Tianjin dialect
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Tianjin dialect (Chinese: 天津话; pinyin: Tiānjīnhuà) is a Mandarin dialect spoken in the urban area of Tianjin, China.
Tianjin dialect is classified under Ji Lu Mandarin, a subdivision of Mandarin also spoken in the provinces of Hebei and Shandong. Despite being very close to Beijing, Tianjin dialect sounds very different from Beijing dialect, which is the basis for Standard Mandarin (Putonghua), the standard Chinese spoken language.
The tones of Tianjin dialect correspond to those of Beijing (and hence Standard Mandarin) as follows:
| Tone name | Yin Ping | Yang Ping | Shang | Qu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tianjin | 21 | 35 | 113 | 53 |
| Beijing | 55 | 35 | 214 | 51 |
Note: "5" is the highest pitch and "1" is the lowest pitch.
The most striking difference between the dialects of Tianjin and Beijing is the first tone: where it is high and level in Beijing, it is low and dipping in Tianjin. All words with the first tone, including the word "Tianjin", are affected as a result, giving the Tianjin dialect a downward and nasal feel to speakers of Beijing dialect and/or Standard Mandarin.
Tianjin dialect also includes four tone sandhi rules, which outnumbers Beijing Mandarin's one. Here are they:
- Tone1-Tone1 > Tone3-Tone1. An example is 天津: tian1 jin1 becomes tian3 jin1
- Tone3-Tone3 > Tone2-Tone3. An example is 水果: shui3 guo3 becomes shui2 guo3
- Tone4-Tone4 > Tone1-Tone4. An example is 現在: xian4 zai4 becomes xian1 zai4
- Tone4-Tone1 > Tone2-Tone1. An example is 上班: shang4 ban1 becomes shang2 ban1
In addition, here are some other patterns that differentiate Tianjin dialect from Beijing dialect. One is the shift of some null-initial words to having n-initial; the most common example is 爱 or 愛, which is pronounced nai4 (奈) as opposed to ai4. Another noticeable difference is the pronunciation of 饿 or 餓 which is wo4 (臥) instead of e4.
Lastly, Tianjin dialect also lacks the 捲舌音 or retroflex sound that is heavily prevalent in Beijing dialect, not unlike highly accented Taiwan Mandarin. Thus, zhi/ㄓ becomes zi/ㄗ, shi/ㄕ becomes si/ㄙ, chi/ㄔ becomes ci/ㄘ, and ri/ㄖ becomes similar to yi/一 (i.e. 人 is pronounced "yen2" instead of ren2, and 讓 is pronounced yang4 (樣) instead of rang4). However, the use of the -er(儿) diminutive is common in Tianjin dialect, as it is in Beijing dialect.
Chinese speakers commonly stereotype the Tianjin dialect as aggressive- or confrontational-sounding. Nevertheless, the Tianjin dialect is relatively easy for speakers of Beijing dialect or Standard Mandarin to understand.
[edit] See also
1. Tone1-Tone1 > Tone4-Tone1. An example is 天津: tian1 jin1 becomes tian4 jin1 2. Tone3-Tone3 > Tone2-Tone3. An example is 水果: shui3 guo3 becomes shui2 guo3 3. Tone4-Tone4 > Tone3-Tone4. An example is 現在: xian4 zai4 becomes xian3 zai4 4. Tone4-Tone1 > Tone2-Tone1. An example is 上班: shang4 ban1 becomes shang2 ban1
