Chang–Du or Chang–Jing, sometimes called Nanchang or Nanchangese[1] (simplified Chinese: 南昌话; traditional Chinese: 南昌話; pinyin: Nánchānghuà) after its principal dialect, is one of the Gan Chinese languages. It is named after Nanchang and Duchang County, and is spoken in those areas as well as in Xinjian, Anyi, Yongxiu, De'an, Xingzi, Hukou, and bordering regions in Jiangxi and in Pingjiang County, Hunan.

Chang–Du
Nanchang, Chang–Jing, Nanchangese
南昌话
Native toChina
RegionNorthwestern Jiangxi
Chinese characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
ISO 639-6cagj
Glottologchan1317
Linguasphere79-AAA-fad
Map of Gan languages; Chang–Du-speaking region in light green.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Phonology

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The Nanchang dialect has 19 syllable onsets or initials (including the zero initial), 65 finals and 7 tones.[2]

Initials

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In each cell below, the first line indicates IPA transcription, the second indicates pinyin.

Bilabial Dental/
Alveolar
(Alveolo-)
palatal
Velar Glottal
Nasal m
m
ɲ
gn
ŋ
ng
Plosive plain p
b
t
d
k
g
aspirated
p

t

k
Affricate plain ts
dz

j
aspirated tsʰ
tz
tɕʰ
q
Fricative ɸ
f
s
s
ɕ
x
h
h
Lateral l
l

Finals

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The finals of the Nanchang dialect are:[3]

- -i -u -n -t -k
- a
ɔ
ɛ
ɹ̩
ə
ai
əi
au
ɛu
əu
an
ɔn
ɛn
ən

ɔŋ

at
ɔt
ɛt
ət
ak
ɔk
uk
鹿
-i- ja

i
jɛu
iu
jɛn
in
jaŋ
jɔŋ
juŋ
jɛt
it
jak
jɔk
juk
-u- wa


u
wai
ui
wan
wɔn
un
waŋ
wɔŋ
wat
wɔt
wɛt
ut
wak
wɔk
-y- ɥɛ
y
ɥɔn
yn
ɥɔt
yt

Consonantal codas

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Syllabic nasals

ŋ̩
consonantal finals -p -t -k -m -n -ng
IPA [-p] [-t] [-k] [-m] [-n] [-ŋ]
Example
  • The codas in italic are at present only reserved in several Gan dialects.

Tone

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Like other Chinese varieties, tones in Gan make phonemic distinctions. There are five phonemic tones in Gan, which are reduced to two 'entering tones' before stop consonants. In the traditional classification, these are considered separately:

 
tones of Gan
Tone number Tone name Pitch numbers IPA transcription (on a)
1 upper level (42) a˦˨ or â
2 lower level (24) a˨˦ or ǎ
3 rising (213) a˨˩˧ or á̀́
4 upper departing (55) or á
5 lower departing (21) a˨˩ or à
6 upper entering (5) ak˥ or ák
7 lower entering (21) ak˨˩ or àk

The 6th and 7th tones are the same as the 4th and 5th tones, except that the syllable ends in a stop consonant, /t/ or /k/.

Example

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A poem of Meng Haoran (“Men Hau-len” in Gan):

春曉 孟浩然     Cun Hieu – Men Hau-len
春眠不覺曉, cun mien bhut gok hieu,
處處聞啼鳥。 cu cu mun ti tieu.
夜來風雨聲, ya loi fung ui sang,
花落知多少? fa lok zi do seu?

References

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  1. ^ "Fangyan Friday #5: Nanchang Dialect".
  2. ^ Yan (2006), p. 150.
  3. ^ Yan (2006), pp. 150–151, based on Hanyu Fangyin Zihui.
  • Běijīng Dàxué Zhōngguó yǔyán wénxuéxì yǔyánxué jiàoyánshì (1989). Hànyǔ fāngyīn zìhuì. Běijīng: Wénzì gǎigé 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.)
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