What do chinese people speak

But just as you reached this sentence, or perhaps one of the previous few, your noticed from the corner of your eye that there was another sentence in bold below followed by text…. Answer 4: Mostly — and increasingly- Mandarin, but some Cantonese, too.

Again, this is largely accurate but not inarguable. And what how do those nearly 87 million non-fluent speakers of Mandarin get by?! Well, this answer brings us back to the first answer: for the most part, they speak Chinese languages or dialects. As you can see from the diagram below, there are many different Chinese languages groups and dialects. Picture 4. Sino-Tibetan Languages family tree. China has many of difference languages anddialects. This of course makes it easier to distinguish domestic and foreign languages, however, to someone unfamiliar with just how different many of these tongues are, it may be misleading.

However, this would not be the case, as these have totally separate pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc. An army. Answer 5: Mostly — and increasingly- Mandarin, but also some Cantonese and other Chinese languages, too.

Primarily Chinese in China uses simplified characters. It is taught in Mandarin-Chinese classes internationally as well.

These characters are simpler, i. Because there are not as many readers of this paper in the United States, the paper is not commonly carried in local Chinese stores. People who are literate in simplified Chinese characters may not be literate in traditional Chinese. Many textbooks, newspapers, and subtitles for movies are written in traditional Chinese.

Cantonese speaking Chinese from Hong Kong generally reads these papers. Both papers are commonly sold in local Chinese stores and restaurants. Cantonese speakers have also developed an informal slang or phonetic characters. These characters are used in addition to traditional Chinese characters in an informal setting, such as in comics or entertainment sections of newspapers or magazines.

The informal characters are used to sound out the Cantonese dialect. Often, you cannot find these characters in the dictionary. People from China, Taiwan or other countries have to learn to recognize these characters before they can read all sections of Hong Kong-based news papers. Chinese languages have been transliterated into the pinyin system since 5 except personal and location names. In , Chinese officials made a formal request to the United Nations UN 6 to use the pinyin system for naming geographical locations in China.

People who use pinyin are those who are more familiar with the western alphabet and are learning to speak Mandarin Chinese. Grammatically speaking English and Chinese are very different languages.

There is no rule that verbs, nouns, and adjectives must agree with one another in Chinese writing. There is no such thing as singular or plural in the Chinese language. Often a number or word will be added to the sentence to account for plurality. There are no verb tenses in the Chinese writing.

Additional words are used to clarify the past and future tenses. These words are usually placed at the beginning of the phase to help indicate time. In a medical setting, it is important to pay particular attention to time indicators. China covers a very broad area of land. There are more than 70 million people belonging to 55 different national minorities living in China. Many of the minority groups do not have a distinguishable written form for their languages.

The spoken Chinese language is comprised of many regional variants called dialects. Modern Chinese dialects evolved between the 8 th and 3 rd centuries BC. Mandarin or Putonghua is the most common dialect used in China and has been adopted as a second language by those who speak other Chinese dialects. The official language of China, Mandarin is the dialect taught in Chinese schools.

It is the universal language used throughout the northern, central, and southwestern provinces of China. Next to Cantonese, it is the most common Chinese language spoken in the Northwest. Immigrants from China or Taiwan who speak Mandarin come from diverse backgrounds. Some have fled China for political freedom after incidents such as the Tiananmen Square 10 events where students who spoke up for democracy were rapidly crushed by Chinese government. Others are well-educated professionals seeking business and educational opportunities in the United States.

Still others have little education and have come to the States in search of better life for themselves and their families. Cantonese, also known as Yue or Guangdonghua, is spoken in Hong Kong, most of Guangdong, and the southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

For example, a storeowner who only speaks Cantonese has no problem doing business with a customer that only speaks Mandarin, but will reply either in Cantonese or through gestures; and vice-versa. Personally, this has led to some interesting experiences in terms of my speaking Chinese, particularly in southern China where Mandarin is less prominent.

In Guangdong province in the very south of China, Cantonese announcements are read before Mandarin, and there were massive protests when the government in Beijing wanted to enforce Mandarin-only television programming.

Hong Kong and Macau, immediately adjacent to Guangdong, also speak Cantonese, and are some of the few places in China that are not bound by the law regarding Mandarin. Traveling in Hong Kong, I was shocked to find that I was able to communicate in Mandarin more easily with the Hong Kongese than with someone in Shanghai—until I realized that it was a second language for both of us, which must have meant a simpler shared vocabulary and set of grammar structures. Many Chinese dialects are at least as different from each other as the Romance languages are, which should classify them as separate languages.

However, for now they are almost universally described as dialects, and since most of them are spoken locally and not taught, there is no real way to teach it but aurally, or through immersion.

Finally, a practical point: Understanding the differences between dialects will also prepare you for your next trip to China. For those interested in the Chinese language, the diversity and beauty of dialects should be a motive for you to immerse yourself in not just Mandarin, but in local dialects and regional life as well. Exposure is essential to discovering the many nuances of local culture and life. Unsupported Browser Detected.

The Many Dialects of China. Other Articles by Kiril Bolotnikov. Move Over Double-O Seven. Mandarin is one of many dialects of Chinese, and it's important to understand the diversity of dialects across China. Episode Chinese Tones.