 必
ia 写 iau 妖 iam 念 iɛn 联 iaŋ 谁 iap 狭 iɛt 捏 iak 菊
iɔ 笑 iom 心 iɔŋ 用 iop 涩 iɔk 育
ɔ 歌 ɔi 鞋 ou 侯 ɔm 栾 ɔn 春 ɔŋ 公 ɔp 合 ɔt 黜 ɔk 乐
u 有 ui 气 un 轮 ut 脫
ua 娃 uai 快 uan 湾 uaŋ 广 uat 挖 uak 廓
ue 话
m̩ 毋 ŋ̍ 嗯

The Wenchang dialect has six tones on isolated syllabes:[10]

Wenchang dialect tones
Middle Chinese tone
level (píng 平) rising (shàng 上) departing ( 去) entering ( 入)
upper (yīn 阴) 44 21ʔ 11 51ʔ
lower (yáng 阳) 33 42ʔ

Notes

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  1. ^ Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[1][2][3]

References

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  1. ^ 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, JSTOR 2718766
  2. ^ Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984), Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p. 3, ISBN 978-0-7748-0192-8
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Glottolog 4.8 - Min". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. ^ Woon (1979a), pp. 66–70.
  5. ^ Woon (1979a), p. 70.
  6. ^ Woon (1979a), pp. 69, 70.
  7. ^ Woon (1979a), p. 73.
  8. ^ Woon (1979a), pp. 74–75.
  9. ^ Woon (1979a), pp. 71–75.
  10. ^ Woon (1979a), pp. 75–81.

Sources

[edit]
  • Woon, Wee-Lee (1979a), "A synchronic phonology of Hainan dialect: Part I", Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 7 (1): 65–100, JSTOR 23753034.
  • Woon, Wee-Lee (1979b), "A synchronic phonology of Hainan dialect: Part II", Journal of Chinese Linguistics, 7 (2): 268–302, JSTOR 23752923.