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Wu ( , -wuuŋ˨˦ ɲʲy˧˩Suzhou dialectSuzhou Wu: ) is one of the major languages in China. It is spoken in most of Zhejiang province, the municipality of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province, as well as smaller parts of Anhui, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces. It is famous among linguists and sinologists as having one of the highest levels of internal diversity among the spoken Chinese language families. Major Wu dialects include those of Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Yongkang, and Quzhou. The prestige dialect has traditionally been that of Suzhou, though due to its large population and economic dominance, Shanghainese is now considered the prestige dialect. Because of the influence of Shanghainese, Wu is often referred to in English as simply "Shanghainese" when introducing the dialect family to non-specialists. Wu is a term used by scholars; other less formal terms include "Jiangnan speech" (江南話), "Jiangsu-Zhejiang speech" or "Jiangzhe speech" (江浙話), and less commonly "Wuyue speech" (吳越語) referring to the kingdom of Wuyue. Among speakers of other Chinese languages, Wu is often subjectively judged to be soft, light, and flowing. There is even a special term used to describe these qualities of Wu speech ( ), which literally means "The Tender Language of Wu." |
