平话

Pinghua

Sinitic (Pinghua)

FamilySinitic (Pinghua) Speakers~7M ScriptSimplified Chinese CountriesChina (Guangxi, near Vietnam border) Official inNo (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3cnp

Pinghua (平话) is a Sinitic group spoken by ~7M people across Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, especially around Nanning, Liuzhou, and the borderlands with Vietnam. Its classification is contested — Li Rong (1987) recognized it as a top-level Sinitic branch, but other scholars treat it as a sub-branch of Yue (Cantonese). Pinghua's distinctive feature is heavy substrate contact with Tai-Kadai languages, particularly Zhuang, with whom Pinghua speakers have shared territory for centuries — many sound changes and lexical items reflect this Zhuang substrate. The northern (Guilin-area) and southern (Nanning-area) varieties differ substantially. Pinghua is associated with the descendants of Han military settlers sent to the Lingnan frontier from the Song dynasty onward.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Pinghua

Water

/ɬui˦˨/

Fire

/fu˦˨/

Sun

日头

/ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/

Moon

月光

/ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/

Mother

阿妈

/a˦˦ma˦˦/

Father

阿爸

/a˦˦pa˦˦/

Eat

/sɐk˨/

Drink

/ʔɐm˦˨/

Love

/ɔi˦˦/

Heart

/sɐm˦˦/

Tree

/sy˦˦/

House

/ɔk˨/

Dog

/kɐu˦˨/

Cat

/mau˦˦/

Hand

/sɐu˦˨/

Eye

/ŋɐn˦˨/

Hello

你好

/nei˦˨hou˦˨/

Thank you

多谢

/tɔ˦˦tsɛ˦˦/

One

/jɐt˨/

Good

/hou˦˨/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Pinghua) languages

Meaning PinghuaDongguan YueGaozhou YueZhongshan YueCantoneseNanning YueTaishanese
Water /ɬui˦˨/ /sui˧˥/ /sɵi˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /ɬɵy˧˥/ /ɬui˧˧/
Fire /fu˦˨/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔː˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˥˥/
Sun 日头 /ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/ 日头 /jɐt˨˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˧˧/ 日頭 /jɐt˨ tʰɐu˨˩/ 日頭 /jɐt˨ tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /ɲit˨˨hau˧˧/
Moon 月光 /ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/ 月光 /jyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyt˨kwɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyt˨ kwɔŋ˥˧/ 月光 /jyːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /ɲut˧˧kwɔŋ˨˨/
Mother 阿妈 /a˦˦ma˦˦/ 阿妈 /a˧˧ma˥˥/ 妈妈 /maː˥˥maː˥˥/ 老母 /lou˩˧ mou˩˧/ 媽媽 /maː˥maː˥/ 老妈 /lau˧˩ma˥˥/ 阿妈 /a˧˧ma˥˥/
Father 阿爸 /a˦˦pa˦˦/ 阿爸 /a˧˧pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˨˩/ 老豆 /lou˩˧ tɐu˨/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˥/ 老窦 /lau˧˩tɐu˨˨/ 阿爸 /a˧˧pa˥˥/
Eat /sɐk˨/ /sɪk˨/ /sɪk˨˨/ /sɪk˨/ /sɪk˨/ /ɬɪk˨/ /ɬik˧˧/
Drink /ʔɐm˦˨/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /jɐm˧˥/ /ɲim˧˧/
Page 1/3

Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Pinghua) languages

Character PinghuaHuiyang HakkaMin BeiMeixian HakkaHakka ChineseTaiwanese HakkaGui-Liu Mandarin
it⁵ /it̚˥/ yit /jit̚˩/ 白讀ì /i˧˧/文讀ĭ /i˨˦/ yit /jit̚˩/ yit /jit̚˨/ id5 /it̚˨/ yi³¹ /i˧˩/
ni²² /ni˨˨/ ngì /ŋi˥˧/ 白讀lâng /laŋ˧˧/文讀 /ni˨˦/ ngì /ŋi˥˧/ ngi /ŋi˥˥/ ngi4 /ŋi˥˥/ er²⁴ /ɚ˨˦/
sam⁵⁴ /saːm˥˦/ sâm /sam˧˧/ sáng /saŋ˥˦/ sâm /sam˦˦/ sâm /sam˦˦/ sam1 /sam˨˦/ san⁴⁴ /san˦˦/
si²² /si˨˨/ /si˥˧/ /si˧˧/ /sɿ˥˧/ si /si˥˥/ si4 /si˥˥/ si²⁴ /sɿ˨˦/
ng²¹ /ŋ̍˨˩/ ńg /ŋ̍˧˩/ 白讀ngǚ /ŋy˨˦/文讀ngǔ /ŋu˨˦/ ńg /ŋ̍˧˩/ ńg /ŋ̩˧˩/ ng3 /ŋ̩˧˩/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/
lok²² /lok̚˨˨/ liu̍k /liuk̚˥/ 白讀lü̆ /ly˨˦/文讀liŭ /liu˨˦/ liu̍k /liuk̚˥/ liuk /liuk̚˥/ liug6 /liuk̚˥/ lou³¹ /lou˧˩/
chat⁵ /tsʰɐt̚˥/ chhit /tsʰit̚˩/ chĭ /tsʰi˨˦/ chhit /tsʰit̚˩/ chhit /tsʰit̚˨/ cid5 /tsʰit̚˨/ ci³¹ /tsʰi˧˩/
pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat /pat̚˩/ păi /paiʔ˨˦/ pat /pat̚˩/ pat /pat̚˨/ bad5 /pat̚˨/ ba³¹ /pa˧˩/
kau³⁵ /kɐu˧˥/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ giǔ /kiu˧˩/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ giu3 /kiu˧˩/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/
sap²² /sɐp̚˨˨/ si̍p /sip̚˥/ sĭp /siʔ˨˦/ sṳ̍p /sɨp̚˥/ sṳ̍p /sɨp̚˥/ siib6 /sɨp̚˥/ si³¹ /sɿ˧˩/
Page 1/7

Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.