為了區別語詞的詞性或語法功能，近代方言以改變語音徵性，或利用層次異讀的方式，派生出了新的音義結合體。例如客語梅縣話從「上」的濁聲母分出清聲母一讀，以區別不同的使動結構。又如閩南廈門話利用層次異讀，區別「櫓」的三種詞性。此外，現代七大方言區都各有一些方言，利用層次異讀，來區別「兩」的數詞與重量單位詞用法，說明了這種方言形態變化具有普遍性。近代方言因改讀語音而派生新詞，這與上古漢語的形態變化一樣，都使詞彙系統保持適切的音義區別，是漢語極為重要的構詞手段。

In order to differentiate grammatical usages of a word, modern Chinese dialects use strategies, such as changing phonetic features or employing stratum-induced variation, to create a new combination of sound and meaning. For example, by devoicing the original voiced initial of Shang(上), Meixian Hakka creates a new form to distinguish between different causative structures. In Amoy Min, the method of stratum-induced variation is used to differentiate the three different kinds of part of speech of the word Lu(櫓). In fact, the existence of the alternation of stratum-induced variation of Liang(兩), by which the differentiation between the numeral and weight units is safely made, in all seven dialectal branches of modern Chinese reveals that this kind of morphology is universal. Since modern Chinese dialects as well as ancient Chinese exhibit the same characteristic of phonetically differentiating the grammatical roles of a word, it is beyond doubt that this kind of derivational morphology is an important way of creating new words throughout the developmental history of Chinese Language.