天津话

Tianjin Mandarin

Sinitic (Mandarin, Ji-Lu / Tianjin)

FamilySinitic (Mandarin, Ji-Lu / Tianjin) Speakers~10M ScriptSimplified Chinese CountriesChina (Tianjin metro and adjacent Hebei) Official inNo (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3cmn

Tianjin Mandarin (天津话) is the urban Mandarin variety of Tianjin and adjacent Hebei, with ~10M speakers. It is famous for its low-falling first tone (˩˩, the opposite of Standard Mandarin's high-level T1), the iconic particle 嘛 (ma) and phrase 嘛事 (mashi, "what's up"), and a markedly playful prosody that has become the trademark of Chinese stand-up comedy and quyi traditions — Tianjin xiangsheng (cross-talk comedy) is the canonical art form, with masters like Ma Sanli and Guo Degang shaping the entire Chinese comedic tradition. Tianjin's tone system is simplified relative to Beijing's, with characteristic neutral-tone patterns marking it as distinct from the nearby capital dialect.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Tianjin Mandarin

Water

/ʂwei˨˩˧/

Fire

/xwo˨˩˧/

Sun

日头

/ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/

Moon

月亮

/ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/

Mother

/ma˩˩/

Father

/pa˥˩/

Eat

/tʂʰɨ˩˩/

Drink

/xɤ˩˩/

Love

/ai˥˩/

Heart

/ɕin˩˩/

Tree

/ʂu˥˩/

House

房子

/faŋ˨˦tsɨ/

Dog

/koʊ˨˩˧/

Cat

/mau˩˩/

Hand

/ʂoʊ˨˩˧/

Eye

眼睛

/jɛn˨˩˧tɕiŋ/

Hello

你好

/ni˨˩˧xau˨˩˧/

Thank you

谢谢

/ɕjɛ˥˩ɕjɛ/

One

/i˩˩/

Good

/xau˨˩˧/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Sinitic (Mandarin, Ji-Lu / Tianjin) languages

Meaning Tianjin MandarinChinese (Mandarin)Northeastern MandarinWuhan MandarinSichuan MandarinLanyin MandarinXi'an Mandarin
Water /ʂwei˨˩˧/ /ʂweɪ̯˧˩˧/ /ʂweɪ̯˧˩˧/ /suei˨˩˧/ /suei˨˩˧/ /sui˥˧/ /fei˥˧/
Fire /xwo˨˩˧/ /xwo˧˩˧/ /xwo˧˩˧/ /huo˨˩˧/ /xo˨˩˧/ /xo˥˧/ /xuo˥˧/
Sun 日头 /ʐʅ˥˩tʰoʊ˨˦/ 太阳 /tʰaɪ̯˥˩jɑŋ˧˥/ 太阳 /tʰaɪ̯˥˩jɑŋ˩/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˧iaŋ˨˩˧/ 太阳 /tʰai˥˩iaŋ˧˥/ 日头 /ʐɨ˨˦tʰəu˨˦/ 日头 /ʐɿ˥˥tʰou˨˦/
Moon 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljaŋ/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljɑŋ/ 月亮 /ɥɛ˥˩ljɑŋ˩/ 月亮 /yɛ˨˩˧liaŋ/ 月亮 /ye˨˩liaŋ˥˩/ 月亮 /yɛ˦˦ljaŋ/ 月亮 /ye˥˥liaŋ˨˩/
Mother /ma˩˩/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ 妈妈 /ma˥ma/ 妈妈 /ma˨˩˧ma/ 妈妈 /mama/ /ma˧˧/ /ma˨˩/
Father /pa˥˩/ 爸爸 /pa˥˩pa/ 爸爸 /pa˥˩pa/ 爸爸 /pa˨˩˧pa/ 爸爸 /papa/ /pa˥˧/ /pa˥˥/
Eat /tʂʰɨ˩˩/ /ʈʂʰɨ˥/ /ʈʂʰɨ˥/ /tʂʰʅ˥˥/ /tsʰɨ˧˥/ /tʂʰɨ˧˧/ /tʂʰɿ˨˩/
Drink /xɤ˩˩/ /xɤ˥/ /xɤ˥/ /xo˥˥/ /xo˧˥/ /xɛ˧˧/ /xɤ˨˩/
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Han readings compared

Character Tianjin MandarinNortheastern MandarinZhongyuan MandarinKaifeng MandarinChinese (Mandarin)Jiao-Liao MandarinXi'an Mandarin
yi²¹ /i˨˩/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ yi²⁴ /i˨˦/ yi²⁴ /i˨˦/ /i˥˥/ yi⁵⁵ /i˥˥/ yiq²¹ /i˨˩/
er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er³¹² /ɚ˧˩˨/ er³¹² /ɚ˧˩˨/ èr /ɑɻ˥˩/ er⁵³ /ɚ˥˧/ er⁴⁴ /ɚ˦˦/
san²¹ /sɑn˨˩/ san⁵⁵ /san˥˥/ san²⁴ /san˨˦/ san²⁴ /san˨˦/ sān /san˥˥/ san²¹³ /sã˨˩˧/ san²¹ /sã˨˩/
si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si²⁴ /sɿ˨˦/ si³¹² /sɿ˧˩˨/ /sɿ˥˩/ si⁵³ /sɿ˥˧/ si⁴⁴ /sɿ˦˦/
wu¹³ /u˩˧/ wu²¹³ /u˨˩˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/ /u˨˩˦/ wu⁵⁵ /u˥˥/ wu⁵³ /u˥˧/
liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liu⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liu²⁴ /liu˨˦/ liu²⁴ /liəu˨˦/ liù /ljou˥˩/ liou⁵³ /liou˥˧/ liuq²¹ /liou˨˩/
qi²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ qi²⁴ /tɕʰi˨˦/ qi²⁴ /tɕʰi˨˦/ /t͡ɕʰi˥˥/ qi⁵⁵ /tɕʰi˥˥/ qiq²¹ /tɕʰi˨˩/
ba²¹ /pa˨˩/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ ba²⁴ /pa˨˦/ ba²⁴ /pa˨˦/ /pa˥˥/ ba⁵⁵ /pa˥˥/ baq²¹ /pa˨˩/
jiu¹³ /tɕiou˩˧/ jiu²¹³ /tɕiou˨˩˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiəu˥˧/ jiǔ /t͡ɕjou˨˩˦/ jiu⁵⁵ /tɕiou˥˥/ jiu⁵³ /tɕiou˥˧/
shi⁴⁵ /ʂʐ̩˦˥/ shi³⁵ /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ shi⁴² /ʂʐ̩˦˨/ shi⁴² /ʂʐ̩˦˨/ shí /ʂʐ̩˧˥/ shi⁴² /ʂʐ̩˦˨/ siq²⁴ /sʐ̩˨˦/
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