Tiantai dialect

Tiantai dialect
Tiantai dialect
Traditional Chinese	天台てんだい話ばなし
Simplified Chinese	天台てんだい话
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Tiāntāi Huà
IPA	[tʰjɛ́n.tʰáɪ.xwâ]
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Tin1 Toi4 waa2
IPA	[tʰin˥.tʰɔj˩.wa˧˥]

Tiantai Dialect
Tiantai Dialect
天台てんだい話ばなし / 天台てんだい话
Pronunciation	Tiantai Dialect: [tʰi.tʰai.u]
Native to	China
Region	Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Wu Taizhou Wu Taizhou Tiantai Dialect; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

The Tiantai dialect, also known as Tiantaihua (simplified Chinese: 天台てんだい话; traditional Chinese: 天台てんだい話ばなし; pinyin: Tiāntāihuà; Tiantai dialect pronunciation: [tʰi.tʰai.u]) is a regiolect of Wu Chinese in the Taizhou Wu dialect group. It is spoken in Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China.

Like other dialects in the Wu family, Tiantaihua has a three-way contrast between voiced, unaspirated voiceless, and aspirated initial consonants (e.g., /t tʰ d/), preserving an earlier feature of Chinese which Mandarin has collapsed into a two-way distinction.

The Tiantai dialect is the main representative of the northern Taizhou dialect family.

Comparison with Standard Chinese

The meaning of many common words and phrases in the Tiantai dialect differs from that of Standard Chinese. Below is a list of common differences:

Difference of meaning of words
Chinese word	Original meaning	Meaning in the Tiantai dialect	References
味あじ道どう	Taste	Comfort, enjoyment	^[1]
老實ろうじつ好このみ	Honestly good	Praise, very good
煞夾	Tightly squeezed	Very powerful
老ろう官かん	Veteran official	Husband
天てん亮あきら	Sunrise, dawn	Tomorrow
拔好	Properly pulled	Immediately
活動かつどう	Activity	Smart, intelligent
壽ことぶき	Longevity	Silliness, lack of empathy	^[2]
賴よりゆき	Sloppy	Bad behaviour	^[3]
大だい慧とし	Very intelligent	Able person	^[4]
大吹おおぶき	Big blow	Stupid person	^[5]

Proverbs and phrases in the Tiantai dialect can be shorter in comparison with the corresponding phrase in Standard Chinese. For example, the phrase "露ろ出馬しゅつば腳" (literally "exposing the cloven hoof", metaphorically "exposed") is shortened to the phrase "出で腳", literally meaning "taking the foot out".^[1]

Sentences can be shorter as well; see the example below.^[6]

Original	Chinese		和わ	小しょう王おう	比ひ起おこり來らい	，	還かえ是これ	小しょう李り		高こう	。
	English	Literal	As	John	compared to	,	it's still	Terry		taller	.
		Rearranged	As	compared to John			it's still	Terry	(who is)	taller
Contracted		Literal	~~As compared to~~ John				it's ~~still~~	Terry	~~who is~~	taller
Contracted	Chinese			小しょう王おう			是これ	小しょう李り		長なが	。

Pronouns

Pronouns in the Tiantai dialect^[7]
Person	Regular Chinese pronoun	English equivalent	Tiantai dialect pronoun(s)
1st person singular	我わが	I	我わが
2nd person singular	你	you (singular)	爾なんじ^{[n 1]}
3rd person singular	他た	he	佢／渠みぞ^{[n 2]}
	她	she
	牠	it (animals)
	它	it (objects)
1st person plural	我わが們	we	我わが等ひとし／我わが拉ひしげ／我わが拉ひしげ個こ／項こう等とう
2nd person plural	你們	you (plural)	爾しか拉ひしげ／爾しか拉ひしげ個こ
3rd person plural	他た們	they	佢拉／佢拉個こ／渠みぞ拉ひしげ／渠みぞ拉ひしげ個こ
	她們
	牠們
	它們

^ The word "爾なんじ" stands for "you" in middle Chinese.
^ These words are thought to have come from the word "其", a 3rd person pronoun in Middle Chinese.

Syllable structure

Initials

Table of consonants ^{(translated from}^[8]⁾
Consonant	Voiceless unaspirated plosive		Voiceless aspirated plosive		Plosive voiced		Voiceless fricative		Voiced fricative		Glottalised?^{[citation needed]} half voiced		Half voiced
Consonant	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example	Consonant	Example
Labial	p	幫	ph	滂	b	平ひらた	f 敷じき	敷じき	v	奉たてまつ	'm	媽	m	明あきら
Dental	ts	知ち	tsh	初はつ	dz	迟	s 生せい	生せい	z	是これ	'l	拉ひしげ	l	來き
Coronal	t	端はし	th	透とおる	d	定じょう					'n	奶	n	南みなみ
Alveolo-palatal	c	照あきら	ch	穿ほじ	j	澄きよし	sh	心しん	zh	從したがえ
Velar	k	見み	kh	溪けい	g	群ぐん					'ng	嗯	ng	牙きば
Glottal	'	影かげ					h	曉あかつき	gh	匣くしげ			y	移うつり
Glottal	'	影かげ					h	曉あかつき	gh	匣くしげ			w	胡えびす

Finals

Table of vowels ^{(translated from}^[8]⁾
See also: Four hu
Open mouth		Closed mouth		Even teeth		Round mouth
Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example	Vowel	Example
y	資し
				i	衣ころも
		u	烏がらす			iu	雨あめ
a	矮	ua	歪ひずみ	ia	野の
e	哀あい	ue	威い	i.e.	煙けむり
o	掗	uo	花はな
ae	晏	uae	彎
oe	半はん	uoe	碗わん			ioe	遠とお
au	奧おく			iau	要よう
eu	歐おう			ieu	悠ゆう
ou	哥
an	杏あんず	uan	橫よこ	ian	央ひさし
aon	項こう	uaon	汪ひろし			iaon	雙そう
en	恩おん	uen	溫ぬる
				in	音おと	iuin	雲くも
on	翁おう					ion	用よう
aeh	鴨かも	uaeh	挖
ah	百ひゃく	uah	摑	iah	腳
aoh	惡あく	uaoh	鑊			iaoh	捉
eh	黑くろ			ieh	葉は
				ih	一いち	iuih	出で
oeh	脫だっ	uoeh	骨ほね			ioeh	月つき
oh	屋や					ioh	郁いく
		m	無む_白しろ	n	爾なんじ_白しろ	ng	五ご

Tones

There are 8 tones in the Tiantai dialect, which are obtained by splitting each of the four tones in Mandarin to yin (陰かげ) and yang (陽ひ).

Tones in Tiantai dialect^[9]
Tone name	Tone letters
yin ping (陰平かげひら)	˧˧ (33)
yang ping (陽平ようへい)	˨˦ (24)
yin shang (陰かげ上じょう)	˧˨˥ (325)
yang shang (陽ひ上じょう)	˨˩˦ (214)
yin qu (陰かげ去さ)	˥˥ (55)
yang qu (陽ひ去さ)	˧˥ (35)
yin ru (陰かげ入いれ)	˥ʔ (5)
yang ru (陽ひ入いれ)	˨˧ʔ (23)

References

^ ^a ^b 天台てんだい話はなし100句く翻譯ほんやく，啥意思いし格かく [100 Sentences in the Tiantai Dialect and What do they Mean]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ 天台てんだい話はなし中ちゅう「壽ことぶき頭あたま」是ぜ指ゆび什麼いんも頭あたま？ [What Does "Long-Lived Head" Mean in the Tiantai Dialect?]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2006). 浙江せっこう天台てんだい方言ほうげん词考源げん数すう则 [Etymological Notes on Dialectal Words of Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang Province]. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 2006 (4): 374–377.
^ Wang, Lin 汪ひろし林りん (2008). 大だい慧とし天台てんだい. 安徽あんき文學ぶんがく (in Chinese). 2008 (12): 144–145.
^ Chen, Luqian 陈露茜あかね (2012). 从吴语趣谈“个”字じ [Talking About the Word “个” from Wu Chinese]. 文学ぶんがく教育きょういく (in Chinese). 2012 (9): 132–133.
^ Xiong, Zhongru 熊ぐま仲なか儒 (2007). 現代げんだい漢語かんご與あずか方言ほうげん中ちゅう差さ比ひ句く的てき句法くほう結構けっこう分析ぶんせき [An Analysis of Syntactic Structure of Difference Sentences in Modern Chinese and Regional Dialects] (PDF). Language and Linguistics (in Chinese). 8 (4): 1043–1063.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2003). 浙江せっこう天台てんだい方言ほうげん的てき代だい词 [The Pronouns of the Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang]. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 2003 (4): 314–323.
^ ^a ^b 天台てんだい话拼音おん方案ほうあん [Pinyin Scheme of the Tiantai Dialect]. 通用つうよう吴语拼音 (in Chinese). 15 March 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (1999). 天台てんだい话的几种语法现象. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 1999 (4): 249–258.

[8] The word "爾なんじ" stands for "you" in middle Chinese.

[9] These words are thought to have come from the word "其", a 3rd person pronoun in Middle Chinese.

[:1-1] 天台てんだい話はなし100句く翻譯ほんやく，啥意思いし格かく [100 Sentences in the Tiantai Dialect and What do they Mean]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[2] 天台てんだい話はなし中ちゅう「壽ことぶき頭あたま」是ぜ指ゆび什麼いんも頭あたま？ [What Does "Long-Lived Head" Mean in the Tiantai Dialect?]. iFuun.com (in Chinese). 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[3] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2006). 浙江せっこう天台てんだい方言ほうげん词考源げん数すう则 [Etymological Notes on Dialectal Words of Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang Province]. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 2006 (4): 374–377.

[4] Wang, Lin 汪ひろし林りん (2008). 大だい慧とし天台てんだい. 安徽あんき文學ぶんがく (in Chinese). 2008 (12): 144–145.

[5] Chen, Luqian 陈露茜あかね (2012). 从吴语趣谈“个”字じ [Talking About the Word “个” from Wu Chinese]. 文学ぶんがく教育きょういく (in Chinese). 2012 (9): 132–133.

[6] Xiong, Zhongru 熊ぐま仲なか儒 (2007). 現代げんだい漢語かんご與あずか方言ほうげん中ちゅう差さ比ひ句く的てき句法くほう結構けっこう分析ぶんせき [An Analysis of Syntactic Structure of Difference Sentences in Modern Chinese and Regional Dialects] (PDF). Language and Linguistics (in Chinese). 8 (4): 1043–1063.

[7] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (2003). 浙江せっこう天台てんだい方言ほうげん的てき代だい词 [The Pronouns of the Tiantai Dialect in Zhejiang]. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 2003 (4): 314–323.

[:0-10] 天台てんだい话拼音おん方案ほうあん [Pinyin Scheme of the Tiantai Dialect]. 通用つうよう吴语拼音 (in Chinese). 15 March 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[11] Dai, Zhaoming 戴昭铭 (1999). 天台てんだい话的几种语法现象. 方言ほうげん (in Chinese). 1999 (4): 249–258.

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