Huizhou Chinese

The Huī (徽) dialects are unrelated to the Huí (回) ethnic group of China.

Hui
徽語/徽语 徽州話/徽州话
Native to	China
Region	southern Anhui, neighbouring portions of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, about 12 counties in total
Native speakers	4.6 million  (2000 census)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Wu? Hui
Language codes
ISO 639-3	czh
Glottolog	huiz1242[2]

Huizhou (simplified Chinese: 徽州话; traditional Chinese: 徽州話; pinyin: Huīzhōu-huà) or Hui (simplified Chinese: 徽语; traditional Chinese: 徽語; pinyin: Huī-yǔ), is a division of Chinese.

Hui is spoken over a small area compared to other Chinese varieties: in and around the historical region of Huizhou (for which it is named), in about ten or so mountainous counties in southern Anhui, plus a few more in neighbouring Zhejiang and Jiangxi. Despite its small size, Hui displays a very high degree of internal variation. Nearly every county has its own distinct dialect unintelligible to a speaker a few counties away. It is for this reason that bilingualism and multilingualism are common among speakers of Hui.

Like all other varieties of Chinese, there is plenty of dispute as to whether Hui is a language or a dialect. See Varieties of Chinese for the issues surrounding this dispute.

Classification

Huizhou Chinese was originally classified under Jianghuai Mandarin, but it is currently classified separately from Jianghuai.^[3] The Chinese Academy of Social Science supported the separation of the Huizhou Chinese from the Jianghuai Mandarin dialects in 1987.^[4]

Its classification is disputed, with some linguists such as Matisoff classifying it as Wu, others such as Bradley (2007) as Gan, and still others setting it apart as a primary branch of Chinese.

History

In the Ming and Qing dynasties Jianghuai speakers moved into Hui dialect areas.^[5]

Some works of literature produced in Yangzhou, such as Qingfengzha, a novel, contain Jianghuai Mandarin. People in Yangzhou identified by the dialect they speak, locals spoke the dialect, as opposed to sojourners, who spoke dialects like Huizhou or Wu. This led to the formation of identity based on dialect. Large amounts of merchants from Huizhou lived in Yangzhou and effectively were responsible for keeping the town afloat.^[6]

Dialects

Hui can be divided into five dialects:

• Jixi-Shexian, spoken in Jixi, She County, Huizhou, Jingde, and Ningguo, Anhui province, as well as Chun'an, Zhejiang province
• Xiuning-Yixian, spoken in Tunxi, Taiping, Xiuning, Yi County, and Qimen, as well as Wuyuan, Jiangxi province
• Qimen-Dexing, spoken in Qimen and Dongzhi, Anhui province, as well as Fuliang, Dexing, and Wuyuan, Jiangxi province
• Yanzhou, spoken in Chun'an and Jiande, Zhejiang province
• Jingde-Zhanda, spoken in Jingde, Qimen, Shitai, Yi County, and Ningguo, Anhui province

Dialects of Huizhou Chinese differ from village to village.^[7] People in different villages (even in one county and township) often cannot speak with one other.

Features

Many dialects of Hui have diphthongs with a higher, lengthened first part. For example, 話 ("speech") is /uːɜ/ in Xiuning County (Putonghua /xuɑ/), 園 ("yard") is /yːɛ/ in Xiuning County (Putonghua /yɛn/); 結 ("knot") is /tɕiːaʔ/ in Yi County (Putonghua /tɕiɛ/), 約 ("agreement") is /iːuʔ/ in Yi County (Putonghua /yɛ/). A few areas take this to extremes. For example, Likou in Qimen County has /fũːmɛ̃/ for 飯 ("rice") (Putonghua /fan/), with the /m/ appearing directly as a result of the lengthened, nasalized /ũː/.

Because nasal codas have mostly dropped off, Hui reuses the /-n/ ending as a diminutive. For example, in the Tunxi dialect, there is 索 ("rope") /soːn/ < /soʔ/ + /-n/.

References

External links

• Classification of Hui Dialects