A Look At The Diversity Of Chinese Languages And Dialects

When many Westerners think of Chinese, they likely think of Mandarin, the official language of the Country, or Cantonese, the most often spoken speech outside of China. However, there are multiple Chinese languages spoken throughout the Country. Plus, there are even more dialects which some people consider to be their own Chinese languages.

Because of these variances throughout the Country, learning Chinese languages has a certain level of difficulty. Mandarin is the only tongue officially spoken. The other forms are usually used regionally and typically cannot be understood by someone outside of that particular region. In formal studies, only Mandarin and Cantonese in their standard forms are taught outside of the Country. If you want to learn the other dialects used in China, then immersion studies become essential.

Classifying the various Chinese languages is a relatively recent study. Fang-kuei Li started the process in 1937 and since then only small modifications have been made. Seven groups are generally accepted as Chinese languages. These groups are Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, Min, Hunanese, Hakka and Gan. Additional dialects are classified under these groups. However, there is debate about whether or not they should be considered languages by themselves. In addition, a few still remain unclassified.

Used by over 800 million people, Mandarin is the most commonly spoken of the Chinese languages. It is distinguished by four tones and the loss of final consonants. Plus, compounds are not used as frequently.

Wu has about 77 million speakers and is spoken in Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. There are possibly hundreds of different spoken forms that fall into this category including some which are not intelligible to the other types. Wu has kept the voiced initials, therefore making it distinct from other Chinese languages.

Cantonese, or Yue, has about 71 million speakers. It is the most commonly spoken form outside of China. It is primarily used in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Guangxi and Macau. Several dialects fall into this category, though they are not all intelligible to each other. Cantonese has kept all of the word-final consonants and multiple tones.

The Min Chinese languages include approximately 60 million speakers. They are spoken mainly in Taiwan, Fuji, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. Min is the only dialect not directly derived from Middle Chinese.

Hunanese, or Xiang, has about 36 million speakers. It is spoken primarily in Hunan.

Hakka encompasses about 34 million speakers. The Hakka people are a group of the Han Chinese. The language is spoken mostly in Southern China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. While many people consider themselves to be descendants of North China refugees, studies of the Chinese languages suggest the language originated in the general vicinity of where it is still spoken. The dialect has a full complement of nasal endings and six or seven tones.

Gan is spoken by around 31 million people. It is used primarily in Jiangxi. Gan was originally classified as part of Hakka, but the two have since been classified as separate Chinese languages.