The overall characteristics of Shandong dialect are: it belongs to Mandarin, which is highly similar to Mandarin on the whole, but there are differences in initials, finals, tones and especially tone values.

Shandong is subdivided into three dialect areas: Jilu Mandarin area, and the dialect in Laiwu area of Jinan, Dezhou is close to Jilu Mandarin in southern Hebei, which is easy for native speakers to understand, while Dongying, Binzhou and Zibo have strong accents, and even some areas have independent tones. The dialects of Tai 'an, Liaocheng and Jilu Mandarin are influenced by the Central Plains Mandarin, and are similar to those of Central Plains Mandarin, eastern Henan, northern Anhui and Jiangsu.