| Xiguan | |
| States: | Mainland China |
| Region: | Xiguan, Liwan District, Guangzhou, Guangdong |
| Date: | no date |
| Familycolor: | Sino-Tibetan |
| Fam2: | Sinitic |
| Fam3: | Chinese |
| Fam4: | Yue |
| Fam5: | Yuehai |
| Fam6: | Cantonese |
| Isoexception: | dialect |
| Glotto: | none |
| Notice: | IPA |
The Xiguan dialect, or Sai Kwan dialect[1] [2] [3], is the prestige dialect[4] of Cantonese originated from Xiguan (Sai Kwan), Guangzhou.
People living in Xiguan have generally lost a Xiguan accent; what they are actually speaking with is the lazy pronunciation of Xiguan Dialect.
| Xiguan Accent | Downtown Accent | English Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| width=200 | han3(瞓)覺 (Close to the ancient pronunciation of "睏") | fan3(瞓)覺 | To sleep |
| ji1(依)家 | ji4(而)家 | Now | |
| ji1(依)個 | ni1(呢)個 | This, these |
Due to Xiguan's near geographical position to Nanhai, both accents spoken in Xiguan and Nanhai feature n-l merger, in which /n/ and /l/ are merged into /l/. However, the feature is less prominent in the Xiguan accent.
Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce zero consonant as the consonant ng, for instance, "屋(uk7)" as "nguk7" and "壓(aat8)" as "ngaat8".
Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce vowels ei and ai as i. The phenomenon also lies in Nanhai Accents, such as:
| The Character | Xiguan Accent | Downtown Accent | English Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=30 | 使 | si2 | sai2 | To make, to cause, to use |
| 死 | si2 | sei2 | To die | |
| 四 | si3 | sei3 | Four | |
| 嘶 | si1 | sai1 (Owing to the Popularization of Mandarin, an increasing number of people read si1 rather than sai1, influenced by Mandarin) | Neigh, hiss |
Additionally, speakers of Xiguan Accents enhance dental consonants . That is to say, downtown people pronounce "知", "雌" and "斯" as pronounced as /[tɕi]/, pronounced as /[tɕʰi]/ and pronounced as /[ɕi]/ (comparatively relaxed in the oral area, close to pronounced as /[tɕ]/, pronounced as /[tɕʰ]/ and pronounced as /[ɕ]/ in IPA; and yet Speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce pronounced as /[tsi]/, pronounced as /[tsʰi]/ and pronounced as /[si]/ (The tip of tongue pushes up against upper teeth and blocks up air current. Tense in the oral area, similar to zh, ch and sh in Mandarin without rolling tongue). To be precise, dental consonants are similar to the consonants of 左", "初" and "所" (i.e., pronounced as /[ts]/, pronounced as /[tsʰ]/ and pronounced as /[s]/) in Downtown Accents. In summary, speakers of Xiguan Accents pronounce pronounced as /[tɕ]/, pronounced as /[tɕʰ]/ and pronounced as /[ɕ]/ as pronounced as /[ts]/, pronounced as /[tsʰ]/ and pronounced as /[s]/. A saying representing Xiguan Accents goes that Servant, take some money to buy some seadless kaki fruits .
Xiguan lies to the west of Taiping Gate . Xiguan is the suburb of Guangzhou and it was administered by Nanhai County rather than Panyu County (covering former Yuexiu District and former Dongshan District). Therefore, it was not regarded as part of the capital of Guangdong Province. Therefore, Xiguan Dialect should be regarded as suburban accents, distinguished from Downtown Accent, esp. Dongshan Accents . Notwithstanding, Xiguan lies close to the provincial capital, so the gap is narrow.