Yue Dialect
粤方言
Anne Yue-Hashimoto 余霭芹

Abstract 摘要
The Yue dialect, in earlier works and especially in popular usage, has often been referred to as Cantonese. Linguistically speaking, the two terms should be strictly distinguished, “Yue” referring to a group of Southern Chinese dialects and “Cantonese” to the standard dialect of the group, which is the dialect of the city of Guangzhou or Canton.

“Yue” used as a linguistic term is relatively new. In its earliest usage, it refers either to a group of coastal peoples inhabiting Southern China or to the name of a state established by one of these peoples during the Spring and Autumn as well as Warring States periods (510-355 B.C.). The Yue peoples, or the Bai Yue (‘Hundred Yue’), are generally considered to be of non-Han origin. According to Chapter forty-one of the Historical Records or Shi Ji, the ancestors of the Yue king tattooed their bodies and cut short their hair - - customs alien to the Han people. These Yue peoples inhabited a vast area south of the Yangzi River - - from the present-day coastal area south of the Hangzhou Bay to the northern part of present-day Vietnam. Many problems still surround questions relating to the identification of these peoples summarized as the Hundred Yue in historical documents - -were they linguistically related tribes? Are they the ancestors of any of the now existing peoples in Southeast Asia or of the so-called minorities in China? What is the relationship between their language(s) and the modern Chinese dialects spoken in this area? To be sure, Southern China had been inhabited by various non-Han peoples before the Han people settled there. These non-Han aborigines include various Tai peoples, Miao and Yao peoples, Mon-Khmers and Malayo-Polynesians. The presence of Malayo-Polynesians in mainland Southern China is supported more on archaeological ground than solid linguistic evidence. To date the Tais, the Miaos and the Yaos still inhabit certain areas of Southern China while the Mon-Khmers have receded to Southern Asia. Are the Hundred Yue the ancestors of any of these aborigines?

1. Historical Background
2. Characteristic Features of the Yue Dialects
3. Problems Awaiting Further Research