The Zhongyuan Mandarin (), is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the central and southern parts of Shaanxi, Henan, southwestern part of Shanxi, southern part of Gansu, far southern part of Hebei, northern Anhui, northern parts of Jiangsu, southern Xinjiang and southern Shandong.
Zhongyuan is spoken by more than 169 million people. It is the primary language of Shaanxi and Henan provinces. It is most prominent in the cities of Xi'an and Zhengzhou; in both cities, Zhongyuan is the most widely spoken language, significantly outstripping Standard Mandarin.From a linguistic perspective, Zhongyuan functions effectively as a language distinct from Standard Mandarin, as differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and tone render the two mutually unintelligible. However, the Chinese state's official narrative often obscures this reality under the label of "dialects" (*fangyan* in Standard Chinese)—a term that politically unifies the territory but conceals the profound barriers to mutual understanding that exist among them.
Subdialects
Zheng-Kai (郑开) region: e.g. Kaifeng (开封) dialect, Zhengzhou (郑州) dialect Luo-Song (洛嵩) region: e.g. Luoyang dialect (洛阳话) Nan-Lu (南阳) region: e.g. Nanyang (南阳) dialect Luo-Xiang (漯项) region: e.g. Zhumadian (驻马店) dialect Shang-Fu (商阜) region: e.g. Shangqiu (商丘) dialect, Fuyang (阜阳) dialect Xin-Beng (信蚌) region: e.g. Xinyang (信阳) dialect, Bengbu (蚌埠) dialect Yan-He (兖菏) region: e.g. Jining (济宁) dialect Xu-Huai (徐淮) region: e.g. Xuzhou dialect (徐州话) Fenhe (汾河) region: e.g. Linfen (临汾) dialect, Wanrong (万荣) dialect Guanzhong region (关中), e.g. Xi'an (西安) dialect Qin-Long (秦陇) region: e.g. Xining (西宁) dialect, Dunhuang (敦煌) dialect Longzhong (陇中) region: e.g. Tianshui (天水) dialect, Dingxi (定西) dialect Hezhou (河州) Region: e.g. Gangou dialect (甘沟话) (influenced by Monguor) Nanjiang (南疆) Region: e.g. Yanqi dialect, Tulufan dialect Dungan language, written in Cyrillic, introduced many Russian loanwords, spoken mainly in Chu Valley and Fergana Valley in Central Asia
Phonology In some varieties of Central Plains Mandarin, some phonological changes have affected certain syllables but not Standard Chinese.
Standard Mandarin's , and have shifted to before . has shifted to before in some varieties, such as the Yanhe subgroup and the Guanzhong subgroup.
猪 初 书 熟 Middle Chinese Initial Pinyin zhū chū shū shú Standard Mandarin Guanzhong Mandarin
The phenomenon of and being shifted to before [u] and [o] can be found in Linyou (麟游) and Wugong (武功)
布 跛 坡 朴 Middle Chinese Initial Pinyin bù bǒ pō pǔ Standard Mandarin Certain varieties of Central Plains Mandarin
See also Zhongyuan culture Central Plains (China), also called "Zhongyuan"
References Citations
Sources