Tianjin dialect

Infobox Language
name=Tianjin dialect
nativename=天津話
"Tianjinhuà"
familycolor=Sino-Tibetan
states=Urban Tianjin in the People's Republic of China
region=Northeastern China
speakers= Approx. 6 million est.
fam1=Sino-Tibetan
fam2=Chinese
fam3=Mandarin
fam4=Ji-Lu Mandarin
nation="not official"

Tianjin dialect (zh-cp|c=天津话|p=Tiānjīnhuà) is a Mandarin dialect spoken in the urban area of Tianjin, China. It is comprehensible to Standard Mandarin speakers from nearby areas; most variation is apparent with in the individual tones, and the lack of retroflex consonants. The regional characteristics make the dialect an important part of the Tianjin identity, and sharply contrasts itself to the Beijing dialect, despite relatively similar phonology.

Characteristics

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:

The differences are minor except for the first tone: Where it is high and level in Beijing, it is low and falling in Tianjin. All words with the first tone, including the name "Tianjin", are affected, giving the Tianjin dialect a downward and nasal feel to speakers of Standard Mandarin.

Tianjin dialect also includes four tone sandhi rules, which outnumbers Beijing Mandarin's one. Here they are:
#Tone 1 + Tone 1 → Tone 3-Tone 1: 天津 |tiān jīn| is pronounced /tǐnjīn/ (using Pinyin tone diacritics)dubious
#Tone 3 + Tone 3 → Tone 2-Tone 3: 水果 |shuǐ guǒ| is pronounced /shuíguǒ/
#Tone 4 + Tone 4 → Tone 1-Tone 4: 現在 |xiàn zài| is pronounced /xiānzài/dubious
#Tone 4 + Tone 1 → Tone 2-Tone 1: 上班 |shàng bān| is pronounced /shángbān/

There are some other patterns that differentiate Tianjin dialect from Beijing dialect. One is the retention of the old "ng-" initial, which became null in Beijing, as "n-", as in 爱 (愛), which is pronounced "nài" (like 奈) rather than "ài". Another difference is the pronunciation of 饿 (餓) as "wò" (臥) instead of "è".

Lastly, the Tianjin dialect lacks the retroflex consonants (捲舌音) prevalent in Beijing, not unlike Taiwan Mandarin. Thus, "zh" (ㄓ) becomes "z" (ㄗ), "sh" (ㄕ) becomes "s" (ㄙ), "ch" (ㄔ) becomes "c" (ㄘ), and "r" (ㄖ) becomes "y" (一) — that is, 人 is pronounced "yěn" instead of "rén", and 讓 is pronounced "yàng" (樣) instead of "ràng". However, the use of the "-er" (儿) diminutive is common in Tianjin dialect, as it is in Beijing.

Chinese speakers commonly stereotype the Tianjin dialect as aggressive- or confrontational-sounding. Nevertheless, the it is relatively easy for speakers of Standard Mandarin to understand. The newly educated elite tend to speak in Standard Mandarin while doing business but switch to Tianjin Dialect when talking to family or locals.

See also

*List of Chinese dialects

1. Tone1-Tone1 > Tone4-Tone1. An example is 天津: tian1 jin1 becomes tian4 jin1dubious 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 zai4dubious 4. Tone4-Tone1 > Tone2-Tone1. An example is 上班: shang4 ban1 becomes shang2 ban1