The Tiantai dialect, also known as Tiantaihua (; Tiantai dialect pronunciation: [tʰi.tʰai.u]) is a regiolect of Wu Chinese in the Taizhou Wu dialect group. It is spoken in Tiantai County, Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China.
Like other dialects in the Wu family, Tiantaihua has a three-way contrast between voiced, unaspirated voiceless, and aspirated initial consonants (e.g., ), preserving an earlier feature of Chinese which Mandarin has collapsed into a two-way distinction. The Tiantai dialect is the main representative of the northern Taizhou dialect family.
Comparison with Standard Chinese The meaning of many common words and phrases in the Tiantai dialect differs from that of Standard Chinese. Below is a list of common differences: +Difference of meaning of wordsChinese wordOriginal meaningMeaning in the Tiantai dialectReferences味道TasteComfort, enjoyment老實好Honestly goodPraise, very good煞夾Tightly squeezedVery powerful老官Veteran officialHusband天亮Sunrise, dawnTomorrow拔好Properly pulledImmediately活動ActivitySmart, intelligent壽LongevitySilliness, lack of empathy賴SloppyBad behaviour大慧Very intelligentAble person大吹Big blowStupid person
Proverbs and phrases in the Tiantai dialect can be shorter in comparison with the corresponding phrase in Standard Chinese. For example, the phrase "露出馬腳" (literally "exposing the cloven hoof", metaphorically "exposed") is shortened to the phrase "出腳", literally meaning "taking the foot out".
Sentences can be shorter as well; see the example below. OriginalChinese和小王比起來，還是小李高。EnglishLiteralAsJohncompared to,it's stillTerrytaller.RearrangedAscompared to John(who is)ContractedLiteralAs compared to Johnit's stillTerrywho istallerChinese小王是小李長。
Pronouns +Pronouns in the Tiantai dialectPersonRegular Chinese pronounEnglish equivalentTiantai dialect pronoun(s)1st person singular我I我2nd person singular你you (singular)爾The word "爾" stands for "you" in middle Chinese.3rd person singular他he佢／渠These words are thought to have come from the word "其", a 3rd person pronoun in Middle Chinese.她she牠it (animals)它it (objects)1st person plural我們we我等／我拉／我拉個／項等2nd person plural你們you (plural)爾拉／爾拉個3rd person plural他們they佢拉／佢拉個／渠拉／渠拉個她們牠們它們
Syllable structure
Initials +Table of consonants (translated from)ConsonantVoiceless unaspirated plosiveVoiceless aspirated plosivePlosive voicedVoiceless fricativeVoiced fricativeGlottalised? half voicedHalf voicedConsonantExampleConsonantExampleConsonantExampleConsonantExampleConsonantExampleConsonantExampleConsonantExampleLabialp幫ph滂b平f 敷敷v奉'm媽m明Dentalts知tsh初dz迟s 生生z是'l拉l來Coronalt端th透d定'n奶n南Alveolo-palatalc照ch穿j澄sh心zh從Velark見kh溪g群'ng嗯ng牙Glottal'影h曉gh匣y移w胡
Finals +Table of vowels (translated from)See also: Four huOpen mouthClosed mouthEven teethRound mouthVowelExampleVowelExampleVowelExampleVowelExampley資i衣u烏iu雨a矮ua歪ia野e哀ue威i.e.煙o掗uo花ae晏uae彎oe半uoe碗ioe遠au奧iau要eu歐ieu悠ou哥an杏uan橫ian央aon項uaon汪iaon雙en恩uen溫in音iuin雲on翁ion用aeh鴨uaeh挖ah百uah摑iah腳aoh惡uaoh鑊iaoh捉eh黑ieh葉ih一iuih出oeh脫uoeh骨ioeh月oh屋ioh郁m無白n 爾白ng五
Tones There are 8 tones in the Tiantai dialect, which are obtained by splitting each of the four tones in Mandarin to yin (陰) and yang (陽). + Tones in Tiantai dialectTone nameTone lettersyin ping (陰平) (33)yang ping (陽平) (24)yin shang (陰上) (325)yang shang (陽上) (214)yin qu (陰去) (55)yang qu (陽去) (35)yin ru (陰入) (5)yang ru (陽入) (23)
References