Although there are many detailed descriptions of Wu varieties, there has been little detailed work on the south-western varieties known as the Chu-Qu subgroup.

My research focuses firstly on obtaining an acoustic description of the citation and tone sandhi contours in the region, and secondly on determining the origin of the region’s tone variation.
The varieties being studied are the counties of Lishui, Longquan, Yunhe, Taishun, Songyang, Qingyuan, Jingning and Qingtian .

A number of features considered to be a synchronic feature of Wu varieties are absent in many of these varieties, notably, the presence of voiced, voiceless and aspirated stops. The tone sandhi exhibited in this area appears to be typologically related to that of Min. This research will help to show the nature of the varation in the Chu-Qu region and the relationship between these varieties and the varieties that surround them, both Wu and Min.

Steed, William (forthcoming), “Phonation Type and Tone Sandhi as Evidence of Chinese Stress in Longquan Wu”, in Catherine Watson (ed) Proc. of the 11th Australasian Internation Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Auckland.

Steed, William (2005) The Citation Tone Acoustics of the Wu Dialect of Longquan, unpublished honours thesis, ANU.

Steed, William and Hardie, Peter (2004) “Acoustic Properties of the Kuman Voiceless Velar Lateral Fricative”, in Catherine Bow (ed), Proc. of the 10th Australasian Internation Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Sydney, pp346-351.