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

31 core words in Pinghua

Water

/ɬui˦˨/

Fire

/fu˦˨/

Sun

日头

/ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/

Moon

月光

/ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/

Star

/ɬɪŋ˥/

Mother

阿妈

/a˦˦ma˦˦/

Father

阿爸

/a˦˦pa˦˦/

I

/ŋo˨˩/

You

/ni˨˦/

Name

/mɛŋ˨˩/

Eye

/ŋɐn˦˨/

Hand

/sɐu˦˨/

Heart

/sɐm˦˦/

Love

/ɔi˦˦/

Tree

/sy˦˦/

House

/ɔk˨/

Dog

/kɐu˦˨/

Cat

/mau˦˦/

Eat

/sɐk˨/

Drink

/ʔɐm˦˨/

One

/jɐt˨/

Two

/ɲi˨/

Hello

你好

/nei˦˨hou˦˨/

Thank you

多谢

/tɔ˦˦tsɛ˦˦/

Good

/hou˦˨/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Pinghua) languages

Meaning PinghuaDongguan YueGaozhou YueZhongshan YueNanning YueCantoneseHui Chinese
Water /ɬui˦˨/ /sui˧˥/ /sɵi˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /ɬɵy˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /ɕy˦˦/
Fire /fu˦˨/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔː˧˥/ /xu˦˦/
Sun 日头 /ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˧˧/ 日頭 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 太陽 /tʰaːi˧jœːŋ˨˩/ 日头 /ʐɨ˨˦tʰəu/
Moon 月光 /ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/ 月光 /jyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyt˨kwɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyt˨ kwɔŋ˥˧/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥/ 月光 /yo˨˧kuaŋ˨˦/
Star /ɬɪŋ˥/ /sɛŋ˥/ /sɛŋ˥/ /sɪŋ˥/ /ɬɪŋ˥/ /sɪŋ˥/ /sɛ̃˧/
Mother 阿妈 /a˦˦ma˦˦/ 阿妈 /a˧˧ma˥˥/ 妈妈 /maː˥˥maː˥˥/ 老母 /lou˩˧mou˩˧/ 老妈 /lau˧˩ma˥˥/ 媽媽 /maː˥maː˥/ /ma˧˧/
Father 阿爸 /a˦˦pa˦˦/ 阿爸 /a˧˧pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˨˩/ 老豆 /lou˩˧tɐu˨/ 老窦 /lau˧˩tɐu˨˨/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˥/ /pa˦˦/
I /ŋo˨˩/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋo˧˩/
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Han readings compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Pinghua) languages

Character PinghuaGuibei Pinghua (Guilin)Huiyang HakkaMin BeiMeixian HakkaHakka ChineseTaiwanese Hakka
it⁵ /it̚˥/ it⁵ /it̚˥/ yit /jit̚˩/ 白讀ì /i˧˧/文讀ĭ /i˨˦/ yit /jit̚˩/ yit /jit̚˨/ id5 /it̚˨/
ni²² /ni˨˨/ ni²² /ni˨˨/ ngì /ŋi˥˧/ 白讀lâng /laŋ˧˧/文讀 /ni˨˦/ ngì /ŋi˥˧/ ngi /ŋi˥˥/ ngi4 /ŋi˥˥/
sam⁵⁴ /saːm˥˦/ sam⁵⁴ /saːm˥˦/ sâm /sam˧˧/ sáng /saŋ˥˦/ sâm /sam˦˦/ sâm /sam˦˦/ sam1 /sam˨˦/
si²² /si˨˨/ si²² /si˨˨/ /si˥˧/ /si˧˧/ /sɿ˥˧/ si /si˥˥/ si4 /si˥˥/
ng²¹ /ŋ̍˨˩/ ng²¹ /ŋ̍˨˩/ ńg /ŋ̍˧˩/ 白讀ngǚ /ŋy˨˦/文讀ngǔ /ŋu˨˦/ ńg /ŋ̍˧˩/ ńg /ŋ̩˧˩/ ng3 /ŋ̩˧˩/
lok²² /lok̚˨˨/ lok²² /lok̚˨˨/ liu̍k /liuk̚˥/ 白讀lü̆ /ly˨˦/文讀liŭ /liu˨˦/ liu̍k /liuk̚˥/ liuk /liuk̚˥/ liug6 /liuk̚˥/
chat⁵ /tsʰɐt̚˥/ chat⁵ /tsʰɐt̚˥/ chhit /tsʰit̚˩/ chĭ /tsʰi˨˦/ chhit /tsʰit̚˩/ chhit /tsʰit̚˨/ cid5 /tsʰit̚˨/
pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat⁵ /pat̚˥/ pat /pat̚˩/ păi /paiʔ˨˦/ pat /pat̚˩/ pat /pat̚˨/ bad5 /pat̚˨/
kau³⁵ /kɐu˧˥/ kau³⁵ /kɐu˧˥/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ giǔ /kiu˧˩/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ kiú /kiu˧˩/ giu3 /kiu˧˩/
sap²² /sɐp̚˨˨/ sap²² /sɐp̚˨˨/ si̍p /sip̚˥/ sĭp /siʔ˨˦/ sṳ̍p /sɨp̚˥/ sṳ̍p /sɨp̚˥/ siib6 /sɨp̚˥/
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