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Dialects and Varieties

Southwestern Mandarin

Other Dialects and Varieties

Southwestern Mandarin, also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin, is a Mandarin Chinese dialect spoken across much of Southwestern China, including Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the northern part of Guangxi and parts of southern Shaanxi and Gansu.

Facts
Region
Spoken in much of Southwestern China, including Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most of Hubei, northwestern Hunan, northern Guangxi and parts of southern Shaanxi and Gansu, and also in Kokang and Wa State in northern Myanmar, northern Thailand and northern Vietnam. 1
Speaker Community
Spoken by roughly 260 million people; if counted separately from central Mandarin it would rank as the eighth most-spoken language in the world by native speakers, behind Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, Portuguese, Arabic and Bengali. 1
Distinguishing Features
Unlike Standard Mandarin, Southwestern Mandarin does not preserve the Middle Chinese retroflex consonant distinction, and most of its varieties also fail to retain the checked tone that many southern Chinese dialects have. 1
Classification
Variety Kind
Regional Dialect 1
Connections

Descends From

Southwestern Mandarin is one of the geographic subgroups of Mandarin Chinese.

Source Wikipedia: Mandarin Chinese
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Southwestern Mandarin
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Southwestern Mandarin is spoken by roughly 260 million people. If considered a language distinct from central Mandarin, it would be the eighth-most spoken language by native speakers in the world, behind Mandarin itself, Spanish, English, Hindi, Portuguese, Arabic and Bengali.
  • Overview section
    Southwestern Mandarin does not possess the distinction of retroflex consonants of Middle Chinese (/ʈ͡ʂ/ ⟨zh⟩, /ʈ͡ʂʰ/ ⟨ch⟩, /ʂ/ ⟨sh⟩, /ɻ/ ⟨r⟩) preserved in Standard Mandarin, most varieties of it also fail to retain the checked tone that many southern
  • Variety kind, Southwestern Mandarin entity page
    Southwestern Mandarin, also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin, is a Mandarin Chinese dialect spoken across much of Southwestern China, including Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the northern part of Guangxi and parts of southern Shaanxi and Gansu.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Mandarin Chinese
WikipediaDescends From: Mandarin Chinese, Classification > Subgroups section
Quote, Descends From: Mandarin Chinese, Classification > Subgroups section
Southwestern Mandarin (260 million), spoken in the provinces of Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and the Mandarin-speaking areas of Hunan, Guangxi and southern Shaanxi.
View the Source
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