昆明话

Kunming Mandarin

Sinitic (Mandarin, Southwestern, Yunnan)

FamilySinitic (Mandarin, Southwestern, Yunnan) Speakers~5M ScriptSimplified Chinese CountriesChina (Yunnan: Kunming and central Yunnan) Official inNo (regional vernacular) ISO 639-3cmn Glottocodeyunn1240

Kunming Mandarin (昆明话) is the prestige variety of Yunnanese, the southernmost branch of Southwestern Mandarin, with ~5M speakers in Kunming and central Yunnan. Like other Southwestern Mandarin varieties, it merges Middle Chinese rusheng (entering tone) into yangping rather than scattering it, and its four-tone system has a markedly low Yangping ˧˩ and a distinctive dipping Qusheng ˨˩˨. The variety shows substantial substrate and contact influence from neighbouring Tibeto-Burman (Yi, Bai, Naxi) and Tai-Kadai (Zhuang, Dai) languages — visible in expressive vocabulary, classifier use, and certain tonal sandhi patterns.

Where it is spoken

31 core words in Kunming Mandarin

Water

/suei˥˧/

Fire

/xo˥˧/

Sun

太阳

/tʰæ˨˩˨iaŋ˧˩/

Moon

月亮

/ye˧˩liaŋ˨˩˨/

Star

/ɕĩ˦/

Mother

/ma˦˦/

Father

/tie˦˦/

I

/ŋo˥˧/

You

/ni˥˧/

Name

名字

/miŋ˧˩ tsɿ/

Eye

眼睛

/ŋæ˥˧tɕin˦˦/

Hand

/sɤu˥˧/

Heart

/ɕin˦˦/

Love

/æ˨˩˨/

Tree

/su˨˩˨/

House

房子

/faŋ˧˩tsɿ/

Dog

/kəu˥˧/

Cat

/mau˧˩/

Eat

/tsʰʅ˦˦/

Drink

/xo˦˦/

One

/i˧˩/

Two

/ɚ˨˩˨/

Hello

你好

/ni˥˧xau˥˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕie˨˩˨ɕie/

Good

/xau˥˧/

Cuckoo

阳雀

/iã˧˩tɕʰio˧˩/

Computer

电脑

/tiɛn˨˩˨nau˥˧/

Sushi

寿司

/səu˨˩˨sz̩˦˦/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Mandarin, Southwestern, Yunnan) languages

Meaning Kunming MandarinChengdu MandarinSichuan MandarinChongqing MandarinKaifeng MandarinZhongyuan MandarinLanyin Mandarin
Water /suei˥˧/ /suei˥˧/ /suei˥˧/ /suei˦˨/ /ʂuei˥˧/ /suei˥˥/ /sui˥˧/
Fire /xo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xo˦˨/ /xuo˥˧/ /xuo˥˧/ /xo˥˧/
Sun 太阳 /tʰæ˨˩˨iaŋ˧˩/ 太阳 /tʰai˨˩˧iaŋ˨˩/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 太阳 /tʰai˨˩˧.iaŋ˨˩/ 日头 /ʐəɻ˧˩˨tʰou˦˨/ 太阳 /tʰai˨˩iaŋ˨˩˧/ 日头 /ʐɨ˨˦tʰəu˨˦/
Moon 月亮 /ye˧˩liaŋ˨˩˨/ 月亮 /ye˨˩lia̠ŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /yo˨˩liaŋ˨˩˦/ 月亮 /yɛ˦˨liaŋ˧˩˨/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˦liaŋ/ 月亮 /yɛ˦˦ljaŋ/
Star /ɕĩ˦/ /ɕin˦˥/ 星星 /ɕin˥ɕin/ /ɕin˥/ /ɕiŋ˨˦/ /ɕiŋ˨˦/ /ɕiŋ˧˩/
Mother /ma˦˦/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ /ma˥/ /ma˨˦/ 妈妈 /ma˨˦ma/ /ma˧˧/
Father /tie˦˦/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 老汉 /lau˦˨.xan˨˩˧/ /tiɛ˨˦/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ /pa˥˧/
I /ŋo˥˧/ /ŋo˥˧/ /ŋo˥˧/ /ŋo˦˨/ /uo˥/ /uo˥˧/ /vɤ˥˧/
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Han readings compared

Character Kunming MandarinGui-Liu MandarinSichuan MandarinChengdu MandarinKaifeng MandarinXi'an MandarinChongqing Mandarin
yi³¹ /i˧˩/ yi³¹ /i˧˩/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/ yi²⁴ /i˨˦/ yiq²¹ /i˨˩/ yi²¹ /i˨˩/
er²¹² /ɚ˨˩˨/ er²⁴ /ɚ˨˦/ er²¹³ /ɚ˨˩˧/ er²¹³ /ɚ˨˩˧/ er³¹² /ɚ˧˩˨/ er⁴⁴ /ɚ˦˦/ er²¹⁴ /ɚ˨˩˦/
san⁴⁴ /sã˦˦/ san⁴⁴ /san˦˦/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san²⁴ /san˨˦/ san²¹ /sã˨˩/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/
si²¹² /sɿ˨˩˨/ si²⁴ /sɿ˨˦/ si²¹³ /sɿ˨˩˧/ si²¹³ /sɿ˨˩˧/ si³¹² /sɿ˧˩˨/ si⁴⁴ /sɿ˦˦/ si²¹⁴ /sɿ˨˩˦/
wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁴² /u˦˨/
liu³¹ /liu˧˩/ lou³¹ /lou˧˩/ neu²¹ /nəu˨˩/ nu²¹ /nu˨˩/ liu²⁴ /liəu˨˦/ liuq²¹ /liou˨˩/ liu²¹ /liəu˨˩/
qi³¹ /tɕʰi˧˩/ ci³¹ /tsʰi˧˩/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ qi²⁴ /tɕʰi˨˦/ qiq²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/
ba³¹ /pa˧˩/ ba³¹ /pa˧˩/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/ ba²⁴ /pa˨˦/ baq²¹ /pa˨˩/ ba²¹ /pa˨˩/
jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/ jiu⁴² /tɕiəu˦˨/
si³¹ /sɿ˧˩/ si³¹ /sɿ˧˩/ si²¹ /sɿ˨˩/ si²¹ /sɿ˨˩/ shi⁴² /ʂʐ̩˦˨/ siq²⁴ /sɿ˨˦/ si²¹ /sɿ˨˩/
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