Rui'an dialect

Ruian dialect
瑞安話
Pronunciation	[zʉ˦ø˧ɦo˨]
Native to	People's Republic of China
Region	Wenzhou prefecture, Zhejiang province
Native speakers	1 million (2011)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Wu Oujiang Ruian dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Ruian dialect (瑞安話; pronounced [zʉ˦ø˧ɦo˨] in Ruian dialect) is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in Ruian. It belongs to the Oujiang sub-group of Wu Chinese dialects. It is strictly related to Pingyang dialect and Lucheng dialect, generally referred as Wenzhounese.

Phonology

Initials

		Labial	Dental	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	m̥ 猫	n̥ 嬭	ɲ̥ 蛲	ŋ̊
	voiced	m 迷	n 拿	ɲ 寧	ŋ 咬
Plosive	aspirated	pʰ 怕	tʰ 聽		kʰ 空
	tenuis	p 巴	t 丁		k 公	ʔ 愛
	voiced	b 爬	d 停		ɡ 爻
Affricate	aspirated		tsʰ 寸	tɕʰ 氣
	tenuis		ts 增	tɕ 九
	voiced		dz 茶	dʑ 求
Fricative	aspirated	fʰ 方	s 森	ɕ 想		h 好
	tenuis	f 歪
	voiced	v 會	z 時			ɦ 紅
Approximant	voiceless	ʔw 灣	l̥ 拉	ʔj 腰
	voiced	w 換	l 辣	j 藥

Finals

There are the following finals:

嘸 [m], 兒 [ŋ]

姹 [a], 好 [ɛ], 包 [ɔ]

海 [ɪ], 先 [i]， 思 [ɨ]

畫 [o], 布 [ɯ]， 水 [ɘʉ]

全 [y], 安 [ø]

會 [ai]， 走 [ɐɯ]

李 [ei]， 六 [əɯ]

涼 [iɛ], 關 [uɔ]

經 [̥ɐŋ]，聽 [əŋ], 公 [oŋ]

Tones

In Ruian dialect, a monosyllabic word can have one of the eight tones, but there are only four phonetically distinguished tones, divided into high (陰) and low (陽)categories. In combination with an other tone, it can change depending on Tone Sandhi system.

Yin Ping 陰平 [˦] 44 江天飛三

Yang Ping 陽平 [˧˩] 31 來同魚球

Yin Shang 陰上 [˧˥] 35 懂紙古本

Yang Shang 陽上 [˨˦] 24 近淡厚似

Yin Qu 陰去 [˥˨] 52 對去貨歲

Yang Qu 陽去 [˨] 22 外地路住

Yin Ru 陰入 [˧˨˧] 323 七博塔各

Yang Ru 陽入 [˨˩˨] 212 六肉白石

Tone Sandhi

In bisyllabic words, there are phonetically only six tones, high flat ˦, middle flat ˧, rising ˨˦, departing ˦˨, entering ˨˩˨ and short ˨. We'll now use A, B, C, D, E, and 0 for these six tones.

tones	陰平	陰上	陰去	陰入	陽平	陽上	陽去	陽入
陰平	0A	AC	ED	AE	AD	Example	Example	Example
陰上	AB	0C	D0	AE	D0	Example	Example	Example
陰去	Example	Example	Example	D0	Example	0C	Example	Example
陰入	Example	Example	E0	Example	Example	Example	Example	E0
陽平	AE	Example	0C	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example
陽上	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example
陽去	0A	Example	C0	Example	Example	Example	C0	Example
陽入	0A	0C	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example	Example

Grammar

Adverbs

Ruian dialect

Lexicon

Pronouns

Pronouns	IPA	Chinese character
1st person sing.	ŋ˧˦	吾
2nd person sing.	ɲi˧˦	爾
3rd person sing.	ɡɪ˧˩	渠/佢
reflessive sing.	zɨ˨	自
1st person plur.	ŋ˨˦lɪ˨, ŋ˨˦lɑ˨	吾俚， 吾啦
2nd person plur.	ɲi˨˦lɪ˨, ɲi˨˦lɑ˨	爾俚， 爾啦
3rd person plur.	ɡɪ˦˨lɪ˨, ɡɪ˦˨lɑ˨	渠/佢俚，渠/佢啦
reflessive plur.	zɨ˧lɪ˨, zɨ˧lɑ˨	自俚， 自啦

Numerals

Numerals	IPA	Chinese character
o	ləŋ˧˩, dø˧˦	零, 斷1
1	ʔja˧˨˧, i˧˨˧	一1 2
2	ŋ˨, la˧˦	二, 兩1
3	sɔ˦	三
4	sɨ˥˨	四
5	ŋ˧˦	五
6	ləɯ˧˨˧	六
7	tsʰa˧˨˧	七
8	po˧˨˧	八
9	tɕɑɯ˧˥	九
10	za˨˩˨	十
20	ɲɛ˨	廿
30	sɔ˧ za˧	三十
100	i˨ pa˧˨˧	一百
1000	i˨ tɕʰi˧	一千
10.000	i˨ mɔ˧	一萬

¹ the first three lectures are used when are alone or follow 第 to form

ordinal numerals, and the later three lectures are cardinal numerals and are generally followed by a classifier.

² the first lecture is considered literal, the second colloquial.

Vocabulary

Below is a list of the most common vocabulary in Ruian dialect.

Translation	IPA	Chinese Character	Mandarin
to see, to look	[tsʰɨ˥˨]	眥	看
to hear, to listen	[tʰəŋ˦]	聽	聽
to ask	[mɑŋ˨]	問	問
to look for	[zɑŋ˧˩]	尋	找， 尋找
to smell	[hoŋ˥˨]	嗅	聞
to know	[sei˧˨˧]	識	認識
to say, to speak	[ko˧˥]	講	說
to curse	[kɑŋ˥˨]	謴	罵
to eat	[tɕʰi˧˨˧]	喫	吃
to drink	[hɔ˧˨˧]	呷	喝
chopstick	[dzei˨]	箸	筷子
to stand	[ɡɪ˧˦]	徛	站
poket	[tɑɯ˦]	兜	口袋
salted vegetables	[tsʰɪ˨˩˨ɦɔ˨]	菜鹹	鹹菜
chopping block	[pɔ˧tsɑŋ˨˦]	板砧	砧板
icing sugar	[do˨ɕo˧]	糖霜	糖霜
thing, object	[ʔmɯ˦zɨ˧]	物事	東西
rice spoon	[vɔ˦tɕɛ˧]	飯槳	飯勺
radish	[tʰsɪ˨˩˨dəɯ˨]	菜頭	蘿蔔
trouble	[sa˦zəɯ˨˦]	生受	麻煩
doctor	[i˧sɨ˧]	醫師	醫生
blind	[mo˨˩˨ do˨]	盲瞊	瞎子
wife	[lɛ˦ø˧]	老安	老婆
unfamiliar	[ta˦sa˧]	打生	陌生
eagle	[ta˧ʔjɑŋ˧]	咄鷹	貓頭鷹
mole cricket	[tʰəɯ˦kɑɯ˨˦]	土狗	蝼蛄
bicycle	[dɔ˨tɕɔ˦tʰso˧]	踏腳車	自行车
instrument	[ko˨sa˦ɦɯ˨˦]	家生货	家具
young, teenager	[ɦɑɯ˧sa˨˩˨ŋ˨]	後生兒	年輕人
serious， powerful	[dəɯ˦bei˨tɕɛ˧]	肚皮掌	厲害

Readings

Like other Wu dialects, in Ruian dialect a Chinese character can have more than one reading, divided in vernacular readings (白讀)and literary readings （文讀）, in comparison with other Wu dialects, Ruian dialect has relatively few multiple readings. Below are some samples.

Hanzi	Vernacular			Literary
	reading	vocabulary	meaning	reading	vocabulary	meaning
人	sɑŋ ɲɑŋ	新人	bride	koŋ zɑŋ	工人	worker
日	nɪ tsɨ	日子	day	za dʑi	日期	date
問	mɑŋ ɦɛ	問號	question mark	vɑŋ dei	問題	question
無	ŋ tɔ	無膽	despondent	ɦɯ jo	無用	useless
龍	tsei ly	紙龍	kite	kʰoŋ loŋ	恐龍	dinosaur
女	na ŋ	女兒	daughter	ɲy zɨ	女士	lady

See also

• Shanghainese
• Suzhou dialect
• Ruian
• Wenzhounese

References

• A Study on the Phonetics of Ruian Dialect