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

20 core words in Jinhua Wu

Water

/sz̩˥˧˥/

Fire

/xu˥˧˥/

Sun

日头

/ȵiɪʔ˩˨dei˨˨˦/

Moon

月光

/ɦyøʔ˩˨kuaŋ˧˧/

Mother

阿娘

/aʔ˥ȵiaŋ˨˨˦/

Father

阿爸

/aʔ˥pa˧˧/

Eat

/t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/

Drink

/t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/

Love

/—/

Heart

/ɕiŋ˧˧/

Tree

/dzz̩˨˨/

House

屋里

/oʔ˥li˨˨˦/

Dog

/kei˥˧˥/

Cat

/mau˨˨˦/

Hand

/ɕiei˥˧˥/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋa˥˧˥tɕiŋ˧˧/

Hello

侬好

/noŋ˨˨˦xau˥˧˥/

Thank you

谢谢

/dzia˨˨dzia˨˨/

One

/iɪʔ˥/

Good

/xau˥˧˥/

Sources

Words compared

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

Meaning Jinhua WuJiaxing WuHangzhou WuWenzhou WuShanghaineseXi'an MandarinNingbo Wu
Water /sz̩˥˧˥/ /sz̩˧˩˧/ /ʂz̩˥˧/ /sɿ˧˥/ /sz̩˧˥/ /fei˥˧/ /sɿ˨˩˦/
Fire /xu˥˧˥/ /hu˧˩˧/ /xo˥˧/ /hu˧˥/ /hu˧˥/ /xuo˥˧/ /hu˨˩˦/
Sun 日头 /ȵiɪʔ˩˨dei˨˨˦/ 日头 /ɲiɪʔ˩˨dɤu˨˨˧/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/ 日头 /zai˨˩˧dau˧˩/ 太阳 /tʰa˧˧ɦiã˩˩/ 日头 /ʐɿ˥˥tʰou˨˦/ 日头 /ɲiʔ˩˨dɤu/
Moon 月光 /ɦyøʔ˩˨kuaŋ˧˧/ 月亮 /ɦyøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˨˧/ 月亮 /yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月光 /ɦyø˨˩˧kuɔ˧˧/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liã˩/ 月亮 /ye˥˥liaŋ˨˩/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liaŋ/
Mother 阿娘 /aʔ˥ȵiaŋ˨˨˦/ 姆妈 /m̩˧˧ma˧˧/ 妈妈 /ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/ 阿娘 /a˧˩ɲiɛ˧˩/ 姆妈 /m̩ma/ /ma˨˩/ 阿妈 /aʔ˦˦ma/
Father 阿爸 /aʔ˥pa˧˧/ 爹爹 /tia˦˦tia˦˦/ 爸爸 /pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/ 阿爸 /a˧˩pa˧˧/ 爸爸 /pa˧˩pa/ /pa˥˥/ 阿爸 /aʔ˦˦pa/
Eat /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /d͡zai˨˩˧/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /tʂʰɿ˨˩/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥˥/
Drink /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /xəʔ˥/ /kʰa˧˧/ /huəʔ˥/ /xɤ˨˩/ /hoʔ˥˥/
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Han readings compared

Character Jinhua WuJiaxing WuNingbo WuHangzhou WuShanghaineseHui ChineseJixi Hui
iq⁵⁵ /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iəʔ˥˥/ iq7 /iɪʔ˥˥/ iq7 /ɪʔ˥˥/ ie⁵ /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 /sɿ˥˧/ sy5 /sz̩˥˩/ 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 /t͡sʰiəʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiɪʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ chiq7 /tɕʰɪʔ˥˥/ chii⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥/ chii⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥/
paq⁵⁵ /pɒʔ˥˥/ poq7 /pɒʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ pa⁵ /paʔ˥/ pa⁵ /paʔ˥/
jieu⁵³⁵ /tɕiɤɯ˥˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˨˧/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ cieu3 /tɕiɤɯ˥˧/ cieu5 /tɕiɤɯ˧˥/ jiu³⁵ /tɕiu˧˥/ jiu³⁵ /tɕiu˧˥/
zeq²¹² /zəʔ˨˩˨/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˨˩˧/ zeq8 /zəʔ˩˨/ sii²¹ /siɪʔ˨˩/ sii²¹ /siɪʔ˨˩/
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