The Hangzhou dialect (Traditional Chinese: 杭州話; Simplified Chinese: 杭州话; pinyin: hángzhōuhuà) is spoken in the city of Hangzhou and its immediate suburbs, but excluding areas further away from Hangzhou such as Xiāoshān 蕭山 Yúháng 余杭. The number of speakers of the Hangzhou dialect has been estimated to be about 1.2 to 1.5 million. It belongs to the Wu language family, which in turn constitutes one of the Sinitic language families. The Hangzhou dialect is of immense interest to Chinese historical phonologists and dialectologists because phonologically, it exhibits extensive similarities with the other Wu languages; however, grammatically and lexically, it shows many Mandarin tendencies. (Simmons 1995) Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; also Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) refer to one of two standard Chinese character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language, officially simplified by the government of the Peoples Republic of China in an attempt to promote literacy. ... It has been suggested that Pinyin_method be merged into this article or section. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city in China and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Wu (吳方言 pinyin wú fāng yán; 吳語 pinyin wú yÇ”; Latin method wu gnu(niu)) is one of the major divisions of the Chinese language. ... Historical Chinese Phonology deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. ... Dialectology is the study of dialects of a language, their evolution, differentiation, inter-intelligibity, grammar, phonetics etc. ... The vowels of modern (Standard) Arabic and (Israeli) Hebrew from the phonological point of view. ... Grammar is the study of rules governing the use of language. ... Lexicology is a speciality in linguistics dealing with the study of the lexicon. ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Singapore. ...

Classification

Geographic distribution

Dialects

Phonetics and phonology

Consonants

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Sagittal section of alveolo-palatal fricative In phonetics, alveolo-palatal (or alveopalatal) consonants are palatalized postalveolar fricatives, articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... (adj. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... The breathy-voiced glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative or laminal postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ), but release as a fricative such as or (or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The labiodental approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ...

Vowels

Monophthongs

Diphthongs

Triphthongs

Syllable structure

Onsets

Rimes

Tones

Citation tones

The Hangzhou tonal system is similar to that of the Suzhou dialect, in that some characters of the shàng tone in Middle Chinese have merged with the modern yīn qù tone. Suzhou dialect (蘇州話 / 苏州话; pinyin: sū zhōu huà) is a dialect of Wu, one of the subdivisions of Chinese spoken language. ... Middle Chinese (Traditional Chinese: 中古漢語; Pinyin: zhōnggÇ” HànyÇ”), or Ancient Chinese as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). ...

Tones in Chinese derive from the traditional Middle Chinese tone classes, known as Ping Sheng (平聲), Shang Sheng (上聲), Qu Sheng (去聲), and Ru Sheng (入聲), which in English in the linguistic literature, are sometimes called the level, rising, departing and entering tones. ... The tone contours of Standard Mandarin Tone contours are numbers that represent the way pitch varies over a syllable. ...

Tone sandhi

Grammar

Morphology

Syntax

Vocabulary

History

Examples

See also

• List of Chinese dialects
• Suzhou dialect
• Shanghainese

The following is a list of major Chinese dialects. ... Suzhou dialect (蘇州話 / 苏州话; pinyin: sū zhōu huà) is a dialect of Wu, one of the subdivisions of Chinese spoken language. ... Shanghainese (上海言话 [] in Shanghainese), sometimes referred to as the Shanghai dialect, is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai. ...

References

• Qián,nǎiróng (1992). Dāngdài Wúyǔ yánjiū. (Contemporary Wu linguistics studies). Shànghǎi: shànghǎi jiāoyù chūbǎnshè. (錢乃榮. 1992. 當代吳語研究. 上海敎育出版社) ISBN 7-5320-2355-9

• Simmons, Richard VanNess (1995). "Distinguishing characteristics of the Hangzhou dialect". New Asia Academic Bulletin 11: 383–398.