Weitou dialect
圍頭話
Native toGuangdong
Sino-Tibetan
Language codes
ISO 639-3
GlottologNone
Weitou dialect
Traditional Chinese圍頭話
Simplified Chinese围头话

The Weitou dialect (simplified Chinese: 围头话; traditional Chinese: 圍頭話; lit. 'walled (village) language'; Jyutping: Waitau Waa) is a dialect of Yue Chinese. It forms part of the GuanBao (莞寶片; 莞宝片, DongguanBao'an) branch of Yuehai. It is spoken by older generations in Luohu and Futian districts in Shenzhen, and by those in the New Territories, Hong Kong.

The Weitou dialect can be heard in Hong Kong TV dramas and movies, and is usually used to depict characters who come from walled villages. For example, in the 1992 movie Now You See Love, Now You Don't, the chief character, played by Chow Yun-fat who himself grew up in Lamma Island, consistently speaks the Weitou dialect.

In a more general sense, Weitouhua can refer to any variety of Chinese spoken in the villages of Hong Kong, including Hakka and rural Yue dialects. In contrast, most Hong Kong residents speak standard Cantonese, while most Shenzhen residents speak Mandarin.

Phonology

Zhang & Zhuang (2003:21-4) records the phonological systems of three varieties of the Weitou dialect spoken in Hong Kong. Following is Fan Tin's (蕃田), San Tin (in IPA).

The 21 onsets
pbfw
tdl
tʃʰʃj
kɡh
kʷʰɡʷ
The 37 rimes
aœɔɛiuy
aiɐiɵy
auɐueu
amɐmemm
æŋɐŋœŋɛŋyœŋŋ
ɵŋ
apɐpep
ækɐkœkɛkyœk
ɵkokek

There are four tone contours, when the "entering tones" (stopped syllables) are ignored:

The 4 tones
tone namecontourdescription
Yin Ping˨˧ (23) or ˥ (55)low rising or high
Yang Ping˨˩ (21)low
Shang˧˥ (35)high rising
Qu˧ (33)mid

References

    • (in Chinese) Zhang Shaungqing 張雙慶 & Zhuang Chusheng 莊初昇 (2003). Xianggang xinjie fangyan (香港新界方言 "The Dialects of the New Territories, Hong Kong"). Hong Kong: Commercial Press. ISBN 962-07-1682-5.
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