乡音

[yuechu]

大家好！

I recently learnt the word 乡音 from a 电视剧. The dictionary says that this means "local accent; accent of one's native place." Does this word only refer to someone's accent (or dialect?) if they are from the countryside 乡下？Or could it be an accent from anywhere, including a big city like 北京 or 上海?
Thanks!

 

[Lamb67]

她说话乡音挺重。 ☕

Tā shuōhuà xiāngyīn tǐng zhòng.

She speaks with a strong local accent.

From the Pleco 😁
Xiang is hometown

 

[yuechu]

Thanks, Lamb67!

Does it have to be a town or village though?

 

[ovaltine888]

Thanks, Lamb67!

Does it have to be a town or village though?

No. It is for 故乡.

 

[yuechu]

Oh ok! So someone with a 北京 or 上海 accent could also have a "乡音", right?

Thank you both for your help! 😄

EDIT: Sorry, just thought of something! Is this a neutral term or does it sound negative in Chinese?

 

[SimonTsai]

I think that it is neutral in itself. Here is a well-known classical Chinese poem:

少小離家老大回，【鄉音】無改鬢毛衰。兒童相見不相識，笑問客從何處來。 (source: 回鄉偶書 by 賀知章)​

 

[j29682896]

Oh ok! So someone with a 北京 or 上海 accent could also have a "乡音", right?

Thank you both for your help! 😄

EDIT: Sorry, just thought of something! Is this a neutral term or does it sound negative in Chinese?

乡:hometown
音:sound, implying "accent" here.

It's a neutral term.
If someone is from 北京, then 北京 accent is 乡音 to them.
If someone is from 上海, then 上海 accent is 乡音 to them.
If someone is from (place), then (place) accent is 乡音 to them.
The (place) can be any specific place, meaning it can be a town, a villiage, a state or even a country, as long as people in that place share the same accent.

 

[yuechu]

Thanks, Simon and j29682896!

 

[SuperXW]

However, I don't think Beijing people would ever call their accent 乡音 actively.
They can passively accept it if it is a general description such as: "每个人都有乡音，北京话就算是我的乡音了。"
京片子 is the native description for "Beijing accent".
For the native slang words, they may call them 北京土话 instead.

I don't know about 上海, but the joke may have an effect on this matter?
北京人管其它地方都叫外地。
上海人管其它地方都叫乡下。
广东人管其它地方都叫北方。