"of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese ""(Pǔtōnghuà/Guóyǔ/Huáyǔ)"" is a standardized form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the official language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. The written form of the standard language (; ""Zhōngwén""), based on the logograms known as Chinese characters (/; ""Hànzì""), is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. The earliest Chinese written records are Shang dynasty-era oracle inscriptions, which can be traced back to 1250"
"History of Modern Standard Chinese Mandarin, officially Modern Standard Chinese, is the official language used by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Singapore. Since ancient history, the Chinese language has always consisted of a wide variety of dialects; hence prestige dialects and linguae francae have always been needed. Confucius, for example, used ""yǎyán"" (雅言), or ""elegant speech"", rather than colloquial regional dialects; text during the Han dynasty also referred to ""tōngyǔ"" (通語), or ""common language"". Rime dictionaries, which were written since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of"
"Languages of China The languages of China are the languages that are spoken in China. The predominant language in China, which is divided into seven major language groups (classified as dialects by the Chinese government for political reasons), is known as ""Hanyu"" () and its study is considered a distinct academic discipline in China. ""Hanyu"", or Han language, spans eight primary varieties, that differ from each other morphologically and phonetically to such a degree that they will often be mutually unintelligible, similarly to English and German or Danish. The languages most studied and supported by the state include Chinese, Mongolian,"
"Standard Chinese Standard Chinese, also known as Modern Standard Mandarin, Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese (MSMC), or simply Mandarin, is a standard variety of Chinese that is the sole official language of China, the de facto official language of Taiwan and also one of the four official languages of Singapore. Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a tonal language with topic-prominent organization and subject–verb–object word order. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels,"
"known as ""Guānhuà"" (官話, literally ""speech of officials""). Knowledge of this language was thus essential for an official career, but it was never formally defined. In the early years of the Republic of China, Literary Chinese was replaced as the written standard by written vernacular Chinese, which was based on northern dialects. In the 1930s a standard national language was adopted, with its pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect, but with vocabulary also drawn from other Mandarin varieties. It is the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China and of the Republic of China governing Taiwan, and one"
"English, ""Mandarin"" refers to Standard Chinese, which is often called simply ""Chinese"". Standard Chinese is based on the particular Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing, with some lexical and syntactic influence from other Mandarin dialects. It is the official spoken language of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the ""de facto"" official language of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan), and one of the four official languages of the Republic of Singapore. It also functions as the language of instruction in Mainland China and in Taiwan. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, under the name"
"the official national language of China and is used as a lingua franca in the country between people of different linguistic backgrounds. Chinese characters used as the written script for the Sinitic languages for thousands of years. They allow speakers of mutually unintelligible Chinese varieties to communicate with each other through writing. In 1956, the government introduced simplified characters, which have supplanted the older traditional characters in mainland China. Chinese characters are romanized in the Pinyin system. Tibetan uses an alphabet based on an Indic script. Uyghur is most commonly written in a Perseo-Arabic script. The Mongolian script used in"
"has official status within the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Mongolian has official status within Inner Mongolia. Language laws of China do not apply to either Hong Kong or Macau, which have different official languages (Cantonese, English and Portuguese) than the mainland. The spoken languages of nationalities that are a part of the People's Republic of China belong to at least nine families: Below are lists of ethnic groups in China by linguistic classification. Ethnicities not on the official PRC list of 56 ethnic groups are italicized. Respective Pinyin transliterations and Chinese characters (both simplified and traditional) are also given. The"
"other official language; 4.3 percent are native speakers, and 48.9 percent speak English as a second language. Code-switching, mixing English and Cantonese in informal conversation, is common among the bilingual population. Post-handover governments have promoted Mandarin, which is currently about as prevalent as English; 48.6 percent of the population speaks Mandarin, with 1.9 percent native speakers and 46.7 percent speaking it as a second language. Traditional Chinese characters are used in writing, rather than the simplified characters used on the mainland. Among the religious population, the traditional ""three teachings"" of China (Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism) have the most adherents (20"
"at many radio and television stations. This status was confirmed by the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, which went into effect on January 1, 2001. This law implements the provision in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China that the state promotes nationwide use of the language. Due to Mandarin's status as the official language, use of the country's other languages in television as well as radio and film is rigorously restricted by the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). Permission from national or local authorities is"
"within the nation, the government decided to designate a national language. The Beijing dialect of Mandarin and Guangzhou dialect of Cantonese were each proposed as the basis for a national language for China. In the beginning, there were attempts to introduce elements from other Chinese varieties into the national language in addition to those from the Beijing dialect; this was reflected in the first official dictionary of the national language, given the name 國語 (Pinyin: Guóyǔ, literally ""national language""). But this artificial language had no native speakers and was difficult to learn, so it was abandoned in 1924. Ultimately, the"
"official and dominant language in China, while on the other hand English is perceived to be of little use in the country. This problem is further reinforced through the national Band 4 examination, where 80% of the test is the writing component, 20% of the test is listening, and speaking was only required for the English major student. However, Guangdong Province has started requiring all students to take the English speaking exam for the National College Entrance Examination as of 2010. According to a national survey, only half of the teachers consider that vocabulary should be learned through conversation or"
"language of socialism. Japanese is the second most-studied foreign language in China. In the late 1960s, English replaced the position of Russian to become the most important foreign language in China. After the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1988, English is taught in the public schools starting in the third year of primary school, languages other than English are now considered to be ""minor languages"" (小语种 ; Traditional Chinese:小語種 ""xiǎo yǔzhǒng"") and are only really studied at the university level apart from some special schools which are called Foreign Language Schools in some well-developed cities. Japanese and Korean are not"
"There are many languages spoken across China, with most people speaking one of several varieties of Chinese. During successive imperial dynasties, the spoken language of the capital city served as the official spoken language and was used across the country by government officials who traveled to communicate with one another. Dialects used for this purpose in different eras included those of Xi'an, Luoyang, Nanjing, Beijing, and other historical capital cities. After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Kuomintang (Chinese nationalists) founded the Republic of China. In order to promote a sense of national unity and enhance the efficiency of communications"
"ethnic group is an optional one. The results among the people that have answered both questions according to the latest census in 2011 are: There are abouts 292 living languages in China. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which contains Mandarin (spoken natively by 70% of the population), and other Chinese languages: Wu (including Shanghainese), Yue (including Cantonese and Taishanese), Min (including Hokkien and Teochew), Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Languages of the Tibeto-Burman branch, including Tibetan, Qiang, Naxi and Yi, are spoken are spoken across the Tibetan and Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. Other"
"China include: Ten nationalities who never had a written system have, under the PRC's encouragement, developed phonetic alphabets. According to a government white paper published in early 2005, ""by the end of 2003, 22 ethnic minorities in China used 28 written languages."" The Chinese language policy in mainland China is heavily influenced by the Soviet nationalities policy and officially encourages the development of standard spoken and written languages for each of the nationalities of China. However, in this schema, Han Chinese are considered a single nationality and the official policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) treats the different"
"Beijing dialect was chosen as the national language and it continued to be referred to as 國語 in Chinese in the Republic of China. Since then, the Beijing dialect has become the main standard for pronunciation, due to its prestigious status during the preceding Qing Dynasty. Still, elements from other dialects do exist in the standard language, which is now defined as reflecting the pronunciation of Beijing, the grammatical patterns of Mandarin dialects spoken in the northern parts of China, and the vocabulary of modern vernacular Chinese literature. The People's Republic of China renamed the national language 普通话 (Pinyin: Pǔtōnghuà,"
"of the south, including Gan, Xiang, Wu, Min, Yue and Hakka often show traces of Old Chinese or Middle Chinese. From the Ming dynasty onward, Beijing has been the capital of China and the dialect spoken in Beijing has had the most prestige among other varieties. With the founding of the Republic of China, Standard Mandarin was designated as the official language, based on the spoken language of Beijing. Since then, other spoken varieties are regarded as ""fangyan"" (regional speech). Cantonese is still the most commonly-used language in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and among some overseas Chinese communities, whereas Hokkien"
"Recent definitions of the word include: Mandarin is the official language of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan); one of the official languages of Singapore as well as one of six official languages of the United Nations. Cantonese is the official language of Hong Kong and Macau. Sizeable Overseas Chinese communities exist in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Mauritius, Brazil, Peru and Venezuela, although the variant(s) of Chinese used usually differs. The ""Ethnologue"" (Lewis 2013) estimated the total number of Sinophones at 1,197 million in 33 countries. The numbers of speakers (in"
"the Mandarin language was almost identical to the grammar of modern-day Mandarin, with sometimes very slight differences in the choice of grammatical words or the positioning of words in the sentence. The vocabulary of the Mandarin language was also largely the same as the vocabulary of modern-day Mandarin, although some vocabulary items have now disappeared. History of Modern Standard Chinese Mandarin, officially Modern Standard Chinese, is the official language used by the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Singapore. Since ancient history, the Chinese language has always consisted of a wide variety of dialects; hence prestige"
"Chinese as a foreign language Chinese as a foreign or second language is the study of the Chinese varieties by non-native speakers. Increased interest in China from those outside has led to a corresponding interest in the study of Standard Chinese (""Mandarin"") as a foreign language, the official language of mainland China and Taiwan. However, the teaching of Chinese both within and outside China is not a recent phenomenon. Westerners began learning different Chinese varieties in the 16th century. Within China, Mandarin became the official language in the early 20th century. Mandarin also became the official language of Taiwan when"
"Chinese language Chinese (; or ) is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people (around 16% of the world's population) speak some form of Chinese as their first language. The varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to"
"Beijing dialect The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, which is the official language in the People's Republic of China and Republic of China and one of the official languages in Singapore. Although the Beijing dialect and Standard Chinese are similar, various differences generally make clear to Chinese speakers whether an individual is a native of Beijing speaking the local Beijing variant or is an individual speaking Standard Chinese. Dungan language speakers like Iasyr Shivaza and others"
"colloquial Beijing speech). An example: Beijing dialect The Beijing dialect (), also known as Pekingese, is the prestige dialect of Mandarin spoken in the urban area of Beijing, China. It is the phonological basis of Standard Chinese, which is the official language in the People's Republic of China and Republic of China and one of the official languages in Singapore. Although the Beijing dialect and Standard Chinese are similar, various differences generally make clear to Chinese speakers whether an individual is a native of Beijing speaking the local Beijing variant or is an individual speaking Standard Chinese. Dungan language speakers"
"main language used in primary schools normally follows the official language of its municipality and is decided by referendum within the local school district. Standard German emerged from the standardized chancellery use of High German in the 16th and 17th centuries. Until about 1800, it was almost entirely a written language, but now it is so widely spoken that most of the former German dialects are nearly extinct. Standard Chinese has official status as the standard spoken form of the Chinese language in the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC) and the Republic of Singapore. Pronunciation"
"of the People's Republic of China, Mandarin, the official language in PRC and Republic of China (Taiwan) has become increasingly prevalent. Many Americans of all ethnic backgrounds are also learning Mandarin and to a far lesser extent Cantonese. In New York City in 2002, Mandarin was spoken as a native language among only 10% of Chinese speakers but was predicted to replace Cantonese as the lingua franca among Chinese speakers. Tagalog speakers were already present in the United States as early as the late sixteenth century as sailors contracted by the Spanish colonial government. In the eighteenth century, they established"
"In the 1930s a standard national language ""Guóyǔ"" (國語, literally ""national language"") was adopted, with its pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect, but with vocabulary also drawn from other northern varieties. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the standard was known as ""Pǔtōnghuà"" (普通话/普通話, literally ""common speech""), but was defined in the same way as ""Guóyǔ"" in the Republic of China now governing Taiwan. It also became one of the official languages of Singapore, under the name ""Huáyǔ"" (华语/華語, literally ""Chinese language""). Although the three standards remain close, they have diverged to some extent. Most"
"division except Tibet and Xinjiang. Ethnic minorities account for about 8.49% of the population of China, according to the 2010 census. Compared with the 2000 population census, the Han population increased by 66,537,177 persons, or 5.74%, while the population of the 55 national minorities combined increased by 7,362,627 persons, or 6.92%. The 2010 census recorded a total of 593,832 foreign nationals living in China. The largest such groups were from South Korea (120,750), the United States (71,493) and Japan (66,159). There are as many as 292 living languages in China. The languages most commonly spoken belong to the Sinitic branch"
"dialect. By the middle of the 19th century, the Beijing dialect had become dominant and was essential for any business with the imperial court. In the 1930s a standard national language ""Guóyǔ"" (/ ""national language"") was adopted. After much dispute between proponents of northern and southern dialects and an abortive attempt at an artificial pronunciation, the National Language Unification Commission finally settled on the Beijing dialect in 1932. The People's Republic founded in 1949 retained this standard, calling it ""pǔtōnghuà"" (/ ""common speech""). The national language is now used in education, the media, and formal situations in both Mainland China"
"Comparison of national standards of Chinese The Chinese language enjoys the status as official language in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also widely used in Malaysia and some parts of Thailand. However, the language shows a high degree of regional variation among these territories. In many cases, those in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan use different words for the same meaning. This section seeks to illustrate the differences in vocabulary by a limited selected examples. Note that language used in Hong Kong is almost identical to that of Macau, and that Malaysian vocabulary"
"China. After this period, only Cantonese and Mandarin remained as the most influential variants of Chinese, the former due to the importance of maritime trade in Guangzhou and the emergence of Hong Kong as a key economy in East Asia. Chinese departments in the West were largely centered on Cantonese due to British colonial rule over Hong Kong until the opening of communist-ruled China starting in the 1970s. The teaching of Chinese as a foreign language in the People's Republic of China started in 1950 at Tsinghua University, initially serving students from Eastern Europe. Starting with Bulgaria in 1952, China"
"to communicate with each other. The very name ""Putonghua,"" or ""common speech,"" reinforces this idea. In practice, however, due to Standard Chinese being a ""public"" lingua franca, other Chinese varieties and even non-Sinitic languages, have shown signs of losing ground to the standard. While the Chinese government has been actively promoting Putonghua on TV, radio and public services like buses to ease communication barriers in the country, developing Putonghua as the official common language of the country has been challenging due to the presence of various ethnic groups which fear for the loss of their cultural identity and native dialect."
"English was the sole language used in all branches of the British colonial government. Under public pressure, the Official Languages Ordinance was enacted in 1974 to declare that both English and Chinese may be used in communication between the government and the public. Despite the usage of different dialects in spoken Chinese, the government chose not to specify a dialect as an official language, instead indicating ""Chinese"" as an official language, allowing any dialect to be used. Since most of the local population spoke Cantonese, it became the most frequently used dialect in official communication. Official Languages Ordinance The Official"