chinese

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chinese Culture and Language<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA773dm3AYAaaIcgnzhQrEebyouWDeIjHfrdfHLTcbVWyc5hQbIspX4XZA3e8ef3kEnnZV3MDBZQXyDPnE098SC_RH-VdwOyl8VgFXsaxG14rm2IXqR1vUAk0eTuXY1cPW0iPDRX6-NbX9/s1600/Chinese+logos.gif"><img alt="chinese " border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602523187364104786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA773dm3AYAaaIcgnzhQrEebyouWDeIjHfrdfHLTcbVWyc5hQbIspX4XZA3e8ef3kEnnZV3MDBZQXyDPnE098SC_RH-VdwOyl8VgFXsaxG14rm2IXqR1vUAk0eTuXY1cPW0iPDRX6-NbX9/s320/Chinese+logos.gif" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 104px;" title="chinese " /></a></span></span></div><p style="text-align: justify; font-weight: bold;font-family:georgia;">Chinese or the Sinitic language(s) (<span lang="zh">汉语</span>/<span lang="zh">漢語</span> <i>Hànyǔ</i>; <span lang="zh">华语</span>/<span lang="zh">華語</span> <i>Huáyǔ</i>; <span lang="zh">中文</span> <i>Zhōngwén</i>) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_family">language family</a> consisting of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language" title="Language">languages</a> which are mostly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_intelligibility" title="Mutual intelligibility">mutually unintelligible</a> to varying degrees.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#cite_note-2"><span>[</span>3<span>]</span></a></sup> Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinese">Han Chinese</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China">China</a>, it forms one of the branches of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages" title="Sino-Tibetan languages">Sino-Tibetan family</a> of languages. About one-fifth of the world’s population, or over one <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,000,000,000_%28number%29" title="1,000,000,000 (number)">billion</a> people, speaks some variety of Chinese as their <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_language" title="Native language">native language</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">Internal divisions of Chinese</a> are usually perceived by their native speakers as <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialects" title="Dialects">dialects</a> of a single Chinese language, rather than separate languages, although <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identification_of_the_varieties_of_Chinese" title="Identification of the varieties of Chinese">this identification</a> is considered inappropriate by some linguists and Sinologists.<sup id="cite_ref-Mair_3-0" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#cite_note-Mair-3"><span>[</span>4<span>]</span></a></sup></p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;">Chinese is distinguished by its high level of internal diversity, although all <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese">varieties of Chinese</a> are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_%28linguistics%29" title="Tone (linguistics)">tonal</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_language" title="Analytic language">analytic</a>. There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese (depending on classification scheme), of which the most spoken, by far, is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese" title="Mandarin Chinese">Mandarin</a> (about 850 million), followed by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Chinese" title="Wu Chinese">Wu</a> (90 million), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Cantonese (Yue)</a> (70 million) and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Chinese" title="Min Chinese">Min</a> (50 million). Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Chinese" title="Xiang Chinese">Xiang</a> and the Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms and some degree of intelligibility.</p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: georgia; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese">Standard Chinese</a> <i>(Putonghua / Guoyu / Huayu)</i> is a standardized form of spoken Chinese based on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect">Beijing dialect</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese">Mandarin Chinese</a>, referred to as <span lang="zh">官话</span>/<span lang="zh">官話</span> <i>Guānhuà</i> or <span lang="zh">北方话</span>/<span lang="zh">北方話</span> <i>Běifānghuà</i> in Chinese. Standard Chinese is the official language of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China">People's Republic of China</a> (PRC) and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_China">Republic of China</a> (ROC, also known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan">Taiwan</a>), as well as one of four official languages of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore">Singapore</a>. It is one of the six official languages of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations">United Nations</a>. Of the other varieties of Chinese, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese">Cantonese</a> is influential in Guangdong Province and Cantonese-speaking overseas communities, and remains one of the official languages of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong">Hong Kong</a> (together with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a>) and of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau">Macau</a> (together with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a>). <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Nan">Min Nan</a>, part of the Min language group, is widely spoken in southern <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujian">Fujian</a>, in neighbouring Taiwan (where it is known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien" title="Taiwanese Hokkien">Taiwanese</a> or Hoklo) and in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia">Southeast Asia</a> (known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien">Hokkien</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore">Singapore</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia">Malaysia</a>). There are also sizeable <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_language" title="Hakka language">Hakka</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghainese">Shanghainese</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora">diaspora</a>, for example in Taiwan, where most Hakka communities maintain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diglossia">diglossia</a> by being conversant in Taiwanese and Standard Chinese.</p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Varieties_of_Chinese">Varieties of Chinese</span></h2><br /><p>A map below depicts the linguistic subdivisions ("languages" or "dialect groups") within China itself. The traditionally recognized seven main groups, in order of population size are<sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from April 2011" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a></i>]</sup>:</p> <table class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%;" align="center"><tbody><tr> <th width="180" align="left">Name</th> <th width="60" align="left">Abbreviation</th> <th width="80" align="left"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin">Pinyin</a></th> <th width="200" align="left">Local <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Chinese" title="Romanization of Chinese">Romanization</a></th> <th width="60" align="left"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese" title="Simplified Chinese">Simp.</a></th> <th width="60" align="left"><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese" title="Traditional Chinese">Trad.</a></th> <th width="100" align="left">Total<br />Speakers</th> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese" title="Mandarin Chinese">Mandarin</a><br />Notes: includes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese">Standard Chinese</a></td> <td rowspan="2">Guan; <span lang="zh">官</span></td> <td>Guānhuà</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin">Pinyin</a>: Guānhuà</td> <td><span lang="zh">官话</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">官話</span></td> <td rowspan="2">c. 1.365 billion</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Běifānghuà</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin">Pinyin</a>: Běifānghuà</td> <td><span lang="zh">北方话</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">北方話</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Chinese" title="Wu Chinese">Wu</a><br />Notes: includes <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghainese_dialect" title="Shanghainese dialect">Shanghainese</a></td> <td>Wu; <span lang="zh">吴</span>/<span lang="zh">吳</span></td> <td>Wúyǔ</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-short_%28romanization%29" title="Long-short (romanization)">Long-short</a>: Ng nyiu <i>or</i> Ghu nyiu</td> <td><span lang="zh">吴语</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">吳語</span></td> <td>c. 90 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Yue</a><br />Notes: includes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese">Cantonese</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taishanese">Taishanese</a></td> <td>Yue; <span lang="zh">粤</span>/<span lang="zh">粵</span></td> <td>Yuèyǔ</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyutping">Jyutping</a>: Jyut⁶ jyu⁵;<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Romanization#Cantonese" title="Yale Romanization">Yale</a>: Yuht yúh</td> <td><span lang="zh">粤语</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">粵語</span></td> <td>c. 70 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Chinese" title="Min Chinese">Min</a><br />Notes: includes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien">Hokkien</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien" title="Taiwanese Hokkien">Taiwanese</a> & <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_dialect" title="Teochew dialect">Teochew</a></td> <td>Min; <span lang="zh">闽</span>/<span lang="zh">閩</span></td> <td>Mǐnyǔ</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%CC%8Dh-%C5%8De-j%C4%AB" title="Pe̍h-ōe-jī">POJ</a>: Bân gú;<br /><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A0ng-u%C3%A2-c%C3%AA" title="Bàng-uâ-cê">BUC</a>: <span class="Unicode">Mìng ngṳ̄</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">闽语</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">閩語</span></td> <td>c. 50 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Chinese" title="Xiang Chinese">Xiang</a></td> <td>Xiang; <span lang="zh">湘</span></td> <td>Xiāngyǔ</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Chinese" title="Xiang Chinese">Romanization</a>: Shiāen'ỳ</td> <td><span lang="zh">湘语</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">湘語</span></td> <td>c. 35 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="2"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_Chinese" title="Hakka Chinese">Hakka</a></td> <td rowspan="2">Kejia; <span lang="zh">客家</span></td> <td>Kèjiāhuà</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangdong_Romanization#Hakka" title="Guangdong Romanization">Hakka Pinyin</a>: Hak-kâ-fa <i>or</i> Hak-kâ-va</td> <td><span lang="zh">客家话</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">客家話</span></td> <td rowspan="2">c. 35 million</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Kèhuà</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangdong_Romanization#Hakka" title="Guangdong Romanization">Hakka Pinyin</a>: Hak-fa <i>or</i> Hak-va</td> <td><span lang="zh">客话</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">客話</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Chinese" title="Gan Chinese">Gan</a></td> <td>Gan; <span lang="zh">贛</span></td> <td>Gànyǔ</td> <td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Chinese" title="Gan Chinese">Romanization</a>: Gon ua</td> <td><span lang="zh">赣语</span></td> <td><span lang="zh">贛語</span></td> <td>c. 31 million</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaoSPccFEaN-LHe_se3z8xGEnP5URMJxjjH7le_m9dtvXvf0BeAb-otv0VxlkNWxwGFw2gBpBb9tWaBTxwFb26Cj0uHxalKttqQYgOekEyoykvu1pwIqwg3pzIOQhzmUBQbjjwcP2SmRh/s1600/chinese_stages.gif"><img alt="chinese " border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602523321020197682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaoSPccFEaN-LHe_se3z8xGEnP5URMJxjjH7le_m9dtvXvf0BeAb-otv0VxlkNWxwGFw2gBpBb9tWaBTxwFb26Cj0uHxalKttqQYgOekEyoykvu1pwIqwg3pzIOQhzmUBQbjjwcP2SmRh/s320/chinese_stages.gif" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 292px; height: 256px;" title="chinese " /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">chinese </span></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHGX36vF3AwTSmc5rKJzhkMRK7GE1KXuZaLd33fwUaWyDg_YLX_ntLC6F7fjsX9zJlVqxPt9X7h01-i6mjoAvDeMmSOdtjBME8f5pKl93_CHFdmolHBeHmu9e2qo73M5E9ONXDPMyzUZq/s1600/chinese-b.jpg"><img alt="chinese " border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602523329417332210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHGX36vF3AwTSmc5rKJzhkMRK7GE1KXuZaLd33fwUaWyDg_YLX_ntLC6F7fjsX9zJlVqxPt9X7h01-i6mjoAvDeMmSOdtjBME8f5pKl93_CHFdmolHBeHmu9e2qo73M5E9ONXDPMyzUZq/s320/chinese-b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 195px;" title="chinese " /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">chinese </span></span></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">chinese </span></span><br /></div></div>

chinese

Chinese Culture and Language Chinese or the Sinitic language(s) ( 汉语 / 漢語 Hànyǔ ; 华语 / 華語 Huáyǔ ; 中文 Zhōngwén ) is a language family con...

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