Weifang dialect

[liaozhihan]

My mother is from Weifang, and even though I speak Mandarin and can understand the Weifang dialect, I've noticed subtle differences that I hadn't paid attention to until now. Would listening to her conversations with my grandfather (also from Weifang) be a good way to learn the dialect?

[zhouhaochen]

I presume it would be the only way to learn it? There are no textbooks for it.

Best way to learn any language is always to listen to conversations.

 

[Michaelyus]

Yes; listening input comes first!

 

It may be worth asking a few things though. Weifang 潍坊 is a known dialectal border region when it comes to Mandarin, primarily classified as being a Jiao-Liao 胶辽 variety to the east, like Qingdao but also like Dalian across the sea; however, it also shares features with the Ji-Lu 冀鲁 varieties of Jinan and Shijiazhuang. 

 

For example, does 一 [on its own: let's ignore sandhi!] sound like 可以的以 or does it sound like 外衣的衣 instead? This will mark out where your family lies on this border (清入归上 = 胶辽 to the east; 清入归阴平 = 冀鲁 to the west], and it may be instructive to ask right down to the ancestral village level. {There may be better example words; is it even consistent between them all?}

 

Here's a BiliBili video comparing the accents and dialects across some of the 胶辽 varieties of the province of Shandong. 

 

Other features to bear in mind or look out for are:

- use of 俺

- three-way distinction: proximal vs medial vs distal (like Japanese この/その/あの)

- different resultatives: resultative + 了 instead of 得 + resultative

- the comparative structure: is it "X 比 Y + adjective" or is it "X adjective 起/过 Y", or are both/all used?

- the passive structure: Does it use 叫, 给 or 让 rather than or in addition to 被? Is it only restricted to 'negative' events?

 

 

 

[liaozhihan]

一 (as in the number) sounds like yi (in the first tone).

[Michaelyus]

On 9/21/2021 at 9:24 PM, liaozhihan said:

一 (as in the number) sounds like yi (in the first tone).

 

Nice; thanks! As it turns out, 可以的以 (which is historically a 上声 character) is also spoken with a high level tone (Chao tone numbers 55 or 44) across all of Jinan, Weifang and Qingdao, so the fact that your 一 sounds high rather than low, like 以, places your family to the east of this border, a speaker of 膠遼官話／胶辽官话 Jiao-Liao Mandarin. 

 

On the other hand, 外衣的衣 is recorded as low (213/324/214) in Jinan, Weifang and Qingdao.

 

The four tones of [eight middle-aged] Weifanghua speakers, from a 2017 paper, listed in the order of Standard Mandarin tones (and corresponding to the relevant tone categories in Middle Chinese 阴平、阳平、上、去):

1. low fall-rising

2. high falling

3. high level

4. mid-to-low falling

 

Being aware of tone sandhi may also help, even if it's just as simple as "I heard 外衣 pronounced with these pitches, but that doesn't mean 衣服 is going to be pronounced with the same pitch on 衣".

 

 

Edited September 22, 2021 at 10:36 AM by Michaelyus

[liaozhihan]

The tones do correspond with what I hear and "Weifang Fangyanzhi."

 

俺 seems to be used similarly to zán in Chinese, both singular and plural usage of the first-person.

 

Zhèkuòniār and nàkuòniār seem to mean "here" and "there," though the tones I think are 31, 31, 55 on both, though I could be mistaken.