Swatow dialect

The Swatow dialect, also known as the Shantou dialect, is a variety of Chinese mostly spoken in Shantou in Guangdong, China. It is typically classified in the Teochew group of dialects.

Swatow dialect has 18 initials, over 60 rimes, and 8 tones.

Swatow dialect has at least the following rimes:

Swatow 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:

• Office of Chorography of Shantou City 汕头市地方志办公室 (1999). Shan tou shi zhi 汕头市志 ["Chorography of Shantou City"]. Vol. 72. Beijing: Xinhua chubanshe 新华出版社 ["Xinhua Publishing House"]. ISBN 9787501143870.

• Fielde, Adele M. (1883). A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
• Fielde, Adele M. (1878). First Lessons in the Swatow Dialect. Swatow: Swatow Printing Office Company. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
• Lechler, Rudolf, Samuel Wells Williams, William Duffus (1883). English-Chinese Vocabulary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Swatow. Swatow: English Presbyterian Mission Press. Retrieved 2015-04-01.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Hsiung-chʻêng, Lin (1886). A handbook of the Swatow vernacular. Singapore: Koh Yew Hean Press. Retrieved 2015-04-01.

• Media related to Shantou dialect at Wikimedia Commons