Shanghainese

People in Shanghai use a special way to talk.

It is called Shanghainese.

This way of talking sounds different from Mandarin. It has many unique vowel sounds. It also has a special way of using tones.

Many people use it to feel close to home. It helps them feel like a community. It brings people together with warmth.

Some people are working to save it. They use it in songs and movies. Some even use it on buses.

It is a very important part of their culture. People want to keep it alive for a long time.

People in Shanghai use a special way to talk. It is called Shanghainese.

Shanghainese is part of the Wu language group. It sounds very different from Mandarin. It has many unique vowel sounds. It also has a special way of using tones.

This language has a long history. In the past, it was the main way to talk in the Yangtze River Delta. Many people moved to Shanghai in the 1800s. They brought different ways of speaking with them. This helped the language grow and change. It even grew so much that it became a famous way to talk in the 1930s.

Today, things are changing. Most people in China use Standard Mandarin. Because of this, fewer young people speak Shanghainese. Some schools do not teach it. However, many people still love it. They say it brings warmth and community to the city.

Many people are working to save the language. You can hear it in songs and movies. It is even on buses in the city. Even Apple's Siri can speak Shanghainese now. People want to keep this special part of their culture alive.

Shanghainese is a special way of speaking used in the city of Shanghai. It belongs to the Wu language family, which is part of the larger Sino-Tibetan group.

Even though it is part of Chinese, it sounds very different from Mandarin. In fact, people who speak Mandarin cannot understand Shanghainese easily. This language is very important to the people living in the Yangtze River Delta. It helps them feel a sense of warmth and community. For many, it is a way to stay connected to their local home.

Speaking Shanghainese involves many unique sounds. It is rich in vowels and consonants. There are about twenty different vowel qualities used in the language. Twelve of these are phonemic, which means they change the meaning of words.

The language also uses voiced obstruent initials. This is a rare feature found mostly in Wu and Xiang varieties. It also uses a system of tones. This system works much like the pitch accent used in Japanese. These sounds make the language unique and beautiful to hear.

History shows how the language grew and changed over time. Long ago, the speech in Shanghai was shaped by nearby areas like Suzhou and Jiaxing. In the 1850s, the port of Shanghai opened to the world. Many people moved there from places like Ningbo.

These migrants brought new words into the local speech. This caused Shanghainese to develop very quickly. By the 1930s, it had become a very popular and prestigious way to speak. It even spread to Chinese communities living far away overseas.

Today, the language faces some hard jobs. As Shanghai became a huge global city, Standard Mandarin became the main language for business. The government also promoted Mandarin as the official language for all of China. This means many children do not learn Shanghainese in school. In 2010, a survey showed many students preferred Mandarin because it was easier.

Some people even use the language to show who is a local and who is a migrant. This can sometimes cause tension between different groups of people.

Even with these changes, many people are working hard to save Shanghainese. They use movies, songs, and even technology to keep it alive. In 2017, Apple added Shanghainese to Siri.

You can also hear it on city buses or in pop records. In 2021, a romantic comedy called "Myth of Love" was released in the language. It made a lot of money at the box office. Many people believe the culture of Shanghai needs its language to stay strong. They want to make sure this special way of talking continues for a long time.

Shanghainese is a variety of the Wu Chinese language family. It is spoken in the central districts of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. This language belongs to the larger Sino-Tibetan language family. It is also a part of the Taihu Wu subgroup. Shanghainese is the largest single form of Wu Chinese. It has nearly 14 million speakers. Because it is a Wu variety, it is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin. This means speakers of Mandarin cannot understand Shanghainese easily.

The sounds of Shanghainese are very distinct and complex. The language is rich in both vowels and consonants. It features around twenty unique vowel qualities. Of these, twelve are phonemic, meaning they change the meaning of a word. Shanghainese also uses voiced obstruent initials. This is a rare linguistic feature found mostly in Wu and Xiang varieties. The language has a relatively low number of tones compared to other Southern Chinese languages. It also uses a system of tone sandhi. This system is similar to the pitch accent used in Japanese.

Linguists divide the Shanghainese branch into several specific types. The Urban branch is what most people mean when they say "Shanghainese." This urban branch covers the city center on the west bank of the Huangpu River. It is further divided into Old, Middle, New, and Newest periods. Other branches include the Jiading branch in Baoshan and Jiading. There is also the Liantang branch in southwestern Qingpu. The Chongming branch is spoken on the islands and in eastern Nantong. Finally, the Songjiang branch exists as a separate subdivision.

The history of the language is one of rapid change and growth. Early Shanghainese was heavily influenced by the dialects of Jiaxing and Suzhou. Literature and folk songs from Suzhou helped shape its early form. In the 1850s, the opening of the Port of Shanghai changed everything. Large numbers of migrants arrived from Ningbo and the Jianghuai area. These migrants brought new words that mixed with the local speech. Missionaries like Joseph Edkins and Tarleton Perry Crawford even documented the language's sounds. This period led to many loanwords from English and other Eastern sources. By the 1930s, Shanghainese reached a peak of prestige during the Republican era.

In recent decades, the status of Shanghainese has shifted significantly. The government of the People's Republic of China promoted Standard Mandarin as the official language. This led to a decline in the use of local dialects. As Shanghai became a global financial center, Mandarin became the standard for business. In 1992, schools began to discourage the use of Shanghainese. This has caused many native children to lose their fluency. A 2010 survey showed that 52.3% of primary students found Mandarin easier. Furthermore, 68.3% of those students were more willing to study Mandarin.

Despite these challenges, many people are working to revitalize the language. In 2005, actress Ma Lili spoke out to protect authentic Shanghainese pronunciation. Since then, there have been many cultural achievements. In 2011, Hu Baotan wrote the first Shanghainese novel, "Longtang." In 2017, Apple added Shanghainese support to Siri. This made it only the third Sinitic language to be supported. In 2021, the romantic comedy "Myth of Love" earned 260 million yuan at the box office. The TV show "Blossoms Shanghai" also used the language prominently in 2023. These examples show that the language still holds deep cultural value.

The social impact of the language is also very important. For many, Shanghainese is a tool for community and warmth. A survey showed that 87.06% of people believe Shanghai's culture cannot exist without its language. However, the language can also be a source of tension. Some people use it to distinguish locals from migrants. Migrants often struggle to learn the language and may feel excluded. In 2019, Shanghai had 24.28 million people, but nearly 9.77 million were migrants. This large population makes the balance between Mandarin and Shanghainese very complex.