User Comments - JasonSch

Posted on: An Introduction!

I'm actually not so sure about how much language in these dialects comes from Putonghua. My guess would be that more recent words have a more direct relationship. On the other hand, I think it may be the case that a lot of the similarities are not necessarily from Putonghua, but rather, the other way around! Wu, after all, is much older.

Also, having been thinking about all this quite a bit lately, I've talked to a few friends (and of course cabbies) about just how mutually intelligible the sub-dialects within the Taihu variety are for native Shanghainese speakers.

The general feeling seems to be that Shanghainese speakers can understand most of what's said in other Taihu areas, and can communicate using straight Shanghainese if they want to, but because there are differences, they're inclined to use Putonghua with strangers, and a mish-mash with friends and in-laws.

It's all such a crazy web of connections. The language nerd in me loves it. :)

Posted on: An Introduction!

Good questions! My knowledge on the subject is pretty limited, but I've really been enjoying learning more about it all.

You can check out the link above for linguistic aspects of the term. As for this case specifically, the Wikipedia page on Wu Chinese has a lot of good info about 'mutual intelligibility' between the different sub-dialects under the section, 'varieties'. It appears as though the largest sub-dialect is the Taihu variety which includes the areas I mentioned and that those areas are 'generally mutually intelligible'. To me, that says that people from those regions don't have too difficult of a time understanding each other, but that there are some differences in pronunciation, choice of expressions, etc.

All that being said, I would still like to hear what a native speaker from say, Shanghai, has to say about how much ease/difficulty they have communicating from people from Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, etc.

Posted on: An Introduction!

Yeah: 4 regular lessons (one of each level other than newbie), 1 Shanghainese lesson, 1 QW and a News and Features.

Posted on: An Introduction!

No problem. Although, I haven't found one yet...

My friend, and student of all things Wu (Kellen P.), thinks there isn't any, but is already working on making one himself.

We may end up having to just link to the Wiki on IPA and go from there for now.

Posted on: Daddy Changes a Diaper

尿不湿 are diapers which are made of a plastic-like material and are thrown away after use. Sometime these are referred to as simply, 'diapers', but specifically are, disposable diapers. (as opposed to 尿布, which are reusable, cloth diapers)

Posted on: An Introduction!

There's some variation in similarity between them, but from what I can understand, the Suzhou, Wuxi, Shanghai, Hanghzou and Ningbo areas are all generally mutually intelligible. They can be quite different, but the basics are close enough.

Wenzhou dialect, on the other hand, is still considered a Wu dialect, but it's completely unintelligible to other Wu speakers.

(As a side note, the 'standard' Wu in ancient China was the Suzhou variation.)

Posted on: Daddy Changes a Diaper

I think it may be because although a 尿不湿 actually does get wet, it is meant to absorb liquid and alleviate the feeling of wetness. Where on the other hand, a 尿布 is just fabric and will get 'more' wet.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Shanghai

There's a place on 汉口西路 a bit north of 上海路 on the east side of the street with excellent 生煎包. They're freshest in the morning, but also the most popular, so be prepared to wait in line for a few!

Posted on: An Introduction!

I think a soundboard would be ideal, but maybe that's not available. I'll look around online a bit for an IPA chart which only lists Shanghainese sounds. (There are tons of sounds in IPA that don't appear in Shanghainese, so it's not necessary to learn it all)

On a side note, studying a language is actually a pretty good way to learn some IPA. If you listen to the words as you look at the IPA, you'll notice yourself starting to pick up the basics of that language's IPA quite quickly.

Posted on: An Introduction!

This is the first in a 10 part series. So, once week for the next while, we'll publish a Shanghainese lesson. Don't worry though, there's still 4 - 5 regular lessons each week!