Learn some New Year greetings in the melodious dialect of Jiangxi’s provincial capital
“At the Pavilion of Prince Teng in Yuzhang/ There are no sounds of princes’ carriages / Only a moon outside the window/ Lighting up the river-town deep into the night,” the 13th century poet Yu Ji (虞集) writes in “On Prince Teng’s Pavilion,” describing the most famous landmark of Nanchang (南昌).Historically known as Yuzhang (豫章) or Hongdu (洪都), Nanchang is the capital of south-central China’s Jiangxi province. It is a laid-back city located on the banks of the Gan River, a tributary of the Yangtze. Besides the pavilion, it’s best known for the Nanchang Uprising of August 1, 1927, the first major military conflict between the Nationalist Party and Communist Party of China. This date is now regarded as the founding of the People’s Liberation Army, and many place names and historical sites in Nanchang, the “City of Heroes,” reflect its military heritage.Nanchang’s fangyan, or Nanchanghua, embodies this curious mix of the elegance associated with the Jiangnan (“south of the Yangtze”) region and the city’s hot-blooded military history (and peppery cuisine). It’s more accurately known as the Changdu branch of the Gan dialect (赣语), one of the eight Chinese dialect groups, and is spoken across north-central Jiangxi and the southernmost part of Hunan province. Nanchanghua is a melodious dialect that frequently uses the high-level tone (first tone) and sibilant x, q, and s sounds, giving locals an air of constant excitement.Here are a few basic features of the dialect (the tone marks for Nanchanghua are approximate, due to the difficulty representing the dialect’s seven tones using the four tone marks in standard Mandarin):- Similar to many Jiangnan dialects, the sh, zh, and ch sounds become s, z, and c, respectively.
- The h sound becomes an f sound, the opposite of some Fujian dialects: 花 (flower), huā in Putonghua (standard Mandarin), is pronounced fā.
- The pronouns wǒ (我, I), nǐ (你, you), and tā (他/她, him/her) become, respectively, ǒu (偶), nǎi (倷), and qú (佢).
- The word xīlī (稀哩) replaces shénme (什么, what) in Putonghua; 恰稀哩哟 (qiā xīlī yo, what to eat?) is considered the quintessential Nanchanghua phrase.
- The particle xī (系) is used for emphasis at the end of questions, such as 倷伓恰嘞系 (nǎi pī qiā le xì, Why have you stopped eating)?
- Adverbs often go after the verb, not before: For example, one says 多穿一点 (duō chuān yidiǎn) in Mandarin to tell someone to put on more clothes, and 穿多滴(cuān duō dī) in Nanchanghua.
- Verbs also go after the object. 你吃饭了没? (nǐ chīfàn le méi) in Mandarin becomes 倷饭恰了啵? (nǎi fān qiā le bo), for “have you eaten yet?”
- One quirk of Nanchanghua is giving vivid names to colors, such as 雪白 (xuē ba, snowy white) for white, 灭黑 (miè he, pitch black) for black, and 宣红 (xuān fōng, a type of red glaze on ancient pottery) for red
Since the 1980s, Gan dialects have become heavily influenced by standard Mandarin, and are losing speakers and even some of their features. In 2013, local opinion was polarized by the inclusion of “Cured Bacon Stir-fried with Sage (《藜蒿炒腊肉》),” a classic Nanchang folk song (and dish) sung in Nanchanghua, in an elementary school music textbook, with some Nanchang natives feeling ashamed of their dialect and others defending their heritage. In 2017, a Nanchang Evening News poll found that 70 percent of parents did not speak Nanchanghua to their children due to fears it will interfere with learning Putonghua. Today’s speaker, who is in her early 40s, still uses Nanchanghua in her daily life, but her 12-year-old son can only understand the dialect and cannot speak it.Rice noodles are another Nanchang delicacy, served either stir-fried or, as here, boiled and tossed with chopped chilis (Hatty Liu)
Local preservation efforts include Nanchanghua speech competitions and performances of crosstalk in dialect. Here are some classic New Year greetings to practice in Nanchanghua:It’s the New Year! Wishing everyone a happy new year, and may all your dreams come true!
Guōniān le, zūdǎigà xīnniān kuǎile, wànsī rūyì!
过年了，祝大噶新年快乐，万事如意！
A long life to the elderly, and good health for the children!
Lǎoninga cángmiàng beisuī, xīyāzī mángzuāng mángdài!
老您噶长命百岁，细伢子莽壮莽大!
伢 (ya) is the word for “child” in many southern Chinese dialects, and 细伢子 means “little child,” though the character 细 (literally, “thin”) is probably just used phonetically here, rather than for its meaning. 莽 means “thick” or “rough,” and 莽壮莽大 is a wish for children to grow big and sturdy
Hope that work goes well for all workers, and that students will study hard!Sǎngbàn ga gōngzuō shǔnlǐ, dǔ sù ga hǎosàngzi hēxǐ!上班噶工作顺利, 读书噶好桑子和习!
好桑子 is an adverb meaning “to do [something] well,” like 好好 (hǎo hāo) in Mandarin. 和习 is an old word meaning “to learn to sing a song,” but here in sing-songy Nanchanghua, it refers to academic study.Wish that boys will grow more handsome, girls will grow prettier!
Zǎilīzī yuē zǎng yuē shuāi, nǚzāizī yuē zǎng yuē kēiqi!
崽里子越长越帅，女崽子越长越尅气!
崽 refers to one’s own child, or son, in many dialects. In Nanchanghua, boys are 崽里子 while girls are 女崽子. The word 尅气 means “pretty,” though some locals say the first character is not pronounced kēi but kiē, which is inexistent in Mandarin.Cover image from VCG: The Pavilion of Prince Teng is one of the “Ten Great Sceneries of the Jiangnan Region” and “Four Great Towers of China”
For over a decade, The World of Chinese has been offering modern Chinese-language instruction from street talk to social phenomena to character tales. With 129 officially recognized dialects (方言 fāngyán), though, we have barely scratched the surface of everything there is to learn.On select Fridays, TWOC will be presenting a basic lesson on speaking like a native of a certain region of China.
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