Wenchang
文昌话
Native toSouthern China
RegionWenchang, Hainan
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
Linguasphere79-AAA-kd > 79-AAA-kdb

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

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

Wenchang dialect initials
BilabialDentalPalatalVelarGlottal
Stop / Affricate voiceless ttɕkʔ
voiced implosive ɓɗ
voiced bddʑg
Nasal mnŋ
Fricative voiceless ɸsɕh
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 (qù 去) entering (rù 入)
upper (yīn 阴) 4421ʔ1151ʔ
lower (yáng 阳) 3342ʔ

Notes

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

References

  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

  • 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.
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