Tiantai dialect

Tiantai Dialect
Tiantai Dialect
天台話 / 天台话
Pronunciation	Tiantai Dialect: [tʰi.tʰai.u]
Native to	China
Region	Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Taizhou Wu Taizhou Tiantai Dialect; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

The Tiantai dialect, also known as Tiantaihua (

regiolect of Wu Chinese in the Taizhou Wu dialect group. It is spoken in Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China

.

Like other dialects in the Wu family, Tiantaihua has a three-way contrast between

Hanyu PinyinTiāntāi HuàIPA[tʰjɛ́n.tʰáɪ.xwâ]Yue: Cantonese JyutpingTin1 Toi4 waa2IPA[tʰiːn˥.tʰɔːi˩.waː˧˥]

The Tiantai dialect is the main representative of the northern Taizhou dialect family.

Comparison with Standard Chinese

The meaning of many common words and phrases in the Tiantai dialect differs from that of Standard Chinese. Below is a list of common differences:

Difference of meaning of words
Chinese word	Original meaning	Meaning in the Tiantai dialect	References
味道	Taste	Comfort, enjoyment	^[1]
老實好	Honestly good	Praise, very good
煞夾	Tightly squeezed	Very powerful
老官	Veteran official	Husband
天亮	Sunrise, dawn	Tomorrow
拔好	Properly pulled	Immediately
活動	Activity	Smart, intelligent
壽	Longevity	Silliness, lack of empathy	^[2]
賴	Sloppy	Bad behaviour	^[3]
大慧	Very intelligent	Able person	^[4]
大吹	Big blow	Stupid person	^[5]

Proverbs and phrases in the Tiantai dialect can be shorter in comparison with the corresponding phrase in Standard Chinese. For example, the phrase "露出馬腳" (literally "exposing the cloven hoof", metaphorically "exposed") is shortened to the phrase "出腳", literally meaning "taking the foot out".^[1]

Sentences can be shorter as well; see the example below.^[6]

Original	Chinese		和	小王	比起來	，	還是	小李		高	。
	English	Literal	As	John	compared to	,	it's still	Terry		taller	.
		Rearranged	As	compared to John			it's still	Terry	(who is)	taller
Contracted		Literal	~~As compared to~~ John				it's ~~still~~	Terry	~~who is~~	taller
Contracted	Chinese			小王			是	小李		長	。

Pronouns

Pronouns in the Tiantai dialect^[7]
Person	Regular Chinese pronoun	English equivalent	Tiantai dialect pronoun(s)
1st person singular	我	I	我
2nd person singular	你	you (singular)	爾^{[n 1]}
3rd person singular	他	he	佢／渠^{[n 2]}
	她	she
	牠	it (animals)
	它	it (objects)
1st person plural	我們	we	我等／我拉／我拉個／項等
2nd person plural	你們	you (plural)	爾拉／爾拉個
3rd person plural	他們	they	佢拉／佢拉個／渠拉／渠拉個
	她們
	牠們
	它們

^ The word "爾" stands for "you" in middle Chinese.
^ These words are thought to have come from the word "其", a 3rd person pronoun in Middle Chinese.

Syllable structure

Initials

Table of consonants ^{(translated from}^[8]⁾
Consonant	plosive		Voiceless aspirated plosive		Plosive voiced		Voiceless fricative		Voiced fricative		Glottalised?^{[citation needed]} half voiced		Half voiced
Consonant	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example
Labial	p	幫	ph	滂	b	平	f 敷	敷	v	奉	'm	媽	m	明
Dental	ts	知	tsh	初	dz	迟	s 生	生	z	是	'l	拉	l	來
Coronal	t	端	th	透	d	定					'n	奶	n	南
Alveolo-palatal	c	照	ch	穿	j	澄	sh	心	zh	從
Velar	k	見	kh	溪	g	群					'ng	嗯	ng	牙
Glottal	'	影					h	曉	gh	匣			y	移
Glottal	'	影					h	曉	gh	匣			w	胡

Finals

Table of vowels ^{(translated from}^[8]⁾
See also: Four hu
Open mouth		Closed mouth		Even teeth		Round mouth
Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example
y	資
				i	衣
		u	烏			iu	雨
a	矮	ua	歪	ia	野
e	哀	ue	威	i.e.	煙
o	掗	uo	花
ae	晏	uae	彎
oe	半	uoe	碗			ioe	遠
au	奧			iau	要
eu	歐			ieu	悠
ou	哥
an	杏	uan	橫	ian	央
aon	項	uaon	汪			iaon	雙
en	恩	uen	溫
				in	音	iuin	雲
on	翁					ion	用
aeh	鴨	uaeh	挖
ah	百	uah	摑	iah	腳
aoh	惡	uaoh	鑊			iaoh	捉
eh	黑			ieh	葉
				ih	一	iuih	出
oeh	脫	uoeh	骨			ioeh	月
oh	屋					ioh	郁
		m	無_白	n	爾_白	ng	五

Tones

There are 8 tones in the Tiantai dialect, which are obtained by splitting each of the four tones in Mandarin to yin (陰) and yang (陽).

Tones in Tiantai dialect^[9]
Tone name	Tone letters
yin ping (陰平)	˧˧ (33)
yang ping (陽平)	˨˦ (24)
yin shang (陰上)	˧˨˥ (325)
yang shang (陽上)	˨˩˦ (214)
yin qu (陰去)	˥˥ (55)
yang qu (陽去)	˧˥ (35)
yin ru (陰入)	˥ʔ (5)
yang ru (陽入)	˨˧ʔ (23)

References

^ ^a ^b 天台話100句翻譯，啥意思格 [100 Sentences in the Tiantai Dialect and What do they Mean]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ 天台話中「壽頭」是指什麼頭？ [What Does "Long-Lived Head" Mean in the Tiantai Dialect?]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2006). 浙江天台方言词考源数则 [Etymological Notes on Dialectal Words of Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang Province]. 方言 (in Chinese). 2006 (4): 374–377.
^ Wang, Lin 汪林 (2008). 大慧天台. 安徽文學 (in Chinese). 2008 (12): 144–145.
^ Chen, Luqian 陈露茜 (2012). 从吴语趣谈“个”字 [Talking About the Word “个” from Wu Chinese]. 文学教育 (in Chinese). 2012 (9): 132–133.
^ Xiong, Zhongru 熊仲儒 (2007). 現代漢語與方言中差比句的句法結構分析 [An Analysis of Syntactic Structure of Difference Sentences in Modern Chinese and Regional Dialects] (PDF). Language and Linguistics (in Chinese). 8 (4): 1043–1063.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2003). 浙江天台方言的代词 [The Pronouns of the Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang]. 方言 (in Chinese). 2003 (4): 314–323.
^ ^a ^b 天台话拼音方案 [Pinyin Scheme of the Tiantai Dialect]. 通用吴语拼音 (in Chinese). 15 March 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (1999). 天台话的几种语法现象. 方言 (in Chinese). 1999 (4): 249–258.

[8] The word "爾" stands for "you" in middle Chinese.

[9] These words are thought to have come from the word "其", a 3rd person pronoun in Middle Chinese.

[:1-1] 天台話100句翻譯，啥意思格 [100 Sentences in the Tiantai Dialect and What do they Mean]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[2] 天台話中「壽頭」是指什麼頭？ [What Does "Long-Lived Head" Mean in the Tiantai Dialect?]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[3] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2006). 浙江天台方言词考源数则 [Etymological Notes on Dialectal Words of Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang Province]. 方言 (in Chinese). 2006 (4): 374–377.

[4] Wang, Lin 汪林 (2008). 大慧天台. 安徽文學 (in Chinese). 2008 (12): 144–145.

[5] Chen, Luqian 陈露茜 (2012). 从吴语趣谈“个”字 [Talking About the Word “个” from Wu Chinese]. 文学教育 (in Chinese). 2012 (9): 132–133.

[6] Xiong, Zhongru 熊仲儒 (2007). 現代漢語與方言中差比句的句法結構分析 [An Analysis of Syntactic Structure of Difference Sentences in Modern Chinese and Regional Dialects] (PDF). Language and Linguistics (in Chinese). 8 (4): 1043–1063.

[7] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2003). 浙江天台方言的代词 [The Pronouns of the Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang]. 方言 (in Chinese). 2003 (4): 314–323.

[:0-10] 天台话拼音方案 [Pinyin Scheme of the Tiantai Dialect]. 通用吴语拼音 (in Chinese). 15 March 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[11] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (1999). 天台话的几种语法现象. 方言 (in Chinese). 1999 (4): 249–258.

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