Sze Yup

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Sze Yup, Sze Yap, Seiyap or Siyi (Chinese characters: 四邑; Cantonese Yale: Sei3 yap1; Mandarin pinyin: Sìyì) are the four counties of Sun Wui, Toi Shan, Hoi Ping and Yan Ping in the Pearl River Delta, in southern Kwangtung Province, China.

The area gave rise to the Sze Yup dialects (四邑片), which are distinct from Standard Cantonese (廣東話).

In the 19th century, many people from these counties emigrated to Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Australasia, North America and South America. The Punti-Hakka Clan Wars also erupted in these counties at this time.

Sze Yup people speak Toisanese, a dialect of the Cantonese language. Although Toisanese and Standard Cantonese speakers are both Cantonese, their dialects are almost mutually unintelligible. Therefore Sze Yup emigrants have kept their identity, even among other Cantonese emigrants.

[edit] External links

[1] See Yup Society temple in South Melbourne, Victoria