Fuqing dialect

Fuqing dialect (福清話, BUC: Hók-chiăng-uâ, IPA: [huʔ˥ tsʰiaŋ˥ ŋuɑ˦˨]), or Hokchia, is an Eastern Min dialect. It is spoken in the county-level city of Fuqing, situated within the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou. It is not completely mutually intelligible with Fuzhou dialect.

Fuqing dialect
福清話
Hók-chiăng-uâ
Native to	People's Republic of China
Region	Fuqing, Pingtan, some parts of Changle, Yongtai, and Fuzhou city proper
Native speakers	At least 1 million
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Min Eastern Min Houguan Fuqing dialect
Writing system	Chinese characters and Foochow Romanized
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	fuji
Glottolog	None
Linguasphere	79-AAA-icm

Phonology

The Fuqing dialect has fifteen initials, forty-six rimes, and seven tones.

Initials

Including the null initial, the Fuqing dialect has fifteen initials, excluding the phonemes [β] and [ʒ], which are only used in connected spoken speech.

Chart of Fuqing dialect initials

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Dental	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	Voiceless unaspirated	[p] 邊 (b)	[t] 低 (d)		[k] 求 (g)	[ʔ] 鶯
	Voiceless aspirated	[pʰ] 波 (p)	[tʰ] 他 (t)		[kʰ] 氣 (k)
Nasal		[m] 蒙 (m)	[n] 日 (n)		[ŋ] 語 (ng)
Fricative	Voiceless			[θ] 時 (s)		[h] 非/喜 (h)
	Voiced	[β] 桌布 (dó̤h-buó)	[ʒ] 白菜 (băh-cái)
Affricate	Voiceless unaspirated		[ts] 曾 (c)
	Voiceless aspirated		[tsʰ] 出 (ch)
Lateral Approximant			[l] 柳 (l)

(The Chinese characters represent the sample characters taken from the Qī Lín Bāyīn (《戚林八音》, Foochow Romanized: Chék Lìng Báik-ĭng), while the Latin letters are from the orthography Foochow Romanized).

[θ] is a voiceless dental fricative, which some pronounce as [s].[1]

[ts], [tsʰ] and [s] palatalize to [tɕ], [tɕʰ], [ɕ] before finals that begin with /y/, the close front rounded vowel (i.e. before the finals [y], [yo/yɔ], [yoŋ/yɔŋ], [yoʔ/yɔʔ]).[1]

Rimes

Including the syllabic nasal consonant [ŋ̍], the Fuqing dialect has forty-six rimes in total. Apart from [ŋ̍] and [iau], all rimes have a close/open distinction.

Chart of Fuqing dialect rimes

	Simple vowels	Compound vowels	Nasal coda /-ŋ/	Glottal coda /-ʔ/
Null medial	[a/ɑ] 嘉 (a, ah[2])	[au/ɑu] 郊 (au)	[aŋ/ɑŋ] 山 (ang)	[aʔ/ɑʔ] 鴨 (ak)
		[ai/ɑi] 開 (ai)
	[o/ɔ] 歌 (o̤, o̤h)	[oi/ɔi] 催 (oi/o̤i)	[oŋ/ɔŋ] 釭 (ong/aung)	[oʔ/ɔʔ] 樂 (ok/auk)
	[ɛ/æ] 西 (a̤)	[eu/ɛu] 溝 (eu)	[ɛŋ/æŋ] 燈 (eng/aing)	[ɛʔ/æʔ] 客 (ek/aik)
	[ø/œ] 初 (e̤/ae̤)		[øŋ/œŋ] 東 (e̤ng/ae̤ng)	[øʔ/œʔ] 角 (e̤k/ae̤k)
			[ŋ̍] 伓 (ng)
Medial /i/	[ia/iɑ] 奇 (ia, iah)	[iau] -- (--)	[iaŋ/iɑŋ] 聲 (iang)	[iaʔ/iɑʔ] 察 (iak)
	[i/e] 之 (i/e, ih/eh)	[iu/ieu] 秋 (iu/eu)	[iŋ/eŋ] 賓 (ing/eng)	[iʔ/eʔ] 力 (ik/ek)
	[ie/iɛ] 雞 (ie)	[ieu/iɐu] 燒 (ieu)	[ieŋ/iɛŋ] 天 (ieng)	[ieʔ/iɛʔ] 熱 (iek)
Medial /u/	[u/o] 孤 (u/o)	[ui/uoi] 輝 (ui/oi)	[uŋ/oŋ] 春 (ung/ong)	[uʔ/oʔ] 福 (uk/ok)
	[ua/uɑ] 花 (ua, uah)		[uaŋ/uɑŋ] 歡 (uang)	[uaʔ/uɑʔ] 法 (uak)
	[uo/uɔ] 過 (uo, uoh)	[uoi/uɐi] 杯 (uoi)	[uoŋ/uɔŋ] 光 (uong)	[uoʔ/uɔʔ] 月 (uok)
Medial /y/	[y/ø] 須 (ṳ/e̤ṳ)		[yŋ/øŋ] 銀 (ṳng/e̤ṳng)	[yʔ/øʔ] 肉 (ṳk/e̤ṳk)
	[yo/yɔ] 橋 (io, ioh)		[yoŋ/yɔŋ] 香 (iong)	[yoʔ/yɔʔ] 藥 (iok)

The rime before the slash is the close or tense rime (緊韻、窄韻), while after the slash is the open or lax rime (鬆韻、寬韻). The Chinese characters represent the sample characters taken from the Qī Lín Bāyīn (《戚林八音》, Foochow Romanized: Chék Lìng Báik-ĭng, with further characters from rimes with glottal codas. The Latin letters are from the orthography Foochow Romanized.

The rime [iau] only has one syllable [ŋiau], and is not found in the Qī Lín Bāyīn; furthermore, Foochow Romanized does not have a way to represent this syllable.

In the modern Rongcheng dialect, the rime [iu/ieu] has now merged into [ieu/iɐu] and is no longer distinguished. Also in the new Rongcheng dialect, the rime [ui/uoi] has merged into [uoi/uɐi]. The syllabic nasal [ŋ̍] in the modern Rongcheng dialect is read as [iŋ]; some sources have not yet listed this final in their charts.[3]

Tones

The Fuqing dialect has seven tones, with the Middle Chinese four tone categories of level/even (平), departing (去) and entering (入) all divided into dark (陰) and light (陽) categories. The names and the sequence of the seven tones are outlined below, as listed in the traditional rime dictionary Qī Lín Bāyīn:

Traditional nomenclature	Upper level 上平	Rising tone 上聲	Upper departing 上去	Upper entering 上入	Lower level 下平	Lower departing 下去	Lower entering 下入
Standard nomenclature[4]	Dark level 陰平 Ĭng-bìng	Rising tone 上聲 Siōng-siăng	Dark departing 陰去 Ĭng-ké̤ṳ	Dark entering 陰入 Ĭng-ĭk	Light level 陽平 Iòng-bìng	Light departing 陽去 Iòng-ké̤ṳ	Light entering 陽入 Iòng-ĭk
IPA pitches	˥˧ (53)	˧˨ (32)	˨˩ (21)	ʔ˩˨ (12ʔ)	˥ (55)	˦˨ (42)	ʔ˥ (5ʔ)
Foochow Romanized (with a as example)	ă	ā	á	ák	à	â	ăk

The dark level (陰平 Ĭng-bìng) tone falls the most sharply; although the light departing (陽去 Iòng-ké̤ṳ) tone is also a high falling tone, its fall in pitch is not as dramatic.

Additionally, the Fuqing dialect contains the neutral tone in colloquial speech, which in tone sandhi produces a new tone contour, one that rises (˧˥, 35).[3][5]

Close-open rimes

The phenomenon of close and open rime alternation (also known as tense and lax rimes; in Chinese "寬窄韻現象", "鬆、緊韻現象" or "本韻、變韻現象")[6] is one found throughout the dialects of cities and villages in the traditional Fuzhou area (the ten towns of Fuzhou, 福州十邑). But it is not found in, for example, the dialects of Gutian (古田) and Luoyuan (羅源). The dialect of Fuqing, along with that of the urban area of Fuzhou, exhibits this phenomenon.

According to the original listing of the rimes in the Qī Lín Bāyīn, the medial vowel did not change with the tones. But in the Fuqing dialect, when the rime is in either one of the departing tones or in the dark entering tone, the medial vowel changes to another, the rime being called the open rime. When in either of the two level tones, in the rising tone, or in the light entering tone, the rime this time does not change; this rime is called the close rime. In the Fuqing dialect, with the exception of [ŋ] and [iau], all rimes exhibit this close-open alternation.

As an example, the rime from "春" in the Qī Lín Bāyīn, lists the two rimes: [uŋ] and [uk]. In the Gutian dialect, the same vowel is preserved in the rime [u], regardless of tone. But in the Fuqing dialect, the rime [uŋ] in the dark departing (陰去) and light departing (陽去) tones changes to [oŋ], where the vowel in the final [u] has become [o]. Similarly, [uʔ] in the upper departing (上入) tone becomes the open rime [oʔ], where the vowel has again changed.

Tone name	Dark level 陰平	Rising tone 上聲	Dark departing 陰去	Dark entering 陰入	Light level 陽平	Light departing 陽去	Light entering 陽入
Chinese character	東	董	噸	督	同	燉	獨
Fuqing dialect	[tuŋ]	[tuŋ]	[toŋ]	[toʔ]	[tuŋ]	[toŋ]	[tuʔ]
Gutian dialect	[tuŋ]	[tuŋ]	[tuŋ]	[tuk]	[tuŋ]	[tuŋ]	[tuk]

Within the Fuqing dialect, the open rime's vowel is always more open (alias 'lower') by a degree than the close rime. For example, 知 is read [ti] as a close rime, with the close vowel [i]. Listed as the same rime but in a different tone (i.e. light departing 陽去) is 地, which is instead read as [te], an open rime with the half-close vowel [e]. This is more open than [i] by one degree. All close rimes becomes their corresponding open rimes according to this rule.

Illustration of the phonetics of the close-open alternation

Close rime	Open rime
師 [θy]	士 [θø]
低 [te]	遞 [tɛ]
東 [tøŋ]	動 [tœŋ]
庚 [kɛŋ]	縣 [kæŋ]
夫 [hu]	婦 [ho]
多 [to]	道 [tɔ]
巴 [pa]	罷 [pɑ]

Sound changes

The Fuqing dialect has a particularly rich set of phonetic changes. The pronunciation of a particular Chinese character under certain circumstances can undergo changes in its initial, its rime, and its tone. For example, the word 兄弟哥 (brother, Standard Mandarin: 兄弟) is made of the three words 兄 /hiaŋ˥˧/, 弟 /tiɛ˦˨/ and 哥 /ko˥˧/, but is actually pronounced as 兄弟哥 /hiaŋ˥ nie˥ o˥˧/. Within this word, the first syllable 兄 has undergone tone sandhi and has thus changed tone; the last syllable 哥 has lost its initial consonant; and the rime of the middle syllable 弟 has changed in both vowel and tone. Within lexical or semantic items, the three features of initial, rime and tone are subject to sandhi phenomena. In colloquial Fuqing speech, this type of change is very frequently encountered, but is rare in Chinese as a whole.

Initial assimilation

In colloquial Fuqing speech, the initial consonants of Chinese characters or syllables are subject to change under specific circumstances within lexical items. The first modern work to examine the phonology of the Fuzhou dialect, the Mǐnyīn Yánjiū (閩音研究) used the term "initial assimilation" (in simplified Chinese: 声母类化; traditional Chinese: 聲母類化; pinyin: shēngmǔ lèihuà) to refer to this phenomenon.[7][8] The Fuqing dialect contains two voiced initial consonants, /β/ and /ʒ/, that only appear through initial assimilation.

Initial assimilation in the Fuqing dialect occurs in polysyllabic lexemes (i.e. lexical items or words of two or more syllables or Chinese characters) and certain semantic groups. Usually within these groups, all syllables apart from the first undergo initial assimilation. But if the initial of the following syllable is a nasal or /l/, then the initial assimilation does not occur at that point. Not every phrase will undergo initial assimilation, and the ones that do may differ from their counterparts in the other Min Dong varieties.

The syllable that undergoes initial assimilation is the "latter character"; that which precedes it is the "former character". Initial assimilation in the Fuqing dialect consists of three types: voicing, nasalisation/nasal assimilation and suppression. The rime of the former character determines the type of assimilation of the latter character's initial.

Former character's rime type	Latter character's initial type	Example
"Checked rime" / Rime ending in a glottal stop	No change	/hoʔ tsʰiaŋ/ > [huʔ tsʰiaŋ] (福清, Fuqing)
Yang rime / Rime ending in a nasal	Nasalisation / Nasal assimilation	/hiaŋ tiɛ/ > [hiaŋ niɛ] (兄弟, brother)
Yin rime / Rime ending in a vowel	Voicing or suppression	/θɛ pœʔ/ > [θɛ βœʔ] (西北, northwest) /ŋo kæŋ/ > [ŋu æŋ] (五縣, five counties)

Which voiced consonant or nasal consonant or whether the consonant is suppressed depends on the place of articulation of the latter syllable's initial.

Initial's place of articulation	Initial	Example character	Nasalisation / Nasal assimilation	Voicing	Suppression
Labial	p, pʰ	臂 [piɛ]	[kieŋ miɛ] (肩臂)	[tsʰiu βiɛ] (手臂)	--
Velar	k, kʰ, h, ʔ	學 [hoʔ]	[θoŋ ŋoʔ] (算學)	--	[θu oʔ] (數學)
Dental (Type A)	t, tʰ, θ	頭 [tʰau]	[tsieŋ nau] (枕頭)	[ŋia lau] (額頭)	--
Dental (Type B)	ts, tsʰ	蔗 [tsiɑ]	[kaŋ niɑ] (甘蔗)	[huʔ tsiu ʒiɑ] (福州蔗)	--

Type A dentals after voicing assimilation do not become the standard [l], but are slightly flapped.[9]

Tone sandhi

As with the majority of southern varieties of Chinese, the Fuqing dialect exhibits tone sandhi. The phenomenon of tone sandhi in the Fuqing dialect contains a whole set of rules to be followed, but it is still rather complex: one tone can undergo different changes depending on what tone follows it. For example, the light entering (陽入) tone in front of the dark departing (陰去) tone becomes ˩ (11), but in front of a rising tone (上聲) it becomes ˥ (55); and in front of the dark entering (陰入) tone it becomes ˨˩ (21).

Chart of tone sandhi with 實, a syllable in the light entering tone (陽入調)

Original syllable (IPA)	Tone of the following syllable	Tone value after sandhi	Example word
/θiʔ˥/	Dark departing 陰去	˩ (11)	[θiʔ˩ tsiɛ˨˩] (實際)
/θiʔ˥/	Rising tone 上聲	˥ (55)	[θiʔ˥ tsieŋ˧˨] (實踐)
/θiʔ˥/	Dark entering 陰入	˨˩ (21)	[θiʔ˨˩ tseʔ˩˨] (實質)

In many local dialects of the Fuzhou area (within the Eastern Min family), the last syllable of a word does not undergo tone sandhi. However, in the Fuqing dialect, the last syllable's tone does change under certain circumstances.

First Character and Pronunciation	Last Character and Pronunciation	Pronunciation in Sandhi
小 /θieu˧˨/	禮 /lɛ˧˨/	小禮 /θieu˨ lɛ˥/
綠 /luo˥˧/	色 /θæʔ˩˨/	綠色 /luo˨˩ θæʔ˨/

Below is a full table for the tone sandhi on two syllable domains for the main "new" Rongcheng pronunciation of the Fuqing dialect:

"New" Rongcheng Fuqing dialect: Two-character Tone Sandhi

	Tone of latter syllable
	Ĭng-bìng (陰平) ˥˧ (53)	Siōng-siăng (上聲) ˧˨ (32)	Ĭng-ké̤ṳ (陰去) ˨˩ (21)	Ĭng-ĭk (陰入) ʔ˩˨ (12ʔ)	Iòng-bìng (陽平) ˥ (55)	Iòng-ké̤ṳ (陽去) ˦˨ (42)	Iòng-ĭk (陽入) ʔ˥ (5ʔ)
Ĭng-bìng (陰平) ˥˧ (53)	˥˧ ˥˧	˥˧ ˧˨	˧˥ ˨˩	˧˥ ʔ˩˨	˥˧ ˥	˧˥ ˦˨	˥ ʔ˥
Siōng-siăng (上聲) ˧˨ (32)	˨˩ ˥˧	˨˩ ˥˧	˧˥ ˨˩	˧˥ ʔ˩˨	˨˩ ˧˥	˧˥ ˦˨	˨˩ ʔ˥
Ĭng-ké̤ṳ (陰去) ˨˩ (21)	˥ ˥˧	˥˧ ˧˨	˥˧ ˨˩	˥˧ ʔ˩˨	˥ ˥	˥˧ ˦˨	˥ ʔ˥
Ĭng-ĭk (陰入) ʔ˩˨ (12ʔ)	ʔ˥ ˥˧	ʔ˥ ˧˨	ʔ˥ ˨˩	ʔ˥ ʔ˩˨	ʔ˥ ˥	ʔ˥ ˦˨	ʔ˥ ʔ˥
Iòng-bìng (陽平) ˥ (55)	˥ ˥˧	˥ ˧˨	˨˩ ˨˩	˨˩ ʔ˩˨	˥ ˥	˥ ˦˨	˥ ʔ˥
Iòng-ké̤ṳ (陽去) ˦˨ (42)	˥ ˥˧	˥ ˧˨	˨˩ ˨˩	˨˩ ʔ˩˨	˥ ˥	˥ ˦˨	˥ ʔ˥
Iòng-ĭk (陽入) ʔ˥ (ʔ5)	ʔ˥ ˥˧	ʔ˥ ˧˨	ʔ˨˩ ˨˩	ʔ˨˩ ʔ˩˨	ʔ˥ ˥	ʔ˥ ˦˨	ʔ˥ ʔ˥

Aside from words composed of two syllables (or binomes), those composed of three syllables also undergo tone sandhi.

First Character	Second Character	Third Character	Pronunciation in Sandhi
福 /hoʔ˩˨/	清 /tsʰiaŋ˥˧/	話 /uɑ˦˨/	福清話 /huʔ˥ tsʰiaŋ˥ ŋuɑ˦˨/

Rime changes

Within polysyllabic words (of two or more syllables) or characters within one sense unit, if in the departing tone (both light departing and dark departing) or in the dark entering tone, and if it is not the last character in the unit, the rime undergoes a transformation. This rime change is related to the open/close rime phenomenon: as these three tones only have open rimes, when the character changes tone through tone sandhi, the open rimes will become the corresponding close rimes.

	First character	Middle character	Final character	Group pronunciation
Fuqing dialect	/hoʔ/ (福)	/tsʰiaŋ/ (清)	/kæŋ/ (縣)	/huʔ tsʰiaŋ ŋæŋ/ (福清縣)
Gutian dialect	/huk/ (福)	/tsʰiaŋ/ (清)	/keiŋ/ (縣)	/huk tsʰiaŋ ŋeiŋ/ (福清縣)

Hence /tsʰiaŋ˥˧/「清」being light level tone has a close rime, so although it is in a non-final position within the group, its rime does not change. On the other hand, /hoʔ˩˨/「福」 is light entering tone, while /keiŋ˦˨/「縣」 is dark departing tone; both characters hence have open rimes. As 「福」 is in a non-final position in its group, its rime changes;「縣」 is the last character and so resists the change.

Internal variation

The Fuqing dialect is divided into several branches, based on their phonology:[10]

• The Rongcheng branch (Chinese: 融城片; pinyin: Róngchéng piàn) includes an area covering the city center, as well as the towns of Dongzhang (東張鎮), Jingyang (鏡洋鎮), Yuxi (漁溪鎮), Shangjing (上逕鎮), Haikou (海口鎮), Chengtou (城頭鎮), Nanling (南嶺鎮), Longtian (龍田鎮), Jiangjing (江鏡鎮) and parts of Xincuo (新厝鎮). The features of this branch include the following:
  • merger of the [iu] 秋 and [ieu] 燒 finals;
  • the original area of Rongcheng Town (融城鎮) had a split between old and new, where several finals have merged;
  • the tone sandhi system of the new Rongcheng dialect has converged with that of surrounding areas.
• The Gaoshan branch (Chinese: 高山片; pinyin: Gāoshān piàn) covers the towns of Gangtou (港頭鎮), Sanshan (三山鎮), Shapu (沙埔鎮), Gaoshan (高山鎮) and Donghan (東瀚鎮). It is characterized by:
  • relatively non-noticeable rime tensing;
  • a clear distinction of the [iu] 秋 and [ieu] 燒 finals.
• The Jiangyin branch (simplified Chinese: 江阴片; traditional Chinese: 江陰片; pinyin: Jiāngyīn piàn) just includes Jinyin Town. It is characterized by:
  • some words with voiced initials in entering tones retain the final glottal stop whereas the other branches have lost that glottal stop. For example Chinese: 藥 medicine is read as [yoʔ˥] in Jinyin as opposed to [yo˥˧] as in Rongcheng.
  • there is a reported phonemic difference in vowel length in certain words with glottal stops, e.g. Chinese: 藥 medicine has a long vowel, whereas Chinese: 閱 examine, read has a short vowel, although both are read [yoʔ˥].
• The Yidu branch (Chinese: 一都片; pinyin: Yīdū piàn), comprising Yidu Town. It is geographically close to Yongtai County, and features which are closer to the Fuzhou dialect. Some of these are:
  • final glottal stops are retained from Middle Chinese final obstruent stops, as in the Fuzhou dialect;
  • it has the triphthong [uoi] where Rongcheng would have a diphthong [ua];
  • there are more diphthongs where Rongcheng would have monophthongs, e.g. Yidu [ou] for Rongcheng [o].

There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the three branches despite their differences, and the original Rongcheng dialect, spoken in an area now part of Yuping Road (Chinese: 玉屏街道; pinyin: Yùpíng Jiēdào), is well understood across the whole Fuqing region.

Historical evolution

The Fuqing dialect has lost the voiced obstruents from Middle Chinese, has merged the final nasal consonants into one phoneme and similarly for the entering tone final stop consonant. But it has also preserved many readings from Middle Chinese: its pattern of entering tone readings greatly matches that of Middle Chinese, apart from the colloquial layer of character readings which has lost them.

Overview

Old and Middle Chinese had a large array of voiced consonants, which are preserved in the Wu group of Chinese varieties, e.g. in the Suzhou dialect. But the Fuqing dialect has devoiced the obstruents, turning them into voiceless consonants, just as other Eastern Min varieties of Chinese have.

Comparison of Voiced Initials [11]

Character	朋	豆	近	絕	紅	解
Suzhou dialect	[bã]	[dɤ]	[dʑin]	[ziəʔ]	[ɦoŋ]	[ɡɑ]
Fuqing dialect	[pɛŋ]	[tɑu]	[køŋ]	[tsuoʔ]	[huŋ]	[kɛ]

The Fuqing dialect does have two voiced obstruent phonemes, but these appear in connected speech, and are not part of the initials in the phonological system.

The 疑 initial of Middle Chinese, reconstructed as the velar nasal /ŋ/, has not been preserved by many modern varieties of Chinese. In standard Mandarin, the initial [ŋ] has been completely lost, with some having merged into the initial [n] (e.g. 牛, 虐, 擬 etc.). In Wu, Yue and Hakka, the [ŋ] initial with front vowels /i/ and /y/ are either lost (hence merging into the 影 initial) or become another initial. But in the Fuqing dialect, the 疑 initial is preserved as [ŋ] in front of front and back vowels alike, with a few exceptions having merged into /m/. In some Mandarin varieties as well as Yue, a [ŋ] sound is added to the beginning of back vowels of the null initial class 影 (e.g. pronouncing 安 as [ŋan]), but in the Fuqing dialect the 影 initial always remains null.

Comparison of Historical 疑 Initials [12]

Character	牙	礙	餓	嶽	我	誤	疑	逆	魚	虐	銀	瓦
Fuqing dialect	[ŋa]	[ŋɑi]	[ŋɔ]	[ŋoʔ]	[ŋua]	[ŋuɔ]	[ŋi]	[ŋiʔ]	[ŋy]	[ŋyoʔ]	[ŋyŋ]	[muɑ]
Cantonese	[ŋa]	[ŋɔi]	[ŋɔ]	[ŋɔk]	[ŋɔ]	[ŋ̍]	[ji]	[jɪk]	[jy]	[jœk]	[ŋɐn]	[ŋa]

The Middle Chinese 非 group is pronounced in the Fuqing dialect not with [f] but with [p], [pʰ] or [h]. For example, 發 read as [puɔʔ], 蜂 read as [pʰuŋ], 非 read as [hi].

A group in Middle Chinese corresponding to 知 is pronounced with alveolar consonants [t] or [tʰ], and not with retroflex affricates, for example, 知 as [ti], 竹 as [tøʔ], 重 as [tʰyŋ].

The three nasal codas of Middle Chinese have become one velar nasal [ŋ] in the Fuqing dialect. The three departing tone voiceless stop codas also all became a velar stop [k], which has weakened to a glottal stop [ʔ].[13]

Comparison of Final Consonants[14][15]

Character	南	電	驚	帖	雪	腹
Zhouning dialect	[nan]	[tin]	[kiɛŋ]	[tʰɛk]	[θut]	[pok]
Ningde dialect	[nam]	[tiŋ]	[kiaŋ]	[tʰɛp]	[suk]	[pok]
Fuqing dialect	[naŋ]	[tiɛŋ]	[kiaŋ]	[tʰæʔ]	[θuɔʔ]	[poʔ]

The Fuqing dialect possesses just one tone derived from the historical rising tone (上聲) of Middle Chinese, the dark rising tone. The light rising tone merged with the light departing tone, with a split in those that started rising tone characters with voiced sonorants: in literary readings they grouped with light rising tone, whereas in colloquial readings these adopted the pattern of dark rising and became dark departing.[10] For example, 老 [lo˧˨ / lɑu˦˨], 雨 [y˧˨ / huɔ˦˨], 有 [iu˧˨ / ou˦˨] etc.

Where in the rime book Qī Lín Bāyīn (《戚林八音》), an entering tone character begins with an unvoiced consonant (e.g. the initials 花, 嘉, 歌, 之, 過, 橋, 奇), these lose their stop consonant ending in colloquial reading and thus merge with either light departing or dark level tones. In the Fuzhou dialect these preserve their identity as entering tone in the colloquial reading. Nevertheless, in literary reading these characters retain their identity as entering tone in Fuqing as well as in Fuzhou.

Character	畫	隔	索	挃	曲	石	糴
Fuqing dialect (colloquial reading)	ua˥˧	kɑ˨˩	θɔ˨˩	ti˥˧	kʰuɔ˨˩	θyo˥˧	tia˥˧
Fuzhou dialect (colloquial reading)	uaʔ˥	kɑʔ˨˦	sɔʔ˨˦	tiʔ˥	kʰuɔʔ˨˦	suoʔ˥	tieʔ˥

Literary and colloquial readings

The Fuqing dialect has a rich source of variation in its split between literary and colloquial readings, with initials, rimes and tones being affected. They can be divided into seven types:

• Difference in initials: 富 ([po˨˩] / [ho˨˩])
• Difference in rimes: 清 ([tsʰiaŋ˥˧] / [tsʰiŋ˥˧])
• Difference in tones: 利 ([le˨˩] / [le˦˨])
• Difference in initial and rime: 夫 ([puo˥˧] / [hu˥˧])
• Difference in initial and tone: 遠 ([huɔŋ˦˨] / [uoŋ˧˨])
• Difference in rime and tone: 兩 ([lɑŋ˦˨] / [lyoŋ˧˨])
• Difference in initial, rime and tone: 網 ([mœŋ˦˨] / [uoŋ˧˨])

Usually when there is a difference between literary and colloquial readings, the literary reading is used in reading and more literary compound words, whilst the colloquial one is used in vernacular speech, common surnames and local place names. For example, the common verb 聽 listen has the colloquial reading [tʰiaŋ˥˧], the surname 劉 (Liu in Mandarin) is pronounced [lau˦], and the place-name component 清 in the names of Minqing 閩清 and Fuqing 福清 are pronounced [tsʰiaŋ˥˧], though the name of Qingliu County 清流縣, being outside the Fuzhou area, uses the literary pronunciation. Literary pronunciations are also used in poetry, with some readings specifically used only in this context; additionally, neologisms generally use literary pronunciation.

Vocabulary

Fuqing has had a long history of migration, with which has come a large number of different sources of vocabulary, creating several layers or lexical strata. One of the layers that the Fuqing dialect has is the Minyue language,[16] which today remains as a source of colloquial vocabulary.[17] Despite their common use, these vocabulary items often cannot be traced back to a Chinese root character.

Vocabulary derived from Old Chinese can be classified into two types. The first comes from migrants from the Three Kingdoms period, when people of the Eastern Wu migrated to Fujian, bringing the varieties of Wu and Chu.[17] This layer is already extinct in the Chinese varieties spoken in the homelands of the Wu and Chu regions, but it is still found across the Min varieties of Fujian.[18] The second type derives from the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Such vocabulary is often used in colloquial speech.

The lexical stratum from Middle Chinese derives from the Chinese spoken in the Tang dynasty, with some later additions from the Song dynasty, forming the principal literary layer.

Origin of lexical items[19]

Layer	Origin	Fuqing		Meaning		Notes
		IPA	Chinese characters	English	Standard Chinese
Minyue 閩越底層	Old Yue language 古越語	/ŋɔŋ˦˨/	戇 or 歞	stupid	傻	Compare Wuming Zhuang /ŋɔŋ/
		/loʔ˩˨/	--	to fall, decline	脫落	Compare Wuming Zhuang /lo:t/
		/piŋ˧˨/	箳	a wicker board for a bed; used in the word	竹箳 竹編床板。用於「竹箳」一詞。	Compare Wuming Zhuang /pin/
Old Chinese 上古漢語	Old Wu 古吳語	/pʰieu˥˧/	薸	duckweed	浮萍	《揚子．方言》江東謂浮萍為薸。
		/uoŋ˧˨/	䘼	sleeve	袖子	《集韻》委遠切，音宛。《玉篇》襪也。又《方言．郭註》江東呼衣褾曰䘼。
		/kie˦/	鮭	salted fish	鹽醃製的小魚	《集韻》戸佳切……，吳人謂魚菜總稱。
	Old Chu 古楚語	/θyo˥˧/	蜀	one (used only in counting)	數詞「一」	《方言》（揚雄所著），卷十二：一，蜀也，南楚謂之蜀。
		/tsʰeŋ˨˩/	㵾	cold	冷	《說文》冷寒也。楚人謂冷曰㵾。
		/tsʰa˥˧/	瘥	to recover (from illness)	病情好轉	《玉篇》疾愈也。《方言》，卷三：南楚病癒者謂之差。（後作「瘥」）
	Central Plains Chinese 中原漢語	/tiaŋ˧˨/	鼎	wok/pan	鍋
		/toŋ˥˧/	湯	boiled water	熱水
		/tsʰuoi˨˩/	喙	mouth	嘴
		/sɔ˨˩/	欶	to suck	吮吸
Middle Chinese 中古漢語	Central Plains Chinese 中原漢語	/tyo˥˧/	著	at, in	在
		/ko˨˩/	故	still, -ing	還、尚
		/tɑu˨˩/	鬥	to compete, vie	競相

Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese has also been source of vocabulary, via neologisms or formal compounds. Some such words are replaced by coinages from local roots, e.g. bicycle, which in the Fuqing dialect is 骹踏車 instead of being directly cognate to the standard Mandarin 腳踏車.

With contact with foreign countries, there have also been loanwords from non-Chinese languages, such as 加蘇林 for gasoline/petroleum, which in standard Mandarin would be 石油; also 馬臘加 (Malacca, which is 馬六甲 in Mandarin).

In more modern times, the rise of new technologies, products and concepts has produced more direct loans from standard Mandarin, which may be used despite those sounds being rare in Fuqing dialect or even if there are Fuqing roots that could have been used. For example, a "night school" is 夜校, derived from standard Mandarin, and not 暝晡校 as would have been expected from native Fuqing dialect roots.

References

1. 馮愛珍：《福清方言研究》 Fuqing Fangyan Yanjiu, 1993, 社會科學文獻出版社, p.28. Because [θ] is a distinctive feature of the Fuqing dialect, and is the mainstream pronunciation, [s] is not listed on the chart.
2. Finals that end in "h" in Foochow Romanized have lost the final glottal stop represented by the "h", and have merged with the light entering tone.
3. 福清市志編纂委員會：《福清市志》, 1994, 廈門大學出版社 (Xiamen University Press), 《卷三十．方言》 (Vol. 30: Topolects).
4. Standard nomenclature refers to names of the tones as used in modern Chinese academia, which is also used by Standard Mandarin. This article follows this convention.
5. 馮愛珍：《福清方言研究》, 1993, 社會科學文獻出版社, p.35
6. 王建華 etc.：連江縣國民小學鄉土語言教材－福州語 第一冊(教師手冊)，連江縣政府，民國九十年：p.8. This article uses the terminology from this textbook.
7. 陳澤平：閩語新探索, Shanghai, Far East Publishing House, 2003: p.25.
8. 陶燠民：閩音研究, Beijing, Scientific Publishing House, 1956, p.15:「二字連語，而有文法上密切之關係，則發生類化現象，其變則隨上字韻母之陰陽，下字聲母之組別而異……。」
9. 袁家驊：漢語方言概要, Beijing, Language and Literature Publishing House, 2003: p. 289.
10. 馮愛珍：《福清方言研究》，1993年，社會科學文獻出版社。124頁
11. \Ye Xiangling 葉祥苓, Ye Xiangling 葉祥苓 (1993). Suzhou fang yan ci dian 蘇州方言詞典 (1st ed.). Nanjing: Jiangsu jiao yu chu ban she 江蘇教育出版社. ISBN 9787534319969.
12. Cantonese Readings from Chinese Character Database: With Word-formations Phonologically Disambiguated According to the Cantonese Dialect
13. 李如龍、王昇魁：戚林八音校注，福州，福建人民出版社，2001. Preface, page 12.
14. 周寧縣地方志編委會，周寧縣志，北京，中國科技出版社，1993年：第三十四篇．方言。漢字周寧音取自該卷同音字表。
15. 沙平. 福建省寧德方言同音字彙. 方言. April 1999：282-295.
16. 梁玉璋、李如龍：福州方言志，福州，海風出版社，2001年：出版說明。
17. 福建省地方志編纂委員會：福建省志·方言志，北京，方志出版社出版，1998年：1頁。
18. 李如龍：福建方言志，福州，福建人民出版社，1997年：24頁。
19. Based on analysis from Fujian Fangyan 《福建方言》, Fujiansheng-zhi: Fangyan-zhi 《福建省志．方言志》 and Fuqingshi-zhi: Fangyan-juan 《福清市志．方言卷》

Related Links

• 漢字古今音資料庫 A Fuqing dialect character dictionary is available, by selecting 現代 > 閩語 >閩東區 > 福清
• Fuqing dialect programming 《講世事》