Minjiang dialect

Minjiang dialect
岷江话
Pronunciation	[min˨˩tɕiaŋ˥xa˨˨˦]
Spoken in	China
Region	Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou and Yunnan
Native speakers	About 30 million  (date missing)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Chinese Mandarin (Disputed) Southwestern/Sichuanese (Disputed) Minjiang dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Minjiang is the central light khaki-green area around the cities of Dujiangyan, Leshan, Yibin, Qijiang, Xichong (n), Xichang (sw), and an area to the east.

Minjiang dialect (simplified Chinese: 岷江话; traditional Chinese: 岷江話, local pronunciation: [min˨˩tɕiaŋ˥xa˨˨˦]; pinyin: Mínjiānghuà), is a branch of Sichuanese, spoken mainly in the Minjiang River valley or along the Yangtze River in the southern and western parts of the Sichuan Basin. There is also a language island of Minjiang dialect located in the center of Sichuan Basin covering three counties: Xichong, Yanting, and Shehong.

The most primary characteristic of the Minjiang dialect is that the stop consonants for checked-tone syllables in Middle Chinese have developed into tense vowels to create a phonemic contrast, and in several cities and counties the tense vowels retain a following glottal stop. It also keeps many characteristics of Middle Bashu's phonology and vocabulary.^[1][2] Due to these characteristics, the status of Minjiang dialect is disputed among linguists, with some classifying it as Southwestern Mandarin,^[3] and others setting it apart as a successor of Middle Bashu.^[4]

References

1. ^ 蓝勇 (1997). "第十三章：历史时期西南综合文化区的划分". 《西南历史文化地理》. 西南师范大学出版社. ISBN 7-5621-1603-2. 
2. ^ 刘晓南（2009年第8卷第6期），《试论宋代巴蜀方言与现代四川方言的关系——兼谈文献考证的一个重要功用：追寻失落的方言》，语言科学
3. ^ 李蓝（2009年第1期），《西南官话的分区（稿）》，方言
4. ^ 杨波（1997年第5期），《四川官话入声现象的历史文化透视》，西南师范大学学报（哲学社会科学版）