Shaozhou Tuhua

Shaozhou Tuhua (traditional: 韶州土話; simplified: 韶州土话 Sháozhōu Tǔhuà "Shaoguan Tuhua"), also known as Yuebei Tuhua (粤北土话), is an unclassified Chinese variety spoken in northern Guangdong province, China. It is mutually unintelligible with Xiang, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Shaozhou Tuhua
Shaozhou Tuhua, Yuebei Tuhua Shipo, Shina
Native to	China
Region	Shaoguan, Guangdong
Ethnicity	Chinese, Yao
Native speakers	(undated figure of 1 million)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese (unclassified) Shaozhou Tuhua
Writing system	Latin, Chinese, Nüshu[citation needed]
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
ISO 639-6	sazo
Glottolog	quji1234
Linguasphere	79-AAA-ph including 8 varieties: 79-AAA-pha ... 79-AAA-phh

Classification

Some scholars consider it to be an extension of Ping Chinese (Pinghua) in Guangxi. Others consider it to have a foundation in Song dynasty-era Middle Gan, mixed with Hakka, Cantonese, and Southwestern Mandarin.

Chen (2012) notes that the Shaoguan Tuhua of Shibei (石陂, in Zhenjiang District) shares many similarities with the Hakka of Qujiang District, due to intensive contact.

Sagart (2001) considers the Nanxiong dialect (classified in the Language Atlas of China as a Shaozhou Tuhua dialect) to be most closely related to Hakka.^[2] In contrast, Egerod (1983) had proposed a relationship between Nanxiong and Min.^[3]

Dialects

Shaozhou Tuhua is also known as Yuebei Tuhua (粤北土话, "Northern Guangxi/Guangdong Tuhua"), and as Shīpóhuà (虱婆话, "Shipo dialect"), Shīnǎhuà (虱乸话, "Shina dialect"),^[4] or Shīpóshēng (虱婆声, "Shipo accent")^[5] in its own region. It is also known as Pingdi Yaohua (平地瑶话, "Lowland Yao dialect"), locally Piongtuojo or Piongtoajeu; "Yao" here might be a cultural designation, as only half of the one million speakers are classified as ethnic Yao.^{[6][full citation needed][1]}

Li & Zhuang (2009) cover the following dialects of Shaoguan Tuhua.^[7]

1. Dacun (大村), Qujiang District
2. Xiangyang (向阳), Wujiang District
3. Shibei (石陂), Zhenjiang District
4. Zhoutian (周田), Renhua County
5. Shitang (石塘), Renhua County
6. Guitou (桂头), Ruyuan County

Zhang Shuangqing (2004) covers five dialects of Lianzhou Tuhua (连州土话).^[8]

1. Xingzi (星子) dialect: 120,000 speakers in Xingzi (星子), Qingjiang (清江), Shantang (山塘), Tanling (潭岭), Dalubian (大路边) towns, and parts of Mabu (麻步) and Yao'an (瑶安) towns
2. Bao'an (保安) dialect: 30,000 speakers in Bao'an Town (保安镇), and parts of Longping Town (龙坪镇)
3. Lianzhou (连州) dialect (locally called ᴀt24 pi55 sheng 声): 40,000 speakers in Lianzhou Town (连州镇) and Fucheng Town (附城镇)
4. Xi'an (西岸) dialect (locally called Mansheng 蛮声): 30,000 speakers in Xi'an Town (西岸镇)
5. Fengyang (丰阳) dialect (locally called Mansheng 蛮声): 50,000 speakers in Fengyang Town (丰阳镇), and parts of Zhugang (朱岗), Dongpo (东陂), and Yao'an (瑶安) towns

Distribution

Tuhua is retreating before Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka and is found in rural dialect islands in the northern Guangdong counties of Lechang, Renhua, Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Qujiang, Nanxiong, Zhenjiang, Wujiang (parts of Shaoguan prefecture-level city), and Lianzhou and Liannan Yao Autonomous County in Qingyuan prefecture-level city.

See also

• Lingling dialect
• Maojia dialect

References

1. Iu Mien at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
   "Pingdi Yao (Piongtuojo, Piongtoajeu) is a variety of Chinese with 1,000,000 speakers, half of whom are members of Yao nationality"
2. Sagart, Laurent. 2001. Nanxiong and Hakka. Fangyan [Dialect] 2001(2):142-151.
3. Egerod, Søren. 1983. The Nanxiong Dialect. Fangyan [Dialect] 1983(2):123-42.
4. "Sháozhōu běnchénghuà" 韶州本城话 [Shaozhou Local Dialect]. gdsglib.cn (in Chinese). 2008-09-08. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
5. "Rénkǒu yǔyán" 人口语言 [Population Language]. sgwjq.gov.cn (in Chinese). 2009-05-06. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07.
6. Ming studies, 34–35:55, University of Minnesota, 1995
7. Li, Dongxiang 李冬香; Zhuang, Chusheng 庄初升 (2009). Sháoguān Tǔhuà diàochá yánjiū 韶关土话调查研究 [An Investigation of Shaoguan Tuhua] (in Chinese). Jinan daxue chubanshe 暨南大学出版社 [Jinan University Press].
8. Zhang, Shuangqing 张双庆 (2004). Liánzhōu Tǔhuà yánjiū 连州土话研究 [A Study of Lianzhou Tuhua] (in Chinese). Xiamen daxue chubanshe 厦门大学出版社 [Xiaman University Press].

• Chen, Litong (2012). Shaoguan Tuhua, a Local Vernacular of Northern Guangdong Province, China: A New Look from a Quantitative and Contact Linguistic Perspective (MA thesis). Ohio State University.

External links

• Classification of Tuhua Dialects
• Divergent Chinese dialects database (Academia Sinica)