Leizhou Min

Leizhou Min
黎話 / [lɔi˩ uɛ˨˦]
Pronunciation	[lui˩ tsiu˨˦ uɛ˨˦] (Leicheng dialect)
Native to	China, United States (California), Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong
Region	Leizhou
Native speakers	around 2.8 million in China (2004)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Min Coastal Min Qiong-Lei[2] (disputed) Leizhou Min
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	leiz1236[3]
Leizhou Min

Leizhou Min (simplified Chinese: 雷州话; traditional Chinese: 雷州話; pinyin: Léizhōu huà) is a branch of Min Chinese. It is spoken in the Leizhou city and its neighbouring areas on the Leizhou peninsula in the west of Guangdong province. In the classification of Yuan Jiahua, it was included in the Southern Min group, though it has low intelligibility with other Southern Min varieties. In the classification of Li Rong, used by the Language Atlas of China, it was treated as a separate Min subgroup.^[4] It is sometimes combined with Hainanese in a Qiong–Lei group.^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants of Leizhou Min

			Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal			m	n	ŋ
Plosive	voiced		b
	voiceless	unaspirated	p	t	k
		aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	kʰ
Fricative	voiced			z
	voiceless			s		h
Affricate	voiceless	unaspirated		t͡s
		aspirated		t͡sʰ
Lateral approximant				l

Tones

Leizhou has six tones, which are reduced to two in checked syllables.

Tone chart of the Leizhou dialect

Tone number	Tone name	Tone contour	Description
1	yin ping (陰平)	˨˦ (24)	rising
2	yin shang (陰上)	˦˨ (42)	falling (high falling)
3	yin qu (陰去)	˨˩ (21)	bottom (low falling)
4	yin ru (陰入)	˥̚ (5)	high checked
5	yang ping (陽平)	˨ (2)	low
6	yang shang (陽上)	˧ (3)	mid
7	yang qu (陽去)	˥ (5)	high
8	yang ru (陽入)	˩̚ (1)	low checked

See also

• Taiwanese Hokkien
• Teochew dialect
• List of Chinese dialects

References

1. 湛江市志·第三十六篇 方言·第三章 雷州话
2. Hou Jingyi [侯精一]. 2002. An Introduction to Mordern Chinese Dialects [现代汉语方言概论], Shanghai Educational Press [上海教育出版社], pp. 238
3. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Leizhou". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
4. Kurpaska, Maria (2010). Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects". Walter de Gruyter. pp. 54–55, 86. ISBN 978-3-11-021914-2.

• Běijīng dàxué zhōngguóyǔyánwénxuéxì yǔyánxué jiàoyánshì. (1989) Hànyǔ fāngyīn zìhuì. Běijīng: Wénzìgǎigé chūbǎnshè.(北京大學中國語言文學系語言學教研室. 1989. 漢語方音字匯. 北京: 文字改革出版社)
• Norman, Jerry. [1988] (2002). Chinese. Cambridge, England: CUP ISBN 0-521-29653-6
• Yuán, jiāhuá (1989). Hànyǔ fāngyán gàiyào (An introduction to Chinese dialects). Beijing, China: Wénzì gǎigé chūbǎnshè. (袁家驊. 1989. 漢語方言概要. 北京:文字改革出版社.)
• Zhū, yuèmíng. (2005) "Léizhōuhuà yú Pǔtōnghuà bǐjiàoyīnxì yánjiū" (Comparative phonological studies on the Leizhou dialect and Putonghua) Yúnnán shīfàndàxué xuébào (zhéxué shèhuìkēxué bǎn) (Yunnan Normal University Journal (philosophy and social sciences)): vol.37 no. 5 p. 133-136. (朱月明. 2005. "雷州話與普通話音系比較研究" 《雲南師範大學學報 (哲學社會科學版)》: 第 37 卷 第 5 期 頁133-136)

Further reading

• Li, Charles; Thompson, Sandra (1983a). "A Grammatical description of Xuwen : A colloquial dialect of Lei-zhou Peninsula (Part I)". Cahiers de linguistique – Asie orientale 12 (1): 3–21. doi:10.3406/clao.1983.1123.
• Li, Charles; Thompson, Sandra (1983b). "A Grammatical description of Xuwen : A colloquial dialect of Lei-zhou Peninsula (Part II)". Cahiers de linguistique – Asie orientale 12 (2): 119–148. doi:10.3406/clao.1983.1138.

External links

• Cantonese and other dialects (in Chinese)
• Classification of Northern Min Dialects from Glossika