Puxian Min
Encyclopedia
Pu–Xian or Puxian Min , also known as Xinghua, is a branch of Min Chinese.
Puxian is a word combination of two place names of Putian City (莆田市) and Xianyou County (仙游县).
It is spoken mostly in Fujian
province, particularly in Putian
and Xianyou, parts of Fuzhou
, and parts of Quanzhou
. More than 2000 people in Shacheng, Fuding
(福鼎) in northern Fujian also speak Puxian. There are minor differences between the dialects of Putian and Xianyou.
Overseas populations of Puxian speakers exist in Malaysia and Singapore
. Speakers of Puxian are also known as Henghua , Hinghua, or Xinghua.
county and people there spoke a form of Min Nan
(Southern Min). Due to its origin in the past as part of spoken Minnan, it lies closely to the other modern Minnan dialects, see chart relationship Min Chinese#Varieties.
In 979 AD, during the Song Dynasty
, the region was administratively separated from Quanzhou and the language developed separately from the rest of Southern Min. Due to its proximity with Fuzhou, it absorbed some elements of Min Dong
.
Puxian has 40 finals and 6 phonemic tones
.
Puxian differs from most Min Nan varieties in several ways:
1. The vowel 'a' is replaced by /ɒ/ (o̤) in most cases, e.g. 腳 ko̤ "leg".
2. The vowel 'ư' /ɯ/ is replaced by /y/ ('ü'), e.g. 魚 hṳ "fish".
3. In Putian 'ng' has changed to /uŋ/ except after zero initial and h- (notation: ng), e.g. 湯 tung "soup".
4. The vowel /e/ is often replaced by /ɒ/ o̤, e.g. 馬 bo̤ "horse".
5. Where Quanzhou has 'ĩ' and Zhangzhou has 'ẽ', the corresponding Putian vowel is 'ã', e.g. 病 baⁿ "sick", where ⁿ indicates a nasalized vowel.
6. The vowel 'io' is replaced by 'iau' (notation: a̤u), e.g. 笑 ciao "laugh". This also holds for nasalized vowels, e.g. da̤uⁿ corresponding to Quanzhou tioⁿ.
7. Nasals m n ng sometimes occur in place of voiced stops b d g, e.g. 夢 mang vs. Quanzhou bang.
8. There is a loss of distinction between voiced and unvoiced stops, e.g. the sounds /b/ and /p/ both correspond to the same phoneme and occur in free variation
.
(only appears in connected speech. It's a result of consonant mutation
of [p])
青草 tsʰɔŋ tsʰau → tsʰɔŋ nau
The Romanization only needs five tone marks for seven tones:
陰平 Yin Ping (unmarked)
陰上 Yin Shang ˆ (â)
陰去 Yin Qu ˈ (a̍)
陰入 Yin Ru (unmarked)
陽平 Yang Ping ́ (á)
陽去 Yang Qu - (ā)
陽入 Yang Ru ˈh (a̍h)
太初有道，道佮上帝同在，道就是上帝。這道太初佮上帝同在。萬物是借著伊造兮，含被造兮，無一樣呣是借著伊造兮。
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 KJV)
Puxian is a word combination of two place names of Putian City (莆田市) and Xianyou County (仙游县).
It is spoken mostly in Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province, particularly in Putian
Putian
Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...
and Xianyou, parts of Fuzhou
Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
, and parts of Quanzhou
Quanzhou
Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...
. More than 2000 people in Shacheng, Fuding
Fuding
Fuding City is a county-level city in northeastern Ningde prefecture level city, on Fujian's border with Zhejiang province.-Administrative:Fuding was promoted to county-level city status in 1995...
(福鼎) in northern Fujian also speak Puxian. There are minor differences between the dialects of Putian and Xianyou.
Overseas populations of Puxian speakers exist in Malaysia and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Speakers of Puxian are also known as Henghua , Hinghua, or Xinghua.
History of language
Before the year 979 AD, the Puxian region was part of QuanzhouQuanzhou
Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...
county and people there spoke a form of Min Nan
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
(Southern Min). Due to its origin in the past as part of spoken Minnan, it lies closely to the other modern Minnan dialects, see chart relationship Min Chinese#Varieties.
In 979 AD, during the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
, the region was administratively separated from Quanzhou and the language developed separately from the rest of Southern Min. Due to its proximity with Fuzhou, it absorbed some elements of Min Dong
Min Dong
The Eastern Min language, or Min Dong is the language mainly spoken in the eastern part of Fujian Province in China, in and near Fuzhou and Ningde. Fuzhou is the province's capital and largest city...
.
Characteristics of language
Puxian has 15 consonants, including the zero onset, the same as most other Min varieties. Puxian has a lateral fricative [ɬ] instead of the [s] in other Min varieties.Puxian has 40 finals and 6 phonemic tones
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
.
Puxian differs from most Min Nan varieties in several ways:
1. The vowel 'a' is replaced by /ɒ/ (o̤) in most cases, e.g. 腳 ko̤ "leg".
2. The vowel 'ư' /ɯ/ is replaced by /y/ ('ü'), e.g. 魚 hṳ "fish".
3. In Putian 'ng' has changed to /uŋ/ except after zero initial and h- (notation: ng), e.g. 湯 tung "soup".
4. The vowel /e/ is often replaced by /ɒ/ o̤, e.g. 馬 bo̤ "horse".
5. Where Quanzhou has 'ĩ' and Zhangzhou has 'ẽ', the corresponding Putian vowel is 'ã', e.g. 病 baⁿ "sick", where ⁿ indicates a nasalized vowel.
6. The vowel 'io' is replaced by 'iau' (notation: a̤u), e.g. 笑 ciao "laugh". This also holds for nasalized vowels, e.g. da̤uⁿ corresponding to Quanzhou tioⁿ.
7. Nasals m n ng sometimes occur in place of voiced stops b d g, e.g. 夢 mang vs. Quanzhou bang.
8. There is a loss of distinction between voiced and unvoiced stops, e.g. the sounds /b/ and /p/ both correspond to the same phoneme and occur in free variation
Free variation
Free variation in linguistics is the phenomenon of two sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered incorrect by native speakers...
.
Initials
| Bilabial | Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... | Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... | Velar | Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
unaspirated | p 巴 (b) | t 打 (d) | k 家 (g) | ʔ 烏 | |
| aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
pʰ 彭 (p) | tʰ 他 (t) | kʰ 卡 (k) | |||
| Nasals Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m 麻 (m) | n 拿 (n) | ŋ 雅 (ng) | |||
| Fricatives | voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of... |
ɬ 沙 (s) | h 下 (h) | |||
| voiced VOICED Virtual Organization for Innovative Conceptual Engineering Design is a virtual organization that promotes innovation in engineering design. This project is the collaborative work of researchers at five universities across the United States, and is funded by the National Science Foundation... |
β* | |||||
| Affricates | unaspirated | ts 渣 (c) | ||||
| aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
tsʰ 査 (ch) | |||||
| Approximant | l 拉 (l) | |||||
Consonant mutation
Consonant mutation is when a consonant in a word changes according to its morphological and/or syntactic environment.Mutation phenomena occur in languages around the world. A prototypical example of consonant mutation is the initial consonant mutation of all modern Celtic languages...
of [p])
Rimes
Puxian Min has 39 rimes.| Vowel | Diphthong | Nasal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no glide | a 鴉 (a) | au 拗 (au) | aŋ 王 (ang) | aʔ 壓 (ah) |
| ɒ 奥 (o̤) | ɒŋ 用 (o̤ng) | ɒʔ 屋 (o̤h) | ||
| o 科 (eo) | ɔu 烏 (o) | oŋ 温 (eong) | oʔ 熨 (eoh) | |
| e 裔 (a̤) | ai 愛 (ai) | ɛŋ 煙 (eng) | ɛʔ 黑 (eh) | |
| œ 改 (e̤) | œŋ 換 (e̤ng) | œʔ 郁 (e̤h) | ||
| ŋ 伓 (ng) | ||||
| /-i-/ | i 衣 (i) | iu 油 (iu) | iŋ 引 (ing) | iʔ 益 (ih) |
| ia 夜 (ia) | iau 要 (a̤u) | iaŋ 鹽 (iang) | iaʔ 葉 (iah) | |
| /-u-/ | u 夫 (u) | ui 位 (ui) | uŋ 黄 (ng) | |
| ua 画 (ua) | ue 歪 (oi) | uaŋ 碗 (uang) | uaʔ 活 (uah) | |
| /-y-/ | y 余 (ṳ) | yŋ 恩 (ṳng) | yʔ 役 (ṳh) | |
| yɒ 安 (io̤ⁿ) | yɒŋ 羊 (io̤ng) | yɒʔ 藥 (io̤h) |
| Chinese character | 黃 (ńg) | 方 (hng) | 漲 (dn̂g) | 幫 (bng) | 光 (gng) | 兩 (nn̄g) | 毛 (mńg) |
| Putian | ŋ̍ | hŋ̍ | tuŋ | puŋ | kuŋ | nuŋ | muŋ |
| Xianyou | ŋ̍ | hŋ̍ | tŋ̍ | pŋ̍ | kŋ̍ | nŋ̍ | mŋ̍ |
| IPA | ã | ẽ | ɛ̃ | ĩ | ỹ | ɒ̃ | iã | yã | uã | aĩ | aũ | uĩ | iũ |
| Romanization | aⁿ | a̤ⁿ | e̤ⁿ | o̤ⁿ | iaⁿ | io̤ⁿ | uaⁿ | oiⁿ | a̤uⁿ | ||||
| Romanized IPA | ã | ẽ | ø̃ | ɒ̃ | iã | yɒ̃ | uã | oĩ | ɛũ |
| Chinese character | 爭 (caⁿ) | 還 (há̤ⁿ) | 段 (dē̤ⁿ) | 三 (so̤ⁿ) | 鼎 (diáⁿ) | 張 (da̤uⁿ) | 看 (kua̍ⁿ) | 飯 (bōiⁿ) | 贏 (ió̤ⁿ) |
| Xianyou | tsã | hĩ | tỹ | sɒ̃ | tiã | tiũ | kʰuã | puĩ | yɒ̃ |
| Putian | tsa | hi | tø | sɒ | tia | tiau | kʰua | puai | yɒ |
Tone
| Tone | Yin Ping 陰平 | Yin Shang 陰上 | Yin Qu 陰去 | Yin Ru 陰入 | Yang Ping 陽平 | Yang Qu 陽去 | Yang Ru 陽入 |
| Putian | ˥˧˧ (533) | ˦˥˧ (453) | ˦˨ (42) | ʔ˨˩ (ʔ2) | ˩˧ (13) | ˩ (11) | ʔ˦ (ʔ4) |
| Xianyou | ˥˦˦ (544) | ˧˧˨ (332) | ˥˨ (52) | ʔ˨ (ʔ2) | ˨˦ (24) | ˨˩ (21) | ʔ˦ (ʔ4) |
Register
| Chinese character | 買 | 黃 | 生 | 領 | 師 | 兩 | 火 | 壁 | 著 |
| Colloquial | pe | ŋ̍ | ɬã, tsʰã | nia | ɬai | nŋ̍ | hoe | pia | tieu |
| Literary | mai | hɒŋ | ɬɛŋ | liŋ | ɬo | løŋ | hɒ | piʔ | tøʔ |
Assimilation
新婦房 ɬiŋ pu paŋ → ɬiŋ mu βaŋ青草 tsʰɔŋ tsʰau → tsʰɔŋ nau
Comparison between Putian Min and Quanzhou Min Nan
| Chinese character | 埋 (lit.) | 萬 (lit.) | 人 (lit.) | 入 | 危 (lit.) | 逆 | 內 | 諾 |
| Putian | pai | paŋ | tsiŋ | tsiʔ | kui | kiʔ | tue | tɔʔ |
| Quanzhou | bai | ban | dzin | dzip | ɡui | ɡiak | lue | lɔk |
Romanization
Hing-hua̍ báⁿ-uā-ci̍ (興化平話字) is the Romanization system for Puxian Min. It has 23 letters: a a̤ b c ch d e e̤ g h i k l m n ng o o̤ p s t u ṳ .The Romanization only needs five tone marks for seven tones:
陰平 Yin Ping (unmarked)
陰上 Yin Shang ˆ (â)
陰去 Yin Qu ˈ (a̍)
陰入 Yin Ru (unmarked)
陽平 Yang Ping ́ (á)
陽去 Yang Qu - (ā)
陽入 Yang Ru ˈh (a̍h)
| IPA | Puxian Min (Xinghua) | Fuzhou Fuzhou dialect Fuzhou dialect , also known as Foochow dialect, Foochow, Foochowese, Fuzhounese, or Fuzhouhua, is considered the standard dialect of Min Dong, which is a branch of Min Chinese mainly spoken in the eastern part of Fujian Province. Native speakers also call it ' , meaning the language spoken in... |
| pʰ | p | p |
| tʰ | t | t |
| kʰ | k | k |
| p | b | b |
| t | d | d |
| k | g | g |
| tsʰ | ch | ch |
| ts | c | c |
| Tone | 陰平 Yin Ping | 陰上 Yin Shang | 陰去 Yin Qu | 陰入 Yin Ru | 陽平 Yang Ping | 陽去 Yang Qu | 陽入 Yang Ru |
| Báⁿ-uā-ci̍ | a | â | a̍ | ah | á | ā | a̍h |
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | a | á | à | ah | â | ā | a̍h |
Example of Hing-hua̍ báⁿ-uā-ci̍
Tai̍-che̤ ū Dō̤, Dō̤ gah Siō̤ng-Da̤̍ dó̤ng-cāi, Dō̤ cuh sī Siō̤ng-Da̤̍. Ca̤̍ Dō̤ ta̍i-che̤ gah Sio̤ng-Da̤̍ dó̤ng-cāi. Māng-beo̍h sī ciā da̤u̍h I cho̤̍ ē; hang pī cho̤̍, beo̍ seo̍h-ā̤uⁿ ng-sī ciā da̤u̍h I cho̤̍ ē.太初有道，道佮上帝同在，道就是上帝。這道太初佮上帝同在。萬物是借著伊造兮，含被造兮，無一樣呣是借著伊造兮。
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 KJV)