Jin (linguistics) Jin (simplified: 晋语; traditional: 晉語; pinyin: jìnyǔ), or Jin-yu, is a subdivision of spoken Chinese. Its exact status is disputed among linguists; some prefer to classify it under Mandarin, while others set it apart as an independent branch. Jin is spoken over most of Shanxi province, except for the lower Fen River valley; much of central Inner Mongolia; as well as adjourning areas in Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces. Cities covered within this area include Taiyuan, Zhangjiakou, Hohhot, Jiaozuo, and Yulin. In total Jin is spoken by roughly 45 million people. Like all other varieties of Chinese, there is plenty of dispute as to whether Jin is a language or a dialect. See here for the issues surrounding this dispute. History The speech of Shanxi province is, alone among the various dialects of North China, unique enough to warrant the label of "language" from some linguists. This may well be due to the geographic isolation of Shanxi. The entire province is a plateau surrounded by mountains on all sides. This may well have contributed to the differences between Jin and all the Mandarin dialects that surround it. Dialects Jin can be divided into the following 8 subdivisions Bingzhou, or that spoken in central Shanxi, including Taiyuan Lüliang, or that spoken in western Shanxi and northern Shaanxi Shangdang, or that spoken in southeastern Shanxi Wutai, or that spoken in parts of northern Shanxi and central Inner Mongolia Datong-Baotou, or that spoken in parts of northern Shanxi and central Inner Mongolia Zhangjiakou-Hohhot, or that spoken in northwestern Hebei and parts of central Inner Mongolia Handan-Xinxiang, or that spoken in southeastern Shanxi, southern Hebei and northern Henan Variations of Jin Chinese Sounds Unlike most varieties of Mandarin, Jin uses the final glottal stop. This is in common with many southern varieties of Chinese. Jin has also kept the entering tone, which is the tone that goes with the final glottal stop. Jin employs extremely complex tone sandhi, or tone changes that occur when words are put together into phrases. The tone sandhi of Jin is rather unique in two ways among Chinese dialects: Tone sandhi rules depend on the grammatical structure of the words being put together. Hence, an adjective-noun compound may go through different sets of changes compared to a verb-object compound. There are tones that merge when words are pronounced alone, but behave differently (and hence are differentiated) during tone sandhi. Grammar Jin readily employs prefixes such as 圪 /kəʔ/, 忽 /xəʔ/, and 入 /zəʔ/, in a variety of derivational constructions. For example: 入鬼 "fool around" < 鬼 "ghost, devil" In addition, there are a number of words in Jin that evolved, evidently, by splitting a mono-syllabic word into two. For example: pəʔ ləŋ < 蹦 pəŋ "hop" tʰəʔ luɤ < 拖 tʰuɤ "drag" kuəʔ la < 刮 kua "scrape" xəʔ lɒ̃ < 巷 xɒ̃ "street" A similar process can also be found in Mandarin (e.g. 窟窿 kulong < 孔 kong), but it is especially common in Jin. Vocabulary Some dialects of Jin make a three-way distinction in demonstratives. (English, for example, has only a two-way distinction between "this" and "that".) References Hou Jingyi 侯精一 and Shen Ming 沈明 (2002). Jin-yu (晋语). In Hou Jingyi 侯精一 (Ed.) Xiandai Hanyu Fangyan Gailun 现代汉语方言概论. Shanghai: Shanghai Education Press. ISBN 7-5320-8084-6. External links Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_(linguistics)