Sanxiang dialect

Sanxiang
三乡话 / 三乡闽语
Sa1hiu1 / Sahiu
Native to	China
Region	Mainly in Sanxiang, southern Guangdong province.
Native speakers	about 30000
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Min Coastal Min Southern Min (Zhongshan Min) Sanxiang
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Proto-Min
Writing system	Chinese characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	sanx1234
Location of Sanxiang Town (三乡镇) within Zhongshan City (中山市), where Sanxiang dialect is spoken.

Sanxiang (Cantonese Jyutping: saam1hoeng1, in the language itself Sa¹hiu¹ [sa˧.hiu˧]) is a Min variety of Southern Min Chinese mostly spoken in Sanxiang in Zhongshan in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong, China. Despite its close proximity, Sanxiang is not very closely related to the surrounding dialects in the region, which belong to the Yue group, and thus forms a "dialect island" of Min speakers. It is one of three enclaves of Min in Zhongshan, the others being Longdu and Nanlang.

As Zhongshan Min (including Sanxiang) is surrounded by Cantonese, Cantonese influence can be found to some degrees in phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar. This gradually leads to the development of bilingualism among the people. Vocabulary influence is the most significant, followed by phonetics, and the least influential being on the grammar.

Variants

Not much differences are observed among villages in Sanxiang other than slight differences in pronunciation except for the divergent variant in Dabu (大布村). Most differences are observed in rimes and some vocabulary. For example, Zhangzhou final -ɛ as in the word 茶 is pronounced /tai/ in Sanxiang but /teə/ in Dabu. Same can be said for 坐 Sanxiang /tsai/; Dabu /tseə/. Any instances of -au in Sanxiang, becomes -ɔ in Dabu, including those cognate with Zhangzhou -o, such as in the words: 鹅学讲. Southern Min -ua remains in Sanxiang but becomes -oɔ after velar and labial initials or -iɔ elsewhere. 山 is /sua/ in Sanxiang but /siɔ/ in Dabu; likewise 歌 is /kua/ in Sanxiang but /koɔ/ in Dabu.

Phonology

Initials

Sanxiang dialect has 18 initials.

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Velar	Glottal
			plain	sibilant
Nasal		/m/ 梅孟目	/n/ 女南宁		/ŋ/ 牙外严
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	/p/ 巴步白	/t/ 刀茶张	/ts/ 周展杂	/k/ 歌家计	/ʔ/ 安鸭沃
	aspirated	/pʰ/ 破片仆	/tʰ/ 涂谈沉	/tsʰ/ 千唱七	/kʰ/ 快欠曲
	voiced	/b/ 买棉灭
Fricative	unvoiced	/f/ 费芳法		/s/ 山身赎		/h/ 海坑兄
	voiced			/z/ 认热日
Lateral			/l/ 漏绿入

Rimes

Sanxiang dialect has 69 rimes as observed in Wushi (乌石村).

Nucleus		-a-			-e-			-ɐ-		-o-		-ɔ-	-i-	-u-	-øu-	-ai-	-au-		-ɐi-		-ɐu-		-oi-		-ou-	-ui-	-iu-	∅-
Medial		∅-	i-	u-	∅-	i-	u-	∅-	i-	∅-	i-	∅-	∅-	∅-	∅-	∅-	∅-	i-	∅-	u-	∅-	i-	∅-	u-	∅-	∅-	∅-
Coda	-∅	a 炒衫	ia 倚兄	ua 歌山	e 鞋买					o 河罗		ɔ 步楚	i 比许	u 素鱼		ai 巴千	au 左刀	iau 消条	ɐi 西桂	uɐi 惠	ɐu 沟愁	iɐu 舅由	oi 采帅	uoi 快卫	ou 某侯	ui 推算	iu 秋唱
	-ʔ	aʔ 答纳	iaʔ 食笛	uaʔ 辣热			ueʔ 刮月			oʔ 洛获	ioʔ 碧脚		iʔ 接			aiʔ 白客	auʔ 作学										iuʔ 尺石
	-m	am 南感			em 甜念	iem 险欠		ɐm 森审	iɐm 壬				im 渐心															m̩ 唔
	-n	an 单阵		uan 弯幻				ɐn 恨论	iɐn 忍因	on 干汉			in 棉片	un 船云
	-ŋ	aŋ 冬梦		uaŋ 宏		ieŋ 承清		ɐŋ 崩冰		oŋ 江风	ioŋ 常龙				øuŋ 弓用													ŋ̍ 五
	-p	ap 杂鸽			ep 帖	iep 竹十		ɐp 集习	iɐp 十涩				ip 业入
	-t	at 察法						ɐt 匹吉					it 灭节	ut 活出
	-k	ak 缚沃		uak 或		iek 则息		ɐk 突北		ok 各国	iok 削鹿				øuk 熟育

Tones

Similar to Hokkien, Sanxiang dialect has 7 tones.

Tones	dark 阴				light 阳
	level 平	rising 上	departing 去	entering 入	level 平	rising 上	departing 去	entering 入
No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Tone contour	˧ (33)	˩˧ (13)	˨˩˧ (213)	˨˩ (21)	˥ (55)	-	˩ (11)	˥˧ (53)
Example Hanzi	歌贪刀单	左底水讲	算唱庆送	杀结七竹	茶蛇甜团		步话办漏	热滑绝十
Special Examples	杜坐五雨 事义外配	舵柱倍舅武					蚁 农

Special examples note:

Tone Sandhi

Tone sandhi in Sanxiang applies in words with two or more characters. The following syllables are unaffected by tone sandhi:

• Function words
• Personal pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Negative adverbs
• Syllable before a vocal pause

Tones	dark 阴				light 阳
	level 平	rising 上	departing 去	entering 入	level 平	rising 上	departing 去	entering 入
Original Tone	˧ (33)	˩˧ (13)	˨˩˧ (213)	˨˩ (21)	˥ (55)	-	˩ (11)	˥˧ (53)
Resulting Tone		˩ (11)	˧ (33)		˨˩ (21)	-	˧ (33)	˨ (2)
Example Words	生姜、 猪母、 妖怪、 花托、 葾头、 秦树、 骰目	炒惹、 草纸、 狗窦、 手骨、 马棚、 好事、 伙食	称星、 孝子、 厝契、 蒜汁、 算盘、 告示、 放学	插棋、 结茧、 竹扫、 竹壳、 栗萝、 八万、 竹窘	齐心、 人手、 鱼刺、 鱼骨、 油麻、 牛特、 鱼目		大声、 饭碗、 豆酱、 面铃、 大头、 豆鼓、 润月	学生、 石盾、 白菜、 目汁、 目皮、 墨现、 自鹤

Phonological features

Phonological features of the Sanxiang Dialect features several influence from nearby Yue languages and Hakka languages.

Compared to other Southern Min languages, the distinction of nasal vowels are lost in Sanxiang. Compare Hokkien 沙; sua with 山; suann and 油; iû with 羊; iûnn which are both /sua˧/ and /iu˥/ respectively in Sanxiang. Similarly, Leizhou dialect and Hainan dialect also lost nasal vowel distinction.

Minimal pairs of nasalized rimes

Rime	-a		-ua		-ia		-iu		-i		-ui		-ai
Word	纱	衫	沙	山	野	影	受	想	比	扁	围	黄	家	更
Sanxiang	sa	sa	sua	sua	ia	ia	siu	siu	pi	pi	ui	ui	kai	kai
Leizhou	sa	sa	sua	sua	ie	o	siu	sio	pi	pieŋ	ui	ui	ke	ke
Zhangzhou	sɛ	sã	sua	suã	ia	iã	siu	siɔ̃	pi	pĩ	ui	uĩ	kɛ	kɛ̃
Xiamen	sa	sã	sua	suã	ia	iã	siu	siũ	pi	pĩ	ui	ŋ̍	ke	kĩ

Some ancient voiced (浊) initial consonants in the rising (上) tone are now pronounced as either 阴平 tone or 上声 tone in Sanxiang. This pronunciation is very similar to that of Sanxiang Hakka. In the Zhongshan dialect, there are few examples of ancient voiced initial consonants in the rising tone that are now pronounced as 阴平 tone, but examples that are pronounced in the 上声 tone are very easy to find. In Zhangzhou, Fuzhou, and other Min dialects, this overall pronunciation pattern is generally absent, except for a few words with ancient secondary voiced initials (次浊) that are read as 上声 tone today. In most cases, it corresponds to the 阳去 tone.

Word	买	咬	坐	近	断	杜	舅	柱	社
Sanxiang	be	ka	t͡sai	kin	tui	tu	kʰiɐu	t͡sʰi	sia
	阴平						上声
Sanxiang Hakka	mai	ŋau	t͡sʰo	kʰiun	tʰon	tʰu	kʰiɛu	t͡sʰu	sia
	阴平					去声	阴平	上声
Zhangzhou	be	ka	t͡se	kin	tuĩ	tɔ	ku	tʰiau	sia
	上声	阳去
Fuzhou	mɛ	kɑ	suɑi	køyŋ	tuɑŋ	tou	kiɛu	tʰiɛu	siɑ
	上声	阳去
Wenzhou	ma	ŋuɔ	zo	dʑaŋ	daŋ	døy	dʑau	dzɿ	zei
	阳上

Min features

Middle Chinese initial "非敷奉" is pronounced as either [p] or [pʰ] on Sanxiang's colloquial reading (白读).

Rime set	非		敷	奉
Word	分	粪	蜂	肥	妇	浮	缚
Sanxiang	pun	pun	pʰaŋ	pui	pu	pʰu	pak
Xiamen	pun	pun	pʰaŋ	pui	pu	pʰu	pak
Fuzhou	puoŋ	puoŋ	pʰuŋ	puoi	pou	pʰu	puoʔ
Longdu	puɵn	pun	pʰoŋ	puɵi	pu	pʰu	pɔk

Middle Chinese initial "知撤澄" is pronounced as either [t] or [tʰ] on Sanxiang's colloquial reading (白读), a trait uniquely shared by other Min languages.

Rime set	知		撤	澄
Word	猪	张	拆	茶	绸	沉	郑
Sanxiang	tu	tiu	tʰiaʔ	tai	tiu	tʰim	tai
Xiamen	ti	tiũ	tʰiaʔ	tai	tiu	tʰim	tĩ
Fuzhou	ty	tuoŋ	tʰiɑʔ	ta	tieu	tʰɛiŋ	tɑŋ
Longdu	ti	tiɔŋ	tʰ-	ta	tiu	tʰɐm	tɐŋ

Similar to other Southern Min languages, some Middle Chinese initial 日、疑、云(喻三) are pronounced as [h] on Sanxiang's colloquial reading (白读), a trait not shared by other Zhongshan Min (Longdu dialect and Nanlang dialect) which are part of Eastern Min.

Rime set	日		疑			云
Word	箬	耳	蚁	鱼	瓦	云	园	熊	雨
Sanxiang	hioʔ	hi	hia	hi	hia	hun	hui	him	hɔ
Zhangzhou	hioʔ	hĩ	hia	hi	hia	hun	huĩ	hiɪŋ	hɔ
Fuzhou	nuoʔ	ŋɛi	ŋiɛ	ŋy	ŋuɑ	huŋ	huoŋ	hyŋ	huɔ
Longdu	nɵʔ	ŋi	ŋiɛ	ŋi	ŋa	un	fɔn	hoŋ	fuɔ

Unique features

One unique feature of Zhongshan Min, including Sanxiang dialect, is the presence of the consonant /f/ which is absent in much of the Min languages, suspected to be of Cantonese borrowing. The Middle Chinese 三十六字母 (36 initials) correspondence in the literary reading (文读) of Sanxiang dialect is as follows:

• "非敷奉" are mostly pronounced [h-], retaining characteristics of Min dialect, but a few are pronounced [f-].
• "溪" are respectively pronounced [h-] or [f-].
• "晓匣" are respectively pronounced [f].

Irregular occurrence of Sanxiang /f/ in comparison with Middle Chinese initial set

Initial set	非			敷			奉		溪			晓			匣
Word	肺	法	方	芳	费	翻	负	凡	庆	去	科	灰	徽	忽	户
Sanxiang	hui	fat̚	foŋ	foŋ	fɐi	fan	hu	fan	hɐŋ	hi	fo	fui	fɐi	fɐt̚	fu
Longdu	hui/fui	fat̚	fɔŋ	fɔŋ	fɐi	fan	hu	fan	hɐŋ	kʰi	fɔ	hui	fɐi	uɐt̚	fu
Hakka	fui	fat̚	fɔŋ	fɔŋ	fui	fan	fu	fan	hin	hi	fo	foi	fui		fu
Xiamen	hui	huat̚	hɔŋ	hɔŋ	hui	huan	hu	huan	kʰiɪŋ	kʰi	kʰo	hue	hui	hut̚	hɔ

Another uniquely Sanxiang feature is the presence of the rime -ai and -au on some characters which corresponds to the Middle Chinese rimes 假 (二等) and 果 on the rime group (攝). Sanxiang -ai and -au usually corresponds to Zhangzhou Hokkien rimes -ɛ and -o.

Sanxiang open rime diphthongization

Rime set	果			假
Word	左	婆	坐	巴	茶	家	虾	牙
Sanxiang	t͡sau	pau	t͡sai	pai	tai	kai	hai	ŋai
Zhangzhou	t͡so	po	t͡se	pa	tɛ	kɛ	hɛ	ɡɛ
Cantonese	t͡sɔː	pʰɔː	t͡sʰɔː	paː	t͡sʰaː	kaː	haː	ŋaː

This pattern with Zhangzhou dialect would continue on rimes with glottal stop -ʔ and on Zhangzhou's nasalized rimes.

Word	星	郑	白	客	作	恶	学
Sanxiang	t͡sʰai	tai	paiʔ	kʰaiʔ	t͡sauʔ	auʔ	auʔ
Zhangzhou	t͡sʰɛ̃	tɛ̃	pɛʔ	kʰɛʔ	t͡soʔ	oʔ	oʔ

Sometimes, some words can have irregular changes, such as 千 [t͡sʰai˧]

Cantonese Influence

Sanxiang's Cantonese influence can be seen in the occurrence of the vowel /ɐ/.

Minimal pairs of the vowel /a/ and /ɐ/

/a/ vs /ɐ/	-i		-u		-m		-p		-n		-t
Word	拜	闭	高	沟	三	心	杂	集	慢	敏	札	质
Sanxiang	pai	pɐi	kau	kɐu	sam	sɐm	t͡sap̚	t͡sɐp̚	man	mɐn	t͡sat̚	t͡sɐt̚
Cantonese	paːi̯	pɐi̯	kou̯	kʰɐu̯	saːm	sɐm	t͡saːp̚	t͡saːp̚	maːn	mɐn	t͡saːt̚	t͡sɐt̚
Xiamen	pai	pi	kau	kau	sam	sim	t͡sap̚	t͡sip̚	ban	bin	t͡sat̚	t͡sit̚

Sanxiang also has unique rimes øuŋ and øuk corresponding to Cantonese ʊŋ and ʊk or Taishanese ɵŋ and ɵk.

Rime	-øuŋ				-øuk
Word	钟	弓	穷	用	熟	郁	育
Sanxiang	t͡søuŋ	køuŋ	køuŋ	øuŋ	søuk̚	øuk̚	øuk̚
Taishanese	t͡sɵŋ	kɵŋ	kʰɵŋ	jɵŋ	sɵk̚		jɵk̚
Cantonese	t͡sʊŋ	kʊŋ	kʰʊŋ	jʊŋ	sʊk̚	jʊk̚	jʊk̚

Vocabulary

Some words are similar to other Min languages.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Person	人	侬	侬	侬	人
	jɐn²¹	naŋ⁵⁵	laŋ²⁴	nˡøyŋ⁵³	rén
Tall	高	悬	悬	悬	高
	kou̯⁵⁵	kui⁵⁵	kuãi²⁴	kɛiŋ⁵³	gāo
Hard	硬	橂	橂	橂	硬
	ŋaːŋ²²	tɐi¹¹	tiɪŋ²²	taiŋ²⁴²	yìng
To Eat	食	食	食	食	吃
	sɪk̚²	t͡siaʔ⁵³	t͡siaʔ⁴	sieʔ⁵	chī
Wok	镬	鼎	鼎	鼎	锅
	wɔːk̚²	tia¹³	tiã⁵³	tiaŋ³³	guō
House	屋	厝	厝	厝	房子
	ʊk̚⁵	t͡sʰu²¹³	t͡sʰu²¹	t͡sʰuɔ²¹³	fángzi
Sun	热头	日头	日头	日头	太阳
	jiːt̚² tʰɐu̯²¹⁻³⁵	zit̚⁵³⁻² tʰɐu⁵⁵	lit̚⁴⁻³² tʰau²⁴	nˡiʔ⁵⁻³³ tʰau⁵³	tàiyáng
Star	星	天星	星	天星	星星
	sɪŋ⁵⁵	tʰi³³ sɐi³³	t͡sʰĩ⁴⁴	tʰieŋ⁵⁵ (s-)niŋ⁵⁵	xīngxīng
Eye	眼	目珠	目珠	目珠	眼睛
	ŋaːn¹³	mak̚⁵³⁻² t͡siu³³	bak̚⁴⁻³² t͡siu⁴⁴	mɛiʔ⁵⁻⁵⁵ t͡sieu⁵⁵	yǎnjing
Mouth	嘴	喙	喙	喙	嘴
	t͡sɵy̯³⁵	t͡sʰui²¹³	t͡sʰui²¹	t͡sʰui²¹³	zuǐ
Foot	脚	骹	骹	骹	脚
	kœːk̚³	kʰa³³	kʰa⁴⁴	kʰa⁵⁵	jiǎo
Leaf	叶	箬	箬	箬	叶子
	jiːp̚²	hioʔ⁵³	hioʔ⁴	nˡuoʔ⁵	yèzi
Rice plant	禾	粙	粙仔	粙	稻子
	wɔː²¹	tiu³³	tiu²²⁻²¹ a⁵³	tiɛu²⁴²	dàozi
Soil	泥	涂	涂	涂	土
	nɐi̯²¹	tʰu⁵⁵	tʰɔ²⁴	tʰu⁵³	tú

Like other Southern Min languages, some bisyllabic compounds are inverted in comparison to Mandarin and Cantonese.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Throat	喉咙	咙喉	咙喉	喉咙	喉咙
	hɐu̯²¹ lʊŋ²¹	laŋ⁵⁵⁻²¹ ɐu⁵⁵	nã²⁴⁻²² au²⁴	ho⁵³⁻³³ l̃øyŋ⁵³	hóulóng
Typhoon	台风	风台	风台	风台	台风
	tʰɔːi̯²¹ fʊŋ⁵⁵	hoŋ³³ tʰai³³	hɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² tʰai⁴⁴	huŋ⁵⁵ (tʰ-)nai⁵⁵	táifēng

Some words came from Cantonese influence.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Nose	鼻哥	鼻哥	鼻	鼻	鼻子
	pei̯²² kɔː⁵⁵	pi¹¹⁻³³ kau³³	pʰĩ²²	pʰɛi²¹³	bízi
To Look	睇	睇	看	看	看
	tʰɐi̯³⁵	tʰɐi¹³	kʰuã²¹	kʰɑŋ²¹³	kàn
Bottle	樽	樽	矸仔	瓶瓶	瓶子
	t͡sɵn⁵⁵	tsɐn³³	kan⁴⁴⁻²² a⁵³	piŋ⁵³⁻³³ piŋ⁵³	píngzi
Child	细佬哥	细佬哥	囡仔	儿囝	小孩
	sɐi̯³³ lou̯³⁵ kɔː⁵⁵	sɐi²¹³⁻³³ lau¹³⁻¹¹ ko³³	ɡin⁵³⁻⁴⁴ a⁵³	nˡie²⁴²⁻⁵³ (k-)iaŋ³³	xiǎohái
Kitchen	厨房	厨房	灶骹	灶前	厨房
	t͡sʰyː²¹ fɔːŋ²¹⁻³⁵	tu⁵⁵⁻²¹ paŋ³³	t͡sau²¹⁻⁵³ kʰa⁴⁴	t͡sau²¹³⁻⁵⁵ (s-)lɛiŋ⁵³	chúfáng
Kerosene	火水	火水	涂油	洋油	煤油
	fɔː³⁵ sɵy̯³⁵	hoi¹³⁻¹¹ tsui¹³	tʰɔ²⁴⁻²² iu²⁴	yoŋ⁵³⁻³³ (Ø-)ŋieu⁵³	méiyóu
Bicycle	单车	单车	跤踏车	跤踏车	自行车
	taːn⁵⁵ t͡sʰɛː⁵⁵	tan³³ t͡sʰia³³	kʰa⁴⁴⁻²² ta(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰia⁴⁴	kʰa⁵⁵ (t-)laʔ⁵⁻⁵⁵ t͡sʰia⁵⁵	zìxíngchē
Monkey	马骝	马骝	猴	猴	猴子
	maː¹³ lɐu̯²¹⁻⁵⁵	mɐi¹³⁻¹¹ lau⁵⁵	hɔ²⁴	kau⁵³	hóuzi
Glutinous Rice	糯米	糯米	秫米	秫米	糯米
	nɔː²² mɐi̯¹³	nɐu¹¹⁻³³ mi¹³	t͡sut̚⁴⁻³² bi⁵³	suʔ⁵⁻³³ mi³³	nuòmǐ

Some words are made by combining Cantonese and Southern Min words.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Sleeve	(衫)袖	衫䘼	手(䘼)	手䘼	袖子
	saːm⁵⁵ t͡sɐu̯²	sa³³ hui¹³	t͡sʰiu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ŋ̍⁵³	t͡sʰieu³³⁻³⁵ uoŋ³³	xiùzi
To bathe	沖(涼)	洗涼	(洗)身躯	洗汤	洗澡
	t͡sʰʊŋ⁵⁵ lœːŋ²¹	se¹³⁻¹¹ liu⁵⁵	sue⁵³⁻⁴⁴ sin⁴⁴⁻²² kʰu⁴⁴	sɛ³³⁻²¹ (tʰ-)louŋ⁵⁵	xǐzǎo

Some words are uniquely Sanxiang.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Banana	香蕉	蕉只	弓蕉	芭蕉	香蕉
	hœːŋ⁵⁵ t͡siːu̯⁵⁵	t͡siu³³ t͡si¹³	kiɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sio⁴⁴	pa⁵⁵ (t͡s-)ʒieu⁵⁵	xiāngjiāo
Ear	耳仔	耳朶	耳仔	耳囝	耳朵
	jiː¹³ t͡sɐi̯³⁵	hi¹¹⁻³³ ŋu⁵⁵	hi²²⁻²¹ a⁵³	ŋi²⁴²⁻⁵³ (k-)iaŋ³³	ěrduo
Neck	颈	当颈	颔颈	脰骨	脖子
	kɛːŋ³⁵	taŋ³³ kin³³	am²²⁻²¹ kun⁵³	tau²⁴²⁻⁵³ (k-)ɑuʔ²⁴	bózi
Toilet	厕所	糞厝	屎礐	粪坑厝	厕所
	t͡sʰiː³³ sɔː³⁵	pun²¹³⁻³³ t͡sʰu²¹³	sai⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hak̚⁴	puŋ²¹³⁻²¹ (kʰ-)ŋaŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ (t͡sʰ-)ʒuɔ²¹³	cèsuǒ
Firefly	萤火虫	火蝇火	火金蛄	蓝尾星	萤火虫
	jɪŋ²¹ fɔː³⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹	hoi¹³⁻¹¹ sin⁵⁵⁻²¹ hoi¹³	he⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kim⁴⁴⁻²² kɔ⁴⁴	l̃aŋ⁵³⁻²¹ mui³³⁻²¹ (s-)liŋ⁵⁵	yínghuǒchóng

Literary and colloquial readings

Like in other Min languages, Sanxiang words can have a literary (文读) and colloquial reading (白读). Generally, the colloquial reading of a rime is closer to Hokkien whereas the literary reading of rimes is closer to Cantonese. As an example 笔 has the colloquial reading of /pit̚²¹/ whereas the literary reading would be /pɐt̚⁵³/.

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Hanzi
Pencil	jyːn²¹ pɐt̚⁵	in³³ pit̚²¹	iɛn²⁴⁻²² pit̚³²	yoŋ⁵³⁻²¹ (p-)mɛiʔ²⁴	铅笔
Chalk	fɐn³⁵ pɐt̚⁵	fɐn¹³⁻¹¹ pɐt̚⁵³	hun⁵³⁻⁴⁴ pit̚³²		粉笔

Numeral

Numeral		1 一	2 二	3 三	4 四	5 五	6 六	7 七	8 八	9 九	10 十
Sanxiang	文	it̚²¹	zi¹¹	sam³³	si²¹³	ŋɔ¹¹	lok̚⁵³	t͡sʰit̚²¹	pat̚²¹	kau¹³	siɐp̚⁵³
	白	iɐk̚²¹	ŋi¹¹	sa³³	si¹¹	ŋ̍³³	lak̚⁵³	t͡sʰat̚²¹	paiʔ²¹	kau¹¹	t͡siep̚⁵³
Zhangzhou	文	it̚³²	d͡zi²²	sam⁴⁴	su²¹	ŋɔ̃⁵³	liɔk̚¹²¹	t͡sʰit̚³²	pat̚³²	kiu⁵³	sip̚¹²¹
	白	t͡sit̚¹²¹		sã⁴⁴	si²¹	ɡɔ²²	lak̚¹²¹		peʔ³²	kau⁵³	t͡sap̚¹²¹
Fuzhou	文	ɛiʔ²⁴	nˡɛi²⁴²	saŋ⁵⁵	søy²¹³	ŋu³³	l̃øyʔ⁵	t͡sʰɛiʔ²⁴	paiʔ²⁴	kieu³³	sɛiʔ⁵
	白	suoʔ⁵	nɑ²⁴²		sɛi²¹³	ŋou²⁴²				kau³³

Time Phrases

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Morning	上昼	上旰	早起	上昼	上午
	sœːŋ²² t͡sɐu̯³³	tsiu¹¹⁻³³ kua²¹³	t͡sa⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kʰi⁵³	suoŋ²⁴²⁻⁵³ (t-)nɑu²¹³	shàngwǔ
Noon	晏昼	日昼	日昼	中昼	中午
	aːn³³ t͡sɐu̯³³	zit̚⁵³⁻² tɐu²¹³	lit̚⁴⁻³² tau²¹	touŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ (t-)nɑu²¹³	zhōngwǔ
Afternoon	下昼	下旰	下晡	下昼	下午
	haː²² t͡sɐu̯³³	e¹¹⁻³³ kua²¹³	e²²⁻²¹ pɔ⁴⁴	a²⁴²⁻⁵³ (t-)lɑu²¹³	xiàwǔ
Night	夜晚黑	暝昏	暝昏	暝晡	晚上
	jɛː²² maːn¹³ haːk̚⁵	mɐi³³ hui⁵⁵	mĩ²⁴⁻²² hŋ̍⁴⁴	maŋ⁵³⁻⁵⁵ (p-)muo⁵⁵	wǎnshang

Family Terms

English	Cantonese	Sanxiang	Xiamen	Fuzhou	Mandarin
Son	仔	??囝	囝	囝	儿子
	t͡sɐi̯³⁵	sem³³ me⁵⁵⁻²¹ kia¹³	kiã⁵³	kiaŋ³³	érzi
Daughter	女	查某囝	查某囝	诸娘囝	女儿
	nɵy̯¹³	t͡sam³³ mou¹³⁻¹¹ kia¹³	t͡sa⁴⁴⁻²² bɔ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kiã⁵³	t͡sy⁵⁵⁻⁵³ nˡøyŋ⁵³⁻³³ (k-)ŋiaŋ³³	nǚ'ér
Husband	老公	老翁	翁	老公	丈夫
	lou̯¹³ kʊŋ⁵⁵	lau¹¹⁻³³ aŋ³³	aŋ⁴⁴	l̃a²⁴²⁻⁵⁵ (k-)uŋ⁵⁵	zhàngfu
Wife	老婆	老婆	某	老妈	妻子
	lou̯¹³ pʰɔː²¹	lau¹¹⁻³³ pau⁵⁵	bɔ⁵³	l̃au²⁴²⁻⁵³ ma³³	qīzi

Sources

• 张, 振兴 (1987). "广东省中山市三乡闽语" (PDF). 《语言文字论集》 (1): 35–43.
• 陳, 小楓 (1996). "中山間語語音概說" (PDF). 中山大学学报: 社会科学版 (1): 235–249.
• Bodman, Nicholas C. (1988). "Two Divergent Southern Min Dialects of the Sanxiang District, Zhongshan, Guangdong" (PDF). 《中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊》. 59 (2): 401–423.
• 陈, 小枫; 陈, 淑环 (2003). "粤方言对中山闽语语法系统的影响概述". In 詹, 伯慧 (ed.). 第八届国际粤方言研讨会论文集. 国际粤方言研讨会论文集. 中国社会科学出版社. pp. 593–608. ISBN 7-5004-4202-5.
• 高, 然 (2017). "中山闽语语法概述". In 高, 然 (ed.). 语言与方言论稿. 语言与方言论稿 第二辑. 北京/西安:世界图书出版公司. pp. 221–241. ISBN 978-7-5192-3293-1.