Northern Wu phonology
Syllable structure
Much like other Sinitic languages, Northern Wu languages almost universally have an initial-final-tone
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]
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 ⟨ph⟩ 怕胖劈 |
tʰ ⟨th⟩ 透聽鐵 |
kʰ ⟨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 |
tɕ ⟨c⟩ 舉精腳 |
|||
aspirated
|
tsʰ ⟨tsh⟩ 處倉出 |
tɕʰ ⟨ch⟩ 丘輕切 |
||||
voiced
|
dz ⟨dz⟩ 茶從鋤 |
dʑ ⟨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
Beijing | Changshu | Changzhou | Shengzhou | |
---|---|---|---|---|
張 | zhāng /tʂaŋ⁵⁵/ |
can1 /tʂaŋ⁵²/ |
tsan1 /tsaŋ⁵⁵/ |
tsan1 /tsã⁵³⁴/ |
常 | cháng /tʂʰaŋ³⁵/ |
jan2 /dʐaŋ³⁴/ |
zan2 /zaŋ²¹³/ |
dzan2 /dzã²¹³/ |
船 | 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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
日 | rì | jat6 | ěr | il | gniq8 | gniq8 | gniq8 |
玉 | yù | juk6 | yǔ | ok | gnioq8, gniuq8 | gnioq8 | gnioq8 |
Note that 日 here is pronounced in the
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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
精 | tsin1 | tsin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 |
經 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 | cin1 |
齊 | zi2 | zi6 | zhi6 | ji6 | ji6 |
旗 | ji2 | ji6 | ji6 | ji6 | ji6 |
Depression
The voiced initials in Northern Wu languages are realised with
Some speakers, particularly in
Implosives
In various suburban
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 (麻) 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 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
爬 | bo2 | bo2 | bu2 | buo2 | bo2 | pá |
茶 | dzo2 | zo2 | zeu2 | jiuo2 | dzo2 | chá |
下 | gho4 | gho6 | wu6 | wo6 | gho6 | xià |
家 | ka1 | ka1 | ka1 | kuo1 | ko1 | jiā |
Notice how the two localities in Zhejiang, Tonglu and Ningbo, both pronounce the word 家 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
Shan and xian rimes
The Northern Wu languages exhibit interesting behaviour regarding Qieyun Middle Chinese shan (山) and xian (咸) 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]
Modern reflex | Historical class | Conditions | Examples | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Yunshe (韻攝) and division (等) | Yun (韻) | |||
i | Open III 咸 | 鹽 | 幫, 泥, 精 and 日 series; velars | 貶尖染厭 |
嚴 | Unconditional | 嚴劍欠醃 | ||
Open IV 咸 | 添 | 端, 泥, 見 and 曉 series | 店念嫌兼 | |
Open III 山 | 仙 | 幫, 泥, 精, 見 and 影 series | 變剪連延 | |
元 | Unconditional | 建言軒堰 | ||
Closed III 山 | 仙 | most terms of 泥 and 精 series and two irregular 以 initial terms | 戀泉宣沿 | |
e | Open I 咸 | 覃 | Sporadic | 耽堪坎勘 |
談 | (Historical) dentialveolars | 膽淡籃三 | ||
Open II 咸 | 咸 | Unconditional | 站攙減陷 | |
銜 | 攙衫監艦 | |||
Closed III 咸 | 凡 | Unconditional | 凡泛帆範 | |
Open I 山 | 寒 | (Historical) dentialveolars | 丹坦懶傘 | |
Open II 山 | 山 | Unconditional | 扮產揀限 | |
刪 | 班棧姦晏 | |||
Closed I 山 | 桓 | Sporadic labials | 慢蔓般瘢 | |
Closed III 山 | 元 | 非 series | 反翻飯萬 | |
ue | Closed I 山 | 桓 | two irregular terms | 慣款 |
Closed II 山 | 山 & 刪 | Velars | 關慣環幻 | |
Closed III 山 | 元 | one irregular term | 挽 | |
oe | Open I 咸 | 覃 | Velars | 甘敢蚶酣 |
Open III 咸 | 鹽 | (Historical) retroflex | 占陝閃禪 | |
Open I 山 | 寒 | Velars | 看乾汗安 | |
Open III 山 | 仙 | 知, 章 and 日 series | 展戰善然 | |
Closed I 山 | 桓 | 幫 series and (historical) dentialveolars | 搬短暖酸 | |
Closed II 山 | 刪 | 莊 series | 篡閂栓 | |
Closed III 山 | 仙 | 知 and 章 series | 轉傳磚船 | |
uoe | Closed I 山 | 桓 | Velars | 官寬歡碗 |
Closed II & III 山 | 刪 & 元 | Sporadic | 婉宛 | |
ioe | Closed III 山 | 仙 | Velars and 日 initial | 軟卷拳院 |
元 | Velars | 勸願怨遠 | ||
Closed IV 山 | 先 | Velars | 犬縣玄淵 |
Qieyun description | Yixing | Kunshan | Jiaxing | Wuhang | Zhoushan | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
山 | Open Grade II 山 | sa1 | sae1 | sae1 | sae1 | sae1 |
凡 | Closed Grade III 咸 | va2 | vae2 | vae2 | vae2 | vae2 |
鹽 | Open Grade III 咸 | ye2 | ie2 | ye2 | ye2 | ghien2 |
天 | Open Grade IV 山 | tie1 | thie1 | thie1 | thie1 | thien1 |
川 | Closed Grade III 山 | chioe1 | tshoe1 | tshoe1 | tshae1 | tshoen1 |
南 | Open Grade I 咸 | 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]
Syllable | Suzhou | Changzhou | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Wugniu | IPA | Wugniu | IPA | |
天 | thie1 | /tʰi⁴⁴/ | thie1 | /tʰiɪ⁵⁵/ |
梯 | thi1 | /tʰiⱼ⁴⁴/ | thi1 | /tʰi⁵⁵/ |
鳩 | cieu1 | /tɕy⁴⁴/ | ciou1 | /tɕy⁵⁵/ |
居 | ciu1 | /tɕyⱼ⁴⁴/ | ciu1 | /tɕiɤɯ⁵⁵/ |
絲 | sy1 | /sɿ⁴⁴/ | sy1 | /sɿ⁵⁵/ |
書 | 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.
Historical coda | Shanghai | Haining (Xiashi) | Shangyu | Yinzhou | Wenzhou | Hong Kong | Xi'an | Tokyo ( Go'on )
| |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
立 | -p | liq8 /liɪʔ˩˨/ |
liq8 /liəʔ˨/ |
liq7 /liɪʔ˥/ |
liq8 /liʔ˩˨/ |
lei8, li8 /lei˨˩˧/,/li˨˩˧/ |
laap6 /laːp˨/ |
lǐ /li˧˩/ |
ryuu /ɾjɯː/ |
法 | faq7 /faʔ˦/ |
faq7 /faʔ˥/ |
faq7 /fɐʔ˥/ |
faq7 /faʔ/ |
ho7 /ho˨˩˧/ |
faat3 /faːt˧/ |
fǎ /fa˧˩ |
hou /hoː/ | |
鐵 | -t | thiq7 /tʰiɪʔ˦/ |
thiq7 /tʰiəʔ˥/ |
thiq7 /tʰiɪʔ˥/ |
thiq7 /tʰiʔ˥/ |
thi7 /tʰi˨˩˧/ |
tit3 /tʰiːt˧/ |
tiě /tʰiɛ˧˩/ |
teti /tetɕi/ |
七 | chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˦/ |
chiq7 /tɕiəʔ˥/ |
chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˥/ |
chiq7 /tɕiɪʔ˥/ |
tshai7 /tsʰai˨˩˧/ |
cat1 /tsʰɐt˥/ |
qǐ /tɕi˧˩/ |
siti /ɕitɕi/ | |
角 | -k | koq7 /koʔ˦/ |
koq7 /koʔ˥/ |
koq7 /koʔ˥/ |
koq7 /koʔ˥/ |
ko7 /ko˨˩˧/ |
gok3 /kɔːk˧/ |
juǒ /tɕyɤ˧˩/ |
kaku /kakɯ/ |
落 | 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
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]
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 (
Tone sandhi
Northern Wu languages all have
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.
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]
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 | 九桶 /tɕiɵ⁴² dõ³³/ |
半天 /pie³³ tʰie⁵⁵/ |
---|---|---|
RPS | 酒桶 /tɕiɵ³³ dõ/ |
變天 /pie⁴² tʰie⁵⁵/ |
Notes
- ^ LPS is also known as "broad sandhi" (廣用式) and RPS is also known as "narrow sandhi" (窄用式).
- ^ This is the system used on Wiktionary.
References
Citations
- ^ Zheng (2008), pp. vi.
- ^ a b c d Li (2012).
- ^ Li & Hong (2012), pp. 12.
- ^ Rose & Toda (1994), pp. 267.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i 吳語學堂 (Wugniu)
- ^ a b c Rose (2001).
- ^ Qian (2003).
- ^ a b c Liu & Kula (2018), pp. 27.
- ^ a b VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 3–7.
- ^ Chen (2004), pp. 10–55.
- ^ Qian (2007), pp. 386.
- ^ Wang (1996), pp. 1.
- ^ Ningbo Gazetteer, pp. 2853.
- ^ Wang (2015), pp. 3–4.
- ^ Bao (1998), pp. 6.
- ^ a b Ye (1988), pp. 82.
- ^ Mo (2013), pp. 15.
- ^ a b c d e Qian (2007).
- ^ Zhou (2011), pp. 12.
- ^ Rose (2021).
- ^ Rose (2015), pp. 1.
- ^ Gu (2008), pp. 76.
- ^ VanNess Simmons (1999).
- ^ a b Chappell & Lan (2017), pp. 15.
- ^ Chu (2013), pp. 2.
- ^ Xu (2015), pp. 7.
- ^ Chuansha Gazetteer, pp. 897.
- ^ Zhu (2006a), pp. 19–20.
- ^ Chen (1988).
- ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 50.
- ^ Koenig & Shi (2014), pp. 25.
- ^ Gu (2008), pp. 14.
- ^ a b Qian (2007), pp. 307.
- ^ VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 18.
- ^ Gu (2008), pp. 78.
- ^ Zheng (2013), pp. 39–40.
- ^ Zheng (2013), pp. 40.
- ^ VanNess Simmons (1999), pp. 57.
- ^ a b Chao (1967), pp. 100.
- ^ van Dam (2014), pp. 63–66.
- ^ Bao (1998), pp. 12.
- ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 116–117.
- ^ a b Yue & Hu, pp. 2058.
- ^ Wang (1996), pp. 7.
- ^ Hu (2006).
- ^ Cao (2003), pp. 11.
- ^ Wang (1996).
- ^ Wugniu (2016), pp. 4.
- ^ Akamatsu (1991), pp. 34.
- ^ Xu, Tang & You, pp. 252.
- ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 8.
- ^ Shi & Chen (2022), pp. 169.
- ^ Ye (2008), pp. 30–45.
- ^ Wang (1996), pp. 34.
- ^ Wang (2018), pp. 462.
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- ^ a b Zhang (1979), pp. 292–293.
- ^ Lin (2015), pp. 79.
- ^ Xu (2009), pp. 7.
- ^ Shao & Liang (2022).
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- ^ Ye (1993), pp. 6.
- ^ a b Rose & Toda (1994).
- ^ a b Rose (2001), pp. 159.
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- ^ Xu & Tang (1988), pp. 24.
- ^ a b Wang (1996), pp. 11–13.
- ^ Akitani (1988), pp. 43.
- ^ Zhang (2013).
- ^ Zhu (2006b), pp. 39.
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