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May 16, 2024 · Mandarin language, the most widely spoken form of Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is spoken in all of China north of the Yangtze River and in much of the rest of the country and is the native language of two-thirds of the population. Mandarin Chinese is often divided into four subgroups: Northern.
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- The 7 Major Chinese Dialect Groups
- How Many Chinese Dialects Are there?
- The History of Language in China
1. Mandarin Chinese
Where it’s spoken:China, Taiwan Number of speakers:∼1.1 billion Mandarin, also known as Putonghua, is the official language of China.It’s spoken throughout the country and is taught and used in all schools. As a result, nearly every Chinese person can speak (or at least understand) Mandarin. Some regions prefer their local dialect, however, in addition to Mandarin. They are sometimes stereotyped as speaking “bad” Mandarin, which of course is not true. Mandarin began to be recognized as the la...
2. Cantonese Chinese
Where it’s spoken:China’s Guangdong province, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau Number of speakers:∼73 million Though not quite second in terms of speakers, Cantonese is the second most widely spread dialect spoken in China. Today, it’s largely spoken by the Tanka people, who are natives of the Pearl River Delta. The Cantonese Chinese dialectoriginated in ancient Guangzhou, also known as Canton City (hence, “Canton”ese!). It began with Middle Chinese and was then influenced by Proto-Tai. Then the l...
3. Wu Chinese
Where it’s spoken:China’s Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Shanghai Number of speakers:∼80 million Used primarily in Shanghai, the Wu Chinese dialect is mostly known as Shanghainese. But while Shanghainese is one of the major Wu varieties, areas such as Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Shaoxing and others have their own varieties. The Wu Chinese dialect originated in the ancient Wu (吴) and Yue (越) kingdoms of China. These kingdoms were located in the modern-day Jiangsu and northern Z...
Linguists debate whether some Chinese dialects should be considered whole languages on their own. But for now, due to political reasons, China classifies them all as dialects, and there is at least some degree of mutual intelligibility between them. According to K&J Translations, China is home to over 302 individual languages and dialects. In fact,...
The Chinese language has a rich and complex history dating back thousands of years. As a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family, modern Chinese emerged from Proto-Sino-Tibetan and then Old and Middle Chinese, which is the original source of all dialects spoken today. The Chinese language is the oldest known written language on earth.The oldest ...
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How many people speak Mandarin in China?
What is Standard Mandarin?
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What does Mandarin mean in English?
Standard Chinese, known in China as Putonghua, based on the Mandarin dialect of Beijing, is the official national spoken language for the mainland and serves as a lingua franca within the Mandarin-speaking regions (and, to a lesser extent, across the other regions of mainland China).
Mandarin (/ ˈ m æ n d ər ɪ n / ⓘ MAN-dər-in; simplified Chinese: 官话; traditional Chinese: 官話; pinyin: Guānhuà; lit. 'officials' speech') is a group of Chinese language dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China.
- 920 million (2017), L2 speakers: 200 million (no date)
- most of Northern and Southwestern China (see also Standard Chinese)
The official language is Standard Mandarin, which is spoken by the vast majority of Chinese people. However, China recognizes 55 official minority ethnic groups who speak over 80 distinct languages. Understanding the linguistic makeup of China provides fascinating insight into the country’s culture, history, and ethnic diversity.
How to Say “Mandarin” in Mandarin Mandarin is occasionally referred to as Hanyu, or the ‘language of the Han people.’ The Han Chinese, an ethnic group who now make up over 90% of China’s population, technically never had a common language. Even today, there are Han Chinese whose mother tongue is a local dialect.
Dec 8, 2023 · History. The Latin Comparison. The 10 main Chinese varieties. 1. Standard Mandarin. 2. Min Chinese. 3. Wu Chinese. 4. Cantonese (Yue) 5. Jin Chinese. 6. Gan Chinese. 7. Hakka (Kejia) Chinese. 8. Xiang Chinese. 9. Huizhou Chinese. 10. Pinghua Chinese and other unclassified dialects. Other languages spoken in China. 1.
