Weitou dialect

Weitou dialect
圍頭話
Native to Southern China
Native speakers
 (no estimate available)
Sino-Tibetan

  • Chinese

    • Yue
      • Yuehai
        • Guan–Bao
          • Weitou dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3 –
Glottolog None

Weitou dialect (simplified Chinese: 围头话; traditional Chinese: 圍頭話; literally: "walled (village) language"; Jyutping: Waidau Waa) is a dialect of Yue Chinese. It forms part of the Guan-Bao (莞宝片, Dongguan-Bao'an) branch of Yuehai, sometimes called Cantonese. 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《我爱扭纹柴》, the chief character, played by Chow Yun-fat who himself grown up in Lamma Island, consistently speaks the Weitou dialect.

In a more general sense, Weitou Hua can refer to any variety of Chinese spoken in the villages of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, including Hakka and rural Yue dialects, in contrast to Cantonese (Guangfu) spoken by the majority of Hong Kong and Shenzhen residents.

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

References

External links