金华话

Jinhua Wu

Sinitic (Wu, Wuzhou 婺州片)

FamilySinitic (Wu, Wuzhou 婺州片) Speakers~2M ScriptHan characters CountriesChina (Jinhua, central Zhejiang) Official inNo (regional) ISO 639-3wuu Glottocodejinh1234

Jinhua Wu (金华话) is the prototypical representative of the Wuzhou Wu subgroup (婺州片), a primary branch of Wu Chinese coordinate with — not subordinate to — Taihu Wu (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou). It is spoken by ~2M in central Zhejiang, in the basin of the Jinhua River. Wuzhou Wu is typologically conservative: it preserves the full medieval Chinese three-way obstruent contrast (voiceless / aspirated / voiced) like other Wu groups, but its tone system (typically 7–8 categories with distinctive contour shapes) and several lexical items (e.g. 1sg pronoun 我 [ŋo], 3sg 渠 [gɛ]) differ markedly from Taihu Wu, reflecting the early branching of Wuzhou from the rest of Wu. The region is the home of the famous Jinhua ham and was the birthplace of the Song-dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Lü Zuqian.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Jinhua Wu

Water

/sz̩˥˧˥/

Fire

/xu˥˧˥/

Sun

日头

/ȵiɪʔ˩˨dei˨˨˦/

Moon

月光

/ɦyøʔ˩˨kuaŋ˧˧/

Star

/ɕiŋ˥/

Mother

阿娘

/aʔ˥ȵiaŋ˨˨˦/

Father

阿爸

/aʔ˥pa˧˧/

I

/ŋu˩˧/

You

/n̩˩˧/

Name

/miŋ˩˧/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋa˥˧˥tɕiŋ˧˧/

Hand

/ɕiei˥˧˥/

Heart

/ɕiŋ˧˧/

Love

/—/

Tree

/dzz̩˨˨/

House

屋里

/oʔ˥li˨˨˦/

Dog

/kei˥˧˥/

Cat

/mau˨˨˦/

Eat

/tɕʰiɪʔ˥/

Drink

/tɕʰiɪʔ˥/

One

/iɪʔ˥/

Two

/ɲi˩˧/

Hello

侬好

/noŋ˨˨˦xau˥˧˥/

Thank you

谢谢

/dzia˨˨dzia˨˨/

Good

/xau˥˧˥/

Computer

电脑

/diã˩˦nɑu˥˧˥/

Sushi

寿司

/ʑiu˩˦sz̩˧˧˦/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Wu, Wuzhou 婺州片) languages

Meaning Jinhua WuJiaxing WuHangzhou WuShanghaineseWenzhou WuNingbo WuXi'an Mandarin
Water /sz̩˥˧˥/ /sz̩˧˩˧/ /ʂz̩˥˧/ /sz̩˧˥/ /sɿ˧˥/ /sɿ˨˩˦/ /fei˥˧/
Fire /xu˥˧˥/ /hu˧˩˧/ /xo˥˧/ /hu˧˥/ /hu˧˥/ /hu˨˩˦/ /xuo˥˧/
Sun 日头 /ȵiɪʔ˩˨dei˨˨˦/ 日头 /ɲiɪʔ˩˨dɤu˨˨˧/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰa˧˧ɦiã˩˩/ 日头 /zai˨˩˧dau˧˩/ 日头 /ɲiʔ˩˨dɤu/ 日头 /ʐɿ˥˥tʰou˨˦/
Moon 月光 /ɦyøʔ˩˨kuaŋ˧˧/ 月亮 /ɦyøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˨˧/ 月亮 /yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liã˩/ 月光 /ɦyø˨˩˧kuɔ˧˧/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liaŋ/ 月亮 /ye˥˥liaŋ˨˩/
Star /ɕiŋ˥/ /ɕiŋ˥˨/ /ɕiŋ˥˧/ /ɕin˥˧/ /saŋ˧/ /ɕin˥˧/ /ɕiŋ˨˩/
Mother 阿娘 /aʔ˥ȵiaŋ˨˨˦/ 姆妈 /m̩˧˧ma˧˧/ 妈妈 /ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/ 姆妈 /m̩ma/ 阿娘 /a˧˩ɲiɛ˧˩/ 阿妈 /aʔ˦˦ma/ /ma˨˩/
Father 阿爸 /aʔ˥pa˧˧/ 爹爹 /tia˦˦tia˦˦/ 爸爸 /pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/ 爸爸 /pa˧˩pa/ 阿爸 /a˧˩pa˧˧/ 阿爸 /aʔ˦˦pa/ /pa˥˥/
I /ŋu˩˧/ /ŋu˨˧/ /ŋo˩˧/ /ŋu˩˧/ /ŋ˧˩/ /ŋu˩˧/ /ŋɤ˥˧/
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Han readings compared

Character Jinhua WuNingbo WuJiaxing WuHangzhou WuShanghaineseHui Chinese (Wuyuan)Hui Chinese
iq⁵⁵ /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /ɪʔ˥˥/ ie⁵⁵ /iɛʔ˥˥/ ie⁵ /iɛʔ˥/
nyi²¹³ /n̩˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˩˧/ gni6 /ɲi˨˧/ n²² /n̩˨˨/ n²² /n̩˨˨/
sa³³ /sã˧˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sæ̃˧˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se³³ /sɛ˧˧/ se³³ /sɛ˧˧/
sy⁵³ /sz̩˥˧/ sy5 /sz̩˥˩/ sy5 /sɿ˥˧/ sy5 /sz̩˧/ sy5 /sɿ˧˥/ si³⁵ /sɿ˧˥/ si³⁵ /sɿ˧˥/
ng²¹³ /ŋ˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˩˧/ ng6 /ŋ̍˨˧/ ng²¹ /ŋ̩˨˩/ ng²¹ /ŋ̩˨˩/
lieu²⁴ /liu˨˦/ loq8 /loʔ˨˩˧/ loq8 /loʔ˨˧/ loq8 /loʔ˨˩˧/ loq8 /loʔ˩˨/ lu²¹ /lu˨˩/ lu²¹ /lu˨˩/
tshiq⁵⁵ /tsʰiəʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiɪʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ chiq7 /tɕʰɪʔ˥˥/ tshi⁵⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥˥/ chii⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥/
paq⁵⁵ /pɒʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ poq7 /pɒʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ pa⁵⁵ /paʔ˥˥/ pa⁵ /paʔ˥/
jieu⁵³⁵ /tɕiɤɯ˥˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˨˧/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˧/ cieu5 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ tçiu³⁵ /tɕiu˧˥/ jiu³⁵ /tɕiu˧˥/
zeq²¹² /zəʔ˨˩˨/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˩˨/ sii²¹ /siɪʔ˨˩/ sii²¹ /siɪʔ˨˩/
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