Shanghainese: The Vibrant Vernacular of Shanghai | general | Forum

Shanghainese: The Vibrant Vernacular of Shanghai

Shanghainese, 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 areas1. With nearly 14 million speakers, Shanghainese is the largest single form of Wu Chinese.To get more news about shanghainese, you can citynewsservice.cn official website.

Shanghainese, like the rest of the Wu language group, is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin1. It belongs to a separate group of the Taihu Wu subgroup1. The language is rich in vowels and consonants, with around twenty unique vowel qualities, twelve of which are phonemic. Shanghainese also has voiced obstruent initials, which is rare outside of Wu and Xiang varieties.

The speech of Shanghai had long been influenced by those spoken around Jiaxing, then Suzhou during the Qing Dynasty. Suzhounese literature, Chuanqi, Tanci, and folk songs all influenced early Shanghainese1. During the 1850s, the port of Shanghai was opened, and a large number of migrants entered the city.

Despite its rich history and cultural significance, Shanghainese has faced challenges in recent decades. Its status has declined relative to Mandarin, which most Shanghainese speakers can also speak1. The Common Chinese Language movement was started by Shanghai intellectuals and writers during the early 0th century to create a common vernacular medium for national communication. Mandarin was selected as the base due to its relative simplicity and the large number of Mandarin speakers in China.

However, Shanghainese continues to be an integral part of Shanghai’s cultural identity. Recently, it has become popular in Shanghai’s underground music scene as something that challenges the dominance of Mandarin and Cantonese in music.

In conclusion, Shanghainese is more than just a dialect; it’s a testament to Shanghai’s unique cultural heritage. As we continue to explore our interconnected world, understanding languages like Shanghainese offers us a window into diverse cultures and histories.