Northern Wu phonology

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Northern Wu, or Taihu Wu, is the largest subbranch of Wu Chinese,[1] and is spoken in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and northern Zhejiang.[2] These languages are noted for their extremely high number of vowels, even compared to some Germanic languages,[3] and highly complex tone sandhi.[4] This article will use Wugniu[5] and IPA
for transcription.

Syllable structure

Much like other Sinitic languages, Northern Wu languages almost universally have an initial-final-tone

syllable structure. The final can be further split into the glide, nucleus and coda. For the most part, contemporary Northern Wu languages only permit nasals and the glottal stop (/ʔ/) in coda position,[6] though there is evidence to suggest that this was not the case in some historical varieties.[7] There are plentiful initials in Northern Wu,[8] more than many other Sinitic languages such as Cantonese or Changshanese
, partially due to the preservation of voiced initials, which will be explained in more detail in other sections.

Initials

Much like other Wu languages, Northern Wu languages tend to preserve historical voiced initials,

Northern Wu languages' initials are generally similar. The following is a table of all the commonly-found Northern Wu phonemic initials, with their common urban realizations, Wugniu romanization, and example syllables.[5][11][12][13][14][15]

Initial Consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal
m ⟨m⟩
美悶梅門
n
⟨n⟩
拿囡內男
ɲ ⟨gn⟩
粘扭泥牛
ŋ ⟨ng⟩
砑我外鵝
 
Plosive
plain p ⟨p⟩
布幫北
t
⟨t⟩
膽懂德
k ⟨k⟩
干公夾
(ʔ)
鴨衣烏
aspirated
⟨ph⟩
怕胖劈
⟨th⟩
透聽鐵
⟨kh⟩
開擴康
 
voiced
b ⟨b⟩
步盆拔
d
⟨d⟩
地動奪
ɡ ⟨g⟩
葵共軋
 
Affricate
plain ts ⟨ts⟩
煮增質
⟨c⟩
舉精腳
aspirated
tsʰ ⟨tsh⟩
處倉出
tɕʰ ⟨ch⟩
丘輕切
 
voiced
dz ⟨dz⟩
茶從鋤
⟨j⟩
旗羣劇
 
Fricative
voiceless
f ⟨f⟩
飛粉福
s ⟨s⟩
書松色
ɕ ⟨sh⟩
修血曉
  h ⟨h⟩
花荒忽
voiced
v ⟨v⟩
扶服浮
z ⟨z⟩
樹石十
ʑ ⟨zh⟩
徐秦絕
  ɦ ⟨gh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨w⟩
鞋移胡雨
Lateral
l
⟨l⟩
拉賴領

Noteworthy omissions

Some varieties in

Mandarin varieties. Compare the following examples.[5]

Beijing Changshu Changzhou Shengzhou
zhāng
/tʂaŋ⁵⁵/
can1
/tʂaŋ⁵²/
tsan1
/tsaŋ⁵⁵/
tsan1
/tsã⁵³⁴/
cháng
/tʂʰaŋ³⁵/
jan2
/dʐaŋ³⁴/
zan2
/zaŋ²¹³/
dzan2
/dzã²¹³/
chuán
/tʂʰuan³⁵/
zhe2
/ʐe³⁴/
zoe2
/zɤ²¹³/
zoen2
/zœ̃²¹³/

Characteristic preservations and innovations

Northern Wu, much like other Wu varieties, preserves voicing in its initials.[9] The exact mechanism in which this is realized is discussed below.

Again, much like other Wu languages,[2] Northern Wu preserves the Middle Chinese ri initial (日母) as a nasal. Compare the following, where ⟨gn⟩ is used to notate /ɲ/:[5]

Beijing Guangzhou Xi'an Seoul
(Sino-Korean)
Shanghai Beilun Anji
jat6 ěr il gniq8 gniq8 gniq8
juk6 ok gnioq8, gniuq8 gnioq8 gnioq8

Note that here is pronounced in the

colloquial pronunciations
rather than literary ones.

Palatalization

Many Northern Wu varieties have sibilants that undergo palatalization (尖團合流 [zh]).[18] This process is becoming more common among younger speakers.[16][19]

Old Suzhou Old Wuxi Shanghai New Suzhou New Wuxi
tsin1 tsin1 cin1 cin1 cin1
cin1 cin1 cin1 cin1 cin1
zi2 zi6 zhi6 ji6 ji6
ji2 ji6 ji6 ji6 ji6

Depression

The voiced initials in Northern Wu languages are realised with

Standard Mandarin influence, the younger generation has merged the pronunciation of the unaspirated voiceless series with the (breathy) voiced series.[22] However, the functional load of the breathy voice is already relatively low, due to the fact that tonal distribution lends to disambiguation between historically voiced and voiceless syllables. This breathy voice is at times known as "murmur".[23][24]

Some speakers, particularly in

implosive
.

Implosives

In various suburban

implosives.[26][27][28][29] This feature appears to also have been in urban (Puxi) Shanghainese, though it is lost today.[30]

Glottal plosive series

The glottal fricatives /h/ and /ɦ/ are phonotactically part of a plosive series with /ʔ/. Spectral analyses have found that these three phones show three-way differences parallel to stops.[31] Younger speakers also tend to merge /ɦ/ with /ʔ/, not /h/, as would be expected if it were phonotatically a fricative.[32] As the /ʔ/ has been analyzed as a null initial in the past,[33] it could be said that Northern Wu languages have a three-way null initial contrast.

Finals

Finals vary significantly more than initials in Northern Wu languages. As such, only noteworthy phonological and diachronic features will be discussed. For detailed analyses of individual lects, refer to their specific pages.

Characteristic innovations

Ma raising

A feature found in many Wu languages, including Northern Wu, is the raising of the historical ma () rimes.[34] They are typically realised as /o/, though some lects such as Shanghainese or Wuxinese may raise it even higher and having it merge with /u/.[35] The exact sets of words that undergo raising varies from lect to lect, though in general, the southern two branches (Linshao and Yongjiang) have more raising than northern ones.[5][36]

Haimen Qingpu Wuxi Tonglu Ningbo Beijing
bo2 bo2 bu2 buo2 bo2
dzo2 zo2 zeu2 jiuo2 dzo2 chá
gho4 gho6 wu6 wo6 gho6 xià
ka1 ka1 ka1 kuo1 ko1 jiā

Notice how the two localities in Zhejiang, Tonglu and Ningbo, both pronounce the word with a raised vowel, whereas those in Jiangsu and Shanghai do not. Northern varieties tend to retain the /a/ value after velars, whereas Linshao and Yongjiang do not.[37]

Hou fronting

Northern Wu lects along the

Y. R. Chao suggested that this is due to influence from Hangzhounese.[39] Chao raises the example of 歐洲後頭的狗 "the dog behind Europe", pronounced as [sic] [eitsei ɦeidei kə' kei], taken from his native Changzhounese. Compare Standard Mandarin Ōuzhōu hòutóu de gǒu.[39]

Shan and xian rimes

The Northern Wu languages exhibit interesting behaviour regarding Qieyun Middle Chinese shan () and xian () rimes (ie. Wugniu ae). Some varieties lose the nasal coda completely, whereas others retain it. Some also leave some sporadic nasalization.[40] They typically also have abnormally raised, rounded, or fronted vowels and more complex distribution when compared to other lects, thus resulting in noticeable differences. This behaviour is also exhibited in Hangzhounese.[41]

Correspondence of vernacular Shanghainese readings with Middle Chinese rime classes[42]
Modern reflex Historical class Conditions Examples
Yunshe (韻攝) and division () Yun ()
i Open III , , and series; velars
Unconditional
Open IV , , and series
Open III , , , and series
Unconditional
Closed III most terms of and series and two irregular initial terms 沿
e Open I Sporadic
(Historical) dentialveolars
Open II Unconditional
Closed III Unconditional
Open I (Historical) dentialveolars
Open II Unconditional
Closed I Sporadic labials
Closed III series
ue Closed I two irregular terms
Closed II & Velars
Closed III one irregular term
oe Open I Velars
Open III (Historical) retroflex
Open I Velars
Open III , and series
Closed I series and (historical) dentialveolars
Closed II series
Closed III and series
uoe Closed I Velars
Closed II & III & Sporadic
ioe Closed III Velars and initial
Velars
Closed IV Velars
Qieyun description Yixing Kunshan Jiaxing Wuhang Zhoushan
Open Grade II sa1 sae1 sae1 sae1 sae1
Closed Grade III va2 vae2 vae2 vae2 vae2
Open Grade III ye2 ie2 ye2 ye2 ghien2
Open Grade IV tie1 thie1 thie1 thie1 thien1
Closed Grade III chioe1 tshoe1 tshoe1 tshae1 tshoen1
Open Grade I ne2 noe2 noe2 nae2 nei2

Frication

Several Northern Wu varieties have a very large number of contrastive high vowels.[43][44] This contrast is typically realised in the form of rounding or frication.[43][45][46] This frication can be notated as a lowering or raising of the vowel or as a glide insertion. Typically, frication in non-apical vowels happens to contrast terms with historical nasal codas.[5][47]

Frication contrast in some high front vowels
Syllable Suzhou Changzhou
Wugniu IPA Wugniu IPA
thie1 /tʰi⁴⁴/ thie1 /tʰiɪ⁵⁵/
thi1 /tʰiⱼ⁴⁴/ thi1 /tʰi⁵⁵/
cieu1 /tɕy⁴⁴/ ciou1 /tɕy⁵⁵/
ciu1 /tɕyⱼ⁴⁴/ ciu1 /tɕiɤɯ⁵⁵/
sy1 /sɿ⁴⁴/ sy1 /sɿ⁵⁵/
syu1 /sʮ⁴⁴/ syu1 /sʮ⁵⁵/

Codas

Codas in Northern Wu are relatively simple compared to other Sinitic languages. In most modern Northern Wu varieties, only a single nasal phoneme and a checked coda (typically transcribed /ʔ/) are permitted in coda position.

Nasal coda

Northern Wu languages typically only have one final nasal phoneme.[2][5][18][48] This is typically realised as [n], [ŋ], [ȵ] or a nasalization of the nucleus vowel, typically in free variation.[49]

Checked coda

Northern Wu languages typically only permit /ʔ/ in coda position.

Oujiang varieties, which typically lengthen checked syllables.[53] Compare the following syllables.[5]

Checked-coda terms in various languages
Historical coda Shanghai Haining (Xiashi) Shangyu Yinzhou Wenzhou Hong Kong Xi'an Tokyo
(
Go'on
)
-p liq8
/liɪʔ˩˨/
liq8
/liəʔ˨/
liq7
/liɪʔ˥/
liq8
/liʔ˩˨/
lei8, li8
/lei˨˩˧/,/li˨˩˧/
laap6
/laːp˨/

/li˧˩/
ryuu
/ɾjɯː/
faq7
/faʔ˦/
faq7
/faʔ˥/
faq7
/fɐʔ˥/
faq7
/faʔ/
ho7
/ho˨˩˧/
faat3
/faːt˧/

/fa˧˩
hou
/hoː/
-t thiq7
/tʰiɪʔ˦/
thiq7
/tʰiəʔ˥/
thiq7
/tʰiɪʔ˥/
thiq7
/tʰiʔ˥/
thi7
/tʰi˨˩˧/
tit3
/tʰiːt˧/
tiě
/tʰiɛ˧˩/
teti
/tetɕi/
chiq7
/tɕiɪʔ˦/
chiq7
/tɕiəʔ˥/
chiq7
/tɕiɪʔ˥/
chiq7
/tɕiɪʔ˥/
tshai7
/tsʰai˨˩˧/
cat1
/tsʰɐt˥/

/tɕi˧˩/
siti
/ɕitɕi/
-k koq7
/koʔ˦/
koq7
/koʔ˥/
koq7
/koʔ˥/
koq7
/koʔ˥/
ko7
/ko˨˩˧/
gok3
/kɔːk˧/
juǒ
/tɕyɤ˧˩/
kaku
/kakɯ/
loq8
/loʔ˩˨/
loq8
/loʔ˨/
loq8
/loʔ˧/
loq8
/loʔ˩˨/
lo8
/lo˨˩˧/
lok6
/lɔːk˨/
luǒ
/luɤ˧˩/
raku
/ɾakɯ/

Tones

Tone plays a critical role in Northern Wu and impacts the realisation of both initials and finals.[8][54][55] It disambiguates between both monosyllabic words via underlying tone[56] and polysyllabic terms through the use of tone sandhi.[57] Northern Wu languages can theoretically have up to twelve phonemic tones, depending on analysis. These lects can be found in places in Suzhou and Jiaxing, such as Wujiang.[58][59]

Phonemic tone

Phonemic tones in Northern Wu is traditionally analysed based on

aspiration
conditions a further tone split through the dark tones.

Tone contours of monosyllables in three lects in Wujiang
Historical
Category
Phonation Example words Category Wugniu Songling Tongli Pingwang
Level Plain 剛丁三安 Whole dark level
全陰平
1 55 55 55
Aspirate 開粗天偏 Partial dark level
次陰平
33 33 33
Voiced 陳唐寒人 Light level
陽平
2 13 13 24
Rising Plain 古短比好 Whole dark rising
全陰上
3 51 51 51
Aspirate 口草體普 Partial dark rising
次陰上
42 42 34
Voiced 近厚老染 Light rising
陽上
4 31 31 23
Departing Plain 蓋對漢送 Whole dark rising
全陰去
5 412 412 513
Aspirate 臭菜退戲 Partial dark rising
次陰去
312 312 313
Voiced 樹共飯帽 Light rising
陽去
6 212 212 213
Checked Plain 各百說發 Whole dark rising
全陰入
7 5 5 5
Aspirate 尺切拍曲 Partial dark rising
次陰入
3 3 3
Voiced 局服岳六 Light rising
陽入
8 2 2 2

Note that, unlike Yue languages, the dark checked tone split is conditioned by aspiration, not vowel length.[60]

Although there are Northern Wu lects with a high number of tones, it is also noteworthy that contemporary Shanghainese in particular only has at most five phonemic tones, by merging tones 2 and 4 with 6, and tones 3 with 5.[18][61] A typical Northern Wu variety has 7–8 tones.[62][63][64][24]

Tone categories in Shanghainese
Level Rising Departing Checked
Voiceless 1 5 7
Voiced 6 8

For the most part, light tones can only occur with voiced initials, and dark tones can only occur with voiceless initials. In general, the light counterpart of a dark tone tends to be a lowered (or depressed) equivalent of the dark tone, as explored above.[6] Compare the pronunciations of the dark and light departing tones in the following Wu varieties:[5][18][65]

Tone 5 Tone 6
Jiangyin 423 213
Suzhou 513 31
Pinghu 445 13
Haiyan 35 213
Xiaoshan 53 31
Ningbo 44 213
Shanghai 334 113

Neutral tones

Neutral tones (

Standard Mandarin
, though it is more pronounced in Northern Wu due to the grammatical nature of Northern Wu sandhi.

Tone sandhi

Northern Wu languages all have

Qieyun system or reconstructions of Middle Chinese, would suggest that this sandhi is a Wu shared innovation, and that Northern Wu languages share a recent common origin.[67]

There are five general types of contours:[66]

  • Contour spreading, where the contour of the head syllable gets stretched over subsequent syllables
  • Default realization, where the subsequent syllables become null tones
  • Countour levelling, where a syllable removes its tone contour movement such that it becomes level
  • Citation target, where a sandhi chain rises until it matches one of the monosyllabic tones
  • Categorical shift, where the subsequent syllables change tone categories

Left-prominent sandhi

LPS in Northern Wu is typically regarded as highly complex. Northern Wu varieties are traditionally analysed to have unique sandhi chains for each tone category of every syllable, which results in complex charts that sprawl several pages.

pitch accent
in some languages. However, some younger speakers insert a rising tone contour on traditionally voiced initials to perhaps mimic the depression effect.

This is similar to some analyses of Suzhounese and Hangzhounese. Checked tones in Suzhounese can be analysed to preserve the underlying tone of the first two syllables,[70][b], whereas Hangzhounese sandhi is conditioned based on whether the second syllable belongs to the rising or non-rising category.[71]

Suzhounese checked tone sandhi
Tone number Disyllabic Trisyllabic Quadrisyllabic
First
syllable
Second
syllable
7 1, 2 44 23 44 23 0 44 23 44 0
3 22 33 22 33 0 22 33 44 0
5, 6 55 523 55 52 33 55 52 22 33
7, 8 44 44 44 44 0 44 44 22 0
8 1, 2 22 33 22 33 0 22 33 44 0
3 22 51 22 51 0 22 51 11 0
5, 6 22 523 22 52 33 22 52 22 33
7, 8 33 44 33 44 0 33 44 22 0

The tone category of the third and fourth syllables do not matter.[70]

Right-prominent sandhi

RPS primarily occurs on verbs in verb-object constructions,[72] and often is only relevant to monosyllables. They also occur in certain situations such as quantitative adjectives and a handful of irregular words. This can be used to disambiguate between certain constructions, such as the famous 炒麪 example,[73] but also the following:[57]

LPS and RPS minimal pairs in Chongmingese
LPS 九桶
/tɕiɵ⁴² dõ³³/
半天
/pie³³ tʰie⁵⁵/
RPS 酒桶
/tɕiɵ³³ dõ/
變天
/pie⁴² tʰie⁵⁵/

Notes

  1. ^ LPS is also known as "broad sandhi" (廣用式) and RPS is also known as "narrow sandhi" (窄用式).
  2. ^ This is the system used on Wiktionary.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Zheng (2008), pp. vi.
  2. ^ a b c d Li (2012).
  3. ^ Li & Hong (2012), pp. 12.
  4. ^ Rose & Toda (1994), pp. 267.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 吳語學堂 (Wugniu)
  6. ^ a b c Rose (2001).
  7. ^ Qian (2003).
  8. ^ a b c Liu & Kula (2018), pp. 27.
  9. ^ a b VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 3–7.
  10. ^ Chen (2004), pp. 10–55.
  11. ^ Qian (2007), pp. 386.
  12. ^ Wang (1996), pp. 1.
  13. ^ Ningbo Gazetteer, pp. 2853.
  14. ^ Wang (2015), pp. 3–4.
  15. ^ Bao (1998), pp. 6.
  16. ^ a b Ye (1988), pp. 82.
  17. ^ Mo (2013), pp. 15.
  18. ^ a b c d e Qian (2007).
  19. ^ Zhou (2011), pp. 12.
  20. ^ Rose (2021).
  21. ^ Rose (2015), pp. 1.
  22. ^ Gu (2008), pp. 76.
  23. ^ VanNess Simmons (1999).
  24. ^ a b Chappell & Lan (2017), pp. 15.
  25. ^ Chu (2013), pp. 2.
  26. ^ Xu (2015), pp. 7.
  27. ^ Chuansha Gazetteer, pp. 897.
  28. ^ Zhu (2006a), pp. 19–20.
  29. ^ Chen (1988).
  30. ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 50.
  31. ^ Koenig & Shi (2014), pp. 25.
  32. ^ Gu (2008), pp. 14.
  33. ^ a b Qian (2007), pp. 307.
  34. ^ VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 18.
  35. ^ Gu (2008), pp. 78.
  36. ^ Zheng (2013), pp. 39–40.
  37. ^ Zheng (2013), pp. 40.
  38. ^ VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 57.
  39. ^ a b Chao (1967), pp. 100.
  40. ^ van Dam (2014), pp. 63–66.
  41. ^ Bao (1998), pp. 12.
  42. ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 116–117.
  43. ^ a b Yue & Hu, pp. 2058.
  44. ^ Wang (1996), pp. 7.
  45. ^ Hu (2006).
  46. ^ Cao (2003), pp. 11.
  47. ^ Wang (1996).
  48. ^ Wugniu (2016), pp. 4.
  49. ^ Akamatsu (1991), pp. 34.
  50. ^ Xu, Tang & You, pp. 252.
  51. ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 8.
  52. ^ Shi & Chen (2022), pp. 169.
  53. ^ Ye (2008), pp. 30–45.
  54. ^ Wang (1996), pp. 34.
  55. ^ Wang (2018), pp. 462.
  56. ^ Su (2009), pp. 20–37.
  57. ^ a b Zhang (1979), pp. 292–293.
  58. ^ Lin (2015), pp. 79.
  59. ^ Xu (2009), pp. 7.
  60. ^ Shao & Liang (2022).
  61. ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 8–9.
  62. ^ Wang (1996), pp. 10.
  63. ^ Ningbo Gazetteer, pp. 2854.
  64. ^ Wang (2015), pp. 7.
  65. ^ Ye (1993), pp. 6.
  66. ^ a b Rose & Toda (1994).
  67. ^ a b Rose (2001), pp. 159.
  68. ^ Lau (2002), pp. 7–9.
  69. ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 24.
  70. ^ a b Wang (1996), pp. 11–13.
  71. ^ Akitani (1988), pp. 43.
  72. ^ Zhang (2013).
  73. ^ Zhu (2006b), pp. 39.

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