Guanzhong dialect

Guanzhong dialect
Xi'anese
西安話 Xǐ'ngǎnhuā
Native toChina
RegionGuanzhong, Shaanxi
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologxian1253

The Guanzhong dialect (simplified Chinese: 关中话; traditional Chinese: 關中話; pinyin: Guānzhōnghuà) is a dialect of Central Plains Mandarin spoken in Shaanxi's Guanzhong region, including the prefecture-level capital city of Xi'an.[1] Since the speech of Xi'an is considered the prototypical Guanzhong speech, the Guanzhong dialect is sometimes referred to as Xi'anese (simplified Chinese: 陕西话; traditional Chinese: 陝西話; pinyin: Shǎnxīhuà or simplified Chinese: 西安话; traditional Chinese: 西安話; pinyin: Xī'ānhuà).

The varieties spoken in northern and southern Shaanxi differ from that of Guanzhong, such as that of Hanzhong, which is a Southwestern Mandarin lect, more closely related to Sichuanese.[2]

In general, the Guanzhong dialect can be classified into two sub-dialects: the Xifu dialect (西府话; 西府話), or the 'dialect of the western prefectures', which is spoken in the west of Xi'an, in Baoji of Shaanxi Province; Tianshui, Qingyang, Pingliang, Longnan of Gansu Province; and south of Guyuan of Ningxia Province, and the Dongfu dialect (东府话; 東府話), or the 'dialect of the eastern prefectures', spoken in Xi'an, Weinan, Tongchuan, Xianyang and Shangluo of Shaanxi Province.[citation needed]

Due to the prevalence of Standard Mandarin in urban areas such as Xi'an, the younger generations tend to speak Standard Mandarin or Guanzhong-accented Standard Mandarin. Due to the lexical and grammatical similarities between Northern Mandarin varieties, attrition of these dialects is more serious.[citation needed] Authorities have moved in to document the local dialects to preserve them.[3][4]: 3 

Although Xi'an was established by the 11th century BCE,[5] the modern Mandarin dialect spoken likely has very little relation to Zhou, Qin, or Han dynasty speech, as Old Mandarin originated in the Yuan dynasty.[6] A recorded 73.5% of young people in Xi'an city can proficiently utilise the dialect.[7] The remainder of this article describes the urban variety of Xi'an.

  1. ^ Kurparska 2010, pp. 66, 139, 165.
  2. ^ Li, Rong (2012). 中國語言地圖集.
  3. ^ "语言工程采录展示平台". 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  4. ^ Hou, Jingyi; Wang, Junhu (December 1997). 西安话音档. 上海教育出版社. ISBN 7-5320-5398-9.
  5. ^ Li, Rong; Wang, Junhu (December 1996). 西安方言词典. 南京愛德印刷有限公司. ISBN 7-5343-2882-9.
  6. ^ Coblin, Weldon South (2000). "A Brief History of Mandarin". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 120 (4). University of Iowa: 537–552. doi:10.2307/606615. JSTOR 606615.
  7. ^ 6-20岁能够熟练使用方言人群比例.