Wu Chinese

Wu
吴语; 吳語
RegionShanghai, Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu, parts of Anhui and Jiangxi provinces; overseas and migrant communities
EthnicityWu
Native speakers
83 million (2021)[1]
Varieties
Chinese characters (Latin script)
Language codes
ISO 639-3wuu
Glottologwuch1236
Linguasphere79-AAA-d
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Wu (simplified Chinese: 吴语; traditional Chinese: 吳語; pinyin: Wúyǔ; Wugniu and IPA:6wu-gniu6 [ɦu˩.nʲy˦] (Shanghainese), 2ghou-gniu6 [ɦou˨.nʲy˧] (Suzhounese)) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang province, and parts of Jiangsu province, especially south of the Yangtze River,[2] which makes up the cultural region of Wu. The Wu languages are at times simply called Shanghainese, especially when introduced to foreigners. The Suzhounese variety was the prestige dialect of Wu as of the 19th century, but had been replaced in status by Shanghainese by the turn of the 20th century, coinciding with a period of rapid language change in the city.[3] The languages of Northern Wu constitute a language family and are mutually intelligible with each other, while those of Southern Wu neither form a phylogenetic language family, nor are mutually intelligible with each other.[2]

Historical linguists view Wu of great significance due to its obviously distinct nature.[4] The Wu languages typically preserve all voiced initials of medieval Chinese, as well as the checked tone in the form of a glottal stop.[5] Wu varieties also have noticably unique morphological and syntactic innovations,[6] as well as lexicon exclusively found in the Wu grouping. It is also of note that the influential linguist Chao Yuen Ren was a native speaker of Changzhounese, a variety of Northern Wu.[7] The Wu varieties, especially that of Suzhou, are traditionally perceived as soft in the ears of speakers of both Wu and non-Wu languages, leading to the idiom "the tender speech of Wu" (吴侬软语; 吳儂軟語).

  1. ^ Wu at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Li (2012).
  3. ^ Qian (2003a).
  4. ^ VanNess Simmons (1999).
  5. ^ Norman (1988), p. 180.
  6. ^ Wang (2014).
  7. ^ Chao (1976).