Name:
吴 Wu
Population:
77,175,000
Region:
Jiangsu Province (江苏省) south of the Yangtze River (长江 chang3jiang1), Yangtze River delta including the Shanghai (上海) coastal region, Zhejiang Province (浙江省).
Information:
The Wu dialect region roughly occupies the area that was once the ancient kingdom of Wu. The area is densely populated, giving the Wu dialects the largest speaker population for any dialect of Chinese other than Mandarin. However, speakers of Wu dialects do not have a group identity like that of the Cantonese. While Shanghainese have a sense that their dialect is similar to that of Suzhou, they do not feel that they speak the same language. In fact, while the Shanghai dialect was probably once very similar to the Suzhou dialect, it has evolved so much over time that the two are not mutually intelligible and inhabitants of those two cities would probably use Putonghua to communicate with each other.
I mention Suzhou (苏州) and Shanghai (上海) because they are the most significant cities in the region on many counts. Suzhou is the ancient capital of Wu, and Shanghai is the modern capital of Chinese culture and Money (although Beijing may be taking its place soon). Shanghai is a city that grew up fast as a result of foreign influence while Suzhou was more or less left behind. The difference is reflected linguistically. In slightly over 100 years, Shanghai’s dialect has acquired bits and pieces of other Chinese dialects and foreign languages, and generally seen radical change. The biggest change Suzhou dialect has seen in that time is a loss of status to up-and-coming Shanghainese.
Characteristics:
- Three-way distinction in initial consonants: voiced, voiceless, and voiceless aspirated. Mandarin only has a two-way distinction. Wuvoiced consonants are pronounced with a “breathy” or “muddy” quality not found in other Chinese dialects.
- Initial ng-
- Syllables can only end in a vowel, a glottal stop, or a nasal-velar -ng. There is no distinction between final -n and final -ng like there is in Putonghua.
- Five to eight tones (depending on the dialect) with complex tone sandhi (tones are pronounced differently depending on phonological environment).
- Direct object often precedes indirect object.
- Different function words than in Mandarin.