The Wencheng dialect ( zh, s=文成話, p=Wénchénghuà) is a
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
of
Wu Chinese
, region = Shanghai, Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu, parts of Anhui and Jiangxi provinces; overseas and migrant communities
, ethnicity = Wu
, speakers = million
, date = 2021
, ref = e27
, fa ...
. It is an
Oujiang dialect, but its tone system differs from other Oujiang dialects such as
Wenzhounese
Wenzhounese ( zh, t=溫州話, s=温州话, p= Wēnzhōuhuà, Wenzhounese: ), also known as Oujiang ( zh, t=甌江話, s=瓯江话, p=Ōujiānghuà, labels=no), Tong Au ( zh, t=東甌片, s=东瓯片, p=Dōng'ōupiàn, labels=no) or Au Nyü ( z ...
.
Phonology
The most important difference between eastern Oujiang dialects such as Wencheng and Wenzhou proper are tonal differences and the retention of before :
Wencheng shares the long vowels of Wenzhonese entering tone (spelled ''puu'' above) as well as the abrupt glottal stops of the ''shang'' tones. The ''shang'' and ''ru'' tones are largely similar to Wenzhonese, but there are no falling tones—''yang ping'' and ''yin qu'' are level—and ''yang qu'' is dipping rather than simply low.
Although ''yin qu'' has been said to have merged with ''yang ping'' (these are also close in Wenzhou, both being falling tones), the consonant voicing remains distinct. A second, slightly different transcription of Wencheng tone is reported, presumably largely due to speaker differences.
References
Wu Chinese
{{St-lang-stub