The Hailu dialect (; Hailu Hakka Romanization System: hoi´ liug` kiong`), also known as the Hoiluk dialect or Hailu Hakka (), is a dialect of

Hakka Chinese Hakka ( zh, c=, p=Kèjiāhuà; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '', zh, c=, p=Kèjiāyǔ; '' Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: '') forms a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people in parts of Southern China, Taiwan, some diaspora areas ...

that originated in

Shanwei Shanwei ( zh, c= ), or Swabue, or also commonly known as Hailufeng ( zh, c= , portmanteau of Haifeng and Lufeng) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Jieyang to the east, Meizhou and ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

. It is also the second most common dialect of Hakka spoken in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Classification

The first edition of 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 ...

'' places the Hakka dialects spoken in Haifeng and LufengIncluding Luhe, which was carved out of Lufeng in 1988. into the Xin–Hui cluster () of the Yue–Tai subgroup () of

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

. In the second edition, it is given its own subgroup known as the Hai–Lu subgroup () separate from the Yue–Tai subgroup. Chang Song-hing and Zhuang Chusheng propose that it should be grouped as the Hai–Lu cluster () of the Mei–Shao subgroup ().

Distribution

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the Hailu dialect is spoken in

, particularly in Haifeng, Lufeng, and Luhe. As of 2012, there are around 1.18 million speakers of the dialect in these three areas. In

, it is spoken in

Hsinchu County Hsinchu is a County (Taiwan), county in Regions of Taiwan, north-western Taiwan. The population of the county is mainly Hakka people, Hakka; with a Taiwanese aboriginal minority in the southeastern part of the county. Zhubei is the county seat ...

( Xinfeng, Xinpu,

Hukou ''Hukou'' ( zh, c=户口, l=household individual) is a system of household registration used in the People's Republic of China. The system itself is more properly called ''huji'' ( zh, c=户籍, l=household origin), and has origins in Histo ...

, Qionglin, Hengshan,

Guanxi ''Guanxi'' () is a term used in Chinese culture to describe an individual's social network of mutually beneficial personal and business relationships. The character ''guan'', 关, means "closed" and "caring" while the character ''xi'' 系 mean ...

, Beipu, Baoshan,

Emei Mount Emei (; zh, c=峨眉山, p=Éméi shān, O2-mei2 shan1), alternatively Mount Omei, is a mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. Mount Emei sits at the western rim of th ...

, and Zhudong),

Hsinchu City Hsinchu (, ), officially Hsinchu City, is a Provincial city (Taiwan), city located in northwestern Taiwan. It is the most populous city in Taiwan that is not a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality, with estimated 450,655 inha ...

( Xiangshan and Xinfeng), Taoyuan (mostly in

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

, Xinwu, and Yangmei; also pockets in Pingzhen, Zhongli, and Longtan),

Hualien County Hualien () is a County (Taiwan), county on the east coast of Taiwan. It is Taiwan's largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous terrain, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is Hualien City. Hu ...

(

Ji'an Ji'an ( zh, c=吉安 , p=Jí'ān) is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China and bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a popu ...

, Shoufeng, Guangfu, Yuli, Ruisui, and Fenglin), and

Miaoli County Miaoli is a county (Taiwan), county in western Taiwan. Miaoli is bordered by Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Miaoli is Regions of Taiwan, classified as "central Taiwan" by t ...

( Toufen, Sanwan,

Nanzhuang Nanzhuang Township is a rural township in Miaoli County, Taiwan. Geography It has a population total of 9,029 (January 2023) and an area of . Demographics The population consists of Hakkas, Hoklos and the indigenous Saisiyat and Atayal ...

, Xihu,

Houlong Houlong Township is an township (Taiwan), urban township in western Miaoli County, Taiwan. It is bordered by the Taiwan Strait on the west and Zaoqiao, Zaoqiao Township on the east. It lies at the mouth of the Houlong River. Miaoli HSR station i ...

, Zaoqiao, Tongxiao, and Tongluo). In 2013, 41.5% of Hakka people in Taiwan were reported to be able to communicate in the Hailu dialect. In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, a local variety of Hakka, that is loosely based on the Hailu dialect, is widely spoken in northern

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan () is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital and largest city is Pontianak. It is bordered by East Kalimantan and Central ...

, including Singkawang, Sambas, and Pemangkat.

Phonology

Tones

The Hailu dialect has seven lexical tones:

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{Chinese language Hakka Chinese Shanwei