Weitou dialect

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Generally speaking, Weitou Hua (traditional Chinese: 圍頭話; simplified Chinese: 围头话; literally "walled (village) language"; Jyutping: Waidau Waa) can refer to any Chinese language/dialect spoken in the villages of Shenzhen and Hong Kong in southern China, including Hakka and Cantonese variants, in contrast to Standard Cantonese (Guangfu) spoken by the majority of Hong Kong and Shenzhen residents.

In a specific sense, however, Weitou Hua is a distinct dialect of Cantonese, on which this article focuses. According to some linguistic classification schemes, the Weitou dialect form part of the Dongguan-Bao'an sub-zone (莞寶片) of the Cantonese dialect zone (粵方言區). It is spoken by the older generations in Shenzhen, and by those in the New Territories, Hong Kong.

The Weitou dialect can be heard in Hong Kong TV dramas and movies, and is usually used to characterize characters who come from walled villages. For example, in the 1992 movie Now You See Love, Now You Don't (我愛扭紋柴), the chief character, played by Chow Yun-Fat who himself grown up in Lamma Island, consistently speaks the Weitou dialect.

[edit] Phonology

Zhang & Zhuang (2003:21-4) records the phonological systems of three varieties of the Weitou dialect spoken in Hong Kong. Following is the one of Fan Tin (蕃田), San Tin (in IPA).

The 21 onsets
p pʰ b f w
t tʰ d l
tʃ tʃʰ ʃ j
k kʰ ɡ h
kʷ kʷʰ ɡʷ
The 37 rimes
a œ ɔ ɛ i u y
ai ɐi ɵy
au ɐu eu
am ɐm em
æŋ ɐŋ œŋ ɛŋ yœŋ
ɵŋ oŋ eŋ
ap ɐp ep
æk ɐk œk ɛk yœk
m ŋ ɵk ok ek

There are four tone contours, when the "entering tones" (stopped syllables) are ignored:

The 4 tones
tone name contour description
Yin Ping ˨˧ (23) or ˥ (55) low rising or high
Yang Ping ˨˩ (21) low
Shang ˧˥ (35) high rising
Qu ˧ (33) mid

[edit] References

  • (Chinese) Zhang Shaungqing 張雙慶 & Zhuang Chusheng 莊初昇 (2003). Xianggang xinjie fangyan (香港新界方言 "The Dialects of the New Territories, Hong Kong"). Hong Kong: Commercial Press. ISBN 9620716825.

[edit] External links

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