Weitou dialect

Weitou dialect
Weitou dialect
Traditional Chinese	圍頭話
Simplified Chinese	围头话
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Wéitóuhuà
Wade–Giles	Wei-tʻou-hua
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	wai4 tau4 waa6-2

Weitou dialect
Weitou dialect
圍頭話
Native to	Hong Kong, Guangdong
Native speakers	Under 10 thousand in Hong Kong
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Yue Yuehai Guan–Bao Weitou dialect; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Weitou dialect or Wai Tau dialect^[2]^[3] (Chinese: 圍頭話; Jyutping: wai4 tau4 waa2; lit. 'walled (village) language') is a dialect of Yue Chinese. It forms part of the Guan–Bao (莞寶片; Guǎn bǎo piàn) 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.

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, Wai4 tau4 waa2 can refer to any variety of Chinese spoken in the villages of Hong Kong, including Hakka and rural Yue dialects. In contrast, most Hong Kong residents speak standard Cantonese, while most 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

^ Lau, Chaak Ming; Tang, Gary (2025). 圍頭與客家－香港本土語言故事集 (2 ed.). Scone Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-988-76894-0-9.
^ Dupré, Jean-François (2019). "Urban Development and Land Controversies in Rural Hong Kong: An Indigenous Rights Perspective". In Cheung, Sidney C. H. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. p. 49-67. ISBN 9781315147628.
^ Tsang, Sik Wah Patrick (2002). Hakka immigrants' identity and allegiance: Cultural dualism and missiological outreach. Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission.

(in Chinese) Chang, Song Hing; Zhuang, Chusheng (2003). 香港新界方言 [Dialects of the New Territories]. Commercial Press. ISBN 962-07-1682-5.

External links

(in Chinese) 黄建全. "深圳方言分布". Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
(in Chinese) "深圳方言分布". SZ News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2006.

[1] Lau, Chaak Ming; Tang, Gary (2025). 圍頭與客家－香港本土語言故事集 (2 ed.). Scone Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 978-988-76894-0-9.

[2] Dupré, Jean-François (2019). "Urban Development and Land Controversies in Rural Hong Kong: An Indigenous Rights Perspective". In Cheung, Sidney C. H. (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. p. 49-67. ISBN 9781315147628.

[3] Tsang, Sik Wah Patrick (2002). Hakka immigrants' identity and allegiance: Cultural dualism and missiological outreach. Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission.

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Weitou dialect

Phonology

References

External links

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