Qin-Lian Yue
Qin–Lian is a southern branch of Yue Chinese spoken in the coastal part of Guangxi, which is represented by four traditional cities Qinzhou, Lianzhou, Lingshan and Fangcheng or by three modern prefecture-level cities Qinzhou, Beihai and Fangcheng.
Criterion
had a series of voiced initials, but voicing has been lost throughout Yue and most other modern Chinese varieties apart from Wu and Old Xiang.The reflexes of the voiced stops and affricates are often used to classify Chinese varieties.
In most Qin–Lian varieties, these consonants develop into aspirates in all tones, a pattern also found in Wu–Hua Yue and Hakka, which is also the traditional criterion of Qin-Lian Yue. However, in urban Qin–Lian varieties they yield aspirates in the level and rising tones, and non-aspirates in the departing and entering tones, the same pattern found in the Guangfu, Siyi and Gao-Yang branches of Yue.
Subgrouping
There are several branches of Qin-Lian.Urban varieties
Urban varieties, informally called "plain speech", are spoken in the cities of Qinzhou, Beihai, Fangcheng, Dongxing and Lingcheng and some nearby towns. They are close to Standard Cantonese, with the same consonant shifting pattern, and only partly mutually intelligible with other Qin-Lian Yue varieties.In spite of distinguishable but tiny differences on phonology and vocabulary, there is high mutual intelligibility and a great number of common colloquial words in the urban varieties and furthermore, in some varieties of Yong-Xun and Gao-Yang. Those features along with its scattered speaking zones may reflect the influence of intercity commercial communication in history, and lead to a lasting debate on its classification.
The table below shows the differences in phonology among four major urban varieties.
| Qinzhou | Fangcheng | Lingshan | Beihai | |
| vowel breaking of "i" | no | no | often | yes |
| "ou" > "au" merger | yes | yes | no | yes |
| "oe" > "e" merger | younger speakers | no | yes | yes |
| "i" > "z" shifting | no | no | no | younger speakers |
| terminal consonants merger | no | no | no | younger speakers |
Lianzhou
Lianzhou varieties, also called hoi caat waa and maa lau waa, are spoken in Hepu, in the southern part of Pubei and in the coastal areas of Qinzhou and Fangchenggang. This branch, represented by the Lianzhou variety, is considered a Pinghua-based Yue dialect with some Hakka and Min blended in.There are some differences with urban varieties that may confuse urban speakers at first. For example, the "-ing" is generally pronounced like "-an", and the "yu", which is replaced by "i" in urban varieties, appears to be "u" in Lianzhou. As a result, 停 can be mistaken as 褪.