Hefei dialect is a dialect of
Jianghuai Mandarin spoken in the
Hefei
Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...
city,
Feidong County,
Feixi County and
Changfeng County
Changfeng County () is a county of Anhui Province, East 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 ...
.
History
Throughout the history of Hefei, there were frequent wars and great population flow. After
Wu Huan Hua and
Yiguan Nandu, the pronunciation kept changing. However, because Hefei had always been in the see-saw battlefield of the split era, the land was annihilated by soldiers several times, and most of the real locals today trace their lineage to the Ming Dynasty and later. Given the composition of immigrants from various places, references to the "Hefei dialect" before the Ming Dynasty cannot be compared with the Hefei dialect today.
Nanjing dialect
The Nanjing dialect ( zh, s=南京话, t=南京話, p=Nánjīnghuà), also known as Nankinese, Nankingese, Nanjingese, Nanjingnese and Nanjing Mandarin, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Nanjing, China. It is part ...
, which evolved from Jinling Yayin in the Six Dynasties, was established as the national official dialect in the Ming Dynasty. Although Hefei was located in a strategic area, it often suffered from military conflict, so the societal influence of Hefei dialect has not been great. However, during the late period of
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
,
Li Hongzhang, an important official from Hefei, actively led the
Westernization Movement, established new factories and investment promotion bureaus in various coastal areas, and brought Hefei dialect to some coastal areas.
Afterwards,
Li Hongzhang established the
Huai Army, and then established the
Beiyang Navy, during which a large number of soldiers who had practiced in Hefei went north. Li Hongzhang abused fellow villagers during this period, so a saying arose that "as long as you can speak Hefei dialect, you will immediately wear a long gun; as long as you know Li Hongzhang, you will immediately change your long gun to a short gun".
Hefei only had a population of 100,000 when
People's Republic of 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 ...
was established. After the provincial capital of
Anhui Province was moved to
Hefei
Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...
, the number of migrants surged. Many of them came from outside
Anhui Province, and had moved from all over the country. However, there were many dialects in
Anhui Province, and there are great differences in pronunciation between the north and the south. Although Hefei dialect belongs to
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, the dialect vocabulary is difficult to understand, and the phonetic system is difficult to master in a short time; The promotion of
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern Standard language, standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the Republic of ...
has gradually reduced the number of Hefei dialect users. Although there are TV programs that use the dubbing of "Hefei dialect" in the TV media, since the pronunciation is mostly exaggerated facial makeup but not standard Hefei dialect, the effect of saving the decline of Hefei dialect in the urban area is not optimistic. Unfortunately, dialect usage surveys have shown that "Hefei dialect is on the road of extinction".
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Phonology
Initials
p, pʰ, m, f
t, tʰ, n, l
ts, tsʰ, s, z
tʂ, tʂʰ, ʂ, ʐ
tɕ, tɕʰ, ɕ, (ȵ)
k, kʰ, x
Ø
Finals
a, ia, ua
ɔ, iɔ
ɤɯ, iɤɯ
u, ʉ
ᴇ, iᴇ, uᴇ
e, ue, ye, i
ɿ, ʅ, ʮ
ɑ̃, iɑ̃, uɑ̃
æ̃, uæ̃
ʊ̃
iĩ, yĩ
ən, in, un, yn
əŋ, iəŋ
ɐʔ, iɐʔ, uɐʔ
ɤʔ, iɤʔ, uɤʔ, yɤʔ
əʔ, iəʔ, uəʔ, yəʔ
Tones
21
45
213
53
5 (checked)
Sandhi
21 + 21: The first syllable becomes 212
213 + 21 or 213: The first syllable becomes 212
213 + 45, 53 or 5: The first syllable becomes 21
5 + 45, 213 or 5: The first syllable becomes 21
References
{{Reflist
Languages of China
Varieties of Chinese
Mandarin Chinese
Endangered languages of China
Endangered Sino-Tibetan languages