Huizhou Chinese (), or the Hui dialect (), is a group of closely related
Sinitic languages spoken over a small area in and around the historical region of
Huizhou (for which it is named), in about ten or so mountainous
counties in southern
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...
, plus a few more in neighbouring
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
and
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
.
Although the Hui area is small compared with other Chinese dialect groups, it displays a very high degree of internal variation. Nearly every county has its own distinct dialect unintelligible to a speaker from a few counties away. For this reason, bilingualism and multilingualism are common among speakers of Hui. It is estimated that there are around 4.6 million speakers of Huizhou varieties.
Classification
Huizhou Chinese was originally classified as
Lower Yangtze Mandarin
Lower Yangtze Mandarin () is one of the most divergent and least mutually-intelligible of the Mandarin languages, as it neighbours the Wu, Hui, and Gan groups of Sinitic languages. It is also known as Jiang–Huai Mandarin (), named after ...
but it is currently classified separately from it.
The
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences supported the separation of Huizhou from Lower Yangtze Mandarin in 1987. Its classification is disputed, with some linguists such as Matisoff classifying it as
Wu Chinese
The Wu languages (; Wu romanization and IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] ( Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zhejiang Provin ...
, others such as Bradley (2007) as
Gan, and still others setting it apart as a primary branch of Chinese.
History
During the
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...
and
Qing dynasties,
Jianghuai speakers moved into Hui dialect areas.
Some works of literature produced in
Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, ...
, such as ''Qingfengzha'', a novel, contain Jianghuai Mandarin. People in Yangzhou identified by the dialect they speak, locals spoke the dialect, as opposed to sojourners, who spoke other varieties like Huizhou or
Wu. This led to the formation of identity based on one's dialect. Large numbers of merchants from Huizhou lived in Yangzhou and effectively were responsible for keeping the town afloat. Merchants in the later imperial period also sponsored operas and performances in the Hui dialect.
Languages and dialects
Zhengzhang Shangfang divided the Hui languages into five subgroups, which are also used in the ''
Language Atlas of China'':
;Ji–She
:spoken in
Jixi,
She County,
Huizhou,
Jingde (Hongchuan area in the west), and
Ningguo (Hongmen area in the south),
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...
province, as well as
Chun'an (Tangcun in the west, etc.),
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
province.
:carries notable
Wu influence.
Jixihua is the main Ji-She variety.
;Xiu–Yi
:spoken in
Tunxi,
Taiping (Guocun in the southwest),
Xiuning,
Yi County, and
Qimen
Qimen County (; alternately romanized as Keemun) is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi Province to the southwest. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of ...
(around Fufeng in the southeast), as well as
Wuyuan,
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
province.
:
Tunxihua is the main Xiu-Yi variety.
;Qi–De
:spoken in
Qimen
Qimen County (; alternately romanized as Keemun) is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi Province to the southwest. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of ...
and
Dongzhi (partially),
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...
province, as well as
Fuliang,
Dexing, and
Wuyuan,
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
province.
:greatly influenced by the surrounding
Gan languages.
;Yanzhou
:spoken in
Chun'an and
Jiande (formerly
Yanzhou Prefecture),
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...
province.
:heavily influenced by
Wu.
;Jing–Zhan
:spoken in
Jingde,
Qimen
Qimen County (; alternately romanized as Keemun) is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi Province to the southwest. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of ...
(in and around Anling, Chengan, and Chiling),
Shitai (Zhanda area),
Yi County (Meixi, Kecun, and other northern towns), and
Ningguo,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...
province.
:forms a thin corridor along the northern edge of the Hui group, carrying influence from
Xuanzhou Wu.
Huizhou varieties differ from township to township.
People in different townships, towns, etc. (even in one county) often cannot speak with one another.
Features
Phonologically speaking, Hui is noted for its massive loss of
syllable coda
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological " ...
s, including -i, -u, and
nasal
Nasal is an adjective referring to the nose, part of human or animal anatomy. It may also be shorthand for the following uses in combination:
* With reference to the human nose:
** Nasal administration, a method of pharmaceutical drug delivery
* ...
s:
Many Hui dialects have
diphthong
A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech ...
s with a
higher lengthened first part. For example, ("speech") is in
Xiuning County (Standard Chinese ), ("yard") is in
Xiuning County (Standard Chinese ); ("knot") is in
Yi County (Standard Chinese ), ("agreement") is in
Yi County (Standard Chinese ). A few areas take this to extremes. For example, Likou in
Qimen County has for ("rice") (Standard Chinese ), with the appearing directly as a result of the lengthened,
nasalized .
Because nasal codas have mostly been lost, Hui reuses the ending as a
diminutive
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...
. For example, in the
Tunxi dialect, "rope" appears as from + .
References
External links
Classification of Hui Dialects
{{Chinese language
Varieties of Chinese
Languages of China