Leizhou Min (original) (raw)

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Min Chinese dialect of China

Leizhou Min
Leizhounese
[lɔi˩ uɛ˨˦]
Pronunciation [lɔi˩ uɛ˨˦] (Lei city dialect)
Native to China, Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, United States (California)
Region Leizhou Peninsula in southwestern Guangdong
Native speakers around 2.8 million in China (2004)[1]
Language family Sino-Tibetan SiniticChineseMinCoastal MinQiong–LeiLeizhou Min
Early forms Proto-Sino-TibetanOld Chinese[a] Proto-Min
Dialects Zhanjiang
Language codes
ISO 639-3 luh
Glottolog leiz1236
Linguasphere 79-AAA-jj
Leizhou Min
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Leizhou or Luichew Min (simplified Chinese: 雷州话; traditional Chinese: 雷州話; pinyin: Léizhōuhuà, [lěɪʈʂóʊ xwâ]) is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Leizhou city, Xuwen County, Mazhang District, most parts of Suixi County and also spoken inside of the linguistically diverse Xiashan District. In the classification of Yuan Jiahua, it was included in the Southern Min group, though it has low intelligibility with other Southern Min varieties. In the classification of Li Rong, used by the Language Atlas of China, it was treated as a separate Min subgroup.[5] Hou Jingyi combined it with Hainanese in a Qiong–Lei group.[6]

Leizhou Min has 17 initials, 47 rimes and 8 tones.

| | Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Nasal | m魔 | n娜 | ŋ俄 | | | | | Plosive | voiced | b磨 | | | | | | voiceless | unaspirated | p波 | t刀 | k哥 | | | | aspirated | 坡 | 駝 | 戈 | | | | | Fricative | voiced | | z尿 | | | | | voiceless | | s所 | | h何 | | | | Affricate | voiceless | unaspirated | | t͡s槽 | | | | aspirated | | t͡sʰ切 | | | | | | Lateral approximant | | l羅 | | | | | | zero consonant | _zero consonant_窩 | | | | | |

The phoneme given here as /b/ is described by Li and Thompson instead as /v/.[7]

i u
a ia 兵 ua 瓜
ɛ iɛ 爺 uɛ 妹
ɔ iɔ 漿
ai 派 uai 蒯
au 包 iau 彪
ɛu 嘔 iu 休
ɔi 矮 ui 拉
m̩ 唔
am 耽 iam 添
em 冚 im 音
ŋ̩ 嗯 iŋ 興 uŋ 尊
aŋ 班 iaŋ 江 uaŋ 完
eŋ 冰 ieŋ 填
ɔŋ 磅 iɔŋ 永
ap 合 iap 臘
ep 鑷 ip 立
ik 集 uk 郁
ak 達 iak 燭 uak 括
ek 德 iek 即 uek 國
ɔk 鐸 iɔk 略

Leizhou has six tones, which are reduced to two in checked syllables.

Tone chart of the Leizhou dialect

Tone number Tone name Tone contour Description
1 yin ping (陰平) ˨˦ (24) rising
2 yin shang (陰上) ˦˨ (42) falling (high falling)
3 yin qu (陰去) ˨˩ (21) bottom (low falling)
4 yin ru (陰入) ˥̚ (5) high checked
5 yang ping (陽平) ˨ (2) low
6 yang shang (陽上) ˧ (3) mid
7 yang qu (陽去) ˥ (5) high
8 yang ru (陽入) ˩̚ (1) low checked
  1. ^ Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[2][3][4]

  2. ^ 湛江市志·第三十六篇 方言·第三章 雷州话

  3. ^ Mei, Tsu-lin (1970), "Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 30: 86–110, doi:10.2307/2718766, JSTOR 2718766

  4. ^ Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984), Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p. 3, ISBN 978-0-7748-0192-8

  5. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Glottolog 4.8 - Min". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.

  6. ^ Kurpaska, Maria (2010). Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects". Walter de Gruyter. pp. 54–55, 86. ISBN 978-3-11-021914-2.

  7. ^ Hou, Jingyi 侯精一 (2002). Xiàndài hànyǔ fāngyán gàilùn 现代汉语方言概论 [_An Introduction to Modern Chinese Dialects_]. Shanghai Educational Press 上海教育出版社. p. 238.

  8. ^ Li, Charles; Thompson, Sandra (1983). "A Grammatical description of Xuwen : A colloquial dialect of Lei-zhou Peninsula (Part I)". Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale. 13 (1): 3–21.