Weihai is a Jiao-Liao dialect of Mandarin spoken in and around the city of Weihai, in eastern Shandong province.

Language Variation

There are observable differences in how the dialect is spoken by younger and older generations. This is primarily due to the differences in education. The younger generation was and is educated in standard Mandarin, while the older generation is "hardly educated" due to the Cultural Revolution.

Phonology

Like other Sino-Tibetan languages and dialects, Weihai is tonal.

Tones

Mandarin, and most dialects of Mandarin, has four tones. In Weihai, it is unclear if the tonal inventory matches standard Mandarin exactly or if the second tone follows the same pitch contour as the first tone (35, rising). The first tone in Weihai may also follow a 31 (low falling) contour rather than a 35 (rising) contour. Dang and Fulop have found that high onset tones correlate to shorter stop releases.