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Southwestern Mandarin
Upper Yangtze Mandarin
Region	Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hong Kong, others
Native speakers	260 million (2012)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin
Official status
Official language in	China (Guangxi)
Recognised minority language in	Hong Kong  Macau  Myanmar (Wa State, Kokang Self-Administered Zone)  Vietnam (Lào Cai Province)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
ISO 639-6	xghu
Glottolog	xina1239
Linguasphere	79-AAA-bh

Southwestern Mandarin (Chinese: 西南官话; pinyin: Xīnán Guānhuà), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (Chinese: 上江官话; pinyin: Shàngjiāng Guānhuà), is a Mandarin Chinese dialect spoken in much of Southwestern China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the northern part of Guangxi and some southern parts of Shaanxi and Gansu.

Southwestern Mandarin is spoken by roughly 260 million people. If considered a language distinct from central Mandarin, it would be the eighth-most spoken language by native speakers in the world, behind Mandarin itself, Spanish, English, Hindi, Portuguese, Arabic and Bengali.

Overview

Modern Southwestern Mandarin was formed by the waves of immigrants brought to the regions during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Because of the comparatively recent move, such dialects show more similarity to modern Standard Mandarin than to other varieties of Chinese like Cantonese or Hokkien. For example, like most Southern Chinese dialects, Southwestern Mandarin does not possess the retroflex consonants (zh, ch, sh, r) of Standard Mandarin, but most varieties of it also fail to retain the checked tone that all southern dialects have. The Chengdu-Chongqing and Hubei dialects are believed to reflect aspects of the Mandarin lingua franca that was spoken during the Ming. However, some scholars believe its origins may be more similar to Lower Yangtze Mandarin. Though part of the Mandarin group, Southwestern Mandarin has many striking and pronounced differences with Standard Mandarin such that until 1955, it was generally categorized alongside Cantonese and Wu Chinese as a branch of Chinese varieties.

Southwestern Mandarin is commonly spoken in Kokang district in Northern Myanmar, where the population is largely Kokang. Southwestern Mandarin is also one of two official languages of the Wa State, an unrecognized autonomous state within Myanmar, alongside the Wa language. Because Wa has no written form, Chinese is the official working language of the Wa State government. Some of its speakers, known as the Chin Haw, live in Thailand. It is also spoken in parts of Northern Vietnam. Ethnic minorities in Vietnam's Lào Cai Province used to speak Southwestern Mandarin to each other when their languages were not mutually intelligible. Southwestern Mandarin is also used between different ethnic minorities in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi.

Phonology

Tones

Most Southwestern Mandarin dialects have, like Standard Mandarin, retained only four of the eight tones of Late Middle Chinese. However, the entering tone has completely merged with the light-level tone in most Southwestern dialects, but in Standard Mandarin, it is seemingly randomly dispersed among the remaining tones.

Syllables

Southwestern Mandarin dialects do not possess the retroflex consonants of Standard Mandarin but share most other Mandarin phonological features. Most dialects have lost the distinction between the nasal consonant /n/ and the lateral consonant /l/ and the nasal finals /-n/ and /-ŋ/. For example, the sounds "la" and "na" are generally indistinguishable, and the same is true for the sounds "fen" and "feng". Some varieties also lack a distinction between the labiodental /f/ and the glottal /h/.

Subdivisions

Southwestern Mandarin was classified into twelve dialect groups in the Language Atlas of China:

• Cheng–Yu 成渝: Chengdu and Chongqing
• Dianxi 滇西 (western Yunnan): Yao–Li 姚里 and Bao–Lu 保潞 clusters
• Qianbei 黔北 (northern Guizhou)
• Kun–Gui 昆貴: Kunming and Guiyang
• Guan–Chi 灌赤 (central Sichuan from Guan County to the Chishui River and part of northern Yunnan): Minjiang 岷江, Ren–Fu 仁富, Ya–Mian 雅棉, and Li–Chuan 丽川 clusters
• Ebei 鄂北 (northern Hubei)
• Wu–Tian 武天: Wuhan and Tianmen (Hubei)
• Cen–Jiang 岑江 (eastern Guizhou)
• Qiannan 黔南 (southern Guizhou)
• Xiangnan 湘南 (southern Hunan): Yongzhou and Chenzhou
• Gui–Liu 桂柳 (northern Guangxi): Guilin and Liuzhou
• Chang–He 常鹤: Changde and Zhangjiajie (northwestern Hunan) and Hefeng County (southwestern Hubei)

In addition, the Selibu language is a mixed language with a Southwestern Mandarin base, residual Zhongyuan Mandarin features, and morphosyntatic and semantic features from Alangu Khams.

See also

• Sichuanese dialects

References

1. ^ Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2012). Zhōngguó yǔyán dìtú jí (dì 2 bǎn): Hànyǔ fāngyán juǎn 中国语言地图集(第2版):汉语方言卷 [Language Atlas of China (2nd edition): Chinese dialect volume]. Beijing: The Commercial Press. p. 3.
2. Holm, David (2013). Mapping the Old Zhuang Character Script: A Vernacular Writing System from Southern China. BRILL. p. 42. ISBN 978-90-04-24216-6.
3. ^ Tsung, Linda (2014). Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-4411-5574-0.
4. Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian (2013). Emergent Lingua Francas and World Orders: The Politics and Place of English as a World Language. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-135-23557-4.
5. Zhou and Xu 周及徐, 2005. "The pronunciation and historical evolution of '虽遂'-class characters in Ba-Shu dialects" 《巴蜀方言中“虽遂”等字的读音及历史演变》, Zhonghua Wenhua Luntan 中华文化论坛.
6. Wang Qing 王庆, 2007. "Consonants in Ming Dynasty Repopulation Area Dialects and Southern Mandarin" 《明代人口重建地区方言的知照系声母与南系官话》, Chongqing Normal University Journal 重庆师范大学学报.
7. Liu Xiaomei 刘晓梅 and Li Rulong 李如龙, 2003. "Special Vocabulary Research in Mandarin Dialects" 《官话方言特征词研究》, Yuwen Yanjiu 语文研究.
8. Interactive Myanmar Map, The Stimson Center
9. Wa, Infomekong
10. Clyne, Michael G. (1992). Pluricentric Languages: Differing Norms in Different Nations. Walter de Gruyter. p. 306. ISBN 978-3-11-012855-0.
11. Ito, Masako. Politics of Ethnic Classification in Vietnam.
12. Ito, Masako (2013). Politics of Ethnic Classification in Vietnam. Kyoto University Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-920901-72-1.
13. Volker, Craig Alan; Anderson, Fred E. (2015). Education in Languages of Lesser Power: Asia-Pacific Perspectives. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 68. ISBN 978-90-272-6958-4.
14. Pelkey, Jamin R. (2011). Dialectology as Dialectic: Interpreting Phula Variation. Walter de Gruyter. p. 154. ISBN 978-3-11-024585-1.
15. Holm, David (2003). Killing a buffalo for the ancestors: a Zhuang cosmological text from Southwest China. Southeast Asia Publications, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University. ISBN 978-1-891134-25-8.
16. Harper, Damian (2007). China's Southwest. Lonely Planet. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-74104-185-9.
17. Li Lan 李蓝, 2009, Southwestern Mandarin Areas (Draft)
18. Kurpaska, Maria (2010). Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-3-11-021914-2.
19. Tournadre, Nicolas; Suzuki, Hiroyuki (2023). The Tibetic Languages: an introduction to the family of languages derived from Old Tibetan. Paris: LACITO. ISBN 978-2-490768-08-0.
20. Zhou, Yang; Suzuki, Hiroyuki (2021-11-10). "Evidentiality in Selibu". Diachronica. 39 (2). John Benjamins Publishing Company: 268–309. doi:10.1075/dia.19055.zho. ISSN 0176-4225.

v t e Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)	West Himalayish Tamangic Newaric Newar Baram–Thangmi Kiranti Dhimalish Dhimal Toto Lhokpu Lepcha Greater Magaric Magaric Magar Kham Chepangic Chepang Bhujel Raji–Raute Dura–Tandrange
Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)	Bodish Tibetic East Bodish Tshangla Basum Nam? Gongduk ʼOle Tani Chamdo
Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border	Karbi Kuki-Chin Mruic Mru Hkongso Pyu Taman "Naga" Ao Angami–Pochuri Meitei Tangkhulic Zeme Sal Boro–Garo Konyak Jingpho–Luish
East and Southeast Asia	Sinitic Bai Tujia Nungish Karenic Gong Kathu Cai–Long Caijia Longjia Luren Burmo-Qiangic Qiangic Gyalrongic Ersuic Naic Lolo-Burmese Mondzish Burmish Loloish
Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal)	Hrusish Hruso Mijiic Kho-Bwa Puroik Miju–Meyor Songlin Greater Siangic Siangic Koro Milang Idu–Taraon
Proposed groupings	Central Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin–Naga Macro-Bai Mahakiranti Rung Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri
Proto-languages	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Loloish Proto-Karenic Proto-Min Proto-Hakka
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

v t e Chinese language
Sinitic languages
Major groups	Mandarin Northeastern Changchun Harbin Shenyang Taz Beijing Beijing Taiwan Jilu Tianjin Jinan Jiaoliao Dalian Qingdao Weihai Central Plains Dongping Gangou Guanzhong Xi'an Luoyang Xuzhou Dungan Xinjiang Southwestern Sichuanese Chengdu–Chongqing Minjiang Leshan Renshou–Fushun Zigong Kunming Nanping Wuhan Gui–Liu Wuming Jianghuai Nanjing Nantong Nanping Lanyin Lanzhou dialect [zh] Urumqi dialect [zh] Xinjiang Other Junjiahua Qinjiang Gyami Jin Zhangjiakou–Hohhot Zhi–Yan Wu Taihu Shanghai Suzhou Wuxi Changzhou Hangzhou (?) Shaoxing Ningbo Jinxiang Jiangyin Shadi Taizhou Wu Taizhou Tiantai Oujiang Wenzhou Rui'an Wencheng Wuzhou Jinhua Chu–Qu Quzhou Jiangshan Qingtian Xuanzhou Xuancheng Huizhou Ji-She [zh] Xiu-Yi [zh] Qi-De [zh] Yanzhou [zh] Jing-Zhan [zh] Gan Chang–Du Nanchang Yi–Liu Ying–Yi Da–Tong Xiang Changyi Changsha Loushao Shuangfeng Xiangxiang Wugang Ji–Xu Yong–Quan Qiyang Min Eastern Houguan Fuzhou Fuqing Changle Gutian Matsu Fu–Ning Ningde Fu'an Other Manjiang Zhongshan Longdu Nanlang Southern Hokkien Quanzhou Zhangzhou Amoy Chawan Taiwan Philippine Pedan Penang Singapore Malaysian Teochew Swatow Haklau Zhongshan Sanxiang Other Zhenan Longyan Other Northern Jian'ou Jianyang Central Pu–Xian Shao–Jiang Leizhou Zhanjiang Hainan Wenchang Haikou Banqiao Hakka Meixian Wuhua Huizhou Tingzhou Changting Taiwanese Sixian Hailu Raoping Yue Yuehai Guangzhou Hong Kong Malaysia Xiguan Jiujiang Shiqi Weitou Dapeng Siyi Taishan Xinhui Other Gao–Yang Goulou Wu–Hua Yong–Xun Luo–Guang Qin–Lian Pinghua Northern Tongdao Younian Southern Yongjiang Guandao Rongjiang Unclassified Shaozhou Tuhua Xiangnan Tuhua Badong Yao Danzhou Mai Shehua Waxiang Yeheni Huizhou Bai Cai-Long Caijia Longjia Luren Laobeizi
Standard forms	Standard Chinese Sichuanese Taiwanese Philippine Malaysian Singaporean Standard Singdarin Cantonese Hokkien Hakka
Phonology	Historical Old Old National Cantonese Hokkien Northern Wu Mandarin Literary and colloquial readings
Grammar	Numerals Classifiers Honorifics Cantonese grammar Classical grammar
Idioms	Chengyu Xiehouyu
Input	Biaoxingma Boshiamy Cangjie Simplified CKC Dayi Pinyin Google Microsoft Sogou Stroke count Wubi (Wang Ma) ZhengMa
History	Old Chinese Eastern Han Middle Chinese Old Mandarin Middle Mandarin Proto-Min Proto-Hakka Ba–Shu Gan
Literary forms	Official Classical Adoption in Japan in Vietnam Vernacular Written Cantonese Written Dungan Written Hokkien Written Sichuanese
Scripts	Logographic Script styles Oracle bone Bronze Seal Clerical Semi-cursive Cursive Chinese characters Simplified Traditional Punctuation Braille Cantonese Mainland Chinese Taiwanese Two-cell Phonetic Cyrillization Dungan Cyrillic Romanization Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hanyu Pinyin MPS II Postal Tongyong Pinyin Wade–Giles EFEO Lessing-Othmer Yale Bopomofo Cantonese Bopomofo Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols Taiwanese kana Taiwanese Hangul Xiao'erjing Nüshu
List of varieties of Chinese

• Sichuanese
• Mandarin Chinese
• Languages of Thailand
• Languages of Vietnam
• Languages of Myanmar
• Languages of Laos