The Xiguan accent () or Xiguan

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

(), is a sub-dialect of the Guangzhou dialect of

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, spoken in

Xiguan Saikwan or Xiguan is an ancient town and an area in the Liwan district of Guangzhou, China, which was located west of the old walled city. The Thirteen Factories trading enclave was located on its southern shore and the Shamian enclave was co ...

takes Guangzhou dialect as its standard and Guangzhou dialect once took Xiguan as its standard. With an increasing number of outsiders moving in, Xiguan dialect can only be heard among the older population and it is near extinction. The ''Guangzhouhua Zidian'' () includes Xiguan alongside

Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to: *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas *Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands *The '' Nanhai I ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Speakers

People living in Xiguan have generally lost a Xiguan accent; what they are actually speaking with is the

relaxed pronunciation Relaxation stands quite generally for a release of tension, a return to equilibrium. In the sciences, the term is used in the following ways: * Relaxation (physics), and more in particular: ** Relaxation (NMR), processes by which nuclear magnetiza ...

() of Xiguan Dialect.

Differences with downtown accent

Differences in the pronunciation of some characters

Confusion of consonants ''n'' & ''l''

Due to Xiguan's near geographical position to

, both accents spoken in Xiguan and Nanhai feature n-l merger, in which /n/ and /l/ are merged into /l/. However, the feature is less prominent in the Xiguan accent.

Consonant ''ng''

Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce

zero consonant In orthography, a zero consonant, silent initial, or null-onset letter is a consonant letter that does not correspond to a consonant sound, but is required when a word or syllable starts with a vowel (i.e. has a null onset). Some abjads, abugidas ...

() 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:

Dental consonant

Additionally, speakers of Xiguan Accents enhance

dental consonant A dental consonant is a consonant articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth, such as , . In some languages, dentals are distinguished from other groups, such as alveolar consonants, in which the tongue contacts the gum ridge. Dental c ...

s (). That is to say, downtown people pronounce "知", "雌" and "斯" as , and (comparatively relaxed in the oral area, close to , and in

IPA IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners ...

; and yet Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce , and (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 Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

without rolling tongue). To be precise, dental consonants are similar to the consonants of 左", "初" and "所" (i.e., , and ) in Downtown Accents. In summary, speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce , and as , and . A saying representing Xiguan Accents goes that ''Servant, take some money to buy some seadless kaki fruits'' ().

Status

Relationship with downtown accents (especially Dongshan accents)

Xiguan lies to the west of

Taiping Gate __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the r ...

(). Xiguan is the suburb of Guangzhou and it was administrated by

Nanhai County Nanhai County was a former county in Guangdong Province, China, named after the South China Sea. Its former area now makes up Nanhai District in Foshan and Liwan District in Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and C ...

rather than

Panyu County Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...

(covering former

Yuexiu District Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, political and cultural c ...

and former Dongshan District). Therefore, it was not regarded as part of the capital of Guangdong Province. Therefore, Xiguan Dialect should be regarded as suburban accents, distinguished from Downtown Accent (), esp. Dongshan Accents (). Notwithstanding, Xiguan lies close to the provincial capital, so the gap is narrow. {{Chinese language Cantonese language