Updates
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Major upgrade to Haikou dialect. Lots of data added. (January 31, 2009)
CHINESE DIALECTS AND LANGUAGES This new site is getting populated with lots of new data. (January 15, 2009)
Maps upgraded, including all Mandarin dialect locations. Most of the links now point to the new site, and those that do not will switch within a few days. However each individual topolect still lacks content. Once all the topolects have their own page, we can start adding data and content. The new site has some advantages: if you sign up as a member you can leave messages or questions on any page; any topolect with tone, grammar, phonological data will be tagged so they're easier to find for cross-comparisons. (October 29, 2008)
Learn Chinese site was launched March 21, 2008. Several new lessons are posted in various formats 3-4 times per week, with a goal, like the English site described in an earlier post, to have over a thousand lessons. Each lesson has an MP3 of just that lesson's material read by a native speaker. The sample video is a sample of me and the native speaker teaching just the new material's vocabulary and sentence structures. Each lesson comes with a full-length video of about a half hour that includes in addition to the new lesson, a full review of the last lesson and an introduction to its conversations cued in English first, a full review of the vocabulary, sentence structures and conversations from 2 lessons back, the same for 3 lessons back, and just a conversation review without cues from 4 lessons back. In other words, each full-length video reviews four lessons and introduces a new lesson. These videos can be watched directly in streaming video online or are available for download in several formats: iPod's MP4, Windows Streaming WMV, Pocket PC WMV, and just the sound MP3.
The courses are arranged from Beginning to Advanced in several Modules. In addition to these modules are some additional supplementary modules for increasing vocabulary. (March 29, 2008)
Happy New Year to everybody. I've been busy on several things: I've been learning and implementing wordpress and I've been in the process of setting up several blog sites for my language services in English. The English learning site has over 1000 lessons chock full of MP3 and video training materials. I'm in the process of moving the Taiwanese language training to a blog which I will use for various languages, and I'm also setting up a site for training Mandarin Chinese via video. A lot of exciting things happening. (January 4, 2008)
All Hakka and Pinghua topolects have been added to the map. (October 1, 2007)
Introduction to the She language (浙江畲話)
(September 30, 2007)
Campbell Universal Pinyin: to better represent all the Chinese languages with one pinyin system without having to type IPA characters. There is a 1-to-1 matching with IPA, so it's fairly straightforward transliterating with IPA. This is also to help users who are familiar with pinyin but not IPA, in other words, it addresses a majority audience rather than a minority. The whole description of the system is described here in length. In spite of having designed it with ease-of-use in mind, I believe most people will not need to reference it. Instead, you may find some interesting phonological details about the various languages within the description.
(September 30, 2007)
Maps on this page updated with new appearance. All Xiang topolects have been added to the maps (find the link in the Xiang pop-up on the map, it's the left-most in the middle row of languages). At this point in time most of the individual Xiang topolect pages are still under construction so most of the links from the map won't work yet. Currently working on getting the Hakka maps finished before tackling Mandarin. Most of the maps on the individual topolect pages were made during Google map's version 1 era and require new code to work. I'm afraid that after changing them all (2000 of them) Google will update again making them all obsolete. So I may consider using the classification maps (about 200 dialect maps) instead but adding this code to each page will take time. (September 28, 2007)
2007 update for contents of Fangyan (方言季刊) quarterly. (September 26, 2007)
Jixi phonology (of Hui language) added. (September 26, 2007)
Several updates coming to this site. First, I really want to turn this into a blog. I think this was already becoming a blog long before real blog management systems appeared, I just didn't know what was a good way to display updates and that a blog would be the answer to that. Now it's clear that blogs are by far the most popular and acceptable method these days for websites with on-going content updates. And for management reasons it would make updating this part of the site a breeze. Better yet, I can get feedback from users. I'm facing a couple of problems which are time-sensitive and due to the fact that I'm not very literate when it comes to programming: 1) moving all this content to a blog under its own subdomain or a new site altogether, 2) re-creating all the new pages, or to save time just linking the blog content to the old pages here. The other problem I have is when publishers like Wordpress come out with new releases of blog software (like this past June), I'm very hesitant in how to actually update to the new version. Every time I start, with backing up the database and everything, I never seem to have enough time to finish the job between everything else that I'm doing. I've cautiously spent up to 3 hours at one point when I had to abandon it. (September 26, 2007)
Alas, the die-hard IPA fanatic that I am, with the amount of input I'd like to do, I wish there were an easier way! On and off over the last few months, based on the standard pinyin model, I've developed a universal pinyin that can be applied to all of the Chinese languages and dialects. With a European keyboard (standard Spanish keyboard) I can type all the letters I need except one which I can keep as a CTRL-V paste-in when needed. I will be posting a new article detailing this. Henceforth I will start using the "universal pinyin" more and more frequently on all the pages and dictionary entries. This will greatly speed up the effort required to enter data for this site. I appreciate everyone's support in this initiative and always trying to enhance and improve the quality of the data continuously. (September 26, 2007)
Typing IPA or any kind of special characters on the web can be difficult. You will find this site full of them everywhere, but I have no special means of input. I pretty much copy (CTRL-C) and paste (CTRL-V) from a Unicode-saved text file. I'm posting this online for anybody who finds it useful here: ipa.txt (right click to save--I recommend opening in Notepad). For example, you can use the special characters to do searches on this website by pasting into the search box. Here are a few examples of what's included in the file:
Here is common IPA that I use:
ʰɛөɿɨɔʔʰɛɪəɤʔɸɩʉɪøɯɰɚɝɵʅɥɐɑæœɒʊʋʌʏʲːəɕʰɔŋɲʨʰʦʰʣʤʥɦʧm̥n̥ l̥ɹɸʂʐʑʒʓɟɳçɣɦɱãõũĩẽẼɯ̃ɐ̃ɑ̃æ̃ỹɒ̃ɔ̃ə̃ɛ̃ɤ̃ɩ̃ɪ̃ɰ̃ɵ̃ɿ̃ʊ̃ʋ̃ʌ̃ʉ̃ʏ̃ŋ̇ḷṃṇ
Here is an example of using combinations:
ǝ̀ ǝ́ ǝ̂ ǝ̃ ǝ̄ ǝ̅ ǝ̆ ǝ̇ ǝ̈ ǝ̉ ǝ̊ ǝ̋ ǝ̌ ǝ̍ ǝ̎ ǝ̏ ǝ̐
ǝ̑ ǝ̒ ǝ̓ ǝ̔ ǝ̕ ǝ̖ ǝ̗ ǝ̘ ǝ̙ ǝ̚ ǝ̛ ǝ̜ ǝ̝ ǝ̞ ǝ̟ ǝ̠ ǝ̡
ǝ̢ ǝ̣ ǝ̤ ǝ̥ ǝ̦ ǝ̧ ǝ̨ ǝ̩ ǝ̪ ǝ̫ ǝ̬ ǝ̭ ǝ̮ ǝ̯ ǝ̰ ǝ̱ ǝ̲
ǝ̳ ɥ̴ ɥ̵ ɥ̶ ɥ̷ ɥ̸ ǝ̹ ǝ̺ ǝ̻ ǝ̼ ǝ̽ ǝ̾ ǝ̿ ǝ̀ ǝ́ ǝ͂ ǝ̓
ǝ̈́ ǝͅ ɥǝ͠ ɥǝ͡
I have also included an almost complete listing of each letter, for example from Z: ZzŹźŻżŽžƵƶƷƸƹƺǮǯʐʑʒʓΖζЖжЗзҖҗҘҙӁӂӜӝӞӟӠӡẐẑẒẓẔẕ
Cyrillic Accents: áéëи́óы́ýэ́ю́я́
(February 9, 2007)
Tone Database Search added. You can search for certain kinds of tone combinations, or search by city/language name, etc. Many Mandarin dialects haven't been added yet, but many Wu, Gan, Yue, Tuhua dialects are already searchable. (February 8, 2007)
Tone Field Research (February 4, 2007)
Listing of Fangyan articles updated, up to the end of 2006 (January 30, 2007).
On my recent trip to China, I had the opportunity to speak Putonghua (i.e. Mandarin -- it's not really a dialect), Guangfu Dialect of Yue, Quanzhang Dialect of Southern Min, Wuzhou Wu, Taihu Wu, Linshao Wu, and I got to listen to countless other dialects. (January 29, 2007)
I have just returned from Zhejiang where I gathered some data on Wu and Hui dialects, specifically Hangzhou, Lin'an, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Wenzhou, Wenling, Jinhua, Yiwu/Dongyang, Chun'an, and Jixi (Anhui), the last two being Hui dialects. I will be posting this information within the coming weeks. Although I passed through Xiaoshan many times I didn't actually have the chance to stop and meet anybody from there that could be an informant, except the airport in which I met many workers from Fujian who mostly speak Southern Min. I was also unable to get an informant from Zhuji. I originally thought that Yiwu and Jinhua had a high chance of mutual intelligibility and before arrival in Yiwu I wasn't sure if Yiwu tended towards Pan'an's peculiar finals (where -ang is -aom) or more like Jinhua finals. Actually, informants there told me that Yiwu Shi (the administrative region) has some 18 languages that have little intelligibility between them. An informant from neighboring city Dongyang can understand Yiwu, but says there are many differences that make it hard to understand. Without having to learn the language(s) myself, my conclusion is that although the so-called "18" languages in the Yiwu area (which I haven't counted myself and am sure includes Dongyang) are mutually intellible, there is enough difference from Jinhua that they are mutually un-intelligible. My Yiwu informant spoke of three Yiwu dialects, one his own from the city, one to the north and one to the south and a couple examples of each.
Language attitudes differ from city to city, so in some cities you'll hear much more Putonghua and in others the local dialect. Informants from cities that have more prevalent Putonghua use are less confident in expressing themselves in dialect. I found Hangzhou and Yiwu to be two such cities. Age also has an impact on one's confidence in using the local dialect. Younger people use dialects less confidently, although the Jixi Hui informant spoke very confidently for being only 19yo and claiming she had been away from Jixi already for 2 years.
This was my first foray in Southern Wu dialects, but as a linguist it's not that challenging to code-switch between dialects once differences in key vocabulary and regular sound changes in syllables are identified. For example, in Northern Wu, "see" is the same as Mandarin's 看 often pronounced with a nasalized /ø/, however in Southern Wu in the Jinhua region including Yiwu, "see" is 望 "mong". (January 29, 2007)
Shanghai Wu Dictionary added with search function working. All tones are now indicated with tone characters rather than with numbers. Like the rest of this site, everything is coded in UTF-8 (Unicode), so make sure your computer system supports this in order to display the IPA characters correctly. You can search using English, Mandarin, and Shanghaiese in IPA. (December 10, 2006)
English / Chinese Linguistics Dictionary added. Browse Function Available. Search function now works. (December 8, 2006)
6 videos teaching Chinese Pronunciation (Mandarin) posted featuring Liting. (December 6, 2006)
Wu Dictionary transferred to database for quicker updates. Testing for functionality is underway. Once the database is ready, more entries and other languages will be added on a consistent basis. (November 12, 2006)
Due to recent updates in Google map code, the maps on this site are undergoing updates to version 2 so all of the older version maps will not display correctly until updated. (November 8, 2006)
| Google Earth Tibeto-Burman Languages: This beta file includes a few languages found in Yunnan. Markers can be opened and clicked for more information from the Ethnologue database. Take a tour (Click on a folder and hit F10 in Google Earth) of the Southern, Central, and Western Yi languages and take in the breathtaking beauty of the mountainscapes in western Yunnan. You might even be able to find "Shangri-La".
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I have completed a book in English describing Leping topolect of Yingyi dialect of Gan. This book is available through this website, just click through to the Leping page. (October 30, 2006)
More maps added. Tonal and phonological data added. Classification updated (Guiliu dialect). Dialect pages added for Chongqing, Hebei, Jiangsu, Xinjiang, Guizhou, Guangxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Taiwan. (October 10, 2006).
Google Earth almost complete. All locations added. Will post to this site once a few more corrections have been made. (October 2, 2006).
Jiangsu Dialect Pages added. Google Earth Map updated, now including Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. All Yue dialect classification fixed. Many place name corrections throughout China (mostly those with 破音字). Download from left menu. (July 26, 2006)
Anhui Dialect Pages added. New Google Earth Map available (download from left Menu). (July 21, 2006)
Most data published on Chinese dialects / dialectology / linguistics is published in Chinese and distributed only domestically among linguistics circles. The goal of this site is to provide an accessible reference to non-Chinese speakers or those who have limited access to such data. None of the data on this site comes from second-rate sources or hearsay, but rather from well-known publications both from field-work and research-based authors in Chinese linguistics circles.
Site maintenance, added some maps and links. (July 8, 2006)
Learn Mandarin lessons updated. Recordings for Lesson 1 added plus a recorded forward. Although off-topic, but 73 Learn German lessons were added last week plus a few recordings and doing on-going work on phrasal verbs. (Jul. 7, 2006)
Wu/Shanghai Dictionaries Updated. Approx. 500 new entries. (Apr. 6, 2006)
Zhejiang Dialect Pages added. March 31, 2005
Hui Dialects Update: Tone data added for Jixi, Qimen, Tunxi, Jingde, Xiuning, Yi Xian, Dexing, Wuyuan, Chunan, Jiande (Mar. 18, 2006)
方言期刊 (Fangyan): Contents of Fangyan Quarterly for 2004 and 2005 added. (Mar. 15, 2006)
New Shanghai Wu Dictionary Posted: Wu/Mandarin, Wu/English of approximately 2000 entries (Mar. 14, 2006)
I'm combining Taiwanese Lessons 11-13 together with Lesson 10 and some more recordings need to be done before the new version can be posted.
Inner Mongolia Dialects: Pages of Mandarin and Jin dialects of Inner Mongolia have been updated including tone and tone sandhi data. I do not have map data for Bayanhaote, however you can get tone and sandhi data from here: Bayanhaote. (Feb. 23, 2006)
Taiwanese Lesson 9 Updated. Ebook with sound files available. (Feb. 9, 2006)
Updated Fuan, Fuding, Changting, Liancheng, Ninghua, Qingliu, Shanghang, Wuping, Yongding. (Feb 9, 2006)
Updated Guangzhou, Shunde, Shantou. (Feb 8, 2006)
Cantonese, Hakka, and S. Min Dialects: All of Guangdong Province dialects were updated. (Feb 5, 2006)
Taiwanese Lessons: Lessons 1-8 have been updated and work is continuing on more lessons. (Feb 4, 2006)
Google Earth Beta File I have done a lot of work on this file over the past week, however I'm not ready to upload it until some other significant portions are completed. (Feb 2, 2006)
Google Earth Beta File updated (Dec29, 2005)
Classification updated (Dec27, 2005)
Written Chinese: Learn More about the Writing System (Dec19, 2005)
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The Languages of China
The Sino-Tibetan Languages
Tone Sandhi