Quanzhou dialects

Initials

There are 14 phonemic initials, including the zero initial (not included below):^[13]

When the rhyme is nasalized, the three voiced phonemes /b/, /l/ and /ɡ/ are realized as the nasal stops [m], [n] and [ŋ], respectively.^[13]

The inventory of initial consonants in the Quanzhou dialect is identical to the Amoy dialect and almost identical to the Zhangzhou dialect. The Quanzhou dialect is missing the phoneme /dz/ found in the Zhangzhou dialect due to a merger of /dz/ into /l/.^[14] The distinction between /dz/ (日) and /l/ (柳) was still made in the early 19th century, as seen in Huìyīn Miàowù (彙音妙悟) by Huang Qian (黃謙),^[14] but Huìyīn Miàowù already has nine characters categorized into both initials.^[15] Rev. Carstairs Douglas has already observed the merger in the late 19th century.^[16] In some areas of Yongchun, Anxi and Nan'an, there are still some people, especially those in the older generation, who distinguish /dz/ from /l/, showing that the merger is a recent innovation.^[14] In Hokkien, evidently even during the early 17th century, /l/ can fluctuate freely in initial position as either a flap [ɾ] or voiced alveolar plosive stop [d].^[17]

Rimes

There are 87 rimes:^[13][18][19]

The actual pronunciation of the vowel /ə/ has a wider opening,^{[dubious – discuss]} approaching [ɤ].^[13] For some speakers, especially younger ones, the vowel /ə/ is often realized as [e], e.g. pronouncing 飞 / 飛 (/pə/, "to fly") as [pe], and the vowel /ɯ/ is either realized as [i], e.g. pronouncing 猪 / 豬 (/tɯ/, "pig") as [ti], or as [u], e.g. pronouncing 女 (/lɯ/, "woman") as [lu].^[10]

Tones

For single syllables, there are seven tones:^[13][20]

In addition to these tones, there is also a neutral tone.^[13]