The Wu languages (traditional Chinese: 吳語; simplified Chinese: 吴语; Wu romanization and IPA: wu gniu [ɦu˩˩˧.n̠ʲy˩˩˧] (Shanghainese), ng gniu [ŋ̍˨˨˦.n̠ʲy˨˧˩] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: Wúyǔ [u³⁵ y²¹⁴]) is a … See more

Wu's place within the greater scope of Sinitic varieties is less easily typified than prototypically northern Chinese such as Mandarin or prototypically southern Chinese such as Cantonese. Its original classification, along with the other Sinitic varieties, was … See more

The Wu dialects are notable among Chinese varieties in having kept the "muddy" (voiced; whispery voiced word-initially) See more

Speakers of Wu varieties are mostly unaware of this term for their speech, since the term "Wu" is a relatively recent classificatory imposition on what are less clearly defined and highly heterogeneous natural forms. Saying someone "speaks Wu" is therefore … See more

Wu Chinese is the most ancient of the six major southern Chinese varieties, tracing its origin to more than 3,000 years ago, when the Zhou princes Taibo and Zhongyong migrated from the See more

Wu languages are spoken in most of Zhejiang province, the whole municipality of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province, as well as smaller … See more

The pronoun systems of many Wu dialects are complex when it comes to personal and demonstrative pronouns. For example, Wu exhibits clusivity (having different forms of the first … See more