The Wuhan dialect (, Wùhánhuá); ), also known as the Hankou dialect after the former town of Hankou, belongs to the Wu–Tian branch of Southwest Mandarin spoken in Wuhan, Tianmen and surrounding areas in Hubei, China. The Wuhan dialect has limited mutual intelligibility with Standard Chinese. Grammatically, it has been observed to have a similar aspect system to Xiang Chinese.
Phonology Tones Like other Southwest Mandarin varieties, there are four tones. Words with the checked tone in Middle Chinese became the light level tone. Dark level 55 (also 44) Light level 312 Rising 42 Falling 35 Neutral Middle Chinesetone classWuhantone classTonediacriticExample陰平 Dark levelHighāōēīūǖ拉 (la55)陽平 Light leveland 入 EnteringDippingǎǒěǐǔǚ爸 (pa213)上 Rising (X)Fallingàòèìùǜ走 (zou42)去 Departing (H)Risingáóéíúǘ叫 (tɕiau35)Neutral
Media use
Wuhan dialect is used in the 2019 film The Wild Goose Lake.
It is also used in the 2021 film Embrace Again, which is set in Wuhan. Embrace Again was filmed and released in two versions, one in Wuhan dialect and one in Standard Mandarin.
References