Northern Wu phonology explained

Northern Wu, or Taihu Wu, is the largest subbranch of Wu Chinese, and is spoken in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, and northern Zhejiang. These languages are noted for their extremely high number of vowels, even compared to some Germanic languages, and highly complex tone sandhi. This article will use Wugniu^[1] and IPA for transcription.

Syllable structure

Much like other Sinitic languages, Northern Wu languages almost universally have an initial-final-tone syllable structure. The final can be further split into the glide, nucleus and coda. For the most part, contemporary Northern Wu languages only permit nasals and the glottal stop (pronounced as //ʔ//) in coda position, though there is evidence to suggest that this was not the case in some historical varieties. There are plentiful initials in Northern Wu, more than many other Sinitic languages such as Cantonese or Changshanese, partially due to the preservation of voiced initials, which will be explained in more detail in other sections.

Initials

Much like other Wu languages, Northern Wu languages tend to preserve historical voiced initials, which is a feature only found in several other lects along the Yangtze River, such as Old Xiang.

Northern Wu languages' initials are generally similar. The following is a table of all the commonly-found Northern Wu phonemic initials, with their common urban realizations, Wugniu romanization, and example syllables.

!Labial!Dental/
Alveolar!Palatal!Velar!Glottal

Nasal		pronounced as /link/ ⟨m⟩ 美悶梅門	pronounced as /link/ ⟨n⟩ 拿囡內男	pronounced as /link/ ⟨gn⟩ 粘扭泥牛	pronounced as /link/ ⟨ng⟩ 砑我外鵝
Plosive	plain	pronounced as /link/ ⟨p⟩ 布幫北	pronounced as /link/ ⟨t⟩ 膽懂德		pronounced as /link/ ⟨k⟩ 干公夾	(pronounced as /link/) 鴨衣烏
	aspirated	pronounced as /link/ ⟨ph⟩ 怕胖劈	pronounced as /link/ ⟨th⟩ 透聽鐵		pronounced as /link/ ⟨kh⟩ 開擴康
	voiced	pronounced as /link/ ⟨b⟩ 步盆拔	pronounced as /link/ ⟨d⟩ 地動奪		pronounced as /link/ ⟨g⟩ 葵共軋
Affricate	plain		pronounced as /link/ ⟨ts⟩ 煮增質	pronounced as /link/ ⟨c⟩ 舉精腳
	aspirated		pronounced as /link/ ⟨tsh⟩ 處倉出	pronounced as /link/ ⟨ch⟩ 丘輕切
	voiced		pronounced as /link/ ⟨dz⟩ 茶從鋤	pronounced as /link/ ⟨j⟩ 旗羣劇
Fricative	voiceless	pronounced as /link/ ⟨f⟩ 飛粉福	pronounced as /link/ ⟨s⟩ 書松色	pronounced as /link/ ⟨sh⟩ 修血曉		pronounced as /link/ ⟨h⟩ 花荒忽
	voiced	pronounced as /link/ ⟨v⟩ 扶服浮	pronounced as /link/ ⟨z⟩ 樹石十	pronounced as /link/ ⟨zh⟩ 徐秦絕		pronounced as /link/ ⟨gh⟩, ⟨y⟩, ⟨w⟩ 鞋移胡雨
Lateral			pronounced as /link/ ⟨l⟩ 拉賴領

Noteworthy omissions

Some varieties in Suzhou and Jiaxing have retroflex initials, much like some Mandarin varieties. Compare the following examples.

	Beijing	Changshu	Changzhou	Shengzhou
張	zhāng pronounced as //tʂaŋ⁵⁵//	can^1 pronounced as //tʂaŋ⁵²//	tsan^1 pronounced as //tsaŋ⁵⁵//	tsan^1 pronounced as //tsã⁵³⁴//
常	cháng pronounced as //tʂʰaŋ³⁵//	jan^2 pronounced as //dʐaŋ³⁴//	zan^2 pronounced as //zaŋ²¹³//	dzan^2 pronounced as //dzã²¹³//
船	chuán pronounced as //tʂʰuan³⁵//	zhe^2 pronounced as //ʐe³⁴//	zoe^2 pronounced as //zɤ²¹³//	zoen^2 pronounced as //zœ̃²¹³//

Characteristic preservations and innovations

Northern Wu, much like other Wu varieties, preserves voicing in its initials. The exact mechanism in which this is realized is discussed below.

Again, much like other Wu languages, Northern Wu preserves the Middle Chinese ri initial (Chinese: 日母) as a nasal. Compare the following, where ⟨gn⟩ is used to notate /pronounced as /link//:

	Beijing	Guangzhou	Xi'an	Seoul (Sino-Korean)	Shanghai	Beilun	Anji
	rì	jat^6	ěr	il	gniq^8	gniq^8	gniq^8
	yù	juk^6	yǔ	ok	gnioq^8, gniuq^8	gnioq^8	gnioq^8

Note that Chinese: 日 here is pronounced in the colloquial pronunciations rather than literary ones.

Palatalization

Many Northern Wu varieties have sibilants that undergo palatalization (Chinese: 尖團合流 [<small>[[:zh:尖團合流|zh]]]). This process is becoming more common among younger speakers.

	Old Suzhou	Old Wuxi	Shanghai	New Suzhou	New Wuxi
	tsin^1	tsin^1	cin^1	cin^1	cin^1
	cin^1	cin^1	cin^1	cin^1	cin^1
	zi^2	zi^6	zhi^6	ji^6	ji^6
	ji^2	ji^6	ji^6	ji^6	ji^6

Depression

The voiced initials in Northern Wu languages are realised with breathy voice. This functions much like a phonemic depressor and lowers the pitch of the realization. Some linguists, such as Y. R. Chao, transcribe these phones not as voiced consonants, but as voiceless consonants followed by /pronounced as /link// or /pronounced as /link//. More recently, potentially due to Standard Mandarin influence, the younger generation has merged the pronunciation of the unaspirated voiceless series with the (breathy) voiced series. However, the functional load of the breathy voice is already relatively low, due to the fact that tonal distribution lends to disambiguation between historically voiced and voiceless syllables. This breathy voice is at times known as "murmur".

Some speakers, particularly in Shanghai, may constrict their throats when pronouncing voiceless (unaspirated) initials to further disambiguate breathy and modal initials. This construction may result in the pronunciation of an implosive.

Implosives

In various suburban Shanghainese varieties, the unaspirated voiceless series is realised as implosives. This feature appears to also have been in urban (Puxi) Shanghainese, though it is lost today.

Glottal plosive series

The glottal fricatives /pronounced as /link// and /pronounced as /link// are phonotactically part of a plosive series with /pronounced as /link//. Spectral analyses have found that these three phones show three-way differences parallel to stops. Younger speakers also tend to merge pronounced as //ɦ// with pronounced as //ʔ//, not pronounced as //h//, as would be expected if it were phonotatically a fricative. As the pronounced as //ʔ// has been analyzed as a null initial in the past, it could be said that Northern Wu languages have a three-way null initial contrast.

Finals

Finals vary significantly more than initials in Northern Wu languages. As such, only noteworthy phonological and diachronic features will be discussed. For detailed analyses of individual lects, refer to their specific pages.

Characteristic innovations

Ma raising

A feature found in many Wu languages, including Northern Wu, is the raising of the historical ma (Chinese: 麻) rimes. They are typically realised as /pronounced as /link//, though some lects such as Shanghainese or Wuxinese may raise it even higher and having it merge with /pronounced as /link//. The exact sets of words that undergo raising varies from lect to lect, though in general, the southern two branches (Linshao and Yongjiang) have more raising than northern ones.

	Haimen	Qingpu	Wuxi	Tonglu	Ningbo	Beijing
	bo^2	bo^2	bu^2	buo^2	bo^2	pá
	dzo^2	zo^2	zeu^2	jiuo^2	dzo^2	chá
	gho^4	gho^6	wu^6	wo^6	gho^6	xià
	ka^1	ka^1	ka^1	kuo^1	ko^1	jiā

Notice how the two localities in Zhejiang, Tonglu and Ningbo, both pronounce the word Chinese: 家 with a raised vowel, whereas those in Jiangsu and Shanghai do not. Northern varieties tend to retain the /pronounced as /a// value after velars, whereas Linshao and Yongjiang do not.

Hou fronting

Northern Wu lects along the Grand Canal tend to front the Qieyun Middle Chinese Chinese: 侯 rime (ie. Wugniu eu). Y. R. Chao suggested that this is due to influence from Hangzhounese. Chao raises the example of Chinese: 歐洲後頭的狗 "the dog behind Europe", pronounced as pronounced as /[eitsei ɦeidei kə' kei]/, taken from his native Changzhounese. Compare Standard Mandarin Ōuzhōu hòutóu de gǒu.

Shan and xian rimes

The Northern Wu languages exhibit interesting behaviour regarding Qieyun Middle Chinese shan (Chinese: 山) and xian (Chinese: 咸) rimes (ie. Wugniu ae). Some varieties lose the nasal coda completely, whereas others retain it. Some also leave some sporadic nasalization. They typically also have abnormally raised, rounded, or fronted vowels and more complex distribution when compared to other lects, thus resulting in noticeable differences. This behaviour is also exhibited in Hangzhounese.

Modern reflex !! colspan=2

Historical class !	Conditions	Examples
Yunshe (Chinese: 韻攝) and division (Chinese: 等)			Yun (Chinese: 韻)
i	Open III Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 鹽	Chinese: 幫, Chinese: 泥, Chinese: 精 and Chinese: 日 series; velars
		Chinese: 嚴	Unconditional
	Open IV Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 添	Chinese: 端, Chinese: 泥, Chinese: 見 and Chinese: 曉 series
	Open III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 仙	Chinese: 幫, Chinese: 泥, Chinese: 精, Chinese: 見 and Chinese: 影 series
		Chinese: 元	Unconditional
	Closed III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 仙	most terms of Chinese: 泥 and Chinese: 精 series and two irregular Chinese: 以 initial terms
e	Open I Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 覃	Sporadic
		Chinese: 談	(Historical) dentialveolars
	Open II Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 咸	Unconditional
		Chinese: 銜
	Closed III Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 凡	Unconditional
	Open I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 寒	(Historical) dentialveolars
	Open II Chinese: 山	Chinese: 山	Unconditional
		Chinese: 刪
	Closed I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 桓	Sporadic labials
	Closed III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 元	Chinese: 非 series
ue	Closed I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 桓	two irregular terms
	Closed II Chinese: 山	Chinese: 山 & Chinese: 刪	Velars
	Closed III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 元	one irregular term
oe	Open I Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 覃	Velars
	Open III Chinese: 咸	Chinese: 鹽	(Historical) retroflex
	Open I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 寒	Velars
	Open III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 仙	Chinese: 知, Chinese: 章 and Chinese: 日 series
	Closed I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 桓	Chinese: 幫 series and (historical) dentialveolars
	Closed II Chinese: 山	Chinese: 刪	Chinese: 莊 series
	Closed III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 仙	Chinese: 知 and Chinese: 章 series
uoe	Closed I Chinese: 山	Chinese: 桓	Velars
	Closed II & III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 刪 & Chinese: 元	Sporadic
ioe	Closed III Chinese: 山	Chinese: 仙	Velars and Chinese: 日 initial
		Chinese: 元	Velars
	Closed IV Chinese: 山	Chinese: 先	Velars

	Qieyun description	Yixing	Kunshan	Jiaxing	Wuhang	Zhoushan
	Open Grade II Chinese: 山	sa^1	sae^1	sae^1	sae^1	sae^1
	Closed Grade III Chinese: 咸	va^2	vae^2	vae^2	vae^2	vae^2
	Open Grade III Chinese: 咸	ye^2	ie^2	ye^2	ye^2	ghien^2
	Open Grade IV Chinese: 山	tie^1	thie^1	thie^1	thie^1	thien^1
	Closed Grade III Chinese: 山	chioe^1	tshoe^1	tshoe^1	tshae^1	tshoen^1
	Open Grade I Chinese: 咸	ne^2	noe^2	noe^2	nae^2	nei^2

Frication

Several Northern Wu varieties have a very large number of contrastive high vowels. This contrast is typically realised in the form of rounding or frication. This frication can be notated as a lowering or raising of the vowel or as a glide insertion. Typically, frication in non-apical vowels happens to contrast terms with historical nasal codas.

Syllable !! colspan=2

Suzhou !	Changzhou
Wugniu	IPA	Wugniu	IPA
	thie^1	pronounced as //tʰi⁴⁴//	thie^1	pronounced as //tʰiɪ⁵⁵//
	thi^1	pronounced as //tʰiⱼ⁴⁴//	thi^1	pronounced as //tʰi⁵⁵//
	cieu^1	pronounced as //tɕy⁴⁴//	ciou^1	pronounced as //tɕy⁵⁵//
	ciu^1	pronounced as //tɕyⱼ⁴⁴//	ciu^1	pronounced as //tɕiɤɯ⁵⁵//
	sy^1	pronounced as //sɿ⁴⁴//	sy^1	pronounced as //sɿ⁵⁵//
	syu^1	pronounced as //sʮ⁴⁴//	syu^1	pronounced as //sʮ⁵⁵//

Codas

Codas in Northern Wu are relatively simple compared to other Sinitic languages. In most modern Northern Wu varieties, only a single nasal phoneme and a checked coda (typically transcribed pronounced as //ʔ//) are permitted in coda position.

Nasal coda

Northern Wu languages typically only have one final nasal phoneme. This is typically realised as pronounced as /[n]/, pronounced as /[ŋ]/, pronounced as /[ȵ]/ or a nasalization of the nucleus vowel, typically in free variation.

Checked coda

Aside from nasals, Northern Wu languages typically only permit pronounced as //ʔ// in coda position, though some modern varieties and historical texts still preserve pronounced as //k//. This is different to other coastal Southern Chinese languages, as they typically do not merge all checked codas into one category. It is also noteworthy that the coda is often realised as a shortening of the vowel rather than an actual pronounced as /[ʔ]/, which contrasts with Oujiang varieties, which typically lengthen checked syllables. Compare the following syllables.

Checked-coda terms in various languages! !! Historical coda !! Shanghai !! Haining (Xiashi) !! Shangyu !! Yinzhou !! Wenzhou !! Hong Kong !! Xi'an !! Tokyo
(Go'on)

	rowspan=2	-p	liq^8 pronounced as //liɪʔ˩˨//	liq^8 pronounced as //liəʔ˨//	liq^7 pronounced as //liɪʔ˥//	liq^8 pronounced as //liʔ˩˨//	lei^8, li^8 pronounced as //lei˨˩˧//,pronounced as //li˨˩˧//	laap^6 pronounced as //laːp˨//	lǐ pronounced as //li˧˩//	ryuu pronounced as //ɾjɯː//
	faq^7 pronounced as //faʔ˦//	faq^7 pronounced as //faʔ˥//	faq^7 pronounced as //fɐʔ˥//	faq^7 pronounced as //faʔ//	ho^7 pronounced as //ho˨˩˧//	faat^3 pronounced as //faːt˧//	fǎ pronounced as //fa˧˩/	hou pronounced as //hoː//
	rowspan=2	-t	thiq^7 pronounced as //tʰiɪʔ˦//	thiq^7 pronounced as //tʰiəʔ˥//	thiq^7 pronounced as //tʰiɪʔ˥//	thiq^7 pronounced as //tʰiʔ˥//	thi^7 pronounced as //tʰi˨˩˧//	tit^3 pronounced as //tʰiːt˧//	tiě pronounced as //tʰiɛ˧˩//	teti pronounced as //tetɕi//
	chiq^7 pronounced as //tɕiɪʔ˦//	chiq^7 pronounced as //tɕiəʔ˥//	chiq^7 pronounced as //tɕiɪʔ˥//	chiq^7 pronounced as //tɕiɪʔ˥//	tshai^7 pronounced as //tsʰai˨˩˧//	cat^1 pronounced as //tsʰɐt˥//	qǐ pronounced as //tɕi˧˩//	siti pronounced as //ɕitɕi//
	rowspan=2	-k	koq^7 pronounced as //koʔ˦//	koq^7 pronounced as //koʔ˥//	koq^7 pronounced as //koʔ˥//	koq^7 pronounced as //koʔ˥//	ko^7 pronounced as //ko˨˩˧//	gok^3 pronounced as //kɔːk˧//	juǒ pronounced as //tɕyɤ˧˩//	kaku pronounced as //kakɯ//
	loq^8 pronounced as //loʔ˩˨//	loq^8 pronounced as //loʔ˨//	loq^8 pronounced as //loʔ˧//	loq^8 pronounced as //loʔ˩˨//	lo^8 pronounced as //lo˨˩˧//	lok^6 pronounced as //lɔːk˨//	luǒ pronounced as //luɤ˧˩//	raku pronounced as //ɾakɯ//

Tones

Tone plays a critical role in Northern Wu and impacts the realisation of both initials and finals. It disambiguates between both monosyllabic words via underlying tone and polysyllabic terms through the use of tone sandhi. Northern Wu languages can theoretically have up to twelve phonemic tones, depending on analysis. These lects can be found in places in Suzhou and Jiaxing, such as Wujiang.

Phonemic tone

Phonemic tones in Northern Wu is traditionally analysed based on four historical tone categories, which are further divided in half based on the voicing of the initial. Those that pair with voiceless initials are known as "dark" (Chinese: 陰) tones and the opposite is true for "light" (Chinese: 陽) ones. This yields a total of eight tones. The hypothetical maximum of 12 tones are achieved when aspiration conditions a further tone split through the dark tones.

Tone contours of monosyllables in three lects in Wujiang! Historical
Category !! Phonation !! Example words !! Category !! Wugniu !! Songling !! Tongli !! Pingwang

Level	Plain	Chinese: 剛丁三安	Whole dark level Chinese: 全陰平	1	55	55	55
	Aspirate	Chinese: 開粗天偏	Partial dark level Chinese: 次陰平		33	33	33
	Voiced	Chinese: 陳唐寒人	Light level Chinese: 陽平	2	13	13	24
Rising	Plain	Chinese: 古短比好	Whole dark rising Chinese: 全陰上	3	51	51	51
	Aspirate	Chinese: 口草體普	Partial dark rising Chinese: 次陰上		42	42	34
	Voiced	Chinese: 近厚老染	Light rising Chinese: 陽上	4	31	31	23
Departing	Plain	Chinese: 蓋對漢送	Whole dark rising Chinese: 全陰去	5	412	412	513
	Aspirate	Chinese: 臭菜退戲	Partial dark rising Chinese: 次陰去		312	312	313
	Voiced	Chinese: 樹共飯帽	Light rising Chinese: 陽去	6	212	212	213
Checked	Plain	Chinese: 各百說發	Whole dark rising Chinese: 全陰入	7	5	5	5
	Aspirate	Chinese: 尺切拍曲	Partial dark rising Chinese: 次陰入		3	3	3
	Voiced	Chinese: 局服岳六	Light rising Chinese: 陽入	8	2	2	2

Note that, unlike Yue languages, the dark checked tone split is conditioned by aspiration, not vowel length.

Although there are Northern Wu lects with a high number of tones, it is also noteworthy that contemporary Shanghainese in particular only has at most five phonemic tones, by merging tones 2 and 4 with 6, and tones 3 with 5. A typical Northern Wu variety has 7–8 tones.

Tone categories in Shanghainese! !! Level !! Rising !! Departing !! Checked

Voiceless	1	5		7
Voiced	6			8

For the most part, light tones can only occur with voiced initials, and dark tones can only occur with voiceless initials. In general, the light counterpart of a dark tone tends to be a lowered (or depressed) equivalent of the dark tone, as explored above. Compare the pronunciations of the dark and light departing tones in the following Wu varieties:

	Tone 5	Tone 6
Jiangyin	423	213
Suzhou	513	31
Pinghu	445	13
Haiyan	35	213
Xiaoshan	53	31
Ningbo	44	213
Shanghai	334	113

Neutral tones

Neutral tones, informally transcribed as 0 or not transcribed at all, are found in tone sandhi and in some grammatical particles. For instance, the perfective particle zh|了|leq|label=none in Shanghainese should be tone 8 due to its voiced and checked nature, though it in reality functions without a tone. This phenomenon can also be observed in Standard Mandarin, though it is more pronounced in Northern Wu due to the grammatical nature of Northern Wu sandhi.

Tone sandhi

Northern Wu languages all have tone sandhi, both left-prominent (hereafter LPS) and often right-prominent (RPS). LPS is typically found in polysyllabic words, whereas RPS is typically found in verb-object constructions. This is a feature that is shared among Wu languages, though in Northern Wu, sandhi chains generally share similar contours. This, coupled with the fact that this sort of complex tone sandhi cannot be found in the Qieyun system or reconstructions of Middle Chinese, would suggest that this sandhi is a Wu shared innovation, and that Northern Wu languages share a recent common origin.

There are five general types of contours:

• Contour spreading, where the contour of the head syllable gets stretched over subsequent syllables
• Default realization, where the subsequent syllables become null tones
• Contour leveling, where a syllable removes its tone contour movement such that it becomes level
• Citation target, where a tone on a syllable in a sandhi chain varies compared to its monosyllabic/citation form because it is affected by other conditioning factors such as stress. For example, stress can cause an apparent tone contour to start and end higher compared to its underlying form. Stress can also neutralize the dipping portion of such a bidirectional tone, becoming a simple rising contour (if the underlying tone is low-dip-high ˨˩˦).
• Categorical shift, where the subsequent syllables change tone categories

Left-prominent sandhi

LPS in Northern Wu is typically regarded as highly complex. Northern Wu varieties are traditionally analysed to have unique sandhi chains for each tone category of every syllable, which results in complex charts that sprawl several pages. However, these analyses can usually be simplified, and not all combinations yield unique sandhi chains. Shanghainese LPS, for instance, has traditionally been analysed to only preserve phonemic tone on the first or head syllable, and drop it on all subsequent syllables, which may thus be considered somewhat similar to pitch accent in some languages. However, some younger speakers insert a rising tone contour on traditionally voiced initials to perhaps mimic the depression effect.

This is similar to some analyses of Suzhounese and Hangzhounese. Checked tones in Suzhounese can be analysed to preserve the underlying tone of the first two syllables, whereas Hangzhounese sandhi is conditioned based on whether the second syllable belongs to the rising or non-rising category.

Tone number !! rowspan=2

Disyllabic !	Trisyllabic	Quadrisyllabic
First syllable			Second syllable
7	1, 2	44 23	44 23 0	44 23 44 0
	3	22 33	22 33 0	22 33 44 0
	5, 6	55 523	55 52 33	55 52 22 33
	7, 8	44 44	44 44 0	44 44 22 0
8	1, 2	22 33	22 33 0	22 33 44 0
	3	22 51	22 51 0	22 51 11 0
	5, 6	22 523	22 52 33	22 52 22 33
	7, 8	33 44	33 44 0	33 44 22 0

The tone category of the third and fourth syllables do not matter.

Right-prominent sandhi

RPS primarily occurs on verbs in verb-object constructions, and often is only relevant to monosyllables. They also occur in certain situations such as quantitative adjectives and a handful of irregular words. This can be used to disambiguate between certain constructions, such as the famous Chinese: 炒麪 example, but also the following:

pronounced as //tɕiɵ⁴² dõ³³//

pronounced as //pie³³ tʰie⁵⁵//
RPS	pronounced as //tɕiɵ³³ dõ//	pronounced as //pie⁴² tʰie⁵⁵//

References

Works cited

Notes and References

1. https://wugniu.com/ Chinese: 吳語學堂 (Wugniu)