The Zhangzhou dialects (simplified Chinese: 漳州话; traditional Chinese: 漳州話; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiang-chiu-ōa), also rendered Changchew,[4]Chiangchew or Changchow,[5] are a collection of Hokkien dialects spoken in southern Fujian province (in southeast China), centered on the city of Zhangzhou. The Zhangzhou dialect proper is the source of some place names in English, including Amoy (from [ɛ˨˩mui˩˧], now called Xiamen), and Quemoy (from [kim˨mui˩˧], now called Kinmen).
Classification
The Zhangzhou dialects are classified as Hokkien, a group of Southern Min varieties.[6] In Fujian, the Zhangzhou dialects form the southern subgroup (南片) of Southern Min.[7] The dialect of urban Zhangzhou is one of the oldest dialects of Southern Min, and along with the urban Quanzhou dialect, it forms the basis for all modern varieties.[8] When compared with other varieties of Hokkien, it has an intelligibility of 89.0% with the Amoy dialect and 79.7% with the urban Quanzhou dialect.[9]
Phonology
This section is mostly based on the variety spoken in the urban area of Zhangzhou.
The vowel /a/ is the open central unrounded vowel[ä] in most rimes, including /a/, /ua/, /ia/, /ai/, /uai/, /au/, /iau/, /ã/, /ãʔ/.[10][13] In the rimes /ian/ and /iat/, /a/ is realized as [ɛ] (i.e. as [iɛn] and [iɛt̚])[13] or [ə] (i.e. as [iən] and [iət̚]).[10]
The rimes /iŋ/ and /ik/ are usually realized with a short [ə] between the vowel [i] and the velar consonant.[10] In many areas outside of the urban area of Zhangzhou, including Pinghe, Changtai, Yunxiao, Zhao'an and Dongshan, /iŋ/ and /ik/ are pronounced as /eŋ/ and /ek/ instead.[14]
The codas /p/, /t/ and /k/ are unreleased, i.e. [p̚], [t̚] and [k̚], respectively.[10]
Most people in the urban area do not pronounce the dark level tone as high-level, but slightly mid-rising.[10][15] While most sources still records this tone as 44,[16][17] its tone value has also been recorded as 24,[18][19] 45,[20] 34[15] or 35[21] to reflect its rising nature.
Tone sandhi
The Zhangzhou dialect has nine tone sandhi rules: only the last syllable of nouns and clause endings remain unchanged by tone sandhi. The two-syllable tone sandhi rules are shown in the table below:[22]
^Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[1][2][3]
^The place of articulation of the alveolar phonemes /ts/, /tsʰ/, /s/ and /dz/ is slightly further back, as if between that of [ts] and [tɕ]; palatalization of these phonemes is especially obvious before rimes that begin with /i/, e.g. 入[d͡ʑip̚].[10][11]
References
^Mei, Tsu-lin (1970), "Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 30: 86–110, doi:10.2307/2718766, JSTOR2718766
Cheng, Chin-Chuan (1999). "Quantitative Studies in Min Dialects". In Ting, Pang-Hsin (ed.). Contemporary Studies in Min Dialects. Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series. Vol. 14. Chinese University Press, Project on Linguistic Analysis. pp. 229–246. JSTOR23833469.
Ding, Picus Sizhi (2016). Southern Min (Hokkien) as a Migrating Language: A Comparative Study of Language Shift and Maintenance Across National Borders. Singapore: Springer. ISBN978-981-287-594-5.
Gao, Ran (2001). 漳州方言音系略说 [A Note on the Phonology of the Zhangzhou Dialect]. In Minnan Fangyan Research Laboratory (ed.). 闽南方言·漳州话研究 [Min Nan Fangyan: Research on the Zhangzhou Dialect]. Beijing: 中国文联出版社. pp. 109–116.
Hirayama, Hisao (1975). 厦门话古调值的内部构拟 [Internal Reconstruction of the Ancient Tone Values of the Xiamen Dialect]. Journal of Chinese Linguistics (in Chinese). 3 (1): 3–15. JSTOR23749860.
Lin, Baoqing (1992). 漳州方言词汇（一） [Vocabulary of the Zhangzhou Dialect (1)]. Fangyan (in Chinese) (2): 151–160.
Ma, Zhongqi, ed. (2008). 闽台闽南方言韵书比较研究 (in Chinese). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. ISBN978-7-5004-7230-8.
Phillips, George (1877). "Zaitun Researches: Part V". The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal. 8 (2): 117–124.
Tung, Tung-ho (1959). 四個閩南方言 [Four South Min Dialects]. Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology. 30: 729–1042.
Yang, Xiu-ming (2014). 漳州方言阴平调的调形特点与历史演变 [Traits of Yin-ping Tone of Zhangzhou Dialect and the Historical Evolution]. Journal of Minnan Normal University (Philosophy & Social Sciences) (in Chinese) (3): 45–52. doi:10.16007/j.cnki.issn2095-7114.2014.03.042.
Zhangzhou City Local Chronicles Editorial Board, ed. (1999). Zhangzhou Shizhi 漳州市志 [Zhangzhou Annals] (in Chinese). Vol. 49: 方言. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. ISBN978-7-5004-2625-7.
