The Nanping dialect (), or Nanping Mandarin (), is a dialect of
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
spoken in
Yanping District
Yanping District is a district of Nanping, Fujian province, People's Republic of China. The population of Yanping District was 504,483 at 2016.
Etymology
The name of the district literally means "Prolong Peace", and it is still commonly referred ...
, in
Nanping
Nanping (), historically known as Yanping (), is a third-tier prefecture-level city in northwestern Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It borders Ningde to the east, Sanming to the south, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi to th ...
,
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
. Locally, it is known as ''Tuguanhua'' (). It is one of three Mandarin
dialect islands in Fujian.
History and distribution
In the past, Nanping Mandarin had great influence in northern Fujian. During the
Republican Era Republican Era can refer to:
* Minguo calendar, the official era of the Republic of China
It may also refer to any era in a country's history when it was governed as a republic or by a Republican Party. In particular, it may refer to:
* Roman Re ...
, this dialect of Mandarin was taught as the standard in many schools in the area. However, since Yanping is surrounded by areas where
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Northern Min
Northern Min () is a group of mutually intelligible Min varieties spoken in Nanping prefecture of northwestern Fujian.
Classification and distribution
Early classifications of varieties of Chinese, such as those of Li Fang-Kuei in 1937 and Yu ...
are spoken, the areas where Nanping Mandarin is still spoken has shrunk down. During the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
, when
Fuzhou
Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
was under Japanese control, many people moved from Fuzhou into Nanping, and because of closer association with the provincial capital since the
founding of the People's Republic of China
The founding of the People's Republic of China was formally proclaimed by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, at 3:00 pm in Tiananmen Square in Peking, n ...
,
Fuzhounese became more popular, and speakers of Nanping Mandarin became fewer in number.
Nanping Mandarin is still spoken in these parts of
Yanping District
Yanping District is a district of Nanping, Fujian province, People's Republic of China. The population of Yanping District was 504,483 at 2016.
Etymology
The name of the district literally means "Prolong Peace", and it is still commonly referred ...
:
* the centre of the district;
* the seat of
Xiqin Town;
* parts of Shuinan Subdistrict, including Baxian, Geping, Lingxia Bridge and Houlingxia;
* Jixi, in Nanshan Town.
Phonology
Consonants
There are fourteen consonants in the phonemic inventory:
A more conservative form of the dialect also includes , and , which are contrastive to , and , e.g. ≠ .
Tones
Nanping Mandarin is traditionally considered to have five tones by diachronic convention, but it may be analyzed as having four phonemic tones.
Notes
References
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{{Chinese language
Languages of China
Mandarin Chinese