TheFuqing dialect (simplified Chinese:福清话;traditional Chinese:福清話;pinyin:Fúqīnghuà,BUC:Hók-chiăng-uâ, IPA:[huʔ˥tsʰiaŋ˥ŋuɑ˦˨]), orHokchia, is anEastern Min dialect. It is spoken in the county-level city ofFuqing,China, situated within the prefecture-level city ofFuzhou. It is not completely mutually intelligible with theFuzhou dialect, although the level of understanding is high enough to be considered so.^[4][5]

The Fuqing dialect has fifteen initials, forty-six rimes, and seven tones.

Including the null initial, the Fuqing dialect has fifteen initials, excluding the phonemes[β] and[ʒ], which are only used in connected spoken speech.

(The Chinese characters represent the sample characters taken from theQī Lín Bāyīn (戚林八音, Foochow Romanized:Chék Lìng Báik-ĭng), while the Latin letters are from the orthographyFoochow Romanized).

[θ] is avoiceless dental fricative, and is the mainstream pronunciation; some pronounce it as[s]. There is no phonemic contrast between the two.^[6]: 28

[ts],[tsʰ] and[s] palatalize to[tɕ],[tɕʰ],[ɕ] before finals that begin with/y/, theclose front rounded vowel (i.e. before the finals[y],[yo/yɔ],[yoŋ/yɔŋ],[yoʔ/yɔʔ]).^[6]: 28

Including the syllabic nasal consonant[ŋ̍], the Fuqing dialect has forty-six rimes in total. Apart from[ŋ̍] and[iau], all rimes have aclose/open distinction.

The rime before the slash is the close or tense rime (simplified Chinese:窄韵;traditional Chinese:窄韻;pinyin:zhǎiyùn, or alternatively insimplified Chinese:紧韵;traditional Chinese:緊韻;pinyin:jǐnyùn), while the rime after the slash is the open or lax rime (simplified Chinese:宽韵;traditional Chinese:寬韻;pinyin:kuānyùn; or otherwise named insimplified Chinese:松韵;traditional Chinese:鬆韻;pinyin:sōngyùn). The Chinese characters represent the sample characters taken from theQī Lín Bāyīn (戚林八音, Foochow Romanized:Chék Lìng Báik-ĭng), with further characters from rimes with glottal codas. The Latin letters are from the orthographyFoochow Romanized.

The rime[iau] only has one syllable[ŋiau], and is not found in theQī Lín Bāyīn; furthermore, Foochow Romanized does not have a way to represent this syllable.

In the modern Rongcheng dialect, the rime[iu/ieu] has now merged into[ieu/iɐu] and is no longer distinguished. Also in the new Rongcheng dialect, the rime[ui/uoi] has merged into[uoi/uɐi]. The syllabic nasal[ŋ̍] in the modern Rongcheng dialect is read as[iŋ]; some sources have not yet listed this final in their charts.^[8]

The Fuqing dialect has seven tones, with theMiddle Chinesefour tone categories of level/even (平), departing (去) and entering (入) all divided into dark (陰) and light (陽) categories. The names and the sequence of the seven tones are outlined below, as listed in the traditional rime dictionaryQī Lín Bāyīn:

The dark level (陰平Ĭng-bìng) tone falls the most sharply; the light departing (陽去Iòng-ké̤ṳ) tone is a mid falling tone, whose fall in pitch is not as dramatic.

Intone sandhi, a new tone contour, one that rises (˧˥, 35) is produced from certain interactions of tone categories in the "New" Rongcheng dialect.^[6]: 38

Additionally, the Fuqing dialect contains the neutral tone in colloquial speech, which generally manifests as a mid tone.^[6]: 36

The phenomenon of close and open rime alternation (also known as tense and lax rimes; in Chinese, variously寬窄韻現象;kuānzhǎiyùn xiànxiàng;鬆、緊韻現象;sōng, jǐn yùn xiànxiàng; or本韻、變韻現象;běnyùn, biànyùn xiànxiàng)^[10] is found throughout the dialects of cities and villages in the traditionalFuzhou area (the ten towns of Fuzhou, 福州十邑). But it is absent from, for example, the dialects ofGutian (古田) andLuoyuan (羅源). The dialect of Fuqing, along with that of the urban area of Fuzhou, exhibits this phenomenon.^{[6]: 32–35}

According to the original listing of the rimes in theQī Lín Bāyīn, the medial vowel did not change with the tones. But in the Fuqing dialect, when the rime is in either one of the departing tones or in the dark entering tone, the medial vowel changes to another, the rime being called the open rime. When in either of the two level tones, in the rising tone, or in the light entering tone, the rime does not change; this rime is called the close rime. In the Fuqing dialect, with the exception of [ŋ] and [iau], all rimes exhibit this close-open alternation.^{[6]: 32–35}

As an example, the rime from "春" in theQī Lín Bāyīn, lists the two rimes:[uŋ] and[uk]. In the Gutian dialect, the same vowel is preserved in the rime[u], regardless of tone. But in the Fuqing dialect, the rime[uŋ] in the dark departing (陰去) and light departing (陽去) tones changes to[oŋ], where the vowel in the final[u] has become[o]. Similarly,[uʔ] in the upper departing (上入) tone becomes the open rime[oʔ], where the vowel has again changed.

Within the Fuqing dialect, the vowel of the open rime is always more open (or lower) by a degree than the close rime. For example, 知 in the dark level tone 陰平 is read[ti] as a close rime, with theclose vowel[i]. Listed as the same rime but in a different tone (i.e. light departing 陽去) is 地, which is instead read as[te], an open rime with the half-close vowel[e], one degree more open than[i]. All close rimes in the relevant tone categories have become their corresponding open rimes according to this rule.

Synchronically, this alternation can affect vowels whentone sandhi occurs; please see the sectionon rime changes.^[6]: 35

The Fuqing dialect has a particularly rich set of phonetic changes. The pronunciation of a particularChinese character under certain circumstances can undergo changes in its initial, its rime, and its tone. For example, the word 兄弟哥 (brother, Standard Mandarin: 兄弟) is made of the three words 兄/hiaŋ˥˧/, 弟/tiɛ˦˨/ and 哥/ko˥˧/, but is actually pronounced as 兄弟哥/hiaŋ˥nie˥o˥˧/. Within this word, the first syllable 兄 has undergonetone sandhi and has thus changed tone; the last syllable 哥 has lost its initial consonant; and the rime of the middle syllable 弟 has changed in both vowel and tone. Within lexical or semantic items, the three features of initial, rime and tone are subject tosandhi phenomena. In colloquial Fuqing speech, this type of change is very frequently encountered, but is rare inChinese as a whole.

In colloquial Fuqing speech, the initial consonants of Chinese characters or syllables are subject to change under specific circumstances within lexical items. The first modern work to examine the phonology of theFuzhou dialect, theMǐnyīn Yánjiū (閩音研究), used the term "initial assimilation" (insimplified Chinese:声母类化;traditional Chinese:聲母類化;pinyin:shēngmǔ lèihuà) to refer to this phenomenon.^[11][12] The Fuqing dialect contains two voiced initial consonants,/β/ and/ʒ/, that only appear through initial assimilation.

Initial assimilation in the Fuqing dialect occurs in polysyllabic lexemes (i.e. lexical items orwords of two or more syllables or Chinese characters) and certain semantic groups. Usually within these groups, all syllables apart from the first undergo initial assimilation. But if the initial of the following syllable is a nasal or/l/, then the initial assimilation does not occur at that point. Not every phrase will undergo initial assimilation, and the ones that do may differ from their counterparts in the other Min Dong varieties.

The syllable that undergoes initial assimilation is the "latter character"; that which precedes it is the "former character". Initial assimilation in the Fuqing dialect consists of three types: voicing, nasalisation/nasal assimilation and suppression. The rime of the former character determines the type of assimilation of the latter character's initial.

Which voiced consonant or nasal consonant or whether the consonant is suppressed depends on the place of articulation of the latter syllable's initial.

Type A dentals after voicing assimilation do not become the standard[l], but are slightly flapped.^[13]

As with the majority of southern varieties of Chinese, the Fuqing dialect exhibits tone sandhi. The phenomenon of tone sandhi in the Fuqing dialect contains a whole set of rules to be followed, but it is still rather complex: one tone can undergo different changes depending on what tone follows it. For example, the light entering (陽入) tone in front of the dark departing (陰去) tone becomes˩ (11), but in front of a rising tone (上聲) it becomes˥ (55); and in front of the dark entering (陰入) tone it becomes˨˩ (21).

In manylocal dialects of the Fuzhou area (within theEastern Min family), the last syllable of a word does not undergo tone sandhi. However, in the Fuqing dialect, the last syllable's tone does change under certain circumstances.

Below is a full table for the tone sandhi on two syllable domains for the main "new" Rongcheng pronunciation of the Fuqing dialect:

Aside from words composed of two syllables (or binomes), those composed of three syllables also undergo tone sandhi.

Within polysyllabic words (of two or more syllables) or characters within one sense unit, if in the departing tone (both light departing and dark departing) or in the dark entering tone, and if it is not the last character in the unit, the rime undergoestensing. This rime change is related to theopen/close rime phenomenon: as these three tones only have open rimes, when the character changes tone through tone sandhi, the open rimes will become the corresponding close rimes.^[6]: 35

The/tsʰiaŋ˥˧/ 清 is light level tone and has a close rime, so although it is in a non-final position within the group, its rime does not change. On the other hand,/hoʔ˩˨/ 福 is light entering tone, while/keiŋ˦˨/ 縣 is dark departing tone; both characters hence have open rimes. As 福 is in a non-final position in its group, its rime changes; 縣 is the last syllable and so resists the change.

The Fuqing dialect is divided into several branches, based on their phonology:^[6]: 125

• TheRongcheng branch (Chinese:融城片;pinyin:Róngchéng piàn) includes an area covering the city center, as well as the towns of Dongzhang (東張鎮), Jingyang (鏡洋鎮), Yuxi (漁溪鎮), Shangjing (上逕鎮), Haikou (海口鎮), Chengtou (城頭鎮), Nanling (南嶺鎮), Longtian (龍田鎮), Jiangjing (江鏡鎮) and parts of Xincuo (新厝鎮). The features of this branch include the following:
  • merger of the[iu] 秋 and[ieu] 燒 finals;
  • the original area of Rongcheng Town (融城鎮) had a split between old and new, where several finals have merged;
  • the tone sandhi system of the new Rongcheng dialect has converged with that of surrounding areas.
• TheGaoshan branch (Chinese:高山片;pinyin:Gāoshān piàn) covers the towns of Gangtou (港頭鎮), Sanshan (三山鎮), Shapu (沙埔鎮), Gaoshan (高山鎮) and Donghan (東瀚鎮). It is characterized by:
  • relatively non-noticeable rime tensing;
  • a clear distinction of the[iu] 秋 and[ieu] 燒 finals.
• TheJiangyin branch (simplified Chinese:江阴片;traditional Chinese:江陰片;pinyin:Jiāngyīn piàn) just includes Jinyin Town. It is characterized by:
  • some words with voiced initials in entering tones retain the final glottal stop whereas the other branches have lost that glottal stop. For exampleChinese:藥medicine is read as[yoʔ˥] in Jinyin as opposed to[yo˥˧] as in Rongcheng.
  • there is a reported phonemic difference in vowel length in certain words with glottal stops, e.g.Chinese:藥medicine has a long vowel, whereasChinese:閱examine, read has a short vowel, although both are read[yoʔ˥].
• TheYidu branch (Chinese:一都片;pinyin:Yīdū piàn), comprising Yidu Town. It is geographically close toYongtai County, and features which are closer to theFuzhou dialect. Some of these are:
  • final glottal stops are retained from Middle Chinese final obstruent stops, as in the Fuzhou dialect;
  • it has the triphthong[uoi] where Rongcheng would have a diphthong[ua];
  • there are more diphthongs where Rongcheng would have monophthongs, e.g. Yidu[ou] for Rongcheng[o].

There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the three branches despite their differences, and the original Rongcheng dialect, spoken in an area now part of Yuping Road (Chinese:玉屏街道;pinyin:Yùpíng Jiēdào), is well understood across the whole Fuqing region.

The Fuqing dialect has lost the voiced obstruents fromMiddle Chinese, has merged the final nasal consonants into one phoneme and similarly for the entering tone final stop consonant. But it has also preserved many readings from Middle Chinese: its pattern of entering tone readings greatly matches that of Middle Chinese, apart from the colloquial layer of character readings which has lost them.

Old and Middle Chinese had a large array ofvoiced consonants, which are preserved in theWu group of Chinese varieties, e.g. in theSuzhou dialect. But the Fuqing dialect has devoiced the obstruents, turning them into voiceless consonants, just as otherEastern Min varieties of Chinese have.

The Fuqing dialect does have two voiced obstruent phonemes,/β/ and/ʒ/, but these appear in connected speech, and are not considered part of the initials.

The 疑 initial of Middle Chinese, reconstructed as the velar nasal/ŋ/, has not been preserved by many modern varieties of Chinese. Instandard Mandarin, the initial/ŋ/ has been completely lost, with some having merged into the initial/n/ (e.g. 牛, 虐, 擬). InWu,Yue andHakka, the/ŋ/ initial with front vowels/i/ and/y/ have either been lost (hence merging into the 影 initial) or become another initial. But in the Fuqing dialect, the 疑 initial is preserved as/ŋ/ in front of front and back vowels alike, with a few exceptions having merged into/m/. In someMandarin varieties as well as Yue, a/ŋ/ sound is added to the beginning of back vowels of the null initial class 影 (e.g. pronouncing 安 as/ŋan/), but in the Fuqing dialect the 影 initial always remains null.

The Late Middle Chinese 非 initial is pronounced in the Fuqing dialect not with/f/ but with/p/,/pʰ/ or/h/. This lack oflabiodental consonants is common to all of theMin varieties as well asSino-Korean. For example, 發 is read as/puɔʔ/, 蜂 is read as/pʰuŋ/, while 非 is read as/hi/.

A group in Middle Chinese with the initial 知 is pronounced with alveolar stops/t/ or/tʰ/, and not with retroflex or palatal affricates, for example, 知 as/ti/, 竹 as/tøʔ/, 重 as/tʰyŋ/. This feature is also common to most ofMin, implying that it has conserved this feature fromOld Chinese.^[16]

The three nasal codas of Middle Chinese have become one velar nasal[ŋ] in the Fuqing dialect. The three entering tone voiceless stop codas also all became a velar stop[k], which has weakened to a glottal stop[ʔ].^[17]

The Fuqing dialect possesses just one tone derived from the historical rising tone (上聲) of Middle Chinese, corresponding to the dark rising tone where those with historical voiceless initials have remained. Those with historical voiced obstruents in the former light rising tone have merged with the light departing tone. Those with historical sonorants underwent asplit: in colloquial readings they grouped with light departing tone, whereas in literary readings these joined the dark rising tone.^[6]: 125

There is also an innovation inentering tone characters. Where in the rime bookQī Lín Bāyīn (戚林八音), an entering tone character begins with an unvoiced consonant (e.g. the initials 花, 嘉, 歌, 之, 過, 橋, 奇), in the colloquial reading these lose their final glottal stop. Thus, the tones merge into their phonetically closest non-checked equivalent: dark entering merges into dark departing, and light entering merges into the dark level tone.^[6]: 125 In theFuzhou dialect these preserve their identity as entering tone in the colloquial reading. Nevertheless, in literary reading, these characters retain their glottal stop as a marker of the entering tone in Fuqing as well as in Fuzhou.

The Fuqing dialect exhibits a split betweenliterary and colloquial readings. Initials, rimes and tones may be affected independently of each other, yielding a total of seven possible outcomes:^[6]: 49

• Difference in initials: 富 ([po˨˩] /[ho˨˩])
• Difference in rimes: 清 ([tsʰiaŋ˥˧] /[tsʰiŋ˥˧])
• Difference in tones: 利 ([le˨˩] /[le˦˨])
• Difference in initial and rime: 夫 ([puo˥˧] /[hu˥˧])
• Difference in initial and tone: 遠 ([huɔŋ˦˨] /[uoŋ˧˨])
• Difference in rime and tone: 兩 ([lɑŋ˦˨] /[lyoŋ˧˨])
• Difference in initial, rime and tone: 網 ([mœŋ˦˨] /[uoŋ˧˨])

When there is a difference between literary and colloquial readings, the colloquial one is used in vernacular speech,common surnames andplace names of theGreater Fuzhou area, whilst the literary reading is generally used in more literary compound words, ingiven names, and place names outside the local area. For example, the common verb聽listen has the colloquial reading[tʰiaŋ˥˧], whereas the historical noun聽差manservant / office attendant, which has the same lexeme, uses the literary reading[tʰiŋ˥˧] (realized after sandhi as[tʰin˥ne˥˧]).^[6]: 186 The清 in the names ofMinqing 閩清 andFuqing 福清 are pronounced[tsʰiaŋ˥˧], though the name ofQingliu County 清流縣, being outside the Fuzhou area, uses the literary pronunciation[tsʰiŋ˥˧].

Literary pronunciations are also used in poetry, with some readings specifically used only in this context; additionally,neologisms generally use literary pronunciation. Thus a more recent compound such as外國foreign uses the literary reading for外outside,[ŋuoi˦˨], whereas an older compound外公maternal grandfather uses the vernacular reading[ŋia˦˨].^[6]: 54 It is possible to have more than one literary or more than one vernacular reading; for example the verb拖drag, haul has the literary reading[tʰo˥˧], and two vernacular readings[tʰua˥˧] and[tʰai˥˧] used in separate compound words.^[6]: 52

Fuqing has had a long history of migration, with which has come a large number of different sources of vocabulary, creating several layers or lexical strata. One of the layers that the Fuqing dialect has is theMinyue language,^[20] which today remains as a source of colloquial vocabulary.^[21] Despite their common use, these vocabulary items often cannot be traced back to a Chinese rootcharacter.

Vocabulary derived fromOld Chinese can be classified into two types. The first comes from migrants from theThree Kingdoms period, when people of theEastern Wu migrated to Fujian, bringing the varieties of Wu and Chu.^[21] This layer is already extinct in the Chinese varieties spoken in the homelands of the Wu and Chu regions, but it is still found across theMin varieties of Fujian.^[22] The second type derives from theNorthern and Southern Dynasties. Such vocabulary is in general the basis of the colloquial readings.

The lexical stratum fromMiddle Chinese derives from the Chinese spoken in theTang dynasty, with some later additions from theSong dynasty, forming the principal literary layer.

Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese has also been source of vocabulary, via neologisms or formal compounds. Some such words are replaced by coinages from local roots, e.g.bicycle, which in the Fuqing dialect is跤踏車 (also written骹踏車) instead of being directly cognate to the standardTaiwanese Mandarin腳踏車, literallyfoot-tread-vehicle, with the morpheme forfoot being substituted by its local equivalent.

With contact with foreign countries, there have also been loanwords from non-Chinese languages, such as加蘇林 forgasoline/petroleum, which in standard Mandarin would be石油. Additionally, some loanwords have been adapted differently than in standard Mandarin; e.g.馬臘加Malacca, which is馬六甲 in Mandarin.

In more modern times, the rise of new technologies, products and concepts has produced more direct loans from standard Mandarin, which may be used despite those sounds being rare in Fuqing dialect or even if there are Fuqing roots that could have been used. For example, a "night school" is夜校, derived from standard Mandarin, and not *暝晡校 or *暝晡堂 as might have been expected from native Fuqing dialect roots.

• 漢字古今音資料庫. A Fuqing dialect character dictionary is available, by selecting 現代 > 閩語 >閩東區 > 福清
• Fuqing dialect news program 《講世事》

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