Shanghainese

Also known as Shanghai dialect

The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the city of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Shanghainese, like the rest of the Wu language group, is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin.

Key facts

Language.name: Shanghainese
Language.nativename: , ,
Language.pronunciation: ,
Language.states: China
Language.region: Shanghai, Nantong (urban variety traditionally in the urban center)
Language.ethnicity: Shanghainese
Language.script: Chinese characters
Language.speakers: 15.86 million (including bendihua)
Language.speakers_label: Speakers
Language.date: 2012
Language.familycolor: Sino-Tibetan
Language.fam2: Sinitic
Language.fam3: Chinese
Language.fam4: Wu
Language.fam5: Taihu/Northern
Language.fam6: Su–Hu–Jia / Shanghai
Language.isoexception: dialect
Language.iso6: suji

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Commons category: Shanghai dialect

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Article

30 sections

Contents

History
Status
Classification
Phonology
Initials
Finals
Tones
Tone sandhi
Vocabulary
Common words and phrases
Literary and vernacular pronunciations
Grammar
Word order
Nouns
Classifiers
Verbs
Aspect
Mood and Voice
Pronouns
Adjectives
Interrogatives
Negation
Writing
Media
See also
References
Citations
Sources
Further reading
External links

Shanghainese belongs to a separate group of the Taihu Wu subgroup. With nearly 14 million speakers, Shanghainese is also the largest single form of Wu Chinese. Since the late 19th century, it has served as the lingua franca of the entire Yangtze River Delta region, but in recent decades its status has declined relative to Mandarin, which most Shanghainese speakers can also speak.