# An introduction to Kunming Hua

Thomas M. Pinson, Jacqueline S. Pinson

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昆明话概况

An Introduction

to Kunming Hua

Thomas M. Pinson

Jacqueline S. Pinson

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CONTENTS

<table><tr><td>0. Introduction</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>1. Initials In Kunming Hua</td><td>2</td></tr><tr><td>2. Finals In Kunming Hua</td><td>7</td></tr><tr><td>3. Tones In Kunming Hua</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>3.1 Tone 1 Sandhi</td><td>21</td></tr><tr><td>3.2 Tone 3 Sandhi</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>3.3 Neutral Tone</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>3.4 Intonation</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>4. Lexical Differences In Kunming Hua</td><td>28</td></tr><tr><td>5. Bibliography</td><td>33</td></tr></table>

Third Edition, May 2000

The purpose of this monograph is to help students of Chinese living in Yunnan understand some of what is being said around them. Therefore, the authors would like to make available the option of photocopying this pamphlet to anyone who desires a copy. Please extend common scholarly courtesy to the authors by citing this monograph in any published work which makes use of it.
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## 0. Introduction

This brief introduction to the Kunming dialect is intended to help the reader begin to make the adjustments from standard Mandarin - 普通话. We assume familiarity with standard Mandarin. We have made no attempt to follow any rigorous theory of phonology, but desire to be simply descriptive. There are several other sources one can consult (cf. Bibliography), but the one we referred to most - not including our own study - was Gui Mingchao's 1990 dissertation. Gui discusses differences between the old Kunming dialect and the modern one. For pedagogical reasons we will note areas of difference, but we will basically limit our discussion to modern Kunminghua.

It might be helpful for the reader to realize that Kunminghua (hereafter KMH) is not a mutated form of modern Mandarin (hereafter PTH), but both KMH and PTH are modern dialects of an older Mandarin. In fact, certain characteristics of this older Mandarin have been preserved in KMH, but lost in PTH. Many of the differences between PTH and KMH are consistent throughout Southwest China. For example, the province 湖南 is pronounced *hu²nan²* in PTH, but is pronounced *fu²lan²* throughout much of Southwest China. As such, it is our hope that this description of KMH can be used as a springboard into the study of other Southwest dialects.

Kunming, like many places in China, is a very diverse linguistic environment. The Chinese spoken throughout the province differs from area to area, having been influenced by the minority languages spoken there. Of course, many of these country people can be found in Kunming. Kunming also has people from North China who speak clear Mandarin, and people from Guangdong, Shanghai and other non-Mandarin areas. In the markets one will find that there are many people from
Sichuan. In fact, a high percentage of the peddlers (e.g. shoe repairmen, bike repairmen, etc.) are from Sichuan. And as expected, a person's age, educational level and exposure to other dialects of Chinese greatly affects their spoken language. The obvious question is "What is standard KMH?" We have tried to gather data from native Kunming people. In spite of this, we have found there is a fairly wide range of sounds that are produced for the same words. We have attempted to follow the most conservative path, excluding extremes on either end. For example, sometimes we found that there were consistent patterns, but then a speaker would articulate a word with PTH pronunciation and KMH tones. We usually didn't include examples like these in the range of KMH.

The phonetic script used is IPA, but we chose the symbols used in China where standard IPA was lacking (i.e. the apical vowels [a] and [e]). We have used superscript numerals to represent the tone pitch (e.g. ma⁵⁵ is high and ma¹¹ is low). Contour tones are represented with two different numbers juxtaposed (e.g. high-rising ma³⁵).

We would like to express our appreciation to Ms. Hannah Yang (杨红玉), Mr. John Zhang (张镇华) and Mr. Zhao Tianpei (赵天培) for their help in supplying us with the majority of our data. We are also thankful to Bryan and Silvia Allen, Dottie Martin and Lon Diehl for their helpful feedback. We hope this small description of KMH proves helpful to others. If the reader has suggestions for improvements in the presentation or comments for correction, please let us know.

# 1. Initials in Kunming Hua

Gui gives part of the following list of initials for modern KMH. He points out that some of the old people still retain some evidence of the retroflexed consonants, but that younger
speakers by and large have lost this distinction. One thing that we have noticed is that certain speakers actually switch the alveolar set with the retroflexed set, pronouncing 四, sling³¹², as sl³¹².

<table><thead><tr><th>Bilabial</th><th>Labio-dental</th><th>Alveolar</th><th>Retroflex</th><th>Alveolo-palatal</th><th>Velar</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>p pʰ</td><td></td><td>t tʰ</td><td></td><td></td><td>k kʰ</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>ts tsʰ</td><td>(tʃ tʃʰ)</td><td>tç tçʰ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>m</td><td></td><td>n</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>f v</td><td>s z</td><td>(s z)</td><td>ç</td><td>X</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>w</td><td>l</td><td></td><td>j</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Moreover, we have noticed some speakers pronounce the retroflexed set as palato-alveolar (tʃ, tʃʰ, ʃ, ʒ). These same speakers will also pronounce the same words or homophones with the alveolar set. For consistency we will transcribe these all as alveolars, but the reader should be aware of these variations.

In KMH there are several deviations in initials from PTH. One of these we have already pointed out, namely the fronting of the retroflexed initials. The following examples from Gui (1990) show that in modern KMH the retroflexed consonants have been lost.

<table><tr><td>tsʰ]³³</td><td>to eat</td><td>吃</td></tr><tr><td>z]³¹² ts]⁵⁵</td><td>day/life</td><td>日子</td></tr><tr><td>zã³¹²</td><td>to permit</td><td>让</td></tr><tr><td>zã⁵⁵</td><td>to dye</td><td>染</td></tr></table>
<table>
   <tr>
    <td>pe<sup>42</sup> tsʰ]<sup>33</sup></td>
    <td>idiot</td>
    <td>白痴</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>tsu<sup>33</sup></td>
    <td>pig</td>
    <td>猪</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>zəw<sup>312</sup> / zu<sup>42</sup></td>
    <td>meat</td>
    <td>肉</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>s︻<sup>42</sup> vu<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>food</td>
    <td>食物</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>tjaw<sup>312</sup> tsʰa<sup>42</sup></td>
    <td>investigation</td>
    <td>调查</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>sã<sup>35</sup> sã<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>up hill</td>
    <td>山上</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>tsʰəw<sup>312</sup> lə<sup>33</sup> tsʰəw<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>very stinking</td>
    <td>臭了臭</td>
   </tr>
  </table>

Another difference with KMH is the presence of the labio-dental
voiced fricative [v] in some words that begin with [w] in PTH.
PTH's [wu] corresponds to KMH's [vu].

<table>
   <tr>
    <td>vu<sup>33</sup>ja<sup>33</sup></td>
    <td>crow</td>
    <td>乌鸦</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>vu<sup>42</sup></td>
    <td>not have</td>
    <td>无</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>vu<sup>55</sup></td>
    <td>five</td>
    <td>五</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>vu<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>matter, thing</td>
    <td>物</td>
   </tr>
  </table>

According to Gui, the initial [w] can also surface as a [v]
proceeding nasalized [ã] and [õ] in a limited environment.<fnref n="1" />

<table>
   <tr>
    <td>və̃<sup>42</sup></td>
    <td>to smell</td>
    <td>闻</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>və̃<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>to ask</td>
    <td>问</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
    <td>vã<sup>55</sup> sã<sup>312</sup></td>
    <td>evening</td>
    <td>晚上</td>
   </tr>
  </table>

<footnote n="1">¹ Our language consultants were unable to verify Gui's data, but we believe we've heard other speakers say something like these so we felt it necessary to include them here.</footnote>
(s]⁵⁵) vã⁴² to die 死亡

vã³¹² (tçi³¹²) to forget 忘记

However, the initial of the following words from Gui (1990) is
[w] but never [v]:

wa³³ frog 蛙

wa⁴² baby 娃

wa⁵⁵ tile 瓦

wa³¹² socks 袜

wæ³³ slanting 歪

wæ⁵⁵ sprain 崴

wæ³¹² outside 外

wi³³ power 威

wi⁴² surround 围

wi⁵⁵ great 伟

wi³¹² to feed 喂

wã³³ crooked 弯

wə̃³³ lukewarm 温

wã⁴² king 王

wã⁵⁵ bowl 碗

wã³¹² prosperous 旺

Gui also describes the phenomenon of free variation of the
initials [n] and [l]. Compare the following examples:

[n] ~ [l]
<table><tr><td>njã⁴² / ljã⁴²</td><td>mother</td><td>娘</td></tr><tr><td>nju⁵⁵tṣwã⁵⁵ / lju⁵⁵tṣwã⁵⁵</td><td>turn around</td><td>扭转</td></tr><tr><td>nju⁵⁵ nje⁴² / lju⁵⁵ lje⁴²</td><td>shy</td><td>扭捏</td></tr><tr><td>njɛ̃⁴² / ljɛ̃⁴²</td><td>year</td><td>年</td></tr><tr><td>nju⁴² næ⁵⁵ / lju⁴² læ⁵⁵</td><td>cow milk</td><td>牛奶</td></tr><tr><td>ni⁵⁵ / li⁵⁵</td><td>you</td><td>你</td></tr><tr><td>nã⁴² / lã⁴²</td><td>difficult</td><td>难</td></tr></table>

With certain speakers this change from [n] to [l] doesn't seem to be in free variation as much as it is an actual shift in the phonology. Some words beginning with [l] are never pronounced with an [n].

Another difference between standard PTH and KMH is the pronunciation of the Pinyin “h” [x] as an [f] before a [u]. Consider the following examples that seem to be in free variation for some speakers.

<table><tr><td>[x] ~ [f]</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>njɛ̃⁴² xu³³ / ljɛ̃⁴² fu³³</td><td>sticky</td><td>黏糊</td></tr><tr><td>zə³¹² xu³³ / zə³¹² fu³³</td><td>warm</td><td>热乎</td></tr><tr><td>fe³⁵xu⁵⁵ / fe³⁵fu⁵⁵</td><td>The Flying Tigers</td><td>飞虎</td></tr><tr><td>xu³¹²s|³³ / fu³¹²s|³³</td><td>nurse</td><td>护士</td></tr><tr><td>xu³¹²kʰəw⁵⁵ / fu³¹²kʰəw⁵⁵</td><td>residence permit</td><td>户口</td></tr></table>

But notice that the following words are never pronounced with the initial [f].

<table><tr><td>xɑw⁵⁵to³³</td><td>very many</td><td>好多</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td>xəw<sup>312</sup>səw<sup>33</sup></td><td>back, behind</td><td>后首</td></tr><tr><td>sən<sup>35</sup>xo<sup>42</sup></td><td>life</td><td>生活</td></tr><tr><td>xɛ<sup>33</sup></td><td>black</td><td>黑</td></tr><tr><td>xɛ<sup>55</sup>li<sup>55</sup></td><td>sea</td><td>海里</td></tr><tr><td>xã<sup>312</sup>ji<sup>55</sup></td><td>Chinese</td><td>汉语</td></tr><tr><td>xom<sup>42</sup></td><td>red</td><td>红</td></tr><tr><td>xo<sup>55</sup></td><td>fire</td><td>火</td></tr><tr><td>lã<sup>42</sup>xwa<sup>33</sup></td><td>orchid</td><td>兰花</td></tr><tr><td>xwən<sup>35</sup>li<sup>55</sup></td><td>wedding</td><td>婚礼</td></tr><tr><td>xwi<sup>42</sup></td><td>to return</td><td>回</td></tr></table>

For some speakers of KMH, PTH's [xu] is always pronounced as [fu] and does not vary at all.

## 2. Finals in Kunming Hua

Mandarin has more than 30 combinations of finals. In KMH some of these do not vary from PTH, but many of them vary in more than one way. The following are the possible combinations of finals in PTH written using Pinyin.

a, ia, ua, ao, iao, ie, u, ou, i,
o,uo,e,ü,üe,üan,ün,iu,
ai,uai,ei,ui,
an,ian,uan,en,in,un,
ing,eng,ang,iang,uang,ong,iong

The finals that are not different from Mandarin, or where the difference could be attributed to the local way of pronouncing the same segment, are as follows: a, ia, ua, ao, iao, ie, u, ou, i. The remaining we will now discuss.
## Finals o, uo

Cheng (1973) gives the phonetic form of these pinyin finals as [wo]. This final may be used with all the KMH initials except [v], and the alveolo-palatal set, [tç, tçʰ, ç]. There is one syllable without a consonantal initial: [wo], also wo in pinyin.

Within this group we elicited examples from a wider selection of people than for some of the other finals, because we found that it was difficult to pin down a clear-cut pattern. We believe the standard KMH pronunciation for [wo] is [o]. Some people's pronunciation was quite close to PTH. Other people articulated [wo] with certain initials (i.e. the velars) and [o] with the rest of the initials, while a few other people said [wə] for many words. A few people even said [ɔ́w].

We give the following examples of what we believe to be standard KMH.

<table><tr><td>po<sup>35</sup>lã<sup>312</sup></td><td>wave</td><td>波浪</td></tr><tr><td>sã<sup>33</sup>pʰo<sup>33</sup></td><td>hillside</td><td>山坡</td></tr><tr><td>mɛ<sup>55</sup>ko<sup>42</sup></td><td>USA</td><td>美国</td></tr><tr><td>xo<sup>55</sup></td><td>fire</td><td>火</td></tr><tr><td>lo<sup>33</sup>so<sup>33</sup></td><td>wordy</td><td>罗嗦</td></tr><tr><td>to<sup>33</sup></td><td>many</td><td>多</td></tr><tr><td>no<sup>312</sup>mi<sup>55</sup></td><td>sticky rice</td><td>糯米</td></tr><tr><td>zo<sup>312</sup></td><td>weak</td><td>弱</td></tr></table>

## Final: e

There are two pronunciations of the pinyin final e, namely, [ə] as in *le* (了) and [ɣ] as in *gege* (哥哥). The [ə] in *le* is often said as [a], producing [la]. This seems to occur when there is stress on
the particle *le* (了). The vowel is drawn out in length. For example:

xwæ³¹²lə³³ --> xwæ³¹²la:³³ ruined 坏了

The PTH [ɣ] is equivalent to [o] in KMH following the velar initials (k, kʰ, x). Following all other initials it is the same in KMH as in PTH.<fnref n="2" />

ko³³ko³³ older brother 哥哥

kʰo³⁵çju⁴² science 科学

kʰo⁵⁵ji⁵⁵ OK 可以

xo³³ to drink 喝

## Finals ü, üe, üan, ün

The set of high, front, rounded finals follow a fairly consistent pattern. There are exceptions to this that might be lexical rather than phonological, but the rule is basically the PTH ü [y] is pronounced [i] in KMH. Consider the following examples:

ü [y] : KMH [i]

tçi³¹²ts]⁵⁵ sentence 句子

tçjaw³³tçiʰi³³ suburbs 郊区

çi³⁵jaw³¹² need 需要

ni⁵³nə³³ female 女的

<footnote n="2">² There are exceptions to this as well. We have elicited examples of *le* (快乐) and *me* (什么) where the final was pronounced as [o] instead of [ɣ] or [ə].</footnote>
fa⁵⁵li³¹² law 法律

One exception that we found to this is the following:

lu³¹²sɣ³¹² green 绿色

One hypothesis we have is that whenever there is an alternate older Mandarin (proto-Mandarin?) pronunciation for a given character (as also seen in PTH), KMH chooses the phonologically less marked one. Thus [lu] is less marked than [ly].

## üe [yɛ] : KMH [jɛ]

tçjɛ⁴²tī³¹² to decide 决定

tçʰjɛ³⁵saw⁵⁵ to lack 缺少

çjɛ⁵⁵ snow 雪

jɛ³¹²fən³¹² month 月份

At least three exceptions to this pattern are the words ‘to study’ 学习 [çju⁴²çi⁴²], ‘to plunder’ 掠夺 [lju³¹²to⁴²] and ‘brief, sketchy’ 略 [lju³¹²].

## üan [yən] : KMH [jɛ̃]

tçjɛ̃⁵⁵ roll 卷

tçʰjɛ⁴² whole 全

çjɛ̃⁵⁵tsə⁴² to choose 选择

jɛ̃⁵⁵ distant 远

## ün [yn] : KMH [in]

tçin³⁵twi³¹² army 军队

tçʰin⁴²tsom³¹² the masses 群众
pʰej⁴²çin³¹²
jin⁴²nã⁴²

cultivate
Yunnan

培训
云南

Final: iu

Cheng (1973) gives the phonetic form [jow] for the pinyin *iu*. In KMH this is simply [u]. However, we found that often words with this final were pronounced very similarly to PTH. Consider the following examples that display the difference:

tçu⁵⁵
lu³¹²
nu⁴²

nine
six
cow

九
六
牛

Finals ai, uai, ei

The phonetic forms of these three finals in PTH are the same as the pinyin forms. We have grouped these three together because, first, *ai* [aj] and *uai* [waj] are basically the same, and second, the pronunciation *ai* [aj] and *ei* [ej] converge in KMH for certain initials.

It is difficult to give a simple rule for pronunciation of these
finals. For most cases PTH's *ai* [aj] correlates to KMH's [æ]
and *uai* [waj] is equivalent to [wæ]. But there are cases where *ai*
[aj] is articulated as [ɣ] and sometimes [e], a low-central
unrounded vowel. This is where it starts to get difficult, as
PTH's *ei* [ej] is also pronounced [e] in certain environments but
[e] in others, and yet [wej] in others. First consider *ai* [aj] and
*uai* [waj].

ai [aj] : KMH [æ]

?æ³¹²
pæ³¹²

love
be defeated

爱
败
<table><tr><td>tsʰæ<sup>33</sup></td><td>guess</td><td>猜</td></tr><tr><td>tæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>to wear</td><td>戴</td></tr><tr><td>jī<sup>33</sup>kæ<sup>33</sup></td><td>should</td><td>应该</td></tr><tr><td>xæ<sup>42</sup></td><td>still</td><td>还</td></tr><tr><td>kʰæ<sup>33</sup></td><td>open</td><td>开</td></tr><tr><td>læ<sup>42</sup></td><td>come</td><td>来</td></tr><tr><td>mæ<sup>55</sup></td><td>to buy</td><td>买</td></tr><tr><td>næ<sup>55</sup>næ<sup>33</sup></td><td>grandma</td><td>奶奶</td></tr><tr><td>pʰæ<sup>42</sup>twi<sup>312</sup></td><td>to line up</td><td>排队</td></tr><tr><td>sæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>to sun</td><td>晒</td></tr><tr><td>tʰæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>too</td><td>太</td></tr><tr><td>tsæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>at</td><td>在</td></tr></table>

uai [waj] : KMH [wæ]

<table><tr><td>kwæ<sup>33</sup></td><td>well-behaved</td><td>乖</td></tr><tr><td>xwæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>bad</td><td>坏</td></tr><tr><td>kʰwæ<sup>312</sup></td><td>fast</td><td>快</td></tr><tr><td>swæ<sup>55</sup></td><td>to swing (a whip)</td><td>甩</td></tr></table>

These data look fairly consistent. We examine the exceptions below, comparing them to some examples of ei [ej].
The changes of the final ei [ej] are not as neat. When the final ei is preceded by the alveolars [n] and [l] it is pronounced as [wej].<fnref n="3" />

<table><tr><td>lwej<sup>312</sup></td><td>tired</td><td>累</td></tr><tr><td>lwej<sup>42</sup>tjɛ̃<sup>312</sup></td><td>thunder and lightning</td><td>雷电</td></tr><tr><td>nwej<sup>312</sup></td><td>internal</td><td>内</td></tr></table>

When the final ei follows [m] or [f] it can be pronounced as [ɛ] but not consistently. It can be articulated anywhere from the PTH [ej] to [ʒ], a lower-mid vowel.

<table><tr><td>mɛ<sup>55</sup>ko<sup>42</sup></td><td>USA</td><td>美国</td></tr><tr><td>fɛ<sup>35</sup>fu<sup>55</sup></td><td>The Flying Tigers</td><td>飞虎</td></tr></table>

The last two possible pronunciations of the final ei are [ɣ] and [ɛ]. Consider the following examples:

<table><tr><td>xɣ<sup>33</sup></td><td>black</td><td>黑</td></tr><tr><td>ky<sup>55</sup></td><td>to give</td><td>给</td></tr><tr><td>pe<sup>53</sup>tç̣i<sup>33</sup></td><td>Beijing</td><td>北京</td></tr><tr><td>me<sup>42</sup>tə<sup>33</sup></td><td>there are none</td><td>没的</td></tr></table>

Recall that earlier we said that ai is also sometimes said as [e].

<footnote n="3">³ This difference apparently only applies to the alveolar sonorants. The syllable dei³ 得 'must' is not included here because KMH chooses the less marked pronunciation of [tɣ<sup>53</sup>]. The syllables cei and tei don't exist. And the syllable zei² 贼 'wicked' is the same as PTH.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>pe<sup>42</sup></td><td>white</td><td>白</td></tr><tr><td>pe<sup>55</sup></td><td>hundred</td><td>百</td></tr><tr><td>pʰe<sup>35</sup>tjɛ̃<sup>312</sup> jī<sup>55</sup></td><td>to make a movie</td><td>拍电影</td></tr></table>

Because of these variations the words ‘north’ 北 and ‘hundred’ 百 are homophones in KMH: [pe<sup>55</sup>].

**Final: ui**

Cheng (1973) gives the phonetic form [wej] for the pinyin *ui*. This corresponds to [wi] in KMH.

<table><tr><td>twi<sup>312</sup></td><td>correct</td><td>对</td></tr><tr><td>tsʰwi<sup>35</sup>nu<sup>42</sup></td><td>to brag</td><td>吹牛</td></tr><tr><td>kwi<sup>33</sup></td><td>to return</td><td>归</td></tr><tr><td>xwi<sup>312</sup></td><td>to know how</td><td>会</td></tr><tr><td>swi<sup>312</sup></td><td>year old</td><td>岁</td></tr><tr><td>xo<sup>55</sup>tʰwi<sup>55</sup></td><td>ham</td><td>火腿</td></tr><tr><td>tswi<sup>312</sup></td><td>most</td><td>最</td></tr><tr><td>wi<sup>55</sup>ta<sup>312</sup></td><td>great</td><td>伟大</td></tr></table>

**Finals an, ian, uan, en, in, un**

Most of the nasal finals behave similarly. Basically, the nasal consonant is deleted and the vowel is pronounced as a nasal. This is true with all the nasals listed here and below, but not including the *ong*, *iong* set.

Within the set of finals that close the syllable with the alveolar [n] there are some differences. With certain vowels the [n] always deletes (viz. *an*, *ian*, *uan*), but with others it appears to be somewhat optional (viz. *en*, *in*, *un*).
an [an] : KMH [ã]

<table><tr><td>ʔã<sup>33</sup></td><td>peaceful</td><td>安</td></tr><tr><td>pã<sup>33</sup></td><td>class, team</td><td>班</td></tr><tr><td>ts<sup>h</sup>ã<sup>33</sup>tɛ̃ja<sup>33</sup></td><td>to participate</td><td>参加</td></tr><tr><td>fã<sup>312</sup></td><td>rice</td><td>饭</td></tr><tr><td>kã<sup>55</sup></td><td>to feel</td><td>感</td></tr><tr><td>nã<sup>42</sup></td><td>difficult</td><td>难</td></tr><tr><td>sã<sup>33</sup></td><td>mountain</td><td>山</td></tr><tr><td>t<sup>h</sup>ã<sup>42</sup>xwa<sup>312</sup></td><td>to talk</td><td>谈话</td></tr></table>

ien [jɛn] : KMH [jɛ̃]

<table><tr><td>p<sup>h</sup>ã<sup>42</sup>pjɛ̃<sup>33</sup></td><td>side</td><td>旁边</td></tr><tr><td>ts<sup>h</sup>]<sup>42</sup>tjɛ̃<sup>55</sup></td><td>dictionary</td><td>词典</td></tr><tr><td>s]<sup>42</sup>tɛ̃jɛ̃<sup>33</sup></td><td>time</td><td>时间</td></tr><tr><td>ljɛ̃<sup>55</sup></td><td>face</td><td>脸</td></tr><tr><td>jɛ̃<sup>33</sup></td><td>smoke</td><td>烟</td></tr></table>

uan [wan] : KMH [wã]

<table><tr><td>wã<sup>312</sup></td><td>ten thousand</td><td>万</td></tr><tr><td>ts<sup>h</sup>wã<sup>33</sup></td><td>to wear</td><td>穿</td></tr><tr><td>kwã<sup>35</sup>çi<sup>312</sup></td><td>relationship</td><td>关系</td></tr><tr><td>nwã<sup>55</sup>xo<sup>33</sup></td><td>warm</td><td>暖和</td></tr><tr><td>zwã<sup>55</sup></td><td>soft</td><td>软</td></tr></table>

The finals en [ən], in [iŋ] and un [wən] can follow the pattern described above of deleting the nasal consonant and nasalizing
the vowel, but these finals are more often pronounced with the syllable final [n].<fnref n="4" />

en [ən] : KMH [ən] or [ə̄]

kʰo³¹²pən⁵⁵ / kʰo³¹²pə̄⁵⁵ textbook 课本

fən³³ / fə̄³³ to divide, part 分

zən⁵⁵ / zə̄⁵⁵ to endure 忍

sən³⁵lin⁴² / sə̄³⁵lī⁴² forest 森林

in [in] : KMH [in] or [ī]

lin⁴²tçi³³ / lī⁴²tçi³³ neighbor 邻居

pʰin³³jin³³ / pʰī³³jī³³ pinyin 拼音

zə̄n⁴²min⁴² / zə̄⁴mī⁴² the people 人民

çin³³ / çī³³ new 新

un [wən] : KMH [wən] or [wə̄]

wən⁴² / wə̄⁴² writing 文

tsʰwən⁴²tsə³¹² / tsʰwə̄⁴²tsə³¹² exist 存在

twən³³ / twə̄³³ squat on heels 蹲

kʰwən³⁵mī⁴² / kʰwə̄³⁵mī⁴² Kunming 昆明

Finals ing, eng, ang, iang, uang

<footnote n="4">⁴ We elicited the word ‘tender’ nen⁴ 嫩, and found it to be an exception in an unexpected way. It was pronounced [nwən³¹²], resembling [nei] in that a [w] is epenthasized.</footnote>
The finals in this group and the following set are the entire velar nasal consonant group. These differ from the previous set in that the velar nasal consonant is never articulated. If there is a nasal consonant it is an alveolar [n] or bilabial [m] (cf. next set). If there is no nasal consonant the vowel, as would be expected, is then nasalized.

Similar to the previous set of finals, the finals ing [iŋ] and eng [əŋ] more often do appear as [in] and [ən].

ing [iŋ] : KMH [in] or [ī]

<table><tr><td>pin<sup>33</sup> / pī<sup>33</sup></td><td>ice</td><td>冰</td></tr><tr><td>tin<sup>35</sup>ts]<sup>55</sup> / tī<sup>35</sup>ts]<sup>55</sup></td><td>nail</td><td>钉子</td></tr><tr><td>tçin<sup>55</sup> / tçī<sup>55</sup></td><td>well</td><td>井</td></tr><tr><td>nã<sup>42</sup>lin<sup>42</sup> / nã<sup>42</sup>lī<sup>42</sup></td><td>Nanning</td><td>南宁</td></tr></table>

eng [əŋ] : KMH [ən] or [ə̃]

<table><tr><td>tsʰən<sup>42</sup> / tsʰə̃<sup>42</sup></td><td>layer, stratum</td><td>层</td></tr><tr><td>fən<sup>33</sup> / fə̃<sup>33</sup></td><td>wind</td><td>风</td></tr><tr><td>kən<sup>312</sup> / kə̃<sup>312</sup></td><td>even more</td><td>更</td></tr><tr><td>nən<sup>42</sup> / lə̃<sup>42</sup></td><td>able</td><td>能</td></tr></table>

The finals ang, iang, uang [aŋ, jaŋ, waŋ] never surface with a nasal consonant.

ang [aŋ] : KMH [ã]

<table><tr><td>pã<sup>35</sup>tsu<sup>312</sup></td><td>to help</td><td>帮助</td></tr><tr><td>çjã<sup>33</sup>tã<sup>33</sup></td><td>to be equal to</td><td>相当</td></tr><tr><td>fã<sup>33</sup></td><td>square</td><td>方</td></tr><tr><td>kã<sup>35</sup>pi<sup>55</sup></td><td>fountain pen</td><td>钢笔</td></tr></table>
### iang [jaŋ] : KMH [jã]

tçjã⁵⁵xwa³¹² to talk 讲话

ljã⁴²xaw⁵⁵ good 良好

tçʰjã⁴² strong 强

çjã⁵⁵ to think 想

### uang [waŋ] : KMH [wã]

xwã⁴²ti³¹² emperor 皇帝

kʰwã⁴²tçjɛ⁵⁵pĩ³¹² rabies 狂犬病

swã³³ pair 双

tswã³¹²tsu⁴² Zhuang Nationality 壮族

## Finals ong, iong

There is usually a nasal consonant articulated with these finals, but it is always bilabial [m], a sound that PTH does not use in the syllable final position. Consider the following:

### ong [uŋ] : KMH [om]

tsʰom⁴² from 从

jī³¹²tom³¹² movement 运动

xom⁴² red 红

nom³¹² to get, cause 弄

tʰom⁵⁵ji³³ to unite 统一

### iong [juŋ] : KMH [jom]

jom³¹² to use 用

tçʰjom⁴² poor 穷

çjom⁴² a bear 熊
### 3. Tones in Kunming Hua

Tones in KMH are quite interesting. It's been commented by some that there seems to be no real system. Others have said that there is only one tone: falling. These observations, of course, are not accurate, but we have elicited words that carry the first tone in PTH and are pronounced with a clear falling tone in KMH. For example, the word 掂 qiā 'to pinch, throttle', was pronounced with approximately a [42] falling pitch in isolation. Phenomena like this would certainly lead one to make initial observations like the above. Gui (1990) gives the following pitch values for KMH (the PTH values are from Yip 1990):

<table><thead><tr><td>Category</td><td>PTH Value</td><td>KMH Value</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tone 1</td><td>55</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 2</td><td>35</td><td>31</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 3</td><td>214</td><td>53</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 4</td><td>51</td><td>212</td></tr></tbody></table>

Gui also points out that another complicating factor in KMH is there are some differences between the speech of older and younger speakers. He gives the following tonal inventory for older speakers of KMH:

<table><thead><tr><td>Category</td><td>Old KMH</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tone 1</td><td>44</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 2</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 3</td><td>53</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 4</td><td>11</td></tr></tbody></table>
But based on our own acoustical studies we would claim that the tones in modern KMH are as follows:

<table><thead><tr><th>Category</th><th>KMH</th><th>Allotone</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Tone 1</td><td>33</td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 2</td><td>42</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tone 3</td><td>55</td><td>53</td></tr><tr><td>Tone 4</td><td>312</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

There are three differences between our list and Gui's. The reason for the first difference can be seen by comparing Tone 1 with Tone 3. Tone 3 is always higher pitched than Tone 1, therefore we have called Tone 1 a 33 pitch and Tone 3 a 55 pitch. The second and third differences have to do with Tone 2 and Tone 4. Tone 4 is pitched very low, but it always has the contour of low falling (sometimes with a slight rise). Tone 2 actually starts higher than Tone 1 and doesn't go as low as Tone 4. Although this is the phonetic shape of Tone 2, we would still call it low falling, and call Tone 4 low level. We will discuss this below.

When one listens to spoken KMH, in contrast to PTH, it sounds very low and laryngealized. At times it sounds like the speakers are growling at each other. The reason for this impression is probably two-fold. One is that Tone 1 is pronounced as a mid-level tone in KMH. The other reason is that Tone 4 is pronounced with what is known as creaky or laryngeal voice. It is quite plausible that this tone is simply low level phonemically, like Tone 3 in PTH. The reason for the contour might be that it is difficult to pronounce such a low tone without a slight fall (cf. Yip 1990).
The creaky voice of Tone 4 helps distinguish it from Tone 2. It is this tone that gives KMH its characteristic sound. Probably the creaky voice is due to the fact that its pitch is very low. This laryngealization can be exaggerated to the point of a glottal stop being inserted in the middle of the syllable rime. For example:

ku⁵⁵tæʔæ³¹²

ancient times

古代

xə̃⁵⁵taʔa³¹²

very big

很大

The phonetic shape of Tone 3 can sometimes be pronounced similarly to the Mandarin Tone 4 (i.e. 51 high-falling). This usually occurs when a word is said in isolation or when Tone 3 is utterance final. Usually, though, it is pronounced as 53 high-falling in this environment.

## 3.1. Tone 1 Sandhi

Gui (1990) discusses the change of Tone 1 (pitch = 33) changing to high-rising (35) preceding any tone except Tone 1. Consider the following:

### Tone 1 preceding Tone 2

xwa³³tsʰa⁴² --> xwa³⁵tsʰa⁴²

flower-tea

花茶

səw³³tçi⁴² --> səw³⁵tçi⁴²

to collect

搜集

sən³³xo⁴² --> sən³⁵xo⁴²

to live

生活

### Tone 1 preceding Tone 3

swæ³³tɔw⁵⁵ --> swæ³⁵tɔw⁵⁵

to fall

摔倒

vu³³zã⁵⁵ --> vu³⁵zã⁵⁵

pollution

污染

tçiŋ³³ts|⁵⁵ --> tçĩ³⁵ts|⁵⁵

gold

金子
Tone 1 preceding Tone 4

<table><tr><td>çi<sup>33</sup>jaw<sup>312</sup> --&gt; çi<sup>35</sup>jaw<sup>312</sup></td><td>must</td><td>须要</td></tr><tr><td>jəw<sup>33</sup>çju<sup>312</sup> --&gt; jəw<sup>35</sup>çju<sup>312</sup></td><td>excellent</td><td>优秀</td></tr><tr><td>wã<sup>33</sup>təw<sup>312</sup> --&gt; wã<sup>35</sup>təw<sup>312</sup></td><td>pea</td><td>豌豆</td></tr></table>

It can be seen that in the above examples Tone 1 changes from 33 mid-level to 35 high-rising before Tones 2,3, and 4. When Tone 1 precedes another Tone 1 there is no change. Consider the following:

Tone 1 preceding Tone 1

<table><tr><td>fe<sup>33</sup>çi<sup>33</sup></td><td>airplane</td><td>飞机</td></tr><tr><td>tçja<sup>33</sup>çja<sup>33</sup></td><td>hometown</td><td>家乡</td></tr><tr><td>çi<sup>33</sup>kwa<sup>33</sup></td><td>watermelon</td><td>西瓜</td></tr></table>

## 3.2. Tone 3 Sandhi

Another tone sandhi rule for KMH is Tone 3 changing from (55) high-level to (53) high-falling. The environment for this change, as mentioned above, is prepausal or utterance final. This change also sometimes occurs before another syllable that is toneless (i.e. a neutral tone).

This analysis is different from what one will find in the literature. The assumption is a character pronounced in isolation rather than in context is more basic. We reject this since a word in isolation is both utterance initial and final, which is an unnatural environment. We consider a word said in the middle of an utterance to be more natural and thus the more basic form.
In an utterance Tone 3 syllables are high-level. Consider the following:

### Tone 3 preceding Tone 1⁵

<table><tr><td>çjaw<sup>55</sup>tʰəw<sup>33</sup></td><td>thief</td><td>小偷</td></tr><tr><td>pʰu<sup>55</sup>tom<sup>33</sup></td><td>common</td><td>普通</td></tr><tr><td>lɑw<sup>55</sup>ql<sup>33</sup></td><td>teacher</td><td>老师</td></tr></table>

### Tone 3 preceding Tone 2

<table><tr><td>mɛ<sup>55</sup>ko<sup>42</sup></td><td>USA</td><td>美国</td></tr><tr><td>swi<sup>55</sup>ni<sup>42</sup></td><td>cement</td><td>水泥</td></tr><tr><td>tæ<sup>55</sup>tsu<sup>42</sup></td><td>Dai Nationality</td><td>傣族</td></tr></table>

### Tone 3 preceding Tone 3

<table><tr><td>xə̃<sup>55</sup>xɑw<sup>55</sup></td><td>very good</td><td>很好</td></tr><tr><td>lo<sup>55</sup>tʰi<sup>55</sup></td><td>naked</td><td>裸体</td></tr><tr><td>kʰəw<sup>55</sup>ji<sup>55</sup></td><td>spoken language</td><td>口语</td></tr></table>

### Tone 3 preceding Tone 4

<table><tr><td>paw<sup>55</sup>kwi<sup>312</sup></td><td>precious</td><td>宝贵</td></tr><tr><td>tsʰaw<sup>55</sup>tçja<sup>312</sup></td><td>to quarrel</td><td>吵架</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="5">⁵ We found at least one exception to this rule. The word 'Beijing' 北京 is pronounced as [pə̃第五音节]. Andy Eatough has pointed out that certain Tone 3 words in Chengdu Hua have a falling tone. These words historically, he notes, were entering tone (入声) words. The word 'north' 北 is one of these.</footnote>
kʰaw**55**ʃl**312**

test

考试

There are examples like the following where the second syllable
carries the neutral tone, but there is no sandhi besides the
neutralizing of the second syllable's tone:

tʃɛ̈jɛ̈55tʃɛ̈jɛ̈55

older sister 姐姐

But there are also examples of a Tone 3 syllable preceding a
neutral tone syllable with the sandhi.

s]⁵⁵|lə³³ --> s]⁵³|lə³³ died

死了

Yip (1990) notes this same phenomenon with Tone 3 sandhi in
PTH, namely inconsistent application of the tone sandhi before
neutral tones. The Tone 3 sandhi rule doesn't apply in the 'older
sister' example, because the deletion of the tone on the second
syllable occurs after the sandhi rule. In the second example it is
the case that the *le* 了 syllable has no tone to begin with so the
sandhi rule can apply.

A good example of Tone 3 syllables in context is the well-
known sentence: "Old Lee buys good wine." It can be seen in
this example that four of the five syllables are pronounced with
the high-level tone. Only the last syllable is pronounced with a
falling tone, and this is because it is utterance final.

law⁵⁵li⁵⁵ mæ⁵⁵ xaw⁵⁵ tɔu⁵¹

老李买好酒
### 3.3. Neutral Tone

Unlike PTH the neutral tone in KMH consistently has the pitch value of mid-level (i.e. 33).<fnref n="6" /> It looks like Tone 1 except it is usually in the context where a neutral tone would be expected (i.e. unstressed syllables). For example, when a familial title is reduplicated the second syllable loses its original tone. Consider the following:

<table><tr><td>ti<sup>312</sup>ti<sup>312</sup> --> ti<sup>312</sup>ti<sup>33</sup></td><td>younger brother</td><td>弟弟</td></tr><tr><td>pə<sup>42</sup>pə<sup>42</sup> --> pə<sup>42</sup>pə<sup>33</sup></td><td>uncle (father's older bro.)</td><td>伯伯</td></tr><tr><td>tʃej<sup>55</sup>tʃej<sup>55</sup> --> tʃej<sup>55</sup>tʃej<sup>33</sup></td><td>older sister</td><td>姐姐</td></tr><tr><td>pʰo<sup>42</sup>pʰo<sup>42</sup> --> pʰo<sup>42</sup>pʰo<sup>33</sup></td><td>mother-in-law</td><td>婆婆</td></tr></table>

In PTH when a noun suffix like 头 [tʰəw] is affixed to a word it is usually articulated with the neutral tone. This is also true in KMH as can be seen in the following examples from Gui 1990⁷:

<table><tr><td>sə<sup>42</sup>tʰəw<sup>42</sup> --> sə<sup>42</sup>tʰəw<sup>33</sup></td><td>tongue</td><td>舌头</td></tr><tr><td>tçʰiɛ<sup>42</sup>tʰəw<sup>42</sup> --> tçʰiɛ<sup>42</sup>tʰəw<sup>33</sup></td><td>fist</td><td>拳头</td></tr><tr><td>wæ<sup>312</sup>tʰəw<sup>42</sup> --> wæ<sup>312</sup>tʰəw<sup>33</sup></td><td>outside</td><td>外头</td></tr><tr><td>xəw<sup>312</sup>tʰəw<sup>42</sup> --> xəw<sup>312</sup>tʰəw<sup>33</sup></td><td>behind</td><td>后头</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Gui (1990) has several spurious tone sandhi rules which all can be eliminated by the recognition of the neutral tone. The "Yunnan Survey, vol. 58 of the Chinese Dialect Survey" 1989:134 (i.e. 云南省志, 卷五十八, 汉语方言志) also points out that the KMH neutral tone is mid-level.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ We have standardized Gui's tones to our system.</footnote>
Gui (1990) also gives some examples where the tone of 头 [tʰəw] doesn't neutralize. In these cases the syllable [tʰəw] is stressed and it seems to still carry its primary semantic meaning of 'head'. Moreover, these words in PTH do not neutralize the syllable [tʰəw].

kəw⁵⁵tʰəw⁴²

dog's head

狗头

səw⁵⁵tʰəw⁴²

at hand

手头

In KMH the word 首 [səw] is also used as a suffix the way 头 [tʰəw] is used. As a suffix it is not stressed and its tone is neutralized.

çja³¹²səw⁵⁵ --> çja³¹²səw³³

below

下首

kaw³³səw⁵⁵ --> kaw³³səw³³

above

高首

tçʰjɛ̃⁴²səw⁵⁵ --> tçʰjɛ̃⁴²səw³³

front

前首

Other examples of a neutral tone second syllable are given below.

ja⁴²tsʰ]⁵⁵ --> ja⁴²tsʰ]³³

tooth

牙齿

ko⁵⁵ts]⁵⁵ --> ko⁵⁵ts]³³

fruit

果子

çjɛ³¹²çjɛ³¹² --> çjɛ³¹²çjɛ³³

thanks

谢谢

Now consider the following three examples with the neutral tone particle le 了:

pɛ⁴²lə³³pɛ⁴²

extremely white

白了白

lã⁴²lə³³lã⁴²

extremely blue

蓝了蓝

tsʰ]³³la³³

have eaten

吃了
Gui (1990) also points out that reduplicated verbs can have a
neutral tone second syllable like PTH.

kʰã³¹²kʰã³¹² --> kʰã³¹²kʰã³³ to look 看看

It is important to note that the above example with ‘fruit’ is somewhat of an exception because the noun suffix [-ts] (子) often carries Tone 3. As seen above in the example of “Old Lee buys good wine,” when Tone 3 is utterance final its phonetic shape can also be pitch [51].

kəw³³ts]⁵⁵ --> kəw³⁵ts]⁵¹ hook 钩子

xəw⁴²ts]⁵⁵ --> xəw⁴²ts]⁵¹ monkey 猴子

pej³¹²ts]⁵⁵ --> pej³¹²ts]⁵¹ quilt 被子

3.4. Intonation

We will not discuss this topic in detail, but we want to point out
that KMH has a strong tendency towards falling intonation. For
example, a two syllable Tone 4 word will display a lower Tone 4
on the second syllable. But this tendency is also seen at the
sentence level. If a sentence contains syllables with the same
tone, one occurring early and the other late, the later syllable will
display a lower pitch of the same contour. Consider the
following example from a normal speed sentence as analyzed in
CECIL:

ni.nə çjã.tçjaw tsɑ.kɣ mæ

ni⁵³nə³³ çja³³tçjaw³³ tsɑ³¹²kɣ³³ mæ³¹²

你的 香蕉 咋个卖

your bananas how to sell

*How much do your bananas cost?*
The drift is downward. The syllable [tsɔ³¹²] and [mæ³¹²] are both Tone 4 words, but [mæ³¹²] is much lower in actual pitch than [tsɔ³¹²]. Also, the syllable [kɣ³³], which carries a neutral tone, is much lower in pitch than [nə³³], which also has a neutral tone. It is examples like these that lead us to say that KMH’s intonation is falling.

## 4. Lexical differences in Kunming Hua

Perhaps the most difficult differences between PTH and KMH for foreign students are lexical. These differences are often just shrugged at and called ‘dialectical’, 方言, as if this makes it easier or less important. But the fact is, when a student of PTH first hears the question [ni⁵⁵ kʰɣ³¹² na⁵⁵tjə̃⁵³] they have no idea that it means ‘Where are you going?’ 你去哪儿? The following list is by no means exhaustive, but we hope it proves helpful in becoming acquainted with this ‘dialect’.

We mentioned above that there are exceptions to the phonological changes and that we propose it might be due to the fact that a given character had more than one pronunciation in proto-Mandarin. KMH chooses the lesser-marked option. We have sighted examples like ‘must’ 得 and ‘green’ 绿色. Now consider the following examples:

<table><tr><td>jəw³¹²</td><td>medicine</td><td>药</td></tr><tr><td>jəw³³xwi³³</td><td>appointment</td><td>约会</td></tr></table>

The pronunciation of ‘medicine’ is [jaw] in PTH. The first syllable of ‘appointment’ is pronounced [yɛ] in PTH. An alternate pronunciation for the character 约 is [jaw]. Therefore, it would seem that this alternate pronunciation has been chosen in KMH since it is articulated like the word ‘medicine’.
Irregularities like these make it difficult to find patterns when one listens to KMH as an outsider. We discuss these differences here because they seem to be motivated lexically rather than phonologically. There are many other clear-cut lexical differences between KMH and PTH. Many of them do not seem to have a corresponding character. When one asks a local person to write down a word, they either write down the character with that meaning or say that there is not one. Following the lead of Teacher Zhao (赵天培), we will give what we consider to be the most suitable character for a given word. Consider the following:

kʰy̩312 to go 去
na⁵⁵tjə̃⁵⁵ where 哪点

ni⁵⁵ kʰy̩312 na⁵⁵tjə̃⁵³

Where are you going?

你去哪点? (= 你去哪儿? )

na⁵⁵jã³¹² what 哪样
ni⁵⁵tçje³³ you (honorific) 你家

ni⁵⁵tçje³³ çju⁴²çi⁴² na⁵⁵jã³¹²

What are you (hon.) studying?

你家学习哪样? (= 您学习什么? )

wi³¹² na⁵⁵jã³¹² na³³

Why?

为哪样呢? (= 为什么? )

The word ‘please’ 请 has several meanings in KMH. It is really a term of politeness. It can mean ‘eat’, ‘drink’, ‘please’, etc. Consider the following:

tçh̩I⁵⁵ eat; please 请
ni⁵⁵tçje³³ tçh̃i⁵⁵tjɛ̃⁵⁵ na⁵⁵jã³¹²

What would you (hon.) like to eat?

你家请点哪样？（= 您想吃一点什么？）

tsæ³¹² tçh̃i⁵⁵ ji³¹²tjɛ̃⁵³

Have some more to eat!

再请一点！（= 多吃一点！）

kæ⁴² tçh̃i⁵³ tə³³ fã³¹²lə³³

Have you eaten?

咯请的饭了？（= 吃饭了吗？）

tçh̃i⁵⁵ tsʰa⁴²

Please drink some tea.

请茶！

tçh̃i⁵⁵ tçu⁵³

Please drink some wine.

请酒！

When the word 请 means something other than 'to eat' or 'to drink', it is used as in the following examples:

mã³¹² tçh̃i⁵³

(sending off guest, a polite statement)

慢请！

tçh̃i⁵⁵ lju⁴²pu³¹²

(guest to host on leaving: 'Don't bother sending me.')

请留步。

KMH uses the particle [kæ⁴²/ky⁴²] 咯 extensively. It is basically a question word like ma吗, but it is also more than that. It is an interjection with several possible readings. When used as a question word it can be placed before the verb or at the end of the sentence.
ky̥⁴² ᶜin⁴²

Is it OK?

咯行? (= 行不行? )

kY̥⁴² xaw⁵³

Is it OK?

咯好? (= 好不好? )

kɛ³³ (or: kæ³³) street

街<fnref n="8" />

ni⁵⁵ kY̥⁴² sã³¹² kɛ³³

Are you going out?

你咯上街? (= 你上街吗? )

ni⁵⁵tɛjɛ³³ kY̥⁴² jəw³¹² xɛ⁵⁵çjɛ̃³³

Do you (hon.) want seafood?

你家咯要海鲜? (= 您要海鲜吗? )

kY̥⁴² s|⁴²

Right?!

咯是? (= 对吧? )

KMH has many set expressions that make sense once the meaning has been explained, but might not be apparent when the language student first hears them.

tʰin³³tə³³ læ⁴²

understand

听得来(= 听得懂)

<footnote n="8">⁸ There is a least one other example of PTH jie being pronounced as [kɛ] in KMH: [kɛ⁵⁵fã³¹²] ‘liberation’ 解放.</footnote>
tçjɛ̃³¹²pu³³ tə⁴²

don't like to watch

见不得！（= 不喜欢看）

çjaw⁵³pu³³ tə⁴² (or: çju⁵³pu³³ tə⁴²)

don't know

晓不得！（= 不知道）

zən³¹²pu³³ tə⁴²

don't know, or can't recognize

认不得！（= 不知道、认不出）

tsən⁵³pu³³ tsʰən⁴²

can't do it, or no can do

整不成！（= 搞不成、不行）

A word that is heavily used in KMH is [tsa³¹²ky³³] 咋个‘how’. Consider the following examples:

tsa³¹²ky³³lə³³

what happened?

咋个了？（= 怎么了？）

tsən⁵⁵

to do

整

tsən⁵⁵ na⁵⁵jã³¹²

what are (you) doing?

整哪样？（= 干什么？）

tsa³¹²ky³³ tsən⁵³

what to do?

咋个整？（= 怎么办？）

xæ⁴²ts]⁵⁵

shoes

鞋子

xæ⁴²ts]⁵⁵ tsɑ³¹²ky³³ mæ³¹²

how much do the shoes cost?

鞋子咋个卖？（= 鞋子多少钱？）
The last domain of differences that we would like to point out is
words dealing with time. In KMH the word [tsən³¹²] 阵 is used
to mean ‘time, period of time’.

to³⁵tsən³¹²

what time, when

多阵? (= 什么时候? )

ta⁵⁵s|³³

to lose

打失

to³⁵tsən³¹² ta⁵⁵s|³³lə³³ kɣ³³

when did (you) lose it?

多阵打失了个? (= 什么时候丢失了一个? )

na⁵⁵tsən³¹²

what time, when

哪阵? (= 什么时候? )

tsə⁴²tsən³¹²

now, these days

这阵 (= 现在、这时候)

There are many more expressions that are used in KMH that we
could list here. Some are ‘common sayings’ 俗语 and some are
similar to those above. There are also terms of relationship that
differ from PTH. In short, our list is simply a start. We hope that
it will help in understanding this dialect of Mandarin as the
language student lives and works in Kunming.
## 5. Bibliography

Cheng, Chin-Chuan. 1973. *A synchronic phonology of Mandarin Chinese*. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois). The Netherlands: Mouton & Co.

Gui, Mingchao. 1990. *The phonology of Yunnanese and Kunming Chinese: a comparative study*. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Arlington.

Hanyu Fangyan Cihui, 汉语方言词汇。1964. Beijing: 文字改革出版社。

Hanyu Fangyan Gaiyao, 汉语方言概要。1960. Beijing: 文字改革出版社。

Hanyu Fangyan Zihui, 汉语方言子汇。1962. Beijing: 文字改革出版社。

Ma, Yao (ed.) 1983. *Yunnan Jianshi*. Kunming: 云南人民出版社。

Wu, Ji-cai et al. 1985. 云南方言概述, Yunnan Fangyan Gaishu. (A survey of Yunnan dialects). Kunming, China: The Scientific Research Section of Yunnan Teachers University and the Editorial Department of Yuxi Teachers College.

Yip, Moira. 1990. *The tonal phonology of Chinese*. (Doctoral dissertation, MIT). Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics, ed. Jorge Hankamer. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.

Yunnan-sheng Zhi, 云南省志, 卷五十八, 汉语方言志, Yunnan-sheng Zhi, Juan Wushiba, Hanyu Fangyan Zhi (Yunnan Survey, vol. 58 of the Chinese Dialect Survey). 1989. 中华人民共和国方言丛。Kunming: 云南人民出版社。
Zhang Huawen and Mao Yuling 张华文、毛玉玲。1997. 昆明方言词典, *Kunming Fangyan Cidian* (A dictionary of the Kunming dialect). Kunming: 云南教育出版社。