Wencheng dialect


Wencheng dialect is a dialect of Wu Chinese. It is an Oujiang dialect, but its tone system is different from other Oujiang dialects such as Wenzhounese.

Phonology

The most important difference between eastern Oujiang dialects such as Wencheng and Wenzhou proper are tonal differences and the retention of before :
八风到晓得
Wenzhoupuuhoŋtəɕadei
Wenchengbɔfoŋtɶɕoli

Wencheng shares the long vowels of Wenzhonese entering tone as well as the abrupt glottal stops of the sheng tones. The shang and ru tones are largely similar to Wenzhonese, but there are no falling tones—yang ping and yin qu are level—and yang qu is dipping rather than simply low.
Tone numberTone nameTone contour
1yin ping 3
2yang ping 2
3yin shang 34
4yang shang 23
5yin qu 2
6yang qu 323
7yin ru 23
8yang ru 213

Although yin qu has been said to have merged with yang ping, the consonant voicing remains distinct. A second, slightly different transcription of Wencheng tone is reported, presumably largely due to speaker differences.