Wiktionary:About Chinese/Sichuanese

Wiktionary uses the Sichuanese Pinyin to transcribe the Chengdu-Chongqing dialect of Sichuanese, which is part of the Southwest Mandarin branch. Entries also contain Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz, a modified form of Latinxua Sin Wenz.

Initials

Sichuanese Pinyin	Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz	IPA	Example	Notes
b	b	/p/	貝 / 贝 (bèi)
p	p	/pʰ/	配 (pèi)
m	m	/m/	沒 / 没
f	f	/f/	發 / 发
d	d	/t/	得
t	t	/tʰ/	套
n	l	/n/	路 (lù)	Free variation between [n], [l], [l̃]
g	g	/k/	古
k	k	/kʰ/	可
ng	ng	/ŋ/	我	May be omitted in certain words
h	x	/x/	好
j	g	/t͡ɕ/	價 / 价
q	k	/t͡ɕʰ/	巧 (qiǎo)
ny	n	/nʲ/	你 (nǐ)	May be omitted in certain words
x	x	/ɕ/	小 (xiǎo)
r	rh	/z/	如 (rú)
z	z	/t͡s/	早
c	c	/t͡sʰ/	草 (cǎo)
s	s	/s/	速 (sù)
w	(nothing)	/v/	五 (wǔ)	Only before /u/ as a full final
(nothing)	(nothing)	∅	兒 / 儿

Finals

Sichuanese Pinyin	Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz	IPA	Example	Notes
i	(nothing)	/z̩/	日	Only with /t͡s/, /t͡sʰ/, /s/, /z/
er	r	/ɚ/	二 (èr)
a	a	/a/	大
o	(u)o	/o/	我
e	e	/ɛ/	黑	May be pronounced [e]
ai	ai	/ai/	街 (jiē)
ei	ei	/ei/	批 (pī)
ao	ao	/au/	包
ou	ou	/əu/	走 (zǒu)
an	an	/an/	煩 / 烦 (fán)	May be pronounced as [æ̃], [æ] by younger speakers
en	en	/ən/	櫻 / 樱 (yīng)
ang	ang/ong	/aŋ/	幫 / 帮 (bāng)
ong	ung	/oŋ/	畝 / 亩 (mǔ)
i	i	/i/	一	Not with /t͡s/, /t͡sʰ/, /s/, /z/
ia	ia	/ia/	牙 (yá)
ie	ie	/iɛ/	葉 / 叶
iai	iai	/iai/	介 (jiè)	May be pronounced [iɛi]
iao	iao	/iau/	標 / 标 (biāo)
iu	iu	/iəu/	九 (jiǔ)
ian	ian	/iɛn/	變 / 变 (biàn)	May be pronounced as [iɛ̃], [iɛ] by younger speakers
in	in	/in/	兵 (bīng)
iang	iang/iong	/iaŋ/	量
u	u	/u/	五 (wǔ)
ua	ua	/ua/	瓜 (guā)
ue	ue	/uɛ/	國 / 国 (guó)
uai	uai	/uai/	乖 (guāi)
ui	uei	/uei/	類 / 类 (lèi)
uan	uan	/uan/	段 (duàn)	May be pronounced as [uæ̃], [uæ] by younger speakers
un	un	/uən/	春 (chūn)
uang	uong	/uaŋ/	光
ü	y	/y/	魚 / 鱼 (yú)
üo	iuo	/yo/	藥 / 药
üe	ye	/ye/	絕 / 绝 (jué)
üan	uan	/yan/	鮮 / 鲜	May be pronounced as [yɛ̃], [yɛ] by younger speakers
ün	un	/yn/	泳 (yǒng)
iong	yng	/yoŋ/	蓉 (róng)

Erhua

There is erhua in the Chengdu and Chongqing dialects. When erhua is applied to a syllable, "-r" is appended to the original final, e.g. 頭 / 头 (tou² (/tʰəu²¹/)) becomes 頭兒 / 头儿 (tour² (/tʰɚ²¹/)). Erhua changes the entire final into either [ɚ], [iɚ], [uɚ], or [yɚ] based on the original final.

Table of syllables

Pinyin table		Initials																				Pinyin table
		∅	b	p	m	f	d	t	n	g	k	ng	h	j	q	ny	x	r	z	c	s
Group a Finals	-i				m													ri	zi	ci	si	-i	Group a Finals
	a	a	ba	pa	ma	fa	da	ta	na	ga	ka	nga	ha						za	ca	sa	a
	o	o	bo	po	mo	fo	do	to	no	go	ko	ngo	ho					ro	zo	co	so	o
	e	e	be	pe	me		de	te	ne	ge	ke	nge	he					re	ze	ce	se	e
	ai	ai	bai	pai	mai		dai	tai	nai	gai	kai	ngai	hai						zai	cai	sai	ai
	ei	-	bei	pei	mei	fei																ei
	ao	-	bao	pao	mao		dao	tao	nao	gao	kao	ngao	hao					rao	zao	cao	sao	ao
	ou	-					dou	tou	nou	gou	kou	ngou	hou					rou	zou	cou	sou	ou
	an	an	ban	pan	man	fan	dan	tan	nan	gan	kan	ngan	han					ran	zan	can	san	an
	en	-	ben	pen	men	fen	den	ten	nen	gen	ken	ngen	hen					ren	zen	cen	sen	en
	ang	ang	bang	pang	mang	fang	dang	tang	nang	gang	kang	ngang	hang					rang	zang	cang	sang	ang
	er	er																				er
Group i Finals	i	yi	bi	pi	mi		di	ti	ni					ji	qi	nyi	xi					i	Group i Finals
	ia	ya	bia	pia			dia		nia					jia	qia	nyia	xia					ia
	ie	ye	bie	pie	mie		die	tie	nie					jie	qie	nyie	xie					ie
	iai	yai												jiai			xiai					iai
	iao	yao	biao	piao	miao		diao	tiao	niao					jiao	qiao	nyiao	xiao					iao
	iu	you			miu		diu		niu					jiu	qiu	nyiu	xiu					iu
	ian	yan	bian	pian	mian		dian	tian	nian					jian	qian	nyian	xian					ian
	in	yin	bin	pin	min		din	tin	nin					jin	qin	nyin	xin					in
	iang	yang							niang					jiang	qiang	nyiang	xiang					iang
Group u Finals	u	wu	bu	pu	mu	fu	du	tu	nu	gu	ku		hu					ru	zu	cu	su	u	Group u Finals
	ua	wa								gua	kua		hua					rua	zua	cua	sua	ua
	ue	ue								gue	kue		hue									uo
	uo	wo					duo	tuo	nuo	guo	kuo	nguo	huo					ruo	zuo	cuo	suo	uo
	uai	wai								guai	kuai		huai						zuai	cuai	suai	uai
	ui	wei					dui	tui	nui	gui	kui		hui					rui	zui	cui	sui	ui
	uan	wan					duan	tuan	nuan	guan	kuan		huan					ruan	zuan	cuan	suan	uan
	un	wen					dun	tun	nun	gun	kun		hun					run	zun	cun	sun	un
	uang	wang								guang	kuang		huang						zuang	cuang	suang	uang
	ong	ong	bong	pong	mong	fong	dong	tong	nong	gong	kong		hong					rong	zong	cong	song	ong
Group ü Finals	ü	yu							nü					ju	qu	nyü	xu					ü	Group ü Finals
	üo	yuo							nüo					juo	quo		xuo					üe
	üe	yue												jue	que		xue					üe
	üan	yuan												juan	quan		xuan					üan
	ün	yun												jun	qun		xun					ün
	iong	yong												jiong	qiong		xiong					iong
Pinyin table		∅	b	p	m	f	d	t	n	g	k	ng	h	j	q	ny	x	r	z	c	s	Pinyin table
		Initials

Colour Legend

"regular" initial or final Final is in Group a or is a direct combination of: i + Group a final u + Group a final ü + Group a final

Final of i, u, ü groups is a modified combination of: i + Group a final u + Group a final ü + Group a final

syllable is direct combination of initial and final (or follows rules for no-initial syllables outlined at the top of the page)

syllable is modified combination of initial and final

Tones

Dialects	1st tone	2nd tone	3rd tone	4th tone
Chengdu	˥ 55	˨˩ 21	˥˧ 53	˨˩˧ 213
Chongqing	˥ 55	˨˩ 21	˦˨ 42	˨˩˦ 214

In flowing speech, the fourth tone (213) becomes a low rising tone ˩˧ (13). The actual pronunciation of the first tone is closer to ˦˥ (45) in Chengdu.

Some varieties of Sichuanese have a fifth tone; in Chengdu and Chongqing it has merged with the second tone (Middle Chinese light level tone).

Tone sandhi

Because tone sandhi in Sichuanese has many irregularities, it is indicated by the actual tone appended after the original tone number along with a hyphen -. For example, in bao^2-1 the original tone is 2 and the actual tone is 1.

These are some tone sandhi patterns:

• ${\begin{Bmatrix}{\text{reduplicated second tone }}[21]\\{\text{reduplicated fourth tone }}[213]\end{Bmatrix}}({\text{noun}})\to {\begin{Bmatrix}{\text{second tone }}[21]\\{\text{fourth tone }}[213]\end{Bmatrix}}+{\text{first tone }}[55]$

  examples: 皮皮 (pi²pi^2-1), 瓣瓣 (ban⁴ban^4-1) (characters formerly having a with the checked tone will still change 缺缺 (que²que^2-1))

  reduplicated adjectives and classifiers do not go through sandhi, e.g. 年年 (nyian²nyian²), 回回 (hui²hui²)

• ${\begin{Bmatrix}{\text{second tone }}[21]\\{\text{fourth tone }}[213]\end{Bmatrix}}+{\begin{Bmatrix}{\text{second tone }}[21]\\{\text{fourth tone }}[213]\end{Bmatrix}}\to {\begin{Bmatrix}{\text{second tone }}[21]\\{\text{fourth tone }}[213]\end{Bmatrix}}+{\text{first tone }}[55]$

  examples: 頭髮 / 头发 (tou²fa^2-1), 四季豆兒 / 四季豆儿 (si⁴ji^4-1dour⁴)

  exceptions: 聯合 / 联合 (nian²ho²), 白糖 (be²tang²) (related to former presence of the checked tone in 合 and 白, which causes them to act differently from the normal second tone; however in the aforementioned reduplication pattern nouns with the checked tone will still change 缺缺 (que²que^2-1))

• ${\text{third tone }}[53]+{\text{third tone }}[53]({\text{noun}})\to {\text{third tone }}[53]+{\text{second tone }}[21]$

  e.g. 餃子 / 饺子 (jiao³zi^3-2), 姐姐 (jie³jie^3-2)

  reduplicated adjectives do not go through sandhi, e.g. 洋歪歪 (yang²wai³wai³)

Examples

Chinese characters	Sichuanese Pinyin	Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz	IPA	Literal Meaning	Figurative Meaning
矮子過河，淹（安）了心。	Ngai3zi3-2 go4 ho2, ngan1 no3 xin1.	Ngaaiz go ho, ngan lo xin.	/ŋai⁵³ t͡sz̩⁵³⁻²¹ ko²¹³ xo²¹ ŋan⁵⁵ no⁵³ ɕin⁵⁵/	A short person crosses a river—his heart drowns. ("drowns" sounds like "peace")	To settle one's mind.
腳正不怕鞋歪。	Juo2 zen4 bu2pa4 hai2 wai1.	Giuo zen bupa xai uai.	/t͡ɕyo²¹ t͡sən²¹³ pu²¹ pʰa²¹³ xai²¹ uai⁵⁵/	A straight foot is not afraid of a crooked shoe.	An upright man is not afraid of gossip.
吃包穀粑打喝嗐，開黃腔。	Ci2 bao1gu2ba1 da3 ho1hai4, kai1 huang2qiang1.	C baoguba daa xoxai, kai xuongkiang.	/t͡sʰz̩²¹ pau⁵⁵ ku²¹ pa⁵⁵ ta⁵³ xo⁵⁵ xai²¹³ kʰai⁵⁵ xuaŋ²¹ t͡ɕʰiaŋ⁵⁵/	To yawn while eating corn cake and open up one's yellow mouth.	To talk dirty
貓兒抓糍粑，脫不到爪爪。	Maor1 zua1 ci2ba1, to2 bu2 dao3 zao3zao3-2.	Mer zua cba, to budao zaozao.	/mɚ⁵⁵ t͡sua⁵⁵ t͡sʰz̩²¹ pa⁵⁵ tʰo²¹ pu²¹ tau⁵³ t͡sau⁵³ t͡sau⁵³⁻²¹/	The cat grabs the glutinous rice cake—can't get it off his paws	To be unable to escape responsibility

See also

• Appendix:Sichuanese vocabulary that differs from Standard Mandarin

References

• 《成都方言詞典》 (1998)
• 《成都话方言词典》 (1987)
• 《四川方言词典》 (1986)