Weihai is a Jiao-Liao

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

of Mandarin spoken in and around the city of

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popul ...

, in eastern

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

province.

Language Variation

There are observable differences in how the dialect is spoken by younger and older generations. This is primarily due to the differences in education. The younger generation was and is educated in standard Mandarin, while the older generation is "hardly educated" due to the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

Phonology

Like other Sino-Tibetan languages and dialects, Weihai is tonal.

Tones

Mandarin, and most dialects of Mandarin, has

four tones This article summarizes the phonology (the sound system, or in more general terms, the pronunciation) of Standard Chinese (Standard Mandarin). Standard Chinese phonology is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. Actual production varies w ...

. In Weihai, it is unclear if the tonal inventory matches standard Mandarin exactly or if the second tone follows the same pitch contour as the first tone (35, rising). The first tone in Weihai may also follow a 31 (low falling) contour rather than a 35 (rising) contour. Dang and Fulop have found that high onset tones correlate to shorter stop releases.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weihai Dialect Mandarin Chinese Weihai