Phonological Systems
Below is a phonological inventory of some northern Wu dialects, which includes, proceeding from north to south, Qidong, Haimen, Old Shanghai (i.e. in older speakers), Suzhou, and Hangzhou. Within this group, there are a number of differences in the initials, namely that Suzhou and Old Shanghai preserves a number of distinctions not found in the others. However, the major differences are found in the finals and the tones, with Old Shanghai merging the tonal registers in two of the four Middle Chinese rhyme categories.
Qidong (from the Jiangsu Province Dialect Records)
| Initials | Finals |
| p pʰ b m f v t tʰ d n l ts tsʰ dz s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ ʑ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ hɦ ∅ |
ɿ a ã aʔ ɑ̃ ɑʔ ɛ ø iø |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 54 | 435 | 45 | 5 |
| Yang | 24 | 41 | 213 | 23 |
Haimen (from the Jiangsu Province Dialect Records)
| Initials | Finals |
| p
pʰ b m f v t tʰ d n l ts tsʰ dz s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ ʑ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ hɦ ∅ |
ɿ ã iã uã aʔ ɑ ɑ̃ iɑ̃ uɑ̃ ɑʔ o ɛ æ ɤɯ ør |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 53 | 324 | 34 | 5 |
| Yang | 24 | 31 | 213 | 23 |
Old Shanghai (from the Urban Shanghai Dialect Records)
| Initials | Finals |
| ʔb pʰ b m f β ʔd tʰ d n l ts tsʰ s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ ∅ |
ɿ i əu y ʮ a iã uã ɑ iɑ uɑ ɑ̃ iɑ̃ uɑ̃ ɔ iɔ ɔʔ ɤ iɤ e ue ᴇ iᴇ uᴇ ø yø iɪ iu iɪʔ ə̃ŋ iəŋ uəŋ əʔ iəʔ uəʔ o oŋ ioŋ oʔ ioʔ uoʔ ᴀʔ iᴀʔ uᴀʔ œʔ uœʔ yœʔ əl n̩ m̩ ŋ̍ |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 53 | 44 | -- | 55 |
| Yang | 34 | -- | 23 | 12 |
Suzhou (from the Suzhou Dialect Records and the Empirical Research of Wu Dialect Tones)
| Initials | Finals |
| p pʰ b m f v t tʰ d n l ts tsʰ dz s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ tʂ tʂʰ dʐ ʂ ʐ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ ∅ |
ɿ i u y ʏ ʮ ʯ æ iæ a ã iã uã aʔ uãʔ ə iə ən uən əʔ iəʔ uəʔ yəʔ ɑ uɑ ɑ̃ ɑʔ ᴇ uᴇ o oŋ ioŋ oʔ ø uø iɪ iʏ iʅ in əl eu |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 54 | 51 | 512 | 5 |
| Yang | 13 | 31 | 132 | 3 |
Hangzhou (from the Empirical Research of Wu Dialect Tones)
| Initials | Finals |
| p pʰ b m f v t tʰ d n l ts tsʰ dz s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ |
ɿ i u y ʮ a ia ua ʮa aŋ iaŋ uaŋ ʮaŋ aʔ iaʔ uaʔ ʮaʔ ɛ iɛ uɛ ʮɛ ɛ̃ iɛ̃ ɔ iɔ ɔʔ o uo uõ ʮõ yõ oŋ ioŋ oʔ ioʔ uoʔ ø iø ei ʮei en ʮen əʔ iəʔ ʮəʔ yəʔ ui un in yn əl m̩ ŋ̍ |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 223 | 543 | 44 | 54 |
| Yang | 33 | -- | 134 | 24 |
Wenzhou (from the Southern Zhejiang Ou Dialect)
| Initials | Finals |
| p pʰ b m f v t tʰ d n l ts tsʰ dz s z tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ȵ ɕ k kʰ g ŋ h ɦ ∅ |
ɿ i u y ei əu əy a ia ua o yo ø e ə uɔ yɔ ɛ iɛ ai iai au iau ieu aŋ iaŋ eŋ oŋ yoŋ ŋ̍ |
| Ping | Shang | Qu | Ru | |
| Yin | 44 | 454 | 42 | 34 |
| Yang | 31 | 243 | 22 | 213 |
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