# Xianyou dialect

The Xianyou dialect (Pu-Xian Min: Sing-iú-uā / 仙遊話;) is a dialect of Pu-Xian Min Chinese spoken in Xianyou, Putian in the southeast coast of Fujian province, China.

## Phonology

The Xianyou dialect has 15 initials, 45 rimes and 7 tones.

### Initials

| | | Bilabial | Alveolar | Lateral | Velar | Glottal |
| Stop | Unaspirated voiceless | p 巴 | t 打 | | k 家 | ʔ 烏 |
| Stop | Aspirated voiceless | pʰ 彭 | tʰ 他 | | kʰ 卡 | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m 麻 | n 拿 | | ŋ 雅 | |
| Fricative | Voiceless | | | ɬ 沙 | | h 下 |
| Fricative | Voiced | β* | | | ɣ* | |
| Affricate | Unaspirated voiceless | | ts 渣 | | | |
| Affricate | Aspirated voiceless | | tsʰ 査 | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | l 拉 | | |

### Rimes

| a 鴉 | ã 平 | au 拗 | | aŋ 江 | aʔ 壓 |
| ɒ 奥 | ɒ̃ 泛 | | | ɒŋ 王 | ɒʔ 屋 |
| o 科 | | ɔu 烏 | | | |
| e 裔 | | ai 愛 | | ɛŋ 煙 | ɛʔ 黑 |
| ø 改 | | | | | |
| | | | | ŋ 伓 | |
| i 衣 | ĩ 反 | iu 油 | iũ 張 | iŋ 引 | iʔ 益 |
| ia 夜 | iã 丙 | ieu 要 | | iɛŋ 鹽 | iɛʔ 葉 |
| u 夫 | | ui 位 | uĩ 風 | | |
| ua 画 | | uoi 歪 | uã 搬 | uaŋ 碗 | uoʔ 活 |
| y 余 | ỹ 頓 | | | yŋ 恩 | yʔ 役 |
| ya 鵝 | | | yã 然 | yøŋ 羊 | yøʔ 藥 |

### Tones

| No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Tones | dark level 陰平 | light level 陽平 | rising 上聲 | dark departing 陰去 | light departing 陽去 | dark entering 陰入 | light entering 陽入 |
| Tone contour | ˥˦˦ (544) | ˨˦ (24) | ˧˧˨ (332) | ˥˨ (52) | ˨˩ (21) | ʔ˨ (ʔ2) | ʔ˦ (ʔ4) |
| Example Hanzi | 詩巴 | 時爬 | 始把 | 試霸 | 寺罷 | 濕北 | 實拔 |

### Assimilation

| | Coda of the Former Syllable | Initial of the Latter Syllable | Assimilation | Coda of the Former Syllable | Initial of the Latter Syllable |
| Group A | Open syllable | /p/, /pʰ/ | → | remain unchanged | /β/, /ɣ/ |
| Group A | Open syllable | /t/, /tʰ/, /ts/, /tsʰ/, /ɬ/ | → | remain unchanged | /l/ |
| Group A | Open syllable | /k/, /kʰ/, /h/ | → | remain unchanged | /ɣ/ |
| Group B | /-ŋ/ (nasal coda) | /p/, /pʰ/ | → | /-m/ | /m/ |
| Group B | /-ŋ/ (nasal coda) | /t/, /tʰ/, /ts/, /tsʰ/, /l/, /ɬ/ | → | /-n/ | /n/, remain unchanged |
| Group B | /-ŋ/ (nasal coda) | /k/, /kʰ/, /h/, null initial | → | remain unchanged, or /-n/ | /ŋ/, /n/ |
| Group B | /-ŋ/ (nasal coda) | /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ | → | /-m/, /-n/, /-ŋ/ | remain unchanged |
| Group C | /-ʔ/ (glottal coda) | /p/, /pʰ/, /m/ | → | /-p̚/ | remain unchanged |
| Group C | /-ʔ/ (glottal coda) | /t/, /tʰ/, /ts/, /tsʰ/, /ɬ/, /l/, /n/ | → | /-t̚/ | remain unchanged |
| Group C | /-ʔ/ (glottal coda) | /k/, /kʰ/, /ŋ/, /h/ | → | /-k̚/ | remain unchanged |
| Group C | /-ʔ/ (glottal coda) | null initial | → | /-ʔ/ | remain unchanged |
| Group E | Open syllable | /m/, /n/, /ŋ/ | → | nasalization | remain unchanged |
| Group E | Open syllable | nasalized rime | → | nasalization | remain unchanged |
| Group E | Open syllable | nasalized rime | → | remain unchanged | /n/ |

### Tone sandhi

The Xianyou dialect has extremely extensive tone sandhi rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules.
The two-syllable tonal sandhi rules are shown in the table below (the rows give the first syllable's original citation tone, while the columns give the citation tone of the second syllable):
Tone sandhi of the first syllable :
| | dark level 544 | light level 24 | rising 332 | dark departing 52 | light departing 21 | dark entering ʔ2 | light entering ʔ4 |
| dark level 544 | 24 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 |
| light level 24 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 52 | 52 | 22 |
| rising 332 | 24 | 44 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| dark departing 52 | 44 | 44 | 33 | 44 | 52 | 52 | 44 |
| light departing 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 52 | 52 | 22 |
| dark entering ʔ2 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 |
| light entering ʔ4 | ʔ2 | ʔ2 | ʔ2 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ4 | ʔ2 |