Wu Chinese

Wu dialects

Areas where Wu is spoken

Wu is a group of Chinese dialects spoken in the area around Shanghai in southern China.

Speakers

Wu dialects have been spoken by some important people such as Chiang Kai-shek. However, Wu speakers are similar to speakers of Spanish and French because they can not always understand each other. In fact, the name Wu is mainly used by people who study languages.

There are various subgroups of the Wu dialect.

Replacement

Like other types of Chinese, the Wu dialects are starting to be replaced by Mandarin as time goes on.

This language has its own Wikipedia project. See the Wu Chinese edition.

Wu Chinese Media

Migratory routes into or out of the early modern limits of Wu Chinese
A yi vessel from the Wu yue state
Migration routes into southern China during the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians
Kentoshi route, also known as the sea route from Japan to China
A 19th century illustration of medieval Hangzhou
Two performers of Suzhou pingtan
Title Page of Joseph Edkins's 1868 book A Grammar of Colloquial Chinese, as Exhibited in the Shanghai Dialect
A sign in Lishui urging people to speak Mandarin: "Speak Mandarin well — It's easier for all of us."
Shanghainese for "I love you" clearly visible on the façade of Shanghai Citibank in Lujiazui, Shanghai
This video shows the difference between Wu and Mandarin. At a church in Paris, the Beijing Mandarin spoken by the pastor (left) was interpreted into Wenzhounese, a Southern Wu language.
A video in Shanghainese, a Northern Wu language.

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