南京话

Nanjing Mandarin

Sinitic (Mandarin, Jianghuai — Hong-Chao)

FamilySinitic (Mandarin, Jianghuai — Hong-Chao) Speakers~6M (Nanjing city + Jiangning, Liuhe) ScriptHan characters (Simplified) CountriesChina (Jiangsu: Nanjing metropolitan area) Official inNo (regional; Putonghua is official). Historically the de facto court koine of the Ming and early Qing. ISO 639-3cmn Glottocodenanj1234

Nanjing Mandarin (南京话) is the urban-prestige variety of Jianghuai Mandarin spoken by ~6M people in greater Nanjing, and one of the most historically prestigious Chinese vernaculars: it served as the de facto national koine (官話 Guanhua) of the Ming and early Qing courts, was the basis of the "Mandarin" recorded by Matteo Ricci and Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century, and remained the standard pronunciation taught in late-Qing schoolbooks until Beijing-based Putonghua displaced it in the 1920s–30s. Phonologically Nanjing preserves the Middle Chinese entering tone (rusheng, ~˥ʔ) — lost in northern Mandarin but shared with Wu and Hui — and lacks the /n-/ ~ /l-/ merger typical of southwestern Mandarin. Its 5-tone system (˧˩, ˩˧, ˨˩˨, ˦, ˥ʔ) makes it transitional between Mandarin and Wu.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Nanjing Mandarin

Water

/ʂueɪ˨˩˨/

Fire

/xuo˨˩˨/

Sun

太阳

/tʰɛ˦iaŋ˩˧/

Moon

月亮

/yʔ˥liaŋ˦/

Mother

姆妈

/m̩˧˩ma˧˩/

Father

/tie˧˩/

Eat

/tʂʰʅʔ˥/

Drink

/xəʔ˥/

Love

/ɛ˦/

Heart

/ɕin˧˩/

Tree

/ʂu˦/

House

房子

/fɑŋ˩˧tsɿ/

Dog

/kəɯ˨˩˨/

Cat

/mɔ˧˩/

Hand

/ʂəɯ˨˩˨/

Eye

眼睛

/iɛn˨˩˨tɕin˧˩/

Hello

你好

/li˨˩˨xɔ˨˩˨/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕie˦ɕie/

One

/iʔ˥/

Good

/xɔ˨˩˨/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Mandarin, Jianghuai — Hong-Chao) languages

Meaning Nanjing MandarinJianghuai MandarinWuhan MandarinHangzhou WuHefei MandarinTianjin MandarinSichuan Mandarin
Water /ʂueɪ˨˩˨/ /suei˨˩˦/ /suei˨˩˧/ /ʂz̩˥˧/ /ʂueɪ˨˦/ /ʂwei˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˧/
Fire /xuo˨˩˨/ /xuo˨˩˦/ /huo˨˩˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xuo˨˦/ /xwo˨˩˧/ /xo˨˩˧/
Sun 太阳 /tʰɛ˦iaŋ˩˧/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦˦tʰəu˨˦/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˧iaŋ˨˩˧/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˩˨dɤɯ˨˩˧/ 日头 /ʐəʔ˦tʰəu˥˥/ 日头 /ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/
Moon 月亮 /yʔ˥liaŋ˦/ 月亮 /yeʔ˥˥liaŋ˦˦/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˩˧liaŋ/ 月亮 /yøʔ˩˨liaŋ˨˩˧/ 月亮 /yɛʔ˦liaŋ˥˧/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˥˩/
Mother 姆妈 /m̩˧˩ma˧˩/ /ma˧˧/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˧ma/ 妈妈 /ma˧˧ma˨˩˧/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˨ma/ /ma˩˩/ 妈妈 /mama/
Father /tie˧˩/ /pa˥˥/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 爸爸 /pa˧˧pa˨˩˧/ /tie˨˩˨/ /pa˥˩/ 爸爸 /papa/
Eat /tʂʰʅʔ˥/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/ /t͡ɕʰiʔ˥/ /tʂʰəʔ˦/ /tʂʰɨ˩˩/ /tsʰɨ˧˥/
Drink /xəʔ˥/ /xəʔ˥˥/ /xo˥˥/ /xəʔ˥/ /xəʔ˦/ /xɤ˩˩/ /xo˧˥/
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Han readings compared

Character Nanjing MandarinJianghuai MandarinNortheastern MandarinDatong JinXi'an MandarinHefei MandarinLanyin Mandarin
yiq⁵ /iʔ˥/ yiq⁵ /iəʔ˥/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ ieh⁴³ /iəʔ˦˧/ yiq²¹ /i˨˩/ yiq⁴ /iʔ˦/ yi¹³ /i˩˧/
er⁴⁴ /ɚ˦˦/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁴⁵ /ɚ˦˥/ er⁴⁴ /ɚ˦˦/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er¹³ /ɚ˩˧/
san³¹ /sã˧˩/ san³³ /sã˧˧/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san³¹ /sæ̃˧˩/ san²¹ /sã˨˩/ san²¹ /sæ̃˨˩/ san³¹ /sã˧˩/
si⁴⁴ /sɿ˦˦/ si⁵¹ /sɿ˥˩/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁴⁵ /sɿ˦˥/ si⁴⁴ /sɿ˦˦/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si¹³ /sɿ˩˧/
wu²¹² /u˨˩˨/ wu³⁵ /u˧˥/ wu²¹³ /u˨˩˧/ u⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu²⁴ /u˨˦/ wu⁴⁴² /u˦˦˨/
loq⁵ /loʔ˥/ liuq⁵ /liuʔ˥/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ lueh⁵⁴ /luəʔ˥˦/ liuq²¹ /liou˨˩/ luq⁴ /lɤʔ˦/ liu¹³ /liou˩˧/
ciq⁵ /tsʰiʔ˥/ ciq⁵ /tsʰiəʔ˥/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ qhieh⁴³ /tɕʰiəʔ˦˧/ qiq²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ ciq⁴ /tsʰəʔ˦/ qi¹³ /tɕʰi˩˧/
baq⁵ /paʔ˥/ baq⁵ /paʔ˥/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ pah⁴³ /paʔ˦˧/ baq²¹ /pa˨˩/ baq⁴ /paʔ˦/ ba¹³ /pa˩˧/
jiu²¹² /tɕiəu˨˩˨/ jiu²¹² /tɕiɤu˨˩˨/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiou˨˩˧/ jieu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/ jiu²⁴ /tɕiɯ˨˦/ jiu⁴⁴² /tɕiou˦˦˨/
seq⁵ /ʂəʔ˥/ sheq⁵ /ʂəʔ˥/ shi³⁵ /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ seh⁵⁴ /səʔ˥˦/ siq²⁴ /sʐ̩˨˦/ siq⁴ /səʔ˦/ shi⁵³ /ʂʅ˥˧/
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