Tianjin dialect - Definition

Tianjin dialect (天津话, pinyin: Tiānjīnhuà) is the dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Tianjin, China.

Tianjin dialect is classified under Ji Lu Mandarin, a subdivision of Mandarin that's also spoken in the provinces of Hebei and Shandong. Despite being very close to Beijing, Tianjin dialect sounds very different from Beijing dialect, which is the basis for Standard Mandarin, the standard Chinese spoken language.

The tones of Tianjin dialect correspond to those of Beijing (and hence Standard Mandarin) as follows:

(Here "5" is the highest pitch and "1" is the lowest pitch.)

The most striking difference between the dialects of Tianjin and Beijing is the first tone: where it's high and flat in Beijing, it's low and dipping in Tianjin. This gives the Tianjin dialect a downward and nasal feel to speakers of Beijing dialect and/or Standard Mandarin. Other than this, however, the Tianjin dialect is relatively easy for speakers of Beijing dialect or Standard Mandarin to understand.

See also: List of Chinese dialects