嘉兴话

Jiaxing Wu

Sinitic (Wu, Taihu / Suhujia 苏沪嘉)

FamilySinitic (Wu, Taihu / Suhujia 苏沪嘉) Speakers~4.5M ScriptHan characters CountriesChina (Jiaxing, northern Zhejiang) Official inNo (regional) ISO 639-3wuu Glottocodejiax1234

Jiaxing Wu (嘉兴话) is a Taihu Wu variety of the Suhujia (Suzhou-Shanghai-Jiaxing) sub-cluster, spoken by ~4.5M in the city of Jiaxing in northern Zhejiang, geographically and linguistically transitional between Shanghainese to the north and Hangzhou Wu to the southwest. Like all Taihu Wu varieties, it preserves the medieval Chinese three-way obstruent contrast (voiceless–aspirated–voiced: p / pʰ / b), an archaic feature lost in Mandarin and Cantonese, with 7 contrastive tones and elaborate phrasal sandhi. Jiaxing was a major silk and grain center of the Lower Yangtze and was the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party (1921, Nanhu).

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Jiaxing Wu

Water

/sz̩˧˩˧/

Fire

/hu˧˩˧/

Sun

日头

/ɲiɪʔ˩˨dɤu˨˨˧/

Moon

月亮

/ɦyøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˨˧/

Mother

姆妈

/m̩˧˧ma˧˧/

Father

爹爹

/tia˦˦tia˦˦/

Eat

/t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/

Drink

/t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/

Love

/ɛ˧˧˥/

Heart

/ɕin˦˦/

Tree

/zz̩˨˨˧/

House

屋里

/oʔ˥li˨˨˧/

Dog

/kɤu˧˩˧/

Cat

/mɔ˨˨˧/

Hand

/sɤu˧˩˧/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋæ˨˨˧tsiŋ˦˦/

Hello

侬好

/noŋ˨˨˧hɔ˧˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/zia˨˨˧zia˨˨˧/

One

/iɪʔ˥/

Good

/hɔ˧˩˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Wu, Taihu / Suhujia 苏沪嘉) languages

Meaning Jiaxing WuJinhua WuHangzhou WuShanghaineseNingbo WuSuzhou WuWuhan Mandarin
Water /sz̩˧˩˧/ /sz̩˥˧˥/ /ʂz̩˥˧/ /sz̩˧˥/ /sɿ˨˩˦/ /sʮ˥˩/ /suei˨˩˧/
Fire /hu˧˩˧/ /xu˥˧˥/ /xo˥˧/ /hu˧˥/ /hu˨˩˦/ /həu˥˩/ /huo˨˩˧/
Sun 日头 /ɲiɪʔ˩˨dɤu˨˨˧/ 日头 /ȵiɪʔ˩˨dei˨˨˦/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰa˧˧ɦiã˩˩/ 日头 /ɲiʔ˩˨dɤu/ 太阳 /tʰɑ˥ ɦiã˨˩/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˧iaŋ˨˩˧/
Moon 月亮 /ɦyøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˨˧/ 月光 /ɦyøʔ˩˨kuaŋ˧˧/ 月亮 /yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liã˩/ 月亮 /ɲyəʔ˩˨liaŋ/ 月亮 /ŋəʔ˧ liã˥˩/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˩˧liaŋ/
Mother 姆妈 /m̩˧˧ma˧˧/ 阿娘 /aʔ˥ȵiaŋ˨˨˦/ 妈妈 /ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/ 姆妈 /m̩ma/ 阿妈 /aʔ˦˦ma/ 姆妈 /m̩˥ mɑ˨˩/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˧ma/
Father 爹爹 /tia˦˦tia˦˦/ 阿爸 /aʔ˥pa˧˧/ 爸爸 /pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/ 爸爸 /pa˧˩pa/ 阿爸 /aʔ˦˦pa/ 爹爹 /tiɑ˥ tiɑ˨˩/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/
Eat /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥˥/ /t͡ɕʰiəʔ˥/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/
Drink /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /t͡ɕʰiɪʔ˥/ /xəʔ˥/ /huəʔ˥/ /hoʔ˥˥/ /həʔ˥/ /xo˥˥/
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Han readings compared

Character Jiaxing WuNingbo WuHangzhou 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 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ se1 /sæ̃˧˧/ se1 /sɛ˥˧/ sa³³ /sã˧˧/ se1 /sᴇ˦˦/ se³³ /sɛ˧˧/
sy5 /sɿ˥˧/ sy5 /sz̩˥˩/ sy5 /sz̩˧/ 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 /tsʰiɪʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiʔ˥˥/ chiq7 /tɕʰɪʔ˥˥/ tshiq⁵⁵ /t͡sʰiəʔ˥˥/ tshiq7 /tsʰiəʔ˦˧/ chii⁵ /tsʰiɪʔ˥/
poq7 /pɒʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ paq7 /pɐʔ˥˥/ 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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