Siyi Yue

Siyi
Seiyap, Sze Yup
Native toGuangdong, China; Sze Yup Chinese communities in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and the Americas.
RegionSiyi (eastern Jiangmen)
Speakers3.88 million (2012)
Dialects
  • Taishanese
  • Xinhui dialect
  • Siqian dialect
  • Guzhen dialect
  • Enping dialect
  • Kaiping dialect
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
ISO 639-6siiy
Glottologsiyi1236
Linguasphere77-AAA-mb
  Siyi (lower right), among other Yue and Pinghua groups in Guangxi and Guangdong
Chinese name
Chinese四邑方言
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSìyì fāngyán
Bopomofoㄙˋ ㄧˋ ㄈㄤ ㄧㄢˊ
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsei3 jap1 fong1 jin4
other Yue
Taishaneseɬi˧ jip˥ foŋ˧ ŋun˨
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese四邑話
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSìyìhuà
Bopomofoㄙˋ ㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsei3 jap1 waa2
other Yue
Taishaneseɬi˧ jip˥ va˧˨˥

Siyi (Seiyap or Sze Yup in Cantonese; Chinese: 四邑方言; pinyin: Sìyì fāngyán; Jyutping: sei3 jap1 fong1 jin4 meaning "Four Hamlets") is a coastal branch of Yue Chinese spoken mainly in Guangdong province, but is also used in overseas Chinese communities. Within the province, it is mainly spoken in the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen, but pockets exist outside Jiangmen, including the Doumen and Jinwan districts in Zhuhai, Guzhen in Zhongshan and Jun'an in Foshan. Taishanese, which was one of the most important Chinese dialects in Chinese American communities, is considered a representative dialect.