The Zhi-Yan dialect (Chinese: 志延片; pinyin: Zhìyán piàn; lit. 'Zhidan and Yanchuan variety') is a dialect of Jin Chinese spoken within much of Yan'an, Shaanxi, China. The dialect is spoken throughout Baota District,[1] Zhidan County, and Yanchuan County.
| Zhi-Yan dialect | |
|---|---|
| 志延片 | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Shaanxi |
Sino-Tibetan
| |
| Chinese characters | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
 Distribution of the Zhi-Yan dialect within Jin Chinese (shown in purple) | |
Located in a transition zone between the Jin Chinese of northern Shaanxi and Guanzhong,[1] the Zhi-Yan dialect shows some transitional characteristics in both tones and vocabulary. With the exception of the checked tone, the tones between the Zhi-Yan dialect and the nearby Lüliang dialect are the same. Among ancient checked tone syllables, only fully voiced consonants still retain the checked tone, while clear and sub-voiced syllables are spoken with a high tone (Chinese: 陰平; pinyin: yīnpíng). Most tones are similar to those spoken in Guanzhong.[1] The Zhi-Yan dialect retains checked tones found in northern Shaanxi Jin, but not the checked tones found in Central Plains Mandarin.[1]
The Zhi-Yan dialect was heavily influences by a mass migration of people from nearby Yulin, who moved to Yan'an en masse in the 1930s after a famine struck Yulin.[1] As such, Zhi-Yan speakers descended from those who migrated from Yulin retain characteristics not found in other Zhi-Yan speakers, who share more characteristics with people from Guanzhong.[1]
The Zhi-Yan dialect is spoken in Baota District,[1] Zhidan County and Yanchuan County.