中山白话

Zhongshan Yue

Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Yue, Yuehai)

FamilySino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Yue, Yuehai) Speakers~1.5M ScriptHan characters CountriesChina (Zhongshan, Guangdong, Pearl River Delta) Official inNo (regional vernacular) ISO 639-3yue Glottocodeyuee1236

Zhongshan Yue (中山白话) is a Yuehai-branch Cantonese variety spoken by ~1.5M in Zhongshan prefecture on the western Pearl River Delta — the hometown speech of Sun Yat-sen. It is largely mutually intelligible with Guangzhou Cantonese but preserves a distinct Shiqi (石岐) sub-variety with slightly more conservative finals (notably retaining the -m coda contrast and a few archaic readings). Zhongshan also contains Min Nan enclaves (Longdu Min) inherited from Fujianese migration — making the prefecture itself linguistically heterogeneous despite the prestige "Shiqi vernacular" anchoring this entry.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Zhongshan Yue

Water

/sɵy˧˥/

Fire

/fɔ˧˥/

Sun

日頭

/jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/

Moon

月光

/jyt˨ kwɔŋ˥˧/

Star

/sɪŋ˥/

Mother

老母

/lou˩˧mou˩˧/

Father

老豆

/lou˩˧tɐu˨/

I

/ŋɔ˩˧/

You

/nei˩˧/

Name

/mɛŋ˧˥/

Eye

/ŋaːn˩˧/

Hand

/sɐu˧˥/

Heart

/sɐm˥˧/

Love

/ɔi˧/

Tree

/syː˨/

House

/ʊk˥/

Dog

/kɐu˧˥/

Cat

/maːu˥˧/

Eat

/sɪk˨/

Drink

/jɐm˧˥/

One

/jɐt˥/

Two

/ji˨/

Hello

你好

/nei˩˧ hou˧˥/

Thank you

多謝

/tɔ˥˧ tsɛː˨/

Good

/hou˧˥/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic, Yue, Yuehai) languages

Meaning Zhongshan YueDongguan YueCantoneseGaozhou YueNanning YueClassical Chinese (Cantonese pedagogical)Pinghua
Water /sɵy˧˥/ /sui˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /sɵi˧˥/ /ɬɵy˧˥/ /sɵy˧˥/ /ɬui˦˨/
Fire /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔː˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fɔ˧˥/ /fu˦˨/
Sun 日頭 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ 太陽 /tʰaːi˧jœːŋ˨˩/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˧˧/ 日头 /jɐt˨tʰɐu˨˩/ /jɐt˨/ 日头 /ŋit˨tʰɐu˦˦/
Moon 月光 /jyt˨ kwɔŋ˥˧/ 月光 /jyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /jyːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥/ 月光 /jyt˨kwɔŋ˥˥/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kʷɔŋ˥˥/ /jyt˨/ 月光 /ŋyt˨kwɔŋ˦˦/
Star /sɪŋ˥/ /sɛŋ˥/ /sɪŋ˥/ /sɛŋ˥/ /ɬɪŋ˥/ /sɪŋ˥/ /ɬɪŋ˥/
Mother 老母 /lou˩˧mou˩˧/ 阿妈 /a˧˧ma˥˥/ 媽媽 /maː˥maː˥/ 妈妈 /maː˥˥maː˥˥/ 老妈 /lau˧˩ma˥˥/ /mou˩˧/ 阿妈 /a˦˦ma˦˦/
Father 老豆 /lou˩˧tɐu˨/ 阿爸 /a˧˧pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˥/ 爸爸 /paː˨˩paː˨˩/ 老窦 /lau˧˩tɐu˨˨/ /fu˨/ 阿爸 /a˦˦pa˦˦/
I /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋɔ˩˧/ /ŋo˨˩/
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Han readings compared

Character Zhongshan YueGaozhou YueDongguan YueNanning YueCantoneseHong Kong CantoneseMacau Cantonese
jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/ jat1 /jɐt̚˥/
ji6 /ji˨˨/ ji6 /jiː˨˨/ ji6 /jiː˨˨/ ji6 /ji˨˨/ ji6 /jiː˨/ ji6 /jiː˨/ ji6 /jiː˨/
saam1 /saːm˥˥/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ saam1 /saːm˥˥/ thaam1 /θaːm˥˥/ saam1 /saːm˥/ saam1 /saːm˥/ saam1 /saːm˥/
sei3 /sei˧˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ sei3 /sei˧˧/ thei3 /θei˧˧/ sei3 /sei˧/ sei3 /sei˧/ sei3 /sei˧/
ng5 /ŋ˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/ ng5 /ŋ̍˩˧/
luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/ luk6 /lʊk̚˨/
cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/ cat1 /tsʰɐt̚˥/
baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/ baat3 /paːt̚˧/
gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/ gau2 /kɐu˧˥/
sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ slap6 /ɬɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/ sap6 /sɐp̚˨/
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