The Danzhou dialect (), locally known as Xianghua (), is a Chinese variety of uncertain affiliation spoken in the area of Danzhou in northwestern

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

, China. It was classified as Yue in the ''

Language Atlas of China The ''Language Atlas of China'' ( zh, s=中国语言地图集, t=中國語言地圖集, p=Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí), published by Hong Kong Longman Publishing Company in two parts in 1987 and 1989, maps the distribution of both the varietie ...

'', but in more recent work, it is treated as an unclassified southern variety.

History

The Danzhou people's ancestors came initially from old Gaozhou and Wuzhou prefectures. The Yue language they brought with them was combined with the native popular language, and by the time of the Tang Dynasty, the Danzhou dialect was officially formed.

Varieties

Regional varieties are Bei'an 北岸音, Shuinan 水南音, Zhoujia 昼家音, Shanshang 山上音, Haitou 海头音, and Wuhu 五湖音.

Distribution

The Danzhou dialect is spoken in the following areas of Hainan (Hainan 1994:253).Hainan Gazetteer Committee 海南省地方史志办公室编. 1994. ''Hainan dialect gazetteer'' 海南省志第二卷人口志: 方言志宗教志. Haikou: Hainan Publishing Company 海南出版公司. *most of Danzhou 儋州市 except for the southeastern part of Danzhou * Changjiang Li Autonomous County 昌江县 (northern coast) **Nanluo 南罗 and Haiwei 海尾 area **Xiyuan 西缘, Shiluo Town 石碌镇, Changjiang city *northern Baisha Li Autonomous County 白沙县 (in just over 10 villages near the border with Danzhou) *peripheral villages of Dongfang 东方市, Ledong 乐东, Qiongzhong 琼中, and

Sanya Sanya; Chinese postal romanization, also spelled Samah is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan, Hainan Province in Southeast China, South China. According to the Sixth National Populati ...

三亚

References

Languages of Hainan Varieties of Chinese {{St-lang-stub

History

Varieties

Distribution

See also

References