晋语

Jin (Shanxi)

Sinitic (Jin)

FamilySinitic (Jin) Speakers~63M ScriptSimplified Chinese CountriesChina (Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, parts of Hebei and Shaanxi) Official inNo (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3cjy

Jin Chinese (晋语) is a Sinitic group of ~63M speakers across Shanxi province and adjacent parts of Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and northern Shaanxi, centered on Taiyuan. It was once classified as a Mandarin sub-branch, but Li Rong's 1985 reclassification recognized it as a top-level Sinitic branch on the strength of its retention of the Middle Chinese entering-tone category (rusheng) with final glottal stop -ʔ — a feature lost in all mainstream Mandarin varieties. Jin also has elaborate connected-speech sandhi and a distinctive rhotacized fenyin (split-syllable) word formation that reduplicates roots with -l- infixes.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Jin (Shanxi)

Water

/sueɪ˥˧/

Fire

/xuo˥˧/

Sun

日头

/ʐəʔ˥˦tʰəu˩/

Moon

月亮

/yəʔ˥˦liɔ̃˩/

Star

/ɕiŋ˩/

Mother

妈妈

/ma˩ma/

Father

爹爹

/tie˩tie/

I

/ɣɤ˥˧/

You

/ȵi˥˧/

Name

/miŋ˩/

Eye

眼睛

/niæ˨˩˧tɕiŋ˩/

Hand

/səu˥˧/

Heart

/ɕiŋ˩/

Love

/ai˧/

Tree

/su˦˥/

House

/tɕia˩/

Dog

/kəu˥˧/

Cat

/mau˩/

Eat

/tsʰəʔ˨/

Drink

/xəʔ˨/

One

/iəʔ˨/

Two

/ɚ˦˥/

Hello

你好

/ni˨˩˧xau˨˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕie˨ɕie/

Good

/xau˨˩˧/

Computer

电脑

/tie˦˥nau˥˧/

Sushi

寿司

/səu˦˥sz̩˩˩/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Jin) languages

Meaning Jin (Shanxi)Lüliang JinXi'an MandarinChengdu MandarinHefei MandarinSichuan MandarinLanyin Mandarin
Water /sueɪ˥˧/ /fei˥˧/ /fei˥˧/ /suei˥˧/ /ʂueɪ˨˦/ /suei˥˧/ /sui˥˧/
Fire /xuo˥˧/ /xuo˥˧/ /xuo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xuo˨˦/ /xo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/
Sun 日头 /ʐəʔ˥˦tʰəu˩/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˥˦tʰəu˩/ 日头 /ʐɿ˥˥tʰou˨˦/ 太阳 /tʰai˨˩˧iaŋ˨˩/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦tʰəu˥˥/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 日头 /ʐɨ˨˦tʰəu˨˦/
Moon 月亮 /yəʔ˥˦liɔ̃˩/ 月亮 /yəʔ˥˦liɔ̃˩/ 月亮 /ye˥˥liaŋ˨˩/ 月亮 /ye˨˩lia̠ŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /yɛʔ˦liaŋ˥˧/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /yɛ˦˦ljaŋ/
Star /ɕiŋ˩/ /ɕiŋ˩˩/ /ɕiŋ˨˩/ /ɕin˦˥/ /ɕiŋ˨˩˨/ 星星 /ɕin˥ɕin/ /ɕiŋ˧˩/
Mother 妈妈 /ma˩ma/ 妈妈 /ma˩ma/ /ma˨˩/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˨ma/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ /ma˧˧/
Father 爹爹 /tie˩tie/ 爹爹 /tie˩tie/ /pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ /tie˨˩˨/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ /pa˥˧/
I /ɣɤ˥˧/ /ɣɤ˥˧/ /ŋɤ˥˧/ /ŋo˥˧/ /uə˨˦/ /ŋo˥˧/ /vɤ˥˧/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Jin) languages

Character Jin (Shanxi)Jin Chinese (Changzhi)Lüliang JinJin Chinese (Xinzhou)Datong JinHefei MandarinJianghuai Mandarin
ieh² /iəʔ˨/ ieh² /iəʔ˨/ ieh² /iəʔ˨/ yih⁴ /i˦˥ʔ/ ieh⁴³ /iəʔ˦˧/ yiq⁴ /iʔ˦/ yiq⁵ /iəʔ˥/
er⁴⁵ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁴⁵ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁴⁵ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁴ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁴⁵ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/
san¹¹ /sæ̃˩˩/ san¹¹ /sæ̃˩˩/ san¹¹ /sæ̃˩˩/ sɑ̃¹ /sæ̃˩˩/ san³¹ /sæ̃˧˩/ san²¹ /sæ̃˨˩/ san³³ /sã˧˧/
si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ seh⁴ /səʔ˦˥/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁵¹ /sɿ˥˩/
u⁵³ /u˥˧/ u⁵³ /u˥˧/ u⁵³ /u˥˧/ u⁴ /u˥˧/ u⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu²⁴ /u˨˦/ wu³⁵ /u˧˥/
lueh⁵ /luəʔ˥/ lueh⁵ /luəʔ˥/ lueh⁵ /luəʔ˥/ lueh⁴ /luəʔ˦˥/ lueh⁵⁴ /luəʔ˥˦/ luq⁴ /lɤʔ˦/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/
qhieh² /tɕʰiəʔ˨/ qhieh² /tɕʰiəʔ˨/ qhieh² /tɕʰiəʔ˨/ tshyeh⁴ /tɕʰiəʔ˦˥/ qhieh⁴³ /tɕʰiəʔ˦˧/ ciq⁴ /tsʰəʔ˦/ ciq⁵ /tsʰiəʔ˥/
pah² /paʔ˨/ pah² /paʔ˨/ pah² /paʔ˨/ pah⁴ /paʔ˦˥/ pah⁴³ /paʔ˦˧/ baq⁴ /paʔ˦/ paq⁵ /paʔ˥/
jieu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jieu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jieu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jio⁴ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jieu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu²⁴ /tɕiɯ˨˦/ jiu²¹² /tɕiɤu˨˩˨/
seh⁵ /səʔ˥/ seh⁵ /səʔ˥/ seh⁵ /səʔ˥/ seh⁴ /səʔ˦˥/ seh⁵⁴ /səʔ˥˦/ siq⁴ /səʔ˦/ sheq⁵ /ʂəʔ˥/
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