Wiktionary:About Chinese/Wenzhounese
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Wenzhounese is a variety of Wu Chinese, spoken by about 5 million people. It is native to Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang, China. Wenzhounese is one of the most divergent modern varieties of Chinese with more than a million speakers, and has been dubbed the "Devil's Tongue" for its unintelligibility, even with Wu dialects in adjacent areas. This page describes the dialect spoken in the urban area of Wenzhou, specifically in Lucheng District.
Initials and finals
| WT Romanisation | Wu-Chinese MiniDict | Shen | Wugniu | Voiced? | IPA | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | b | p | no | 巴布扮 | |
| ph | ph | p | ph | no | 怕品匹 | |
| b | b | bb | b | yes | 皮別般 / 皮别般 | |
| m | m | m | m | yes | 毛網襪 / 毛网袜 (máo wǎng wà) | |
| 'm | 'm | - | m | no | 媽貓咪 / 妈猫咪 | |
| f | f | f | f | no | 分肺火 | |
| v | v | v | v | yes | 文未(文)河 | |
| - | v | - | - | no | 屋溫(白)歪 / 屋温(白)歪 | |
| t | t | d | t | no | 到斗短 | |
| th | th | t | th | no | 太鐵攤 / 太铁摊 | |
| d | d | dd | d | yes | 道奪同 / 道夺同 | |
| n | n | n | n | yes | 惱南捺 / 恼南捺 | |
| 'n | 'n | - | n | no | 奶哪冇 | |
| l | l | l | l | yes | 勞輪力 / 劳轮力 | |
| 'l | 'l | - | l | no | 拉了溜 | |
| ts | ts | z | ts | no | 走莊雞 / 走庄鸡 (zǒu zhuāng jī) | |
| tsh | tsh | c | tsh | no | 親炒溪 / 亲炒溪 | |
| dz | dz | zz | dz | yes | 殘(文)住忌 / 残(文)住忌 | |
| s | s | s | s | no | 色山希 | |
| z | z | ss | z | yes | 字樹石 / 字树石 | |
| j | c | j | c | no | 酒堅種 / 酒坚种 | |
| q | ch | q | ch | no | 丘千觸 / 丘千触 | |
| jj | j | jj | j | yes | 橋求丈 / 桥求丈 (qiáo qiú zhàng) | |
| ny | ny | ny | gn | yes | 泥讓玉 / 泥让玉 | |
| 'ny | 'ny | - | gn | no | 蟯粘扭 / 蛲粘扭 | |
| x | sh | x | sh | no | 笑血收 | |
| y | y | y | y | yes | 移床柔 (yí chuáng róu) | |
| k | k | g | k | no | 高幾(白)降 / 高几(白)降 | |
| kh | kh | k | kh | no | 口去(白)恰 | |
| g | g | gg | g | yes | 茄擱(白)厚(白) / 茄搁(白)厚(白) | |
| ng | ng | ng | ng | yes | 俄牙額 / 俄牙额 | |
| 'ng | 'ng | - | ng | no | 唔耳眼 | |
| h | h | h | h | no | 海風瞎 / 海风瞎 | |
| gh | gh | hh | gh | yes | 孩奉旺 (hái fèng wàng) | |
| ' | ' | - | - | no | 歐衣汪勇 / 欧衣汪勇 |
| WT Romanisation | Wu-Chinese MiniDict | Shen | Wugniu | IPA | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | y | ii | y | 資事雞吃 / 资事鸡吃 | ||
| i | i | i | i | 衣千切匹 | ||
| u | u | u | u | 普河火 (pǔ hé huǒ) | ||
| y | iu | v | iu | 女全乾 / 女全干 | ||
| a | a | a | a | 媽反閒獲 / 妈反闲获 | ||
| ia | ia | ia | ia | 丫(文)曉腳 / 丫(文)晓脚 | ||
| ua | va | ua | ua | 彎挖 / 弯挖 (wān wā) | seems to be 'v + a in Wu-Chinese | |
| ae | ae | ae | ae | 行杏 | ||
| iae | iae | ie | iae | 標生略 / 标生略 | ||
| uiae | viae | uie | - | 奣 (wěng) | seems to be 'v + iae in Wu-Chinese | |
| e | e | ee | e | 開來賽黑 / 开来赛黑 | ||
| eu | eo | e | eo | 刀保浮(文)剖 | ||
| oe | oe | oe | oe | 半暖寸突 | ||
| uao | uao | uo | uao | 包咬光浪 | ||
| yao | iuao | uo | iuao | 恭窗種用 / 恭窗种用 | (n)y + iuao → (n)yuao | |
| o | o | o | o | 巴沙化昨 | ||
| yo | io | vo | iuo | 足曲浴 | (n)y + io → (n)yo | |
| ai | ai | ai | ai | 杯灰北十 | ||
| iai | iai | iai | iai | 吃吸翼 | (n)y + iai → (n)yai | |
| uai | vai | uai | vai | 威(白)煨 | seems to be 'v + ai in Wu-Chinese and Wugniu | |
| ei | ei | - | ei | 比體謝力 / 比体谢力 | ||
| au | au | au | au | 斗口牛 | ||
| iau | iau | iau | iau | 扭久優 / 扭久优 (niǔ jiǔ yōu) | (n)y + iau → (n)yau | |
| ou | ou | eu | ou | 拖(文)羅初毒 / 拖(文)罗初毒 | ||
| iou | iou | ieeu? | ou | 就周竹 (jiù zhōu zhú) | (n)y + iou → (n)you; merged into ɤu in Wugniu | |
| oey | eu | û | eu | 布磨類魚 / 布磨类鱼 | ||
| an | an | ang | an | 枕本燈含(白) / 枕本灯含(白) | ||
| ian | ian | iang | ian | 琴巾寧興 / 琴巾宁兴 | (n)y + ian → (n)yan | |
| uan | van | uang | van | 溫(白) / 温(白) | seems to be 'v + an in Wu-Chinese and Wugniu | |
| en | en | eng | en | 兵丁星程 | ||
| on | on | ong | on | 東風翁 / 东风翁 | ||
| yon | ion | vong | ion | 兄中寵順 / 兄中宠顺 | (n)y + ion → (n)yon | |
| mm | m | m | - | 姆嘸 / 姆呒 | rime not found in Wugniu | |
| nn | n | n | n | 唔 | ||
| ngg | ng | ng | ng | 兒吳鵝 / 儿吴鹅 |
Tones
Tones for single syllables
There are eight tones organized into four groups of two tones. In each group, the voicing of the initial consonant determines the tone: voiceless consonants are dark and voiced consonants are light.
| Tone number | Tone name | Tone value | Example characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | dark level 陰平 |
˧˧ 33 | 高山翻飛 / 高山翻飞 (gāo shān fān fēi) |
| light level 陽平 |
˧˩ 31 | 平凡綿連 / 平凡绵连 | |
| 2 | dark rising 陰上 |
˦˥ʔ 45 | 高山翻飛 / 高山翻飞 (gāo shān fān fēi) |
| light rising 陽上 |
˧˦ʔ 34 | 平凡綿連 / 平凡绵连 | |
| 3 | dark departing 陰去 |
˦˨ 42 | 高山翻飛 / 高山翻飞 (gāo shān fān fēi) |
| light departing 陽去 |
˩˩ 11 | 平凡綿連 / 平凡绵连 | |
| 4 | dark entering 陰入 |
˧˩˧ 313 | 高山翻飛 / 高山翻飞 (gāo shān fān fēi) |
| light entering 陽入 |
˨˩˨ 212 | 平凡綿連 / 平凡绵连 |
Tone sandhi
Tone sandhi rules in the Wenzhou dialect are complex.
The table below shows the two-syllable tonal sandhi rules; the cells indicate the tone of the two syllables after tone sandhi. A is the dark tone and B is the light tone.
The table is mainly based on 《溫州方言詞典》. Differences in 《温州方言志》 from 《溫州方言詞典》 are noted in parentheses.
| 1st \ 2nd | 1A ˧˧ |
1B ˧˩ |
2 ˦˥ʔ |
3A ˦˨ |
3B ˩˩ |
4 ˧˩˧ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ˩˩ ˧˧ 11-33 |
˩˩ ˩˧ 11-13 (11-12) |
˥˧ʔ ˦˥ʔ 53-45 (43-34) |
˩˧ ˥˧ʔ 13-53 (11-53) |
˥˧ʔ ˩˧ 53-13 (34-13) | |
| 2 | ˦˨ ˧˧ 42-33 |
˦˨ ˩ 42-1 (42-21) |
˦˨ ˩ 42-1 (42-21) |
˦˨ ˩˩ 42-11 (43-11) | ||
| 3A | ˩˩ ˩˧ 11-13 (11-12) | |||||
| 3B | ˦˨ ˩ 42-1 (42-21) | |||||
| 4 | ˩ ˧˧ 1-33 |
˩˩ ˩˧ 11-13 (11-12) |
˩ ˦˥ʔ 1-45 (1-34) |
˩ ˦˨ 1-42 |
˩ ˩˩ 1-11 |
˩ ˩˧ 1-13 (1-212) |
Examples
Dark level first syllable
| 先生 - ɕi33-11 siɛ33 | 豬油 - tsei33-11 jiau31-13 | 瓜子 - ko33-53 tsẓ35 | 蝦米 - ho33-53 mei24-35 |
| 注意 - siɛ33-13 i43-53 | 公事 koŋ33-13 zz̩11-53 | 資格 - tsẓ33-53 ka313-13 | 桑葉 - suɔ33-53 ji212-13 |
Light level first syllable
| 棉花 - mi31-11 ho33 | 黃魚 ɦuɔ31-11 ŋøy31-13 | 鞋底 - ɦa31-53 tei35 | 朋友 - boŋ31-53 jiau24-35 |
| 長凳 - d͡ʑi31-13 taŋ42-53 | 和尚 - vu31-13 ji11-53 | 頭髮 - dɤu31-53 ho313-13 | 茶葉 - dzo31-53 ji212-13 |
Dark rising first syllable
| 點心 - ti35-42 saŋ33 | 水牛 - sz̩35-42 ŋau33-1 | 手錶 - ɕieu35-53 piɛ35 | 早稻 - t͡sə35-53 də24-35 |
| 小氣 - ɕiɛ35-42 t͡sʰ42-1 | 子彈 - t͡s35-42 da11 | 粉筆 - faŋ35-53 pi313-13 | 火藥 - fu35-53 jia212 |
Light rising first syllable
- 被單 - bei35-42 ta33
Dark falling first syllable
- 桂花 - tɕy42 ho3
Light falling first syllable
- 地方 - dei11-42 huɔ33
Dark checked first syllable
- 鐵絲 - tʰi313-11 sz̩33
Light checked first syllable
- 月光 - ʔn̠ʲy212-1 kuɔ33
Resources
- For checking the pronunciation of characters: Wu Chinese MiniDict (has rather limited Wenzhounese coverage)
- http://www.fyan8.com/wzh.htm
- 《温州词典》（1995）
- Introduction to the Wênchow Dialect, Montgomery, P. H. S., Kelly & Walsh Limited (1893)
- 盛金标．《永嘉方言志》（2016） (Google Books)
- 沈克成、沈迦．《温州话》．宁波出版社，2006． →ISBN. Length, 546 pages