Huzhounese, or the Huzhou dialect (, known locally as ), is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Huzhou, Zhejiang. It belongs to either the Suhujia () or Tiaoxi (also spelt Shaoxi, ) cluster of Northern Wu, making it highly mutually intelligible with other Northern Wu varieties such as Suzhounese and Shanghainese.
Phonology The romanization used henceforth is Wugniu. For cross-linguistic information, see Northern Wu phonology.
Initials +Initial ConsonantsLabialDental/AlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasal ⟨m⟩ ⟨n⟩ ⟨gn⟩ ⟨ng⟩ Plosiveplain ⟨p⟩ ⟨t⟩ ⟨k⟩()aspirated ⟨ph⟩ ⟨th⟩ ⟨kh⟩ voiced ⟨b⟩ ⟨d⟩ ⟨g⟩ Affricateplain ⟨ts⟩ ⟨c⟩aspirated ⟨tsh⟩ ⟨ch⟩ voiced (dz) ⟨j⟩ Fricativevoiceless ⟨f⟩ ⟨s⟩ ⟨sh⟩ ⟨h⟩voiced ⟨v⟩ ⟨z⟩ ⟨gh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨w⟩Lateral ⟨l⟩ Much like other Northern Wu varieties, all voiced phones in Huzhounese carry breathy voice. Sonorants can further be realised with glottalization when paired with dark () tones. The voiced glottal fricative and null initial form a voicing pair, though unlike other Northern Wu varieties, this initial cannot co-occur with the light rising () and light departing () tones, instead only truly surfacing when co-occurring with the light level () and light checked () tones. Compare : Huzhounese , Shanghainese , Ningbonese .
Alveolo-palatals, when appearing before , has been suggested to instead be realised as postalveolars . Note that this is fed by the frication of .
Finals + Final rimesMedial Nucleus ⟨y⟩ ⟨a⟩ ⟨au⟩ ⟨o⟩ ⟨eu⟩ ⟨e⟩ ⟨ei⟩ ⟨ou⟩ ⟨an⟩ ⟨aon⟩ ⟨en⟩ ⟨on⟩ ⟨aq⟩ ⟨oq⟩ ⟨eq⟩ ⟨i⟩ ⟨ia⟩ ⟨iau⟩ ⟨ieu⟩ ⟨ie⟩ ⟨ian⟩ ⟨iaon⟩ ⟨in⟩ ⟨ion⟩ ⟨iaq⟩ ⟨ioq⟩ ⟨iq⟩ ⟨u⟩ ⟨ua⟩ ⟨ue⟩ ⟨uei⟩ ⟨uan⟩ ⟨uaon⟩ ⟨uen⟩ ⟨uaq⟩ ⟨ueq⟩
Huzhounese also has liquid rimes , , , and .
The transcriptions above are broad and primarily based on that of Akamatsu (1991). The following are some phonetic and phonotactic notes regarding the rimes.
There appears to be a chain shift in some speakers where merged with , subsequently leading to being realised as . itself can be realised as . similarly may be fricated, yielding . There is significant rounding recorded in the rime series, yielding . has large variation in realisation from speaker to speaker, with, for instance, and , both being valid realisations. The nasal element of the rimes , , and is in free variation with . The nucleus of the rime series can be lowered to . The nucleus of the rime series can be backed.
Tones +Monosyllable tones Wugniu Category Value 1 Dark level () 44 2 Light level () 12 3 Dark rising () 42 4 Light rising () 31 5 Dark departing () 35 6 Light departing () 24 7 Dark checked () 5 8 Light checked () 23
In general, light tones only appear with voiced initials, whereas dark tones only appear with voiceless initials. Note, however, that sonorants tend to appear with dark instead of light tones. Further notes are as follows: The realization of the two rising tones and two departing tones are often very similar, at times even indistinguishable. There is a slight rise at the end of the two rising tones, i.e. 423 and 312. The light level and dark departing tones are in reality lengthened, yielding 113 and 335 respectively. The two checked tones can in fact be overlong for emphasis, yielding 534 and 113.
Tone sandhi Like other Northern Wu varieties, Huzhounese has a complex system of tone sandhi. Bisyllabic chain patterns are as follows. Columns show the underlying tone category of the first syllabe, whereas rows show the underlying tone category of the second syllable.
+Monosyllable tones 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 144 44 44 4 211 23 11 23 342 23 42 23433 11 33 11 33 11 33 1 11 31 533 35 33 35621 24 21 24 21 2421 53 7 3 55 3 53 5 23 3 5381 44 1 44 1 43 12
References Citations
Works cited
External links Wu Association Wugniu