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Zigong dialect
自贡话
Region	Zigong,Fushun,Weiyuan and their neighboring areas inSichuan
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Mandarin Southwestern Sichuanese Renshou–Fushun Zigong dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
Zigong in Sichuan
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TheZigong dialect (simplified Chinese:自贡话;traditional Chinese:自貢話;pinyin:Zìgònghuà;Wade–Giles:Tzu-kung hua) is a branch ofSouthwesternMandarin, spoken mainly inZigong,Fushun,Weiyuan, eastRongxian and some parts ofYibin,Neijiang,Longchang and other neighboring areas ofSichuan.

At least four Chinese dialects are spoken in Zigong City: the Zigong dialect, theRongxian dialect,Hakka and theMinjiang dialect. A majority of people in Zigong speak the Zigong dialect. However, most people in Rongxian, a county of Zigong City, speak the Rongxian dialect, whose pronunciation is quite different from that of the Zigong dialect. Besides, owing to a great number of Hakka immigrants in history, a small number of Hakka people in certain towns also remain to speak Hakka. Also, theMinjiang dialect is spoken in a few remote towns or villages borderingLuzhou,Leshan andYibin.

The Zigong dialect differs from other branches ofSichuanese Mandarin. The modern Zigong dialect was formed rather recently in a great wave of immigration after theQing dynasty.^{[citation needed]}

Immigrants played a crucial role in the formation of the new Zigong dialect.Zigong has long been known as the "Salt Capital" for its brine extraction techniques and the attendant salt-related culture. In ancient China,salt was regarded as the energy for body and valued even more highly than gold. Therefore, salt trading was always the most profitable business and salt merchants were the wealthiest people. Hence many merchants, mainly fromHubei,Henan,Jiangxi,Fujian,Shaanxi,Shanxi andGuangdong, flooded into Zigong, bringing theirChinese varieties with them.

There are fourphonemic tones in the Zigong dialect: dark level tone, light level tone, rising tone, and departing tone. The four tones all have different pitches vis a vis Mandarin. The ancientchecked tone of Chinese has been redistributed entirely into the departing tone.

There are 24 initials in the Zigong dialect. The Zigong dialect can clearly differentiateretroflex consonants andalveolo-palatal consonants, while most dialects ofSichuanese Mandarin can not.

There are 38 finals in the Zigong dialect.

These words have meanings in the Zigong dialect entirely different from those in Mandarin.

• Sichuanese

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