Siyi Yue


Siyi is a coastal branch of Yue Chinese spoken mainly in Guangdong province, but is also used in overseas Chinese communities. Within the province, it is mainly spoken in the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen, but pockets exist outside Jiangmen, including the Doumen and Jinwan districts in Zhuhai, Guzhen in Zhongshan and Jun'an in Foshan. Taishanese, which was one of the most important Chinese dialects in Chinese American communities, is considered a representative dialect.

Etymology

The name "Sze Yup" or "Seiyap" refers to the historical four counties of Jiangmen prefecture: Xinhui, Taishan, Enping and Kaiping.
Since a fifth county, Heshan, was added to the prefecture in 1983, this region is referred to as the "Five Counties" in the province; but for historical reasons, the term "Seiyap" is still used amongst the overseas Chinese communities.
It has also been called Delta Cantonese because all the aforementioned counties are in the Pearl River Delta.

Geographic distribution

The Siyi dialect is mainly distributed along the drainage basin of the Tan river, as well as part of the region west of the main stream of the Xi River, near to the confluence of the two rivers. Most of the region in which Siyi is spoken is administered by the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen, including the Jiangmen city districts of Jianghai, Pengjiang and Xinhui, as well as the county-level cities of Taishan, Kaiping, Enping and the southeastern part of Heshan, but the dialect is also spoken in parts of Zhuhai, the town of Guzhen in Zhongshan and the town of Jun'an in Foshan. In terms of geographic extremes, Siyi is spoken furthest north in Yayao, Heshan; furthest south in Xiachuan Island, Taishan; furthest east in Hongqi, Zhuhai; and furthest west in Naji, Enping. The total geographic area of the region is approximately 9000 square kilometers and the total number of speakers is estimated at 3.9 million in 2010.

Dialectal variation

The table below compares the numbers 1-10 in various dialects of Siyi Yue. Pronunciations are given in IPA.
EnglishHeshan Kaiping Kaiping Kaiping Taishan Taishan Pengjiang Pengjiang Pengjiang Pengjiang Pengjiang Pengjiang Pengjiang Xinhui Xinhui Xinhui
onejɐt55jit55jit55jit55jit55ʝit55jit55 or jit33jit55 or jit33jɐt35jɐt45jɐt45jit45jɐt45jit45jit45jɜt45
twoji22ŋɛi32ŋei32ŋei32ŋei32ŋi11ȵi22ȵi22ji31ji32ji32ji32ji32ŋei32ŋei32ŋi32
threesam33ɬam33sam33sam33ɬam33ɬam33ɬam24ɬam24sam23sam23sam23sam23sam23sam23sam21sɑm23
foursɐi33ɬɛi33sei33sei33ɬei33ɬi33ɬi33ɬi33sei23sei23sei23si23sei23sei23sei23sei45
fiveŋ55ŋ55m̩55m̩55m55m55ŋ55ŋ55m35m45m45m45m45m45m45m45
sixlʊk22lək32lʊk32lʊk32lək32lʊk11lʊk22lʊk22lʊk31lʊk32lʊk32lʊk32lʊk32lʊk32lʊk32lək32
seventhɐt55tʰɜt55ʦʰət55ʦʰət55tʰit55tʰɛt55tʰit55tʰit55tʰɐt35ʦʰɐt45ʦʰɐt45ʦʰɐt45ʦʰɐt45ʦʰɜt45ʦʰɜt45ʦʰɜt45
eightpεt33ʋat33pat33ʋat33pɔt33pat33ɓɐt33wɐt33pɛt35pat45pat45pɛt35pat45ʋat23pat23pɑt23
ninekɐu55--kəu55kəu55kiu55kiu55kiu55kiu55kɐu35kɐu45kɐu45kɐu45kɐu45kɜu45kiau45kɜu45
tensɐp22ɕip32sip32sip32sip32sip11sip22sip22sɐp31sɐp32sɐp32sɐp32sɐp32sip32sip32sɜp32