Ningde dialect

Ningde dialect (Eastern Min: 寧德話) is a dialect of Eastern Min Chinese spoken in urban area of Ningde, which is a prefecture-level city in the northeastern coast of Fujian province.

Ningde dialect
寧德話
Native toNingde, Fujian
Language codes
ISO 639-3
GlottologNone
Linguasphere79-AAA-icb

Phonology

Ningde dialect has 15 initials, 78 rimes and 7 tones.

Initials

p, , m, t, , n, l, ts, tsʰ, s, k, , ŋ, x, ʔ

Rimes

10 monophthongs: a, ɛ, œ, ø, ɔ, o, i, u, y

18 compound vowels: ai, ei, ɔi, oi, øy, au, ɛu, eu, ou, ia, ie, iu, iɐu, ua, uo, ui, uai, uoi

15 nasal rimes: , ɛŋ, , œŋ, øŋ, ɔŋ, , , , , iaŋ, iɛŋ, uaŋ, uoŋ, yøŋ

26 checked rimes: , ɛʔ, œʔ, øʔ, ɔʔ, , iaʔ, iɛʔ, uaʔ, uoʔ, yøʔ, ak̚, ɛk̚, ek̚, œk̚, øk̚, ɔk̚, ok̚, ik̚, uk̚, yk̚, iak̚, iɛk̚, uak̚, uok̚, yøk̚

These 6 nasal rimes tend to merge into nasal rimes ending with coda , and will disappear in future: am, ɛm, em, im, iɛm, ɔn

These 5 checked rimes tend to merge into nasal rimes ending with coda -k̚, and will disappear in future: ap̚, ɛp̚, ep̚, ip̚, iɛp̚

Tones

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Tone name dark level
陰平
light level
陽平
rising
上聲
dark departing
陰去
light departing
陽去
dark entering
陰入
light entering
陽入
Tone contour ˦ (44) ˨ (22) ˦˨ (42) ˧˥ (35) ˧˧˨ (332) ˨ (2) ˥ (5)

Initial assimilation

The two-syllable initial assimilation rules are shown in the table below:

Coda of the Former Syllable Initial Assimilation
Null coda The initial of the latter syllable may change:
  • /p/, /pʰ/ change to null initial or /β/;
  • /t/, /tʰ/ and /s/ change to /l/;
  • /ts/ and /tsʰ/ change to null initial or /ʒ/;
  • /k/, /kʰ/ and /x/ change to null initial;
  • /m/, /n/, /l/, /ŋ/ and null initial remain unchanged.
Nasal coda The initial of the latter syllable may change:
  • /p/ and /pʰ/ change to /m/;
  • /t/, /tʰ/ and /s/ change to /n/;
  • /ts/ and /tsʰ/ change to /ʒ/ or /m/;
  • /k/, /kʰ/, /x/ and null initial change to /ŋ/ or /m/;
  • /m/, /n/, /l/ and /ŋ/ remain unchanged.
checked coda The former syllable lost its checked coda at first; then, the initial assimilation of latter syllable follow the law above.
checked coda /-p̚/ The Initial of latter syllable change to /p/ while the former syllable lost its checked coda /-p̚/

Tone sandhi

Ningde dialect has extremely extensive tone sandhi rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. The two-syllable tonal sandhi rules are shown in the table below (the columns give the first syllable's original citation tone, while the rows give the citation tone of the second syllable):

dark level
44
light level
22
rising
42
dark departing
35
light departing
332
dark entering
2
light entering
5
dark level
44
44
21 44 21 44 21
light level
22
remain unchanged
rising
42
55
dark departing
35
55
light departing
332
44
21 44 21 44 21
dark entering
2
55
light entering
5
44
21 44 21 44 21

References

    • Compilation Commission of Chorography of Ningde City 宁德市地方志编纂委员会 (1995). Ning de shi zhi 宁德市志 ["Chorography of Ningde City"]. 31. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 7-101-01543-3.
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