Shantou dialect


The Shantou dialect, formerly known as the Swatow dialect, is a Chinese dialect mostly spoken in Shantou in Guangdong, China. It is a dialect of Chaoshan Min language.

Phonology

Shantou dialect has 18 initials, 61 rimes and 8 tones.

Initials

Rimes

Tones

Tone sandhi

Shantou 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:
Original citation toneTone sandhi
dark level
33		23
light level
55		21
dark rising
53		35
light rising
35		21
dark departing
213		55
light departing
11		12
dark entering
2		5
light entering
5		2