The Gutian dialect (Eastern Min: 古田話) is a dialect of Eastern Min spoken in Gutian, Ningde in northeastern Fujian province, China.

Gutian
Kŭ-chèng-uâ / 古田話
Native toSouthern China, Malaysia
RegionGutian, Ningde, Fujian; Sibu, Sarawak; Sitiawan, Manjung, Perak
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3
GlottologNone
Linguasphere79-AAA-ich
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Phonology

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The Gutian dialect has 15 initials, 52 rimes and 7 tones.

Initials

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  Bilabial Alveolar Lateral Velar Glottal
Stop Tenuis voiceless p t k ʔ
Aspirated voiceless
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative Voiceless s h
voiced β ʒ
Affricate Tenuis voiceless ts
Aspirated voiceless tsʰ
Approximant l

Rimes

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a ɛ 西 œ o
i u y
ai oi au ɛu
ia ie iu iau
ua uo uai ui
uɔi
iaŋ ieŋ uaŋ uoŋ
yøŋ eiŋ ouŋ øyŋ
ak ik uk yk
iak iek uak uok
yøk eik ouk øyk
œʔ iaʔ
uaʔ uoʔ yøʔ

Tones

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No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Tone name dark level
陰平
light level
陽平
rising
上聲
dark departing
陰去
light departing
陽去
dark entering
陰入
light entering
陽入
Tone contour ˥ (55) ˧ (33) ˦˨ (42) ˨˩ (21) ˧˨˦ (324) ˨ (2) ˥ (5)

Initial assimilation

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The two-syllable initial assimilation rules are shown in the table below:

The Coda of the Former Syllable The Initial Assimilation of the Latter Syllable
Null coda or /-ʔ/
  • /p/ and /pʰ/ change to /β/;
  • /t/, /tʰ/ and /s/ change to /l/;
  • /k/, /kʰ/ and /h/ change to null initial (without /ʔ/);
  • /ts/ and /tsʰ/ change to /ʒ/;
  • /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ and the null initial remain unchanged.
/-ŋ/
  • /p/ and /pʰ/ change to /m/;
  • /t/, /tʰ/ /s/ and /l/ change to /n/;
  • /k/, /kʰ/, /h/ and the null initial change to /ŋ/;
  • /ts/ and /tsʰ/ change to /ʒ/;
  • /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ remain unchanged.
/-k̚/ All initials remain unchanged.

Tone sandhi

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The two-syllable tonal sandhi rules are shown in the table below (the rows give the first syllable's original citation tone, while the columns give the citation tone of the second syllable):

dark level
55
light level
33
rising
42
dark departing
21
light departing
324
dark entering
2
light entering
5
dark level
55
21+55 21+33 21+42 24+21 24+544 24+2 21+5
light level
33
21+42 21+21 21+324 21+2
rising
42
21+55 21+24 21+42 24+21 24+544 24+2 21+5
dark departing
21
33+55 33+544 33+53 24+21 55+33 55+2 33+5
light departing
324
55+55 544+33 544+42 42+21 544+21 42+2 55+5
dark entering
2
33+55 33+55 33+53 55+21 55+33 55+2 55+5
light entering
5
33+55 21+33 21+42 21+21 21+324 21+2 33+5

Notes

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  1. ^ Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[1][2][3]

References

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  1. ^ Mei, Tsu-lin (1970), "Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 30: 86–110, doi:10.2307/2718766, JSTOR 2718766
  2. ^ Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984), Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p. 3, ISBN 978-0-7748-0192-8
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Glottolog 4.8 - Min". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.