What language does Nantong dialect belong to?

Nantong dialect belongs to a dialect between Wu dialect and Putonghua. Nantong dialect is quite special. Professor Lu, a contemporary linguist, thinks that Nantong dialect is "the most distinctive and academic dialect in Putonghua". The main reason why Nantong dialect is classified as Mandarin is that in Nantong dialect, all voiced stops and fricatives in the Middle Ages have become unvoiced.

In other words, Nantong dialect has no voiced initials. Nantong dialect does not belong to Wu dialect because the Wu dialect adjacent to Nantong dialect has voiced initials. Because Nantong dialect is between Wu dialect and Mandarin, Nantong dialect, which does not belong to Wu dialect, is naturally designated as Mandarin. However, whether Nantong dialect is official or not is still controversial in academic circles.

Extended data

Nantong dialect:

1, dialects in the western and northern areas of Nantong: Hai 'an County, Rugao City and Rudong County belong to Tongtai Pian/Tairu Pian of Jianghuai Mandarin, which generally become Rugao Dialect, and are divided into Rudong Dialect in eastern Rudong and Ruhai Dialect in other areas, which are called Rudong Dialect and Ruhai Dialect respectively.

2. The surrounding area of Nantong: Nantong dialect, the dialect of Gangzha District, the northwest of Chongchuan District and the middle and west of Tongzhou District, is a transitional dialect from Wuling dialect to Tongtai dialect/Tairu dialect in Jianghuai Mandarin.

Baidu encyclopedia-Nantong

Baidu encyclopedia-Nantong dialect