A report on Mandarin Chinese
Group of Sinitic languages and dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China.
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Varieties of Chinese
32 linksBranch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible.
Branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible.
The varieties are typically classified into several groups: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka and Yue, though some varieties remain unclassified.
Cantonese
23 linksLanguage within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding area in Southeastern China.
Language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding area in Southeastern China.
Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with Mandarin, the two Sinitic languages are mutually unintelligible, largely because of phonological differences, but also due to differences in grammar and vocabulary.
Standard Chinese
17 links
Standard Chinese —in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is the dialect of Mandarin Chinese that emerged as the lingua franca among speakers of Mandarin and other varieties of Chinese (Hokkien, Cantonese, et cetera) in the 20th century.
China
25 linksCountry in East Asia.
Country in East Asia.
The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken by 70% of the population), and other varieties of Chinese language: Yue (including Cantonese and Taishanese), Wu (including Shanghainese and Suzhounese), Min (including Fuzhounese, Hokkien and Teochew), Xiang, Gan and Hakka.
Tone (linguistics)
13 linksUse of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words.
Use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to distinguish or to inflect words.
In the most widely spoken tonal language, Mandarin Chinese, tones are distinguished by their distinctive shape, known as contour, with each tone having a different internal pattern of rising and falling pitch.
Middle Chinese
12 linksHistorical variety of Chinese recorded in the Qieyun, a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions.
Historical variety of Chinese recorded in the Qieyun, a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions.
With the exception of the Min dialects (including Hokkien), which show independent developments from Old Chinese, the primary branches of the Chinese family such as Mandarin (including Standard Chinese, based on the speech of Beijing), Yue (including Cantonese) and Wu (including Shanghainese) can be largely treated as divergent developments from it.
Min Chinese
13 linksBroad group of Sinitic languages spoken by about 30 million people in Fujian province as well as by the descendants of Min speaking colonists on Leizhou peninsula and Hainan, or assimilated natives of Chaoshan, parts of Zhongshan, three counties in southern Wenzhou, Zhoushan archipelago, and Taiwan.
Broad group of Sinitic languages spoken by about 30 million people in Fujian province as well as by the descendants of Min speaking colonists on Leizhou peninsula and Hainan, or assimilated natives of Chaoshan, parts of Zhongshan, three counties in southern Wenzhou, Zhoushan archipelago, and Taiwan.
Min varieties are not mutually intelligible with one another nor with any other variety of Chinese (such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Gan, Xiang, or Hakka).
Lower Yangtze Mandarin
8 linksLower Yangtze Mandarin is one of the most divergent and least mutually-intelligible of the Mandarin languages, as it neighbours the Wu, Hui, and Gan groups of Sinitic languages.
Hakka Chinese
13 linksHakka languages (,, Hak-kâ-va) form a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities around the world.
Hakka languages (,, Hak-kâ-va) form a language group of varieties of Chinese, spoken natively by the Hakka people throughout Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of East Asia, Southeast Asia and in overseas Chinese communities around the world.
Hakka is not mutually intelligible with Yue, Wu, Southern Min, Mandarin or other branches of Chinese, and itself contains a few mutually unintelligible varieties.
Sinitic languages
11 linksThe Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Central Mandarin Chinese (incl. Standard Chinese and Dungan, spoken by Hui Chinese in Central Asia, and Taz, of the Russian Far East)