Shanghai dialect is of great significance.

Niu in Shanghai dialect means that this person is very skilled in dealing with everything.

brief introduction

Shanghai dialect belongs to Taihu dialect in Wu dialect, which is often called "Shanghai gossip" and is one of the most influential dialects in modern Wu dialect area. This is not only because of Shanghai's urban status, but also because of the historical formation and characteristics of Shanghai gossip.

Shanghai is located in Wudi, Jiangdong, and the local language is the ancient Wu dialect with thousands of years of history. The word Wu Yu has existed since ancient times and is common in ancient poems, which refers to the dialect in Jiangdong area. Shanghai dialect is a kind of Wu dialect, which carries the cultural atmosphere of ancient Jiangdong.

To discuss the origin of Shanghainese, we must first distinguish two concepts of Shanghainese, because in the historical development of Shanghai, two Shanghainese have been formed. One is the "Old Shanghainese Dialect", which has developed naturally in Shanghai for a long time, and is consistent with the dialects in the surrounding suburbs of Shanghai.

The other is the urban "new Shanghainese" formed with the rapid development of Shanghai urban area and population migration after the opening of Shanghai. The "Shanghai dialect" collectively referred to at home and abroad refers to the new Shanghai dialect. However, to trace back to the historical origin of Shanghai dialect, we have to start with the history of Shanghai's city building and Shanghai dialect before the opening of Shanghai port.

As Shanghai faced the East China Sea, it met a special opportunity in the late Qing Dynasty. 1843 After Shanghai was forced to open its port, it became a free-flowing concession, and Shanghai quickly became an international metropolis and financial center. The huge immigration and rapid economic erosion have made Shanghai dialect the fastest-growing language in Wuyu District of Taihu Lake.

In the past 150 years, Shanghai dialect has developed by leaps and bounds with the development of Shanghai. In just two or three generations, we can see that some components of Shanghainese dialect have changed significantly, which is unique in the history of modern language development in China.

After the opening of Shanghai, a large number of immigrants poured in, and the languages of immigrants from all walks of life had a considerable influence on Shanghai dialect, especially Suzhou dialect and Ningbo dialect. Suzhou dialect also has an important influence on Shanghai dialect because of its authority and rich cultural forms (Wu novels, legends, pingtan, folk songs, etc.). ).

There are many immigrants in Ningbo, and the first person plural "Allah" in Shanghai dialect comes from Ningbo dialect. In this way, a new kind of Shanghai dialect is formed, which is based on Shanghai dialect (Songjiang Fu dialect) and combines many Wu dialects (Suzhou dialect and Ningbo dialect). Suzhou dialect is one of the important sources of pronunciation formation in Shanghai dialect.

Ningbo dialect, which was dominant among modern immigrants, also had a far-reaching influence on Shanghai dialect. The new Shanghai dialect inherits the basic features of the old Shanghai dialect and integrates the mainstream features of northern Wu dialect, becoming the fastest-growing dialect in Wu dialect area of Taihu Lake. It also replaced the traditional Suzhou dialect to become the most influential Wu dialect, and became the representative dialect of contemporary Wu dialect together with Suzhou dialect.