Shaozhou Tuhua

Shaozhou Tuhua (traditional: 韶州土話; simplified: 韶州土话 Sháozhōu Tǔhuà "Shaoguan tuhua"), or simply Tuhua, is an unclassified Chinese variety spoken in the border region of the provinces Guangdong, Hunan and Guangxi. It is mutually unintelligible with Xiang, Cantonese, or Mandarin.

Tuhua
Shaozhou Tuhua, Xiangnan Tuhua, Yuebei Tuhua
Shipo, Shina
Native toChina
RegionHunan–Guang
EthnicityChinese, Yao
Native speakers
(undated figure of 1 million)[1]
Sino-Tibetan
Nüshu, Latin, Chinese
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
ISO 639-6sazo
Glottologquji1234[2]
Linguasphere79-AAA-ph including 8 varieties: 79-AAA-pha ... 79-AAA-phh

Xiangnan Tuhua is the language of nüshu, the "women's script" of Jiangyong County in Yongzhou, Hunan.

Classification

Some scholars consider it to be an extension of Ping Chinese (Pinghua) in Guangxi. Others consider it to have a foundation in Song dynasty-era Middle Gan, mixed with Hakka, Cantonese, and Southwestern Mandarin. There is likely also significant non-Chinese influence such as Yao, and it may even have started out as Sinicized Yao.[3]

Chen (2012) notes that Shaoguan Tuhua of Shibei 石陂 (in Zhenjiang District) shares many similarities with Hakka of Qujiang District, due to intensive contact.

Dialects

Shaozhou Tuhua is also known as Yuebei Tuhua 粤北土话 "Northern Guangxi/Guangdong Tuhua" in Guangxi and Guangdong and as Xiangnan Tuhua 湘南土话 "Southern Hunanese Tuhua" or Hunan Tuhua in Hunan, and as 虱婆话 shīpó huà "Shipo dialect", 虱乸话 shīnǎ huà "Shina dialect",[4] or 虱婆声 shīpó shēng "Shipo accent"[5] in its own region. It is also known as Pingdi Yaohua (平地瑶话 "Lowland Yao dialect"), locally Piongtuojo, Piongtoajeu; "Yao" here might be a cultural designation, as only half of the one million speakers are classified as ethnic Yao.[6][1]

Li & Zhuang (2009) cover the following dialects of Shaoguan Tuhua.[7]

  1. Dacun 大村, Qujiang District
  2. Xiangyang 向阳, Wujiang District
  3. Shibei 石陂, Zhenjiang District
  4. Zhoutian 周田, Renhua County
  5. Shitang 石塘, Renhua County
  6. Guitou 桂头, Ruyuan County

Zhang Shuangqing (2004) covers 5 dialects of Lianzhou Tuhua (连州土话).[8]

  1. Xingzi 星子 dialect: 120,000 speakers in Xingzi 星子, Qingjiang 清江, Shantang 山塘, Tanling 潭岭, Dalubian 大路边 townships, and parts of Mabu 麻步 and Yao'an 瑶安 townships
  2. Bao'an 保安 dialect: 30,000 speakers in Bao'an Township 保安镇, and parts of Longping Township 龙坪镇
  3. Lianzhou 连州 dialect (locally called ᴀt24 pi55 sheng 声): 40,000 speakers in Lianzhou Township 连州镇 and Fucheng Township 附城镇
  4. Xi'an 西岸 dialect (locally called Mansheng 蛮声): 30,000 speakers in Xi'an Township 西岸镇
  5. Fengyang 丰阳 dialect (locally called Mansheng 蛮声): 50,000 speakers in 丰阳镇, and parts of Zhugang 朱岗, Dongpo 东陂, and Yao'an 瑶安 townships

Distribution

Tuhua is retreating before Cantonese and Hakka and is found in rural dialect islands in the northern Guangdong counties of Lechang, Renhua, Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County, Qujiang, Nanxiong, Zhenjiang, Wujiang (parts of Shaoguan prefecture-level city), and Lianzhou and Liannan Yao Autonomous County in Qingyuan prefecture-level city. In Hunan it is found in the southeast, throughout most of Yongzhou prefecture (apart from Qiyang County in the northeast) and the western half of Chenzhou prefecture.

See also

Further reading

References
  1. Iu Mien at Ethnologue (13th ed., 1996).
    "Pingdi Yao (Piongtuojo, Piongtoajeu) is a variety of Chinese with 1,000,000 speakers, half of whom are members of Yao nationality"
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Qujiang Hakka-Shibei Shaoguan Tuhua". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Cited in Chiang (1995) We two know the script, we have become good friends, p. 28, footnote 43.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-07-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. 武江概况 人口语言 Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Ming studies, 34–35:55, University of Minnesota, 1995
  7. Li Dongxiang, Zhuang Chusheng [李冬香, 庄初升]. 2009. An Investigation of Shaoguan Tuhua [韶关土话调查研究]. Jinan University Press [暨南大学出版社].
  8. Zhang Shuangqing [张双庆]. 2004. A Study of Lianzhou Tuhua [连州土话研究-粤北土话研究丛书2]. Xiaman University Press [厦门大学出版社].
  • Chen Litong. 2012. Shaoguan Tuhua, a Local Vernacular of Northern Guangdong Province, China: A New Look from a Quantitative and Contact Linguistic Perspective. M.A. dissertation: Ohio State University.
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