Tianjin and Anhui are thousands of miles apart. Why are the dialects of the two provinces and cities very similar? There is a simple reason.

After living in Tianjin for a long time, you will find that Tianjin people have many similarities with Anhui people, to be exact, they are from Suzhou area in northern Anhui. For example, "Where are you from?" In this sentence, the old Tianjin people will say "where are you from", and Suzhou people will also say "where are you from"; "What are you going to do?" In this sentence, the old Tianjin people say "why do you (cut)" and the Suzhou people will say "why do you (cut)". For the word "go" in this sentence, both are pronounced "cut", and so on. For example, the word "police station" has the word "Chu" in Tianjin dialect and Suzhou dialect, giving everyone an impression of "Paisuo" pronunciation. Tianjin and Anhui (Suzhou) are nearly a thousand kilometers apart, and the two places are separated by many provinces. Why are the speeches so similar? Is this a coincidence in language pronunciation, or is there a necessary connection?

When we look through history and explore the root causes, we will find that everything is not just coincidence, but also has historical basis. As early as the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sealed many princes in various places, among which Judy held heavy troops and made meritorious military service repeatedly, which attracted Zhu Yuanzhang's fear. In order to weaken Judy's strength, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Judy to Beijing and Tianjin in the name of "Yan Wang". Judy is from Fengyang, Anhui. When he led his troops north, he took many soldiers from his hometown, especially Suzhou, Guzhen and Jiangsu. Most of these soldiers are in their fifties, and they often immigrate to Beijing from places where they are married and have children. After Judy proclaimed herself emperor, she named Tianjin herself, and built a city and set up a guard here, namely Tianjin Guard.

Since then, military immigrants have been coming to Tianjin from Jiangsu and Anhui, and they have become the main group of Tianjinwei, and gradually occupied the upper position in the local area. In this context, the dialects in Jianghuai area have become a strong language and are popular in Tianjinwei.

In fact, this is the first major change in Tianjin dialect. Another time, it happened in the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Tianjin was promoted to the government by the state, and Li Hongzhang led a large number of Huai troops to Tianjin and became the base camp of the Huai army. By the same token, the dominant position of Jianghuai dialect has been strengthened this time.

Of course, in addition, the Anhui warlord Duan also used Tianjin as his sphere of influence for a long time, and even set up a government in Tianjin for a time.

All these have deepened the ties between Tianjin and Anhui, and the ideological and cultural exchanges between the two places have become increasingly frequent, mutual penetration, and dialect convergence is inevitable.

Of course, the formation of Tianjin dialect is the result of many factors. Historically, Tianjin has always been the nearest metropolis to Beijing, and many officials and nobles are here to be officials or build houses. The court language from Beijing gradually influenced Tianjin dialect. If we consider the native Tianjin dialect and the immigrants from Shanxi, Shandong and Northeast China, the formation of Tianjin dialect is much more complicated, which directly creates the difference between Tianjin dialect and Jianghuai dialect.

It is worth noting that with the popularization of Putonghua, Tianjin dialect has begun to move closer to Putonghua, and the authentic pronunciation of Tianjin dialect can only be heard by the older generation of Tianjin people.