List of Chinese dialects
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following is a list of Chinese dialects and languages.
Contents |
[edit] Classification
Linguists classify these languages as the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Within this broad classification, linguistics identify between seven and fourteen subgroups.
[edit] Tradition classification
Traditional Chinese classification lists seven groups, including:
| • Gan | |
| • Guan | (Mandarin or Beifang) |
| • Kejia | (Hakka) |
| • Min | (including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants) |
| • Wu | |
| • Xiang | |
| • Yue | (Cantonese) |
(shown here with the romanized Standard Mandarin names of the categories, ordered alphabetically).
[edit] Modern linguistic classification
James Matisoff's widely accepted classification includes:
| Mandarin | → Standard Mandarin |
| → Jin | |
| Wu | → Shanghainese |
| → Hui | |
| Cantonese | → Ping |
| Min | → Taiwanese |
| Xiang | |
| Hakka | |
| Gan |
Matisoff's list uses the common English names of the groups, ordered by decreasing number of speakers of languages within the group.
[edit] Ethnologue
The Ethnologue lists 14 language groups,[1] including:
| Chinese, Gan | (Gan) |
| Chinese, Hakka | (Kejia) |
| Chinese, Huizhou | (Hui) |
| Chinese, Jinyu | (Jin) |
| Chinese, Mandarin | (Mandarin) |
| Chinese, Min Bei | (Min → Min Bei) |
| Chinese, Min Dong | (Min → Min Dong) |
| Chinese, Min Nan | (Min → Min Nan) |
| Chinese, Min Zhong | (Min → Min Zhong) |
| Chinese, Pu-Xian | (Min → Pu-Xian) |
| Chinese, Wu | (Wu) |
| Chinese, Xiang | (Xiang) |
| Chinese, Yue | (Yue (Cantonese)) |
| Dungan | (Mandarin → Dungan) |
See also Campbell's article on classifying Chinese dialects[2] and ChinaDC's chart of Sino-Tibetan languages.[3]
As the above categories illustrate, there are three common approaches to naming categories and languages in English:
- A Romanization of the name in Standard Mandarin (e.g. "Gan" or "Xiang")
- The common English name, where there is one (e.g. "Cantonese" or "Mandarin")
- A Romanization of the name in the principal language of the group (e.g. "Hakka" or "Hokkien")
The classification used here is a combination of the classifications given above.
[edit] Dialects and languages
In addition to the languages and dialects given below, it is customary to speak informally of languages and dialects belonging to each province, e.g. Sichuan dialect, Henan dialect. These designations do not always correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each nevertheless has approximate characteristics of its own.
The question of whether these should be called dialects or languages in their own right is particularly interesting in Chinese. On the one hand, the designation seems to be as much socio-political as linguistic, reflecting Max Weinreich's comment that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy." Purely from a linguistic point of view, many of these idioms seem to meet the criteria of a language. On the other hand, to a large degree the various Chinese idioms share a common written language and literature, lending weight to calling them "dialects". Because the written language is grammatically closest to Standard Mandarin, many Chinese speakers view Standard Mandarin as "the Chinese language", and everything else as dialects.
[edit] Gan
(赣语/贛語)
- Dongkou dialect 洞口方言
- Funing dialect
- Fuzhou (Jiangxi) dialect 撫州話
- Ji'an (Jiangxi) dialect 吉安話
- Nanchang dialect 南昌話
- Xianning dialect
- Yichun dialect 宜春話
- Yingtan dialect 鷹潭話
[edit] Guan (Mandarin/Beifang)
(官话/官話 / 北方话/北方話)
[edit] Beijing Mandarin 北京官話
- Beijing dialect 北京话/北京話
- Standard Mandarin, also known as Putonghua (which is also the official name in English) 普通话 in the People's Republic of China, Guoyu (also spelt Kuo-yü) 國語 in the Republic of China, Huayu 华语 in Singapore.
The official sanction of Standard Mandarin as an official language has also given rise to the following varieties of Standard Mandarin in areas that did not originally speak any dialect of the Mandarin group:- Cantonese Mandarin
- Singaporean Mandarin
- Taiwanese Mandarin
- Chengde dialect 承德話
- Chifeng dialect
- Hailar dialect
- Karamay dialect
[edit] Ji Lu Mandarin 冀魯官話
- Baoding dialect 保定話
- Jinan dialect 濟南話
- Shijiazhuang dialect 石家莊話
- Tianjin dialect 天津話
[edit] Jianghuai Mandarin 江准官話
- Hefei dialect 合肥話
- Hainan Junjiahua 軍家話
- Nanjing dialect 南京話
- Nantong dialect 南通話
- Xiaogan dialect
- Yangzhou dialect 揚州話
[edit] Jiao Liao Mandarin 膠遼官話
- Dalian dialect 大连话/大連話
- Qingdao dialect 青岛话/青島話
- Weihai dialect 威海話
- Yantai dialect 烟台话/煙台話
[edit] Lan Yin Mandarin 蘭銀官話
- Dungan language 東干語
- Lanzhou dialect 蘭州話
- Urumqi dialect of Chinese
- Xining dialect 西宁话/西寧話
- Yinchuan dialect 银川话/銀川話
[edit] Northeast China Mandarin 东北官话/東北官話
- Changchun dialect 长春话/長春話
- Harbin dialect 哈尔浜话/哈爾濱話
- Qiqihar dialect 斉斉哈尔话/齊齊哈爾話
- Shenyang dialect 沈阳话/瀋陽話
[edit] Shandong Mandarin 山東話
Used informally to refer to either Ji Lu Mandarin, spoken in northwest Shandong or Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the southwest.[4]
[edit] Southwestern Mandarin 西南官话/西南官話
- Changde dialect
- Chengdu dialect 成都话/成都話
- Chongqing dialect 重慶話
- Dali dialect 大理話
- Guiyang dialect 貴陽話
- Kunming dialect 昆明話
- Liuzhou dialect 柳州話
- Wuhan dialect 武漢話
- Xichang dialect 西昌話
- Yichang dialect 宜昌話
[edit] Zhongyuan Mandarin 中原官話
- Hanzhong dialect 漢中話
- Kaifeng dialect 開封話
- Kashgar dialect of Chinese 喀什話
- Luoyang dialect 洛陽話
- Nanyang dialect
- Qufu dialect 曲埠話
- Tianshui dialect 天水話
- Xi'an dialect 西安話
- Xuzhou dialect 徐州話
- Yan'an dialect 延安話
- Zhengzhou dialect 郑州话/鄭州話
[edit] Hui
(徽语/徽語)
Hui is sometimes considered a subcategory of Gan.
- Jixi (Anhui) dialect
- Shexian (Anhui) dialect 歙縣話
- Tunxi dialect 屯溪話
- Yixian (Anhui) dialect
[edit] Jin
(晋语/晉語)
Jin is sometimes considered the ninth division of Mandarin (Guan/Beifang).
- Baotou dialect 包頭話
- Datong dialect 大頭話
- Handan dialect 邯郸话
- Hohhot dialect 呼市話
- Taiyuan dialect 太原話
- Xinxiang dialect 新乡话
[edit] Kejia (Hakka)
(客家話)
- Huizhou (Guangdong) Hakka dialect 惠州客家話
- Meizhou Hakka dialect 梅州客家話
- Wuhua Hakka dialect 五華客家話
- Xingning Hakka dialect 興寧客家話
- Pingyuan Hakka dialect 平遠客家話
- Jiaoling Hakka dialect 蕉嶺客家話
- Dapu Hakka dialect 大埔客家話
- Fengshun Hakka dialect 豐順客家話
- Longyan Hakka dialect 龍岩客家話
- Waitau dialect 圍頭話/畬話
[edit] Min
(闽语/閩語)
[edit] Min Bei 闽北语
(Northern Min)
- Jian'ou dialect 建瓯话/建甌話
[edit] Min Dong 闽东语
(Eastern Min)
- Fuqing dialect (Hokchia)
- Fuzhou dialect (Hokchiu) 福州話
[edit] Min Nan 闽南语/閩南語
(Southern Min)
- Chaoshan division
- Shantou dialect (Swatow) 汕头话/汕頭話
- Chaozhou dialect (Teochew) 潮州话/潮州話
- Haifeng dialect (Hailufeng dialect/Lufeng dialect) 海豐話 (海陸豐話/陸豐話)
- Mintai division 閩台片
- Lan-nang
- Quanzhou dialect 泉州話
- Penang Hokkien
- Taiwanese (see regional variations) 臺灣話/台湾话
- Central Taiwanese
- Northeastern coastal Taiwanese
- Northern Taiwanese
- Southern Taiwanese
- Xiamen dialect (Amoy/Hokkien) 厦门话/廈門話
- Zhangzhou dialect 漳州話
[edit] Min Zhong 闽中语
(Central Min)
- Sanming dialect 三明話
[edit] Pu Xian
- Putian dialect (Henghwa/Hinghwa) 莆田話
- Xianyou dialect
[edit] Qiong Wen 瓊文片
- Hainan dialect (Hainanese) 海南話
- Zhanjiang dialect (Leizhou) 湛江話/雷州話
[edit] Shao Jiang
[edit] Ping
(平话/平話)
Pinghua is sometimes considered a subset of Cantonese (Yue).
- Nanning dialect 南寧話
[edit] Wu
(吴语/吳語)
[edit] Taihu division 太湖片
- Changzhou dialect 常州話/常州话
- Suzhou dialect 苏州话/蘇州話
- Wuxi dialect 无锡话/無錫話
- Hangzhou dialect 杭州話/杭州话
- Huzhou dialect 湖州話/湖州话
- Jiaxing dialect 嘉興話/嘉兴话
- Shaoxing dialect 紹興話/绍兴话
- Ningbo dialect 寧波話/宁波话
- Shanghai dialect (Shanghainese) 上海話/上海话
[edit] Taizhou division 婺州片
- Taizhou (Zhejiang) dialect 台州話
[edit] Oujiang division
- Wenzhou dialect 溫州話
[edit] Wuzhou division
- Jinhua dialect 金華話
- Yiwu dialect 義烏話
- Yongkang dialect 永康話
[edit] Chu Qu division
- Lishui dialect 麗水話
- Quzhou dialect 衢州話
- Shangrao dialect 上饒話
[edit] Xuanzhou division
- Xuancheng dialect 宣城話
[edit] Xiang
(湘语/湘語)
[edit] Chang Yi division
- Changsha dialect 長沙話
- Hengyang dialect 衡陽話
- Yiyang dialect
- Zhuzhou dialect
[edit] Lou Shao division
- Loudi dialect
- Shaoyang dialect
- Shuangfeng dialect
[edit] Chen Xu division
- Chenxi dialect
- Xupu dialect
[edit] Yue (Cantonese)
(粵語/粤语)
[edit] Yue Hai division 粤海片/粵海片
- Standard Cantonese (Guangfu) 广府话/廣府話
- Guangzhou dialect 广州/廣州
- Hong Kong dialect 香港
- Macau dialect 澳门/澳門
- Sam-yap 三邑/南番順
- Nanhai dialect 南海話
- Panyu dialect 番禺話
- Shunde dialect 順德話
- Zhaoqing dialect 肇庆话/肇慶話
- Zhongshan dialect 中山話
- Zhuhai dialect 珠海話
- Jiujiang dialect 九江話
- Qingyuan dialect 庆元话/慶元話
[edit] Guan Bao division 莞寶片
- Dongguan dialect 东莞话/東莞話
- Bao'an dialect 寶安話
[edit] Luoguang division 罗岗片/羅崗片
[edit] Seiyap division (Siyi) 四邑片
- Enping dialect 恩平話
- Heshan dialect 鶴山話
- Jiangmen dialect 江门话/江門話
- Kaiping dialect 开平话/開平話
- Taishan dialect (Hoisanese, Toisanese) 台山話
- Xinhui dialect 新會話
[edit] Gouyeung division 高阳片/高陽片
- Maoming dialect 茂名話
- Yeunggong dialect 阳江话/陽江咶
[edit] Gwainaam division (Cancerese) 桂南片
- Beihai dialect 北海話
- Nanning dialect of Yue (Naamning) 南宁话/南寧話
- Moujau (Guangxi) dialect 婺州話
- Yuklam dialect 郁林话/鬱林話
[edit] Mouchyun dialect 武川話
[edit] Danjia dialect 蜑家話
[edit] Unclassified
[edit] See also
- Chinese language
- Chinese spoken language
- Chinese written language
- Dialects of Mandarin
- Dialect (discussion of "dialect" or "language")
- Identification of the varieties of Chinese
|
||||
| Categories: |
Gan | Hakka | Hui | Jin | Mandarin | Min | Ping | Xiang | Wu | Cantonese |
|||
| Subcategories of Min: | Min Bei | Min Dong | Min Nan | Min Zhong | Puxian | Qiongwen | Shaojiang | |||
| Subcategories of Mandarin: | Northeastern | Beijing | Ji-Lu | Jiao-Liao | Zhongyuan | Lan-Yin | Southwestern | Jianghuai | Dungan | |||
| Note: The above is only one classification scheme among many. The categories in italics are not universally acknowledged to be independent categories. |
||||
| Comprehensive list of Chinese dialects | ||||
| Official spoken varieties: | Standard Mandarin | Standard Cantonese | |||
| Historical phonology: | Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Proto-Min | Proto-Mandarin | Haner | |||
| Chinese: written varieties | ||||
| Official written varieties: | Classical Chinese | Vernacular Chinese | |||
| Other varieties: | Written Vernacular Cantonese | |||
[edit] References
- ^ Ethnologue report for Chinese. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ James Campbell. Chinese Dialect Classification. Glossika. Retrieved on 2006-08-30. Includes descriptions of the dialects spoken in over 2,500 cities and counties in China. Includes interactive map.
- ^ Linguistic chart of Sino-Tibetan Languages. ChineseDC.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-30. In Chinese.
- ^ See Shandong#Culture
