Cantonese and Mandarin: which came first? Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220AD, when long periods of war caused northern Chinese to flee south, taking their ancient language with them. Mandarin was documented much later in the Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China.
However, if we’re talking about “usefulness” in a broader, more international sense, then Mandarin Chinese objectively wins. Cantonese is generally only appears in specific locations and among members of certain demographics, and therefore is somewhat of a niche language.
Approximately 920 million people speak Mandarin Chinese as a first language, and another 200 million as a second language. On the other hand, there are around 84 million native Cantonese speakers and approximately 400,000 who speak it as a second language.
Mandarin was originally spoken by Manchurians, whose history included several glorious eras, but was also decimated several times. You can trace the language back to their Tatar ancestry, and perhaps farther back to its Nuzhen (Jurchen) times, which was around the Song Dynasty (11th century).
Is Cantonese language older than Mandarin?
What may surprise people is that Cantonese is actually older than Mandarin. Cantonese is approximately 2000 years old and belongs to the Yue family of Chinese languages (u7cb5u8a9e) spoken in southeast China. The term Cantonese comes from Guangzhou, aka Canton, the capital of the Guangdong province in China (pictured above).
Is Mandarin based on Cantonese?
Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the Chinese language and are both spoken in China. They share the same base alphabet, but as a spoken language they are distinct and not mutually intelligible.
What is the oldest Chinese language?
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BC, in the late Shang dynasty.
When did Cantonese replace Mandarin?
It maintained this status until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from Mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken.
Can Mandarin and Cantonese understand each other?
However, the two languages are distinct when spoken. Mandarin speakers typically cannot understand Cantonese speakers, and vice versa.
Is Mandarin hard for Cantonese speakers?
Both Mandarin and Cantonese use Chinese Characters, and fall under the same family of languages. What makes learning Mandarin substantially easier for Cantonese speakers is the fact that most words between the two languages are the same. Additionally, most of the grammar between the two languages is also the same.
Do most Cantonese speak Mandarin?
Mandarin is the first language of almost 70% of the country. You’ll hear it primarily in the northern and central parts of China, including Beijing. People speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, Macau, and the province of Guangdong. Cantonese is spoken by about 5% of the Chinese population.
Can Hong Kong understand Mandarin?
Hong Kong’s recent census report states that Mandarin is the second language most spoken on the island following Cantonese. Cantonese remains dominant with 96% percent. As for Mandarin, 48% of Hong Kong’s population can speak it, compared to 46% of population that can speak English.
Should I learn Chinese or Mandarin?
Mandarin Is the Official Language of China It’s no surprise that most Chinese learners choose to study Mandarin. It’s what most people automatically think of when they hear or say “Chinese.” It’s also the most commonly spoken dialect in China. It’s also the official language of Singapore and Taiwan.
Why Chinese is called Mandarin?
When Jesuit missionaries learned this standard language in the 16th century, they called it “Mandarin”, from its Chinese name Guu0101nhuxe0 (u5b98u8bdd/u5b98u8a71) or ’language of the officials’. In everyday English, “Mandarin” refers to Standard Chinese, which is often called simply “Chinese”.
Do all Chinese understand Mandarin?
China’s Education Ministry says that about 400 million people – or 30% of the population – cannot speak the country’s national language. Of the 70% of the population who can speak Mandarin, many do not do it well enough, a ministry spokeswoman told Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
Can Chinese speakers understand Mandarin?
No, they are completely different languages. Although Cantonese and Mandarin have many similarities, they are not mutually intelligible. This means that, presuming one has no significant exposure or training, a speaker of Mandarin will understand little to nothing of Cantonese and vice-versa.
More Answers On Did Mandarin Or Cantonese Come First
Cantonese v Mandarin: When Hong Kong languages get political
Cantonese and Mandarin: which came first? Image source, AFP. Image caption, A man at a protest expressing support for Cantonese. Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han …
Is Mandarin or Cantonese the original Chinese? – Quora
Whereas Mandarin (modern Chinese) as we know today formed mostly during the Qing dynasty when the Manchu came in. So neither Cantonese nor Mandarin is original Chinese but Cantonese is closer to ancient sounds. There are other Chinese languages that are descended from Old Chinese who are closer to ancient sounds than Cantonese. Dominic Wong
Did Mandarin or Cantonese come first? – Answers
Cantonese. Mandarin is only 700-800 years old while Cantonese is about 2000 years old. … Did Mandarin or Cantonese come first? Wiki User. ∙ 2010-12-01 23:56:33. Study now. See answer (1) Best …
Chinese language history | Mandarin and Cantonese | Today Translations
The presence of Mandarin in Sichuan is largely due to a plague in the 12th century. This plague, which may have been related to the Black Death, depopulated the area, leading to later settlement from north China. Until the mid-20th century, most Chinese living in southern China did not speak any Mandarin.
Cantonese vs Mandarin: The 7 Main Differences – China Highlights
In downtown Hong Kong, it’s Cantonese first, then English, then Mandarin. 7 Differences between Mandarin and Cantonese 1. Different Romanization Systems In Mainland China, Mandarin simply uses Hanyu Pinyin for transliteration. While in Taiwan, Zhuyin or Bopomofo is used. In comparison, the Cantonese romanization system is quite different.
History of Mandarin Chinese – ThoughtCo
The name “Mandarin” was first used by the Portuguese to refer to the magistrates of the Imperial Chinese court and the language they spoke. Mandarin is the term used through much of the Western world, but the Chinese themselves refer to the language as 普通话 (pǔ tōng huà), 国语 (guó yǔ), or 華语 (huá yǔ).
Mandarin Chinese – Wikipedia
Mandarin (/ ˈ m æ n d ər ɪ n / (); simplified Chinese: 官话; traditional Chinese: 官話; pinyin: Guānhuà; lit. ’officials’ speech’) is a group of Sinitic (“Chinese”) languages and dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China.The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of China.
Mandarin vs. Cantonese: Which Chinese language should I learn …
Here are four major differences between Mandarin and Cantonese: Tonal differences. While they are both tonal languages (where different tones give different meanings to the same sound), the number of tones is different. Mandarin has only four tones per sound, while Cantonese has at least six (and can have up to nine).
The Difference Between Mandarin and Cantonese – ThoughtCo
Around 90% percent of Hong Kongers still use Cantonese as their first language and there is some resentment at attempts by the Chinese government to push Mandarin. If you are a non-native speaker, Hong Kongers will certainly prefer to speak to you in English than in Mandarin.
Mandarin vs Cantonese: What’s the Difference? – CLI
Dec 24, 2021At first glance, Cantonese (粤语 Yuèyǔ or 广东话 Guǎngdōnghuà) and Mandarin (普通话 Pǔtōnghuà) may seem nearly identical. After all, they are both Chinese languages. Yet fundamentally, they are two very distinct dialects and have many important differences.
Cantonese – Wikipedia
Cantonese remained a dominant and influential language in southeastern China until the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and its promotion of Standard Mandarin Chinese as the sole official language of the nation throughout the last half of the 20th century, although its influence still remains strong within the region. [18]
What’s the Difference between Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese?
Mandarin vs Cantonese: Spoken Differences. One of the main differences between Mandarin and Cantonese is the spoken language (as explained here with audio ). Let’s take the verb “to give”. In Cantonese it’s 畀 (béi), with a “b” starting sound and in Mandarin, it’s 给 (gěi), with a “g” starting sound. Here, the ending …
Cantonese vs Mandarin: The [7] Main Differences Between Them
Mandarin is more widely spoken in China. For mainlanders, Mandarin is more likely to be spoken as their first language. This percentage changes when you leave China, however. Most communities outside of China speak Cantonese, although there has been some shift in recent years with more Mandarin speakers emigrating. 3.
How did the idea of Mandarin came to be? – Reddit
Hundreds of years ago, Chinese officials were called Mandarins in European languages, hence the term. The word Mandarin itself probably comes from Portuguese via Malay. Cantonese is usually considered a separate (if related) language by linguists, as it is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin.
Key Differences Between Cantonese and Mandarin – LinguaLinx
Cantonese is by far the more challenging of the two languages, particularly for a beginning Chinese language learner. This is because there are more tones used in Cantonese (Cantonese uses up to nine tones, whereas Mandarin only uses four). Getting the tone right is vital in ensuring that the word has the meaning you intend.
What Language Did The Ancient Chinese Speak? – june29.com
The first two languages are Cantonese and Mandarin. Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220AD, when northern Chinese fled south in search of a new language. The Chinese language was first documented in the Yuan Dynasty in the 14th century.
Cantonese vs Mandarin – Key Differences & Similarities – Travel-Lingual
Mar 2, 2021By contrast to the 63 million people that speak Cantonese in China, Mandarin is the first language of almost 70% of China’s population, which equates to more than 930 million people. … In both languages, tones are incredibly important when it comes to conveying meaning. Think of them as tenses in English or any other European language.
Mandarin vs. Cantonese: which language to learn – China Underground
2.2 Like this: Mandarin and Cantonese are dialects of the Chinese language and both are spoken in China. Even though they share the same base alphabet, they are two different languages. Mandarin is the official state language of China and is the primary spoken language in most of the country, including Kunming, Beijing and Shanghai.
Language Log » How Mandarin became China’s national language
From founding the first modern district level primary school in China to proposing an alphabet for Mandarin, even before it had become China’s national language, we see that Wang Zhao was a prescient activist who had a great influence on language teaching and usage at the end of the 19th century. But something he did during the first part of …
History of Mandarin Chinese – ThoughtCo
The name “Mandarin” was first used by the Portuguese to refer to the magistrates of the Imperial Chinese court and the language they spoke. Mandarin is the term used through much of the Western world, but the Chinese themselves refer to the language as 普通话 (pǔ tōng huà), 国语 (guó yǔ), or 華语 (huá yǔ). 普通话 (pǔ tōng …
Cantonese vs Mandarin: The 7 Main Differences – China Highlights
There are an estimated 84 million [2020] native Cantonese speakers in China (4.5% of China’s population) compared with 933 million Mandarin first-language speakers (61.2% of people in China). Cantonese and Mandarin in Hong Kong. In downtown Hong Kong, it’s Cantonese first, then English, then Mandarin. While you can use Mandarin in Hong Kong in …
History of Mandarin Chinese – Learning Chinese is Fun at A Little Dynasty!
Mandarin Chinese, also known as Huayu (華語”language of the Chinese”), Guoyu (國語 “national language”), or Putonghua (普通話”common language”), is the official language of the PRC (since 1982) and Taiwan (since 1932). … When Mandarin was first officially adopted in 1932, its proponents’ goal was that in a century’s time …
Key Differences Between Cantonese and Mandarin – LinguaLinx
Cantonese is by far the more challenging of the two languages, particularly for a beginning Chinese language learner. This is because there are more tones used in Cantonese (Cantonese uses up to nine tones, whereas Mandarin only uses four). Getting the tone right is vital in ensuring that the word has the meaning you intend.
10 Facts About Chinese Language | K International
Mandarin is a tonal language, as are the other languages and dialects used in China. Mandarin has four basic tones and then a fifth neutral tone. Be careful, as getting the tone wrong can change the meaning of a word in ways you wouldn’t expect! The first Chinese Language Day was held on 12 November 2010. The date was moved to 20 April in 2011.
Question about the Chinese Language : AskHistorians – reddit
Li Bai is Mandarin, Li Bo is closer to Middle Chinese. Interesting second side note, apparently there was talk in the early days of the Republic of China of switching the Chinese lingua franca to Cantonese from Mandarin, as Cantonese was the language of the expat community. Supposedly it came down to a single vote.
The Origins Of The Hokkien, Cantonese, And Other Chinese Dialect Groups …
The education level and literacy rate among the Chinese population were pretty low at the time, although the wealthier Chinese who lived in town were able to send their children to Christian missionary schools set up by the British. In time, Chinese-medium schools were established for the benefit of the poorer Chinese community. This wave, considered the largest influx of immigration to …
how did ancient chinese sound like – Chinese-forums.com
In Ancient Chinese (Archaic Chinese), there were onnly a few that fitted this pattern because Chinese is very low on consonantal finals. There were only 6. (-p, -t, -k, -m, -n, -ng). These words would later turn into the 入声”Entering Tone” in 中古汉语Middle Chinese. Basically there were no tones.
8 Chinese Words Borrowed From English That Will Finally Make Sense to You
Mandarin has 2 options: 巧克力 (qiǎo kè lì) or 朱古力 (zhū gǔ lì) Cantonese uses the characters 朱古力, but compare the pronunciation: 3. Same characters, different pronunciation. Speaking of food, there are two other words borrowed from English that I suspect also entered the Chinese lexicon via Cantonese.
Chinese or Japanese? Which Language Should You Learn First?
It has over 1 billion speakers making it the language of the government, media, and education in China as well as in Taiwan. Mandarin is also one of the official languages in Singapore. So looking at the various Chinese languages, Mandarin is probably the best choice. The next ones in line are Cantonese and Shanghainese. 3.
Language of the Month: Cantonese – The National Museum of Language
Unlike the 1.3 billion speakers of Mandarin (the most common first language in the world), Cantonese only claims around 66 million speakers total. The split mostly came from the 19th century, when Beijing Mandarin (or the “courtly” Chinese) started to become the de facto language for the majority of China. Cantonese was already the most …
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