Tianjin dialect


Tianjin dialect is a Mandarin dialect spoken in the city of Tianjin, China. It is comprehensible to speakers of other Mandarin dialects, though its greatest deviation from the others lies in its individual tones, and the lack of retroflex consonants. The regional characteristics make the dialect an important part of the Tianjin city identity, and sharply contrasts with the dialect of nearby Beijing, despite relatively similar phonology.

Characteristics

The Tianjin dialect is classified under Jilu Mandarin, a subdivision of Mandarin Chinese dialects also spoken in Hebei and Shandong provinces. Despite Tianjin being a neighbour of Beijing, its dialect sounds very different from Beijing dialect, which is the basis for Standard Chinese.
The tones of Tianjin dialect correspond to those of Beijing dialect as follows:
Tone name1 Yin Ping2 Yang Ping3 Shang4 Qu
Tianjin
Beijing

The differences are minor except for the first tone: Where it is high and level in Beijing, it is low and falling in Tianjin. All words with the first tone, including the name "Tianjin", are affected, giving the Tianjin dialect a downward feel to people from Beijing.
Tianjin dialect also includes four tone sandhi rules, more than the Beijing dialect. Here they are:
  1. Tone 1 + Tone 1 → Tone 3-Tone 1: 天津 tiān jīn is pronounced /tǐanjīn/
  2. Tone 3 + Tone 3 → Tone 2-Tone 3: 水果 shuǐ guǒ is pronounced /shuíguǒ/
  3. Tone 4 + Tone 4 → Tone 1-Tone 4: 現在 xiàn zài is pronounced /xiānzài/
  4. Tone 4 + Tone 1 → Tone 2-Tone 1: 上班 shàng bān is pronounced /shángbān/
There are some other patterns that differentiate Tianjin dialect from the Beijing dialect. One is the pronunciation of 饿 as wò instead of è.
Lastly, the Tianjin dialect lacks the retroflex consonants prevalent in Beijing, not unlike Taiwanese Mandarin. Thus, zh becomes z, sh becomes s, ch becomes c, and r becomes y — that is, is pronounced yěn instead of rén, and is pronounced yàng instead of ràng. However, the use of the -er diminutive is common in Tianjin dialect, as it is throughout the north and northeast.
Chinese speakers commonly stereotype the Tianjin dialect as aggressive- or confrontational-sounding, though it is not difficult for speakers of other Mandarin dialects to understand.