Xiguan dialect
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Xiguan | |
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Native to | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | None |
The Xiguan dialect, or Sai Kwan dialect.
Speakers
People living in Xiguan have generally lost a Xiguan accent; what they are actually speaking with is the lazy pronunciation (Chinese: 懶音) of Xiguan Dialect.
Differences with downtown accent
Differences in the pronunciation of some characters
Xiguan Accent | Downtown Accent | English Translation |
---|---|---|
han3(瞓)覺 (Close to the ancient pronunciation of "睏") | fan3(瞓)覺 | To sleep |
ji1(依)家 | ji4(而)家 | Now |
ji1(依)個 | ni1(呢)個 | This, these |
Confusion of consonants n & l
Due to Xiguan's near geographical position to
Consonant ng
Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce zero consonant (Chinese: 零聲母) as the consonant ng, for instance, "屋(uk7)" as "nguk7" and "壓(aat8)" as "ngaat8".
Vowels i & ei / ai
Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce vowels ei and ai as i. The phenomenon also lies in Nanhai Accents, such as:
The Character | Xiguan Accent | Downtown Accent | English Translation |
---|---|---|---|
使 | si2 | sai2 | To make, to cause, to use |
死 | si2 | sei2 | To die |
四 | si3 | sei3 | Four |
嘶 | si1 | sai1 (Owing to the Popularization of Mandarin (Chinese: 推廣普通話), an increasing number of people read si1 rather than sai1, influenced by Mandarin) | Neigh, hiss |
Dental consonant
Additionally, speakers of Xiguan Accents enhance dental consonants (Chinese: 舌尖齒音). That is to say, downtown people pronounce "知", "雌" and "斯" as [tɕi], [tɕʰi] and [ɕi] (comparatively relaxed in the oral area, close to [tɕ], [tɕʰ] and [ɕ] in IPA; and yet Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce [tsi], [tsʰi] and [si] (The tip of tongue pushes up against upper teeth and blocks up air current. Tense in the oral area, similar to zh, ch and sh in Mandarin without rolling tongue). To be precise, dental consonants are similar to the consonants of 左", "初" and "所" (i.e., [ts], [tsʰ] and [s]) in Downtown Accents. In summary, speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce [tɕ], [tɕʰ] and [ɕ] as [ts], [tsʰ] and [s]. A saying representing Xiguan Accents goes that Servant, take some money to buy some seadless kaki fruits (Chinese: 亞"四",擰幾毫"紙",去買啲水"柿").
Status
Relationship with downtown accents (especially Dongshan accents)
Xiguan lies to the west of Taiping Gate (
References
- ISSN 1911-2017.
The language used there was called 'Sai-Kwan-Wa' which was the Cantonese pronunciation of 'Sai-Kwan Dialect'
- doi:10.5353/th_b3622358 (inactive April 12, 2024).)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link - ISBN 978-3-11-082370-7.
- ISSN 1911-2017.