The Hangzhou dialect (simplified Chinese: 杭州话; traditional Chinese: 杭州話; pinyin: Hángzhōuhuà, Rhangzei Rhwa) is spoken in the city of Hangzhou, China and its immediate suburbs, but excluding areas further away from Hangzhou such as Xiāoshān (蕭山) and Yúháng (余杭) (both originally county-level cities and now the districts within Hangzhou City). Its number of speakers has been estimated to be about 1.2 to 1.5 million. It is a dialect of Wu, one of the Chinese varieties.
The Hangzhou dialect is of immense interest to Chinese historical phonologists and dialectologists because phonologically, it exhibits extensive similarities with the other Wu dialects; however, grammatically and lexically, it shows many Mandarin tendencies.[2] Although the Hangzhou dialect has the basic characteristics of the Wu language, several waves of migration from the north, represented by the southward relocation of the ruling centre of Song dynasty, have caused the local language system to undergo great changes and gradually take on a special character in Jiangnan region.[3]
The Hangzhou dialect is classified as a "developing" language, with a rating of 5 on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), meaning it is still in vigorous use, but its written form are neither sustainable, nor widespread.[4]
Classification
The Hangzhou dialect is traditionally classified under Wu Chinese,[5] although nowadays many linguists believe that Hangzhounese is a Mandarin language.
Richard VanNess Simmons, a professor of Chinese at Rutgers University in New Jersey, United States, argues that Hangzhounese, rather than being Wu as it was classified by Yuen Ren Chao, is a Mandarin variety. He further proves that the Mandarin layer in Hangzhounese is demonstrably Northern, using features such as the palatalization of the historical velar initials in division II, thereby making it unrelated to nearby Jianghuai and Southwestern Mandarin. Chao had developed a "Common Wu Syllabary" for the Wu dialects. Simmons claimed that had Chao compared the Hangzhounese to the Wu syllabary and Jianghuai dialects, he would have found more similarities to Mandarin languages.[6] Jianghuai Mandarin shares an "old literary layer" as a stratum with southern languages like Southern Min, Hakka, Gan and Hangzhounese, which it does not share with Northern Mandarin. Sino-Vietnamese also shares some of these characteristics. The stratum in Min Nan specifically consist of Zeng group and Geng group's "n" and "t" finals when an "i" initial is present.[7][8]
John H. McWhorter claimed that Hangzhounese was categorized as a Wu variety because seven tones are present in Hangzhounese, which is significantly more than the typical number of tones found in northern Mandarin lects, which is typically four.[9]
Geographic distribution
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It stretches from yuhang xiasha in the east to the Qiangtang River in the south. A growing number of Hangzhounese speakers is emerging overseas in New York City, United States.
The Hangzhou dialect has a rare "apical glide" [ʮ] which is an allophone of /w/ after sibilant initials.
/j/ is pronounced [ɥ] before rounded vowels.
Contrast can be found to justify most of these vowels as distinct phonemes in Hangzhou dialect. /i, y/ and /ï, ÿ/, however, are in complementary distribution. /ï/ and /ÿ/ are only found following sibilants /ts, ts', dz, s/ and /z/, where /i/ and /y/ does not.
The Middle Chinese[-ŋ]rimes are retained, while [-n] and [-m] are either retained or have disappeared in the Hangzhou dialect. Middle Chinese [-p-t-k] rimes have become glottal stops, [-ʔ].
Phonological features
Contrast
In HZD, bilabial fricatives [ɸ] and [β] are allophone of bilabial fricatives /f/ and /v/ after [u].[14]
Character
IPA
Gloss
符
[βu334]
symbol
付
[ɸu213]
pay
Vowels /y/ and /ʏ/ are contrastive, representing different characters with different meaning.[15]
Character
IPA
Gloss
流
[lʏ13]
moving of liquid
虑
[ly13]
concerns
Glottalization of initial nasals and laterals
Some initial nasals and laterals are glottalized.[14]
Character
IPA
Gloss
缕
[ʔlɪ53]
thin line
你
[ʔni53]
you
我
[ʔŋo13]
I
奶
[ʔnE53]
grandmother
Syllable Patterns and Tones
In Hangzhou dialect (hereafter: HZD), phonetic symbol is divided into onsets and rhymes using onset-rhyme model. Onsets are simple and not mandatory, vowels can appear initially if [m], [n] and [əl] appear in the rhyme. HZD does not allow codas, but nasals are permitted at the end of the syllable, if they are part of the complex nucleus.[16]
The old Hangzhou dialect has 53 rhymes.
Rhymes in old HZD
ɿ
ə
ɑ
ɛ
ɔ
o
ø
ei
i
m̩
iɑ
iɛ
iɔ
iø
u
n̩
uɑ
uɛ
uo
ui
ɥ
əl
ɥɑ
ɥɛ
ɥei
y
en
ɑŋ
oŋ
ɑʔ
əʔ
oʔ
ɛ̃
in
iɑŋ
ioŋ
iɑʔ
iəʔ
ioʔ
iɛ̃
uõ
un
uɑŋ
uɑʔ
uoʔ
ɥõ
ɥen
ɥɑŋ
ɥɑʔ
ɥəʔ
yõ
yn
yəʔ
The Hangzhou tonal system is similar to that of the Suzhou dialect, in that some words with shàng tone in Middle Chinese have merged with the yīn qù tone. Since the tone split dating from Middle Chinese still depends on the voicing of the initial consonant, these constitute just three phonemic tones: pin, shang, and qu. (Ru syllables are phonemically toneless.)
In HZD, the tones will change not only because of the nearby tones, but also due to the phrase structures.[16]
Vocabulary
Category
Hangzhou Dielect
Characters
Translation
Time
gemore
箇卯
now
deimore
头卯
just now
yalidei
夜里头
at night
rizong
日中
at noon
relidei
日里头
in the day
zaogedei
早间头
in the morning
yadaobian
夜到边
in the evening
Family
(Grandparents' generation)
agong
阿公
mother's father
abo
阿婆
mother's mother
diadia
爷爷
father's father
nene
奶奶
father's mother
popo
婆婆
grandfather's sister
xiaodiadia
小爷爷
grandfather's sister's husband
Family
(Parents' generation)
aba/baba
阿爸/爸爸
father
muma/mama
姆妈/妈妈
mother
bobo
伯伯
father's brother
xiaoboubou
小伯伯
father's younger brother
damuma
大姆妈
wife of father's oldest brother
senniang
婶娘
wife of father's little brother
ayi/gugu
阿姨/姑姑
father's sister
guvu
姑夫
father's sister's husband
niangjiu/ajiu/jiujiu
娘舅/阿舅/舅舅
mother's brother
jiumu
舅妈
wife of mother's brother
zangren
丈人
wife's father
zangmuniang
丈母娘
wife's mother
yiniang
姨娘
mother's sister
ganyi
干姨
mother's sister's husband
Family
(Own generation)
agou
阿哥
elder brother
adi
阿弟
little brother
ajie
阿姐
elder sister
amei
阿妹
little sister
biaogou/biaodi
表哥/表弟
male older/younger cousin who does not share surname
biaojie/biaomei
表姐/表妹
female older/younger cousin who does not share surname
danggou/dangdi
堂哥/堂弟
male older/younger cousin who shares the same surname
dangjie/dangmei
堂姐/堂妹
female older/younger cousin who shares the same surname
Family
(Child's generation)
xiaoya'er
小伢儿
child
Prepositions
tong
同
to (as in 对 in Mandarin)
History
The most important event to have impacted Hangzhou's dialect was the city's establishment as Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song dynasty. When the Northern Song dynasty was conquered by the Jin dynasty in 1127, large numbers of northern refugees fled to what is now Hangzhou, speaking predominantly Mandarin of the Henan variety. Within 30 years, contemporary accounts record that immigrants outnumbered natives in Hangzhou. This resulted in Mandarin influences in the pronunciation, lexicon and grammar of the Hangzhou dialect.
Further influence by Mandarin occurred after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1912. The local Manchu garrisons were dissolved, adding significant numbers of the Beijing dialect Mandarin speakers to the population.
Because of the frequent commerce and intercourse between Hangzhou and Shaoxing, the Hangzhou dialect is also influenced by the Shaoxing dialect.
In recent years, with the standardization of Mandarin, the vitality of the Hangzhou dialect is decreasing.[4] As Kandrysawtz concluded, the Hangzhou dialect is spoken in fewer places and by fewer people, especially the younger generation.[4] Some people also hold the attitude that the Hangzhou dialect is not appropriate in official occasions.[4]
^David Prager Branner (2006). David Prager Branner (ed.). The Chinese rime tables: linguistic philosophy and historical-comparative phonology. Vol. 271 of Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science: Current issues in linguistic theory (illustrated ed.). John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 206. ISBN90-272-4785-4. Retrieved 23 September 2011. Had Chao developed a syllabary for the Jiang-Huai Mandarin dialects with a diagnostic power and representativeness comparable to that of his Wu Syllabary, and had he placed Hangzhou in that context, he most surely would have discovered
^Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Inc. Internet Database Service (2007). Linguistics and language behavior abstracts: LLBA., Volume 41, Issue 4. Sociological Abstracts, Inc. p. 1541. Retrieved 23 September 2011. We point out that in fact this stratum is an old literary layer in Minnan dialects. We find it also exists in Hakka-gan dialects, the Hangzhou dialect. South East Mandarins, & Jianghuai Mandarins extensively. In Sino-annamite. there are
(the University of Michigan)
^University of California, Berkeley. Project on Linguistic Analysis (2007). Journal of Chinese linguistics, Volume 35. Project on Linguistic Analysis. p. 97. Retrieved 23 September 2011. We find it also exists in Hakka-gan dialects, Hangzhou dialect, South East Mandarins, Jianghuai Mandarins extensively. In Sino-annamite, there are some similarities to Minnan dialects. Basing on our new findings, we believe that in Song
^John H. McWhorter (2007). Language interrupted: signs of non-native acquisition in standard language grammars (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 129. ISBN978-0-19-530980-5. Retrieved 23 September 2011. For example, many Mandarin dialects have more than four tones. Hangzhou has no fewer than seven, such that it was previously classified as a Wu dialect (Simmons 1992; Baxter 2000, 106–8). In the Jiang-Huai region five-tone dialects are not uncommon, with six-tone ones reported on the Northern/Central boundary (Norman 1988, 194). These represent a retention of one of the original four tones of Middle Chinese (the rù tone), as distinguished from the more common Mandarin trait of having lost this tone while collapsing the two-way register distinction between the three others into a four-tone contrast not contingent upon register
^Cao, Zhiyun (2006). "浙江省的汉语方言". 方言. 3: 255–263 – via ixueshu.
Simmons, Richard VanNess (1999). Chinese Dialect Classification: A comparative approach to Harngjou, Old Jintarn, and Common Northern Wu. John Benjamins. ISBN978-90-272-3694-4.
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