Weitou dialect

Weitou dialect (simplified Chinese: 围头话; traditional Chinese: 圍頭話; lit.: 'walled (village) language'; Jyutping: Waitau Waa) is a dialect of Yue Chinese. It forms part of the Guan–Bao (莞宝片, Dongguan–Bao'an) branch of Yuehai. It is spoken by older generations in Luohu and Futian districts in Shenzhen, and by those in the New Territories, Hong Kong.

Weitou dialect
圍頭話
Native to	Guangdong
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Yue Yuehai Guan–Bao Weitou dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Weitou dialect
Traditional Chinese	圍頭話
Simplified Chinese	围头话
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wéitóu huà Yue: Cantonese Jyutping wai4 tau4 waa6*2

The Weitou dialect can be heard in Hong Kong TV dramas and movies, and is usually used to depict characters who come from walled villages. For example, in the 1992 movie Now You See Love, Now You Don't, the chief character, played by Chow Yun-fat who himself grew up in Lamma Island, consistently speaks the Weitou dialect.

In a more general sense, Weitou Hua can refer to any variety of Chinese spoken in the villages of Hong Kong, including Hakka and rural Yue dialects. In contrast, the majority of Hong Kong residents speak standard Cantonese, while the majority of Shenzhen residents speak Mandarin.

Phonology

Zhang & Zhuang (2003:21-4) records the phonological systems of three varieties of the Weitou dialect spoken in Hong Kong. Following is Fan Tin's (蕃田), San Tin (in IPA).

The 21 onsets

p	pʰ	b	f	w
t	tʰ	d		l
tʃ	tʃʰ		ʃ	j
k	kʰ	ɡ	h
kʷ	kʷʰ	ɡʷ

The 37 rimes

a		œ	ɔ	ɛ	i	u	y
ai	ɐi	ɵy
au	ɐu			eu
am	ɐm			em				m
æŋ	ɐŋ	œŋ		ɛŋ			yœŋ	ŋ
		ɵŋ	oŋ	eŋ
ap	ɐp			ep
æk	ɐk	œk		ɛk			yœk
		ɵk	ok	ek

There are four tone contours, when the "entering tones" (stopped syllables) are ignored:

The 4 tones

tone name	contour	description
Yin Ping	˨˧ (23) or ˥ (55)	low rising or high
Yang Ping	˨˩ (21)	low
Shang	˧˥ (35)	high rising
Qu	˧ (33)	mid

References

• (in Chinese) Zhang Shaungqing 張雙慶 & Zhuang Chusheng 莊初昇 (2003). Xianggang xinjie fangyan (香港新界方言 "The Dialects of the New Territories, Hong Kong"). Hong Kong: Commercial Press. ISBN 962-07-1682-5.

External links

• (in Chinese) 黄建全，《深圳平湖围头话音系分析》，2005。
• (in Chinese) 《深圳方言分布》，深圳新闻网。