杭州话

Hangzhou Wu

Sinitic (Wu, Taihu)

FamilySinitic (Wu, Taihu) Speakers~1.4M ScriptHan characters CountriesChina (Hangzhou urban core, northern Zhejiang) Official inNo (regional) ISO 639-3wuu Glottocodehang1267

Hangzhou Wu (杭州话) is a Taihu Wu variety of the former Southern Song capital, spoken by ~1.4M in the Hangzhou urban core. It is famously the most Mandarin-influenced Wu lect: the 12th-century mass migration of the Northern Song court and population from Kaifeng (1127–1138) overlaid Mandarin lexical and morphological strata onto the local Wu substrate — notably the Mandarin-style 1sg pronoun 我 (instead of Wu 阿拉/吾) and the diminutive suffix 兒 with retroflex r-coloring, unique among Wu varieties. Retains the medieval voiced obstruent series (b/d/g/dz/z) of Wu, with 7 tones.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Hangzhou Wu

Water

/ʂz̩˥˧/

Fire

/xo˥˧/

Sun

日头

/ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/

Moon

月亮

/yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/

Mother

妈妈

/ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/

Father

爸爸

/pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/

Eat

/t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/

Drink

/xəʔ˥/

Love

/ɛ˧˧˥/

Heart

/ɕin˧˧/

Tree

/zʮ˨˩˧/

House

房子

/vɑŋ˨˩tsɿ˨˩/

Dog

/kɤɯ˥˧/

Cat

/mɔ˨˩/

Hand

/ʂɤɯ˥˧/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋæ˨˩˧tɕin˧˧/

Hello

你好

/ni˨˩hɔ˥˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ziɑ˩˩ziɑ˨˩/

One

/iʔ˥/

Good

/hɔ˥˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Wu, Taihu) languages

Meaning Hangzhou WuJiaxing WuNanjing MandarinShanghaineseKunming MandarinKaifeng MandarinChengdu Mandarin
Water /ʂz̩˥˧/ /sz̩˧˩˧/ /ʂueɪ˨˩˨/ /sz̩˧˥/ /suei˥˧/ /ʂuei˥˧/ /suei˥˧/
Fire /xo˥˧/ /hu˧˩˧/ /xuo˨˩˨/ /hu˧˥/ /xo˥˧/ /xuo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/
Sun 日头 /ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/ 日头 /ɲiɪʔ˩˨dɤu˨˨˧/ 太阳 /tʰɛ˦iaŋ˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰa˧˧ɦiã˩˩/ 太阳 /tʰæ˨˩˨iaŋ˧˩/ 日头 /ʐəɻ˧˩˨tʰou˦˨/ 太阳 /tʰai˨˩˧iaŋ˨˩/
Moon 月亮 /yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /ɦyøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˨˧/ 月亮 /yʔ˥liaŋ˦/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liã˩/ 月亮 /ye˧˩liaŋ˨˩˨/ 月亮 /yɛ˦˨liaŋ˧˩˨/ 月亮 /ye˨˩lia̠ŋ˨˩˧/
Mother 妈妈 /ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/ 姆妈 /m̩˧˧ma˧˧/ 姆妈 /m̩˧˩ma˧˩/ 姆妈 /m̩ma/ /ma˦˦/ /ma˨˦/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/
Father 爸爸 /pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/ 爹爹 /tia˦˦tia˦˦/ /tie˧˩/ 爸爸 /pa˧˩pa/ /tie˦˦/ /tiɛ˨˦/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/
Eat /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /tʂʰʅʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /tsʰʅ˦˦/ /tʂʰʅ˨˦/ /tsʰɿ˨˩/
Drink /xəʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /xəʔ˥/ /huəʔ˥/ /xo˦˦/ /xɤ˨˦/ /xo˨˩/
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Han readings compared

Character Hangzhou WuNingbo WuJiaxing WuShanghaineseJinhua WuSuzhou WuHui Chinese
iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /ɪʔ˥˥/ iq⁵⁵ /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iəʔ˦˧/ ie⁵ /iɛʔ˥/
gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˧/ nyi²¹³ /n̩˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˧˩/ n²² /n̩˨˨/
se1 /sæ̃˧˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ sa³³ /sã˧˧/ se1 /sᴇ˦˦/ se³³ /sɛ˧˧/
sy5 /sz̩˧/ sy5 /sz̩˥˩/ sy5 /sɿ˥˧/ sy5 /sɿ˧˥/ sy⁵³ /sz̩˥˧/ sy5 /sɿ˥˩˧/ si³⁵ /sɿ˧˥/
ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˧/ ng²¹³ /ŋ˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˧˩/ ng²¹ /ŋ̩˨˩/
loq8 /loʔ˨˩˧/ loq8 /loʔ˨˩˧/ loq8 /loʔ˨˧/ loq8 /loʔ˩˨/ lieu²⁴ /liu˨˦/ loq8 /loʔ˨˧/ lu²¹ /lu˨˩/
tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiɪʔ˥˥/ chiq7 /tɕʰɪʔ˥˥/ tshiq⁵⁵ /t͡sʰiəʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiəʔ˦˧/ chii⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥/
paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ poq7 /pɒʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq⁵⁵ /pɒʔ˥˥/ poq7 /poʔ˦˧/ pa⁵ /paʔ˥/
cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˧/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˨˧/ cieu5 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ jieu⁵³⁵ /tɕiɤɯ˥˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiʏ˥˩/ jiu³⁵ /tɕiu˧˥/
zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˩˨/ zeq²¹² /zəʔ˨˩˨/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˧/ sii²¹ /siɪʔ˨˩/
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