The Shaoxing dialect () is a Wu dialect spoken in the city of

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

more specifically in the city center of Yuecheng and its surrounding areas. It is a representative Wu dialect with a tripartite distinction on voiced stop initials and a textbook register split with each of the four tonal categories of

Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...

being divided into upper and lower registers. Within Wu, it is classified as a Northern Wu dialect belonging to the Taihu division within which it is classified under the Linshao subdivision (臨紹小片/临绍小片). It is the pronunciation of the Shaoxing dialect which is the standard to be used on the texts of

Yue opera Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity ...

. It is also the native language of

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

and

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

whose Baihua was often peppered with phrases from his native dialect.

Distribution

The suburban areas to the north and east stretching from Dongpu (东浦) to Doumen (斗门) and north of Pingshui (平水) in the southern suburban areas are basically the same as that of the city center. Outside of these areas, people may still speak "Shaoxing dialect," but there are noticeable differences between these speech forms and those of the main urban area of Shaoxing.

Research into the Shaoxing dialect

The Shaoxing dialect has received an unusually large amount of attention. Documented research for the dialect has existed since the Kangxi era in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, when there were three main works dealing with the Shaoxing dialect. *越语肯綮录 by Mao Qiling (毛奇龄) *越言释 by Ru Dunhe (茹敦和) *越谚 by Fan Yin (范寅) In the modern era,

Chao Yuen Ren Yuen Ren Chao (; 3 November 1892 – 25 February 1982), also known as Zhao Yuanren, was a Chinese-American linguist, educator, scholar, poet, and composer, who contributed to the modern study of Chinese phonology and grammar. Chao was born an ...

documented four regions in Shaoxing in his ''Modern Wu Research'' (现代吴语研究). Besides Chao, the Shaoxing dialect has received the most attention from Chinese dialectologist Wang Futang (王福堂) whose 1959 ''Shaoxinghua jiyin'' (绍兴话记音) was the first full-length paper in the modern era dedicated wholly to the dialect. A concise grammar, phonology, and nearly 300 page word list of the dialect has been compiled by Yang Wei (杨葳) and Yang Jun (杨浚) in ''Shaoxing Fangyan'' (绍兴方言). There is also an English-language monograph ''The Phonology of Shaoxing Chinese'' by Zhang Jisheng and a handful of other works in Chinese. The Shaoxing dialect is also mentioned in ''Zhejiang Fangyan Fenqu'' (浙江方言分区), ''Zhejiang Fangyanci'' (浙江方言词), and ''Shaoxingshi yanyu juan'' (绍兴市谚语卷). As with most locations in China, Shaoxing is also covered in the '' Linguistic Atlas of Chinese Dialects''.

Distribution

Research into the Shaoxing dialect

Phonological inventory

Initials

Finals

Citation tones

Syllable structure

Initials

Rhymes

References

Citations

Works cited