Changzhou dialect

The Changzhou dialect (simplified Chinese: 常州话; traditional Chinese: 常州話; IPA: [z̥ɑŋ.tsei.ɦu] (pronunciation in the Changzhou dialect)), sometimes called Changzhounese, is a dialect of Wu, a Sino-Tibetan language family, and belongs to the Taihu dialect group. It is spoken in the city of Changzhou and surrounding areas in Jiangsu province of China. It has many similarities with the Shanghainese and Suzhou dialect. It is not at all mutually intelligible with Mandarin, China's official language. It is much more closely related to the neighboring Wuxi dialect with which it is mostly mutually intelligible.

Phonetically, the Changzhou dialect makes use of a number of voiced or slack voiced initials [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ d̥z̥ d̥ʑ̊ v̥ z̥ ɦ̥] that are not found in Mandarin as well as a larger number of vowel sounds [ɑ ɐ ɔ o æ ə ɨ ɨʷ ɛ ɤɯ e i u y]. The tone system also is of greater complexity, using 7 tones based on the classical tonal system. It also has a more complex tone sandhi than found in most other Chinese varieties.

Changzhou dialect is the representative of the small dialect in the northernmost part of the Wu dialect area and the Jianghuai mandarin dialect area. Influenced by the dialect habits, Changzhou Mandarin presents its own characteristics that are different from standard Mandarin in terms of pronunciation. Mr. Zhao Yuanren was the first person who used modern linguistic methods to study Changzhou dialect, and especially made a pioneering and outstanding contribution to the research on Changzhou dialect phonetics. In the early 20th century and even earlier, gentleman's talk and streets appeared in Changzhou city When talking about Changzhou dialect with two accents, the people who use it are different. The two accents have similarities in common, but also have distinct distinctive features.

The Changzhou dialect is centered around the city of Changzhou and is spoken throughout the prefecture. It is notable as being one of the last places one hears Wu when traveling West before it gives way to the Southern Mandarin dialects, with the possible exception of the Gaochun dialect spoken in Southern Nanjing county.

Within the prefecture, there are also small but noticeable distinctions in pronunciation between the city center and the more rural surroundings which can be easily detected by native speakers. It is likely that as most residents have remained in the same village for many generations and have been locally educated these variations have managed to persist.

As one travels closer to Wuxi, the dialect begins to be closer to that spoken in neighboring Wuxi, the dialect of Wu that is most closely related to the Changzhou dialect. Speakers from the eastern Changzhou villages have little difficulty conversing fluently with those from the western end of Wuxi Prefecture.

In addition to the surrounding areas of Jiangsu Province, the Changzhou dialect is also emerging as a spoken dialect in Shanghai, and overseas in New York City in the United States.

The Lin'an Mandarin (Hangzhou Mandarin) has had an important influence on the Wu dialect area. The Nandu of the Song dynasty had an important influence on the dialects of Zhejiang, especially along the Qiantang River and its upper reaches. In these areas, there is still a reading system called "Zhejiang Mandarin" by the locals, which has played a role in the regional common language. The Song dynasty moved south to Hangzhou, and the northern mandarin entered the Wu dialect area and formed a new level; Changzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai and other places changed the voicing of the Wu dialect due to the influence of the Lin'an Mandarin.