Shanghainese

Shanghainese
上海閒話 / 上海闲话, zaon-he ghe-gho
滬語 / 沪语, wu-gniu
Pronunciation[zɑ̃̀hɛ́ ɦɛ̀ɦó], [ɦùɲý]
Native toChina
RegionShanghainese proper traditionally in the urban center of Shanghai; Bendihua varieties spoken throughout Shanghai and parts of nearby Nantong
EthnicityShanghainese
Native speakers
14 million (2013)[citation needed]
Sino-Tibetan
Chinese characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-6suji
wuu-sha
Glottologshan1293  Shanghainese
Linguasphere> 79-AAA-dbb >
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Shanghainese
Traditional Chinese上海話
Simplified Chinese上海话
Literal meaningShanghai language
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShànghǎihuà
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsoeng5 hoi2 waa6-2
Shanghainese
Traditional Chinese上海閒話
Simplified Chinese上海闲话
Shanghainese
Romanization
Zaon6 he5 ghe6 gho6
[zɑ̃̀hɛ́ ɦɛ̀ɦò]
Literal meaningShanghai speech
Transcriptions
Wu
Shanghainese
Romanization
Zaon6 he5 ghe6 gho6
[zɑ̃̀hɛ́ ɦɛ̀ɦò]
Hu language
Traditional Chinese滬語
Simplified Chinese沪语
Shanghainese
Romanization
Wu6 gniu6
[ɦùȵỳ]
Literal meaningHu (Shanghai) language
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHùyǔ
Wu
Shanghainese
Romanization
Wu6 gniu6
[ɦùȵỳ]

The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the city of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Shanghainese, like the rest of the Wu language group, is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin.[1]

Shanghainese belongs to a separate group of the Taihu Wu subgroup. With nearly 14 million speakers, Shanghainese is also the largest single form of Wu Chinese. Since the late 19th century it has served as the lingua franca of the entire Yangtze River Delta region, but in recent decades its status has declined relative to Mandarin, which most Shanghainese speakers can also speak.[2]

Like other Wu varieties, Shanghainese is rich in vowels and consonants, with around twenty unique vowel qualities, twelve of which are phonemic. Similarly, Shanghainese also has voiced obstruent initials, which is rare outside of Wu and Xiang varieties. Shanghainese also has a low number of tones compared to other languages in Southern China and has a system of tone sandhi similar to Japanese pitch accent.

  1. ^ Chinese languages at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ Chen, Yiya; Gussenhoven, Carlos (2015). "Shanghai Chinese". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 45 (3): 321. doi:10.1017/S0025100315000043. ISSN 0025-1003. JSTOR 26352263. S2CID 232347404.

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