Danzhou dialect explained

Danzhou
Nativename:	儋州話
States:	China
Region:	Hainan (Danzhou)
Speakers:	700,000
Ref:	^[1]
Date:	2010
Familycolor:	Sino-Tibetan
Fam2:	Sinitic
Fam3:	Chinese
Fam4:	Yue?
Iso3:	none
Isoexception:	dialect
Linglist:	1mk-dan
Glotto:	none
Lingua:	79-AAA-naa

The Danzhou dialect, locally known as Xianghua, is a Chinese variety of uncertain affiliation spoken in the area of Danzhou in northwestern Hainan, China.^[2] It was classified as Yue in the Language Atlas of China,^{[3] [4]} but in more recent work, it is treated as an unclassified southern variety.^[5]

History

The Danzhou people's ancestors came initially from old Gaozhou and Wuzhou prefectures. The Yue language they brought with them was combined with the native popular language, and by the time of the Tang Dynasty, the Danzhou dialect was officially formed.

Varieties

Regional varieties are Bei'an 北岸音, Shuinan 水南音, Zhoujia 昼家音, Shanshang 山上音, Haitou 海头音, and Wuhu 五湖音.

Distribution

The Danzhou dialect is spoken in the following areas of Hainan (Hainan 1994:253).^[6]

• most of Danzhou 儋州市 except for the southeastern part of Danzhou
• Changjiang Li Autonomous County 昌江县 (northern coast)
  • Nanluo 南罗 and Haiwei 海尾 area
  • Xiyuan 西缘, Shiluo Town 石碌镇, Changjiang city
• northern Baisha Li Autonomous County 白沙县 (in just over 10 villages near the border with Danzhou)
• peripheral villages of Dongfang 东方市, Ledong 乐东, Qiongzhong 琼中, and Sanya 三亚

See also

• Mai Chinese

Notes and References

1. Web site: http://www.danzhou.gov.cn/dzgov/dzwh/sanwen/201012/t20101213_535007.html . zh:与古汉语相通的儋州话 . 2015-07-11 . dead . https://archive.today/20150711040951/http://www.danzhou.gov.cn/dzgov/dzwh/sanwen/201012/t20101213_535007.html . 2015-07-11 .
2. Ting . Pang-hsin . The Tan-Chou dialect of Hainan . Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale . 8 . 1 . 1980 . 5–27 . 10.3406/clao.1980.1079.
3. Chen . Bo . 海南语言的分区 . Language distribution on Hainan . Humanities & Social Sciences Journal of Hainan University . 1986 . 2 . 87–97 . 1004-1710.
4. Book: Stephen Adolphe . Wurm . Rong . Li . Theo . Baumann . Mei W. . Lee . Language Atlas of China . Longman . 1987 . 978-962-359-085-3 . Chart B12.
5. Book: Kurpaska , Maria . Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects" . . 2010 . 978-3-11-021914-2 . 73.
6. Hainan Gazetteer Committee 海南省地方史志办公室编. 1994. Hainan dialect gazetteer 海南省志 第二卷 人口志: 方言志宗教志. Haikou: Hainan Publishing Company 海南出版公司.