Northeastern Mandarin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Northeastern Mandarin
东北话
Dōngběihuà
Native toJilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia provinces of China; (Overseas, United States-New York City, Russia-primarily in Primorsky Krai)
RegionNortheast China, Russian Far East (Taz)
Native speakers
(82 million cited 1987)[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-6dbiu
cmn-nem
Glottolognort3283
Linguasphere79-AAA-bc

Northeastern Mandarin (

Ussuri rivers. The classification of Northeastern Mandarin as a separate dialect group from Beijing Mandarin was first proposed by Li Rong, author of the Language Atlas of China, in 1989. However, many researchers do not accept the distinction.[2]

Geographical distribution

Northeastern Mandarin varieties are spoken in the northeastern part of China, in the provinces of Liaoning (except its southern part from Dalian to Dandong where Jiaoliao Mandarin is spoken), Jilin and Heilongjiang, and in some northern parts of Inner Mongolia.[3] The number of speakers was estimated in 1987 as 82 million.[1]

Dialects

The Language Atlas of China divided Northeastern Mandarin into three subgroups, following a classification be Hè Wēi based on the occurrence of nasal initials in words having a zero initial in Beijing:[3][4][5]

  • Jí–Shěn (吉沈) in the east, including
    Shenyang dialect
    , has a zero initial in these words, as in Beijing.
  • Hā–Fù (哈阜) in the west, including Harbin dialect and Changchun dialect, have nasal initials in these words.
  • Hēi–Sōng (黑松) in the north, including Qiqihar dialect, have zero or nasal initials in random variation.

More distant varieties tend to be more similar to the Beijing dialect than closer ones, so that the speech of Harbin is closer to that of Beijing than that of Jilin and Changchun, which in turn are closer than that of Shenyang.[6]

A form of Northeastern Mandarin (with some words from Udege and Nanai) has been spoken since approximately 1800 by the Taz people nearby in the Russian Far East, primarily in Primorsky Krai.[7]

Overseas, Northeastern Mandarin is spoken in increasingly larger communities in New York City Chinatowns/Flushing in the United States.

Phonology

Northeastern Mandarin shares similarities with the

entering tone and the preservation of initial [w], where the dialects of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, have [v].[6] However, in northeastern Chinese, final -ian or -üan is pronounced with an [æ] rather than with [ɛ] or [e] as in the standard.[8] The [ʐ] initial of Beijing (spelled r- in pinyin) is generally elided in northeastern varieties.[9][10]

Cultural and regional identity

Mandarin variants like Northeastern Mandarin often contribute to a strong regional identity. Because of its informal usage of words and tones, comedians often use Northeast dialects when performing. Comedian Zhao Benshan is recognized nationwide for his performances which make humorous use of Northeastern dialect and Northeastern Errenzhuan folk dance and song traditions.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b Yan (2006), p. 62.
  2. .
  3. ^ a b Wurm et al. (1987), Map B1.
  4. ^ Kurpaska (2010), p. 64.
  5. ^ Simmons (2016), p. 70.
  6. ^ a b Li (2004), p. 101.
  7. ^ "Russian Census 2010: Population by ethnicity". Gosudarstvennyi komitet po statistike. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  8. ^ Li (2004), p. 115.
  9. ^ Wurm et al. (1987), B1.
  10. ^ Kurpaska (2010), p. 90.
  11. ^ Liu (2011), p. 74.

Works cited