Varieties of Chinese

There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties that belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Many of these varieties are not understood by each other, especially in the mountainous southeast part of China. These varieties are usually grouped into ten main categories: Mandarin, Jin, Wu, Hui, Min, Xiang, Gan, Hakka, Yue, and Pinghua, though some remain unclassified.

Chinese varieties differ in sounds, words, and sentence structure. Southern varieties often have simpler beginnings to sounds but keep the endings from old Chinese better than northern ones. All varieties use tones to change meaning, with southern areas having more complex tone changes, especially from Zhejiang to eastern Guangdong.

Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect’s sounds, Mandarin words, and grammar from modern writing. It is an official language of China, the main language in Taiwan, and one of the official languages of Singapore. It is also one of the official languages of the United Nations, and has differences in how it is spoken and used in each place.

History

At the end of the second millennium BC, a form of Chinese was spoken in a small area along the lower Wei River and middle Yellow River. Over time, this language spread east to the North China Plain and then south into the Yangtze River valley and southern hills. As it spread, it replaced many older local languages, and regional differences began to grow. When China was ruled by a single government, there was often an effort to use one common language to help people from different places understand each other.

The earliest signs of regional differences in Chinese come from writings from the Spring and Autumn period. Even though the rulers of the Zhou were no longer powerful, their way of speaking was still seen as a good model. Books from the early first century AD talk about how words differed between places. Commentaries from around the year 220 AD show differences in how words were pronounced. A book from the year 601 tried to set a standard way to pronounce words, which is called Middle Chinese.

The open lands of the North China Plain made it easier for people to move around, so the language there stayed quite similar. But in southern China, with its mountains and rivers, there are six major groups of regional languages, each with many differences, especially in Fujian.

Standard Chinese

Main article: Standard Chinese

Until the middle of the 20th century, most people only spoke their local language. Leaders during the Ming and Qing dynasties used a common language based on Mandarin for government work. In the early 1900s, China changed its written standard from an older style to one based on northern dialects. In the 1930s, a standard national language was created using the Beijing dialect for pronunciation. Today, Standard Chinese is the official language in the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, and one of the official languages of Singapore. It is studied and used widely in public life.

Comparison with Romance languages

Different areas of China often have languages that people cannot understand each other, much like how Romance languages in Europe differ. Both Chinese and Romance languages spread from a common ancestor through empires. However, China has often been united under one government, while Europe had many separate states. In China, a common writing style was used until the early 20th century, while in Europe, local languages using the Latin alphabet became standard in each state.

Classification

Further information: List of varieties of Chinese

There are hundreds of different ways people speak Chinese, and many of these ways are very different from each other. These different ways of speaking form a group where the differences become bigger the farther apart two places are.

The main groups of Chinese languages are Mandarin, Min, Wu, Yue, Jin, Gan, Hakka, Xiang, Huizhou, and Pinghua. Some ways of speaking Chinese are still not clearly grouped.

Dialect groups

Here are the main groups and how many people speak each one:

1. Mandarin (65.7%)
2. Min (6.20%)
3. Wu (6.10%)
4. Yue (5.60%)
5. Jin (5.20%)
6. Gan (3.90%)
7. Hakka (3.50%)
8. Xiang (3.00%)
9. Huizhou (0.30%)
10. Pinghua, others (0.60%)

Mandarin is spoken in northern and southwestern China and includes the Beijing dialect, which is the basis for Standard Mandarin Chinese. Wu varieties are spoken in Shanghai and nearby areas. Gan is spoken in Jiangxi and nearby places. Xiang is spoken in Hunan and parts of Hubei. Min came from the mountains of Fujian and eastern Guangdong and is very different from other groups. Hakka people live in many parts of southern China and nearby areas. Yue includes Cantonese, spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macau. Jin is spoken in Shanxi. Huizhou varieties are from southern Anhui. Pinghua comes from early Chinese speakers in Guangxi.

Some varieties of Chinese are still not clearly grouped into these main groups.

Phonology

The usual unit of analysis is the syllable, which is traditionally broken down into an initial consonant, a final part, and a tone. Southern varieties of Chinese often have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties but tend to preserve more of the final consonants from Middle Chinese. Some varieties, like Cantonese, Hokkien, and Shanghainese, include syllabic nasals as standalone syllables.

The initial sounds in the Fuzhou dialect of northern Fujian are a simple example. Most Chinese varieties share these initials, but many have additional ones due to changes over time and keeping distinctions from Middle Chinese. For example, many non-Min varieties have a labiodental fricative /f/, and sometimes its voiced counterpart /v/, which developed from Middle Chinese bilabial stops. In similar environments, Middle Chinese m- developed into /w/. The voiced initials of Middle Chinese are retained in Wu varieties like Suzhou and Shanghai, as well as Old Xiang varieties and a few Gan varieties, but have merged with voiceless initials elsewhere. Southern Min varieties have a different set of voiced initials from changing nasal initials in syllables without nasal endings. The Middle Chinese retroflex initials are kept in many Mandarin varieties, including Beijing, but not in southwestern and southeastern Mandarin varieties. In many northern and central varieties, there is palatalization of certain sounds, creating new series of sounds.

Maps of the distributions of various initial consonants in the core Chinese-speaking area

velar nasal initial (ŋ)

retained bilabial stops where Beijing has _f-_

retained _m-_ where Beijing has _w-_

voiced obstruent initials

retroflex initials

retained _n-_ where Beijing has _r-__

Chinese finals can be broken down into an optional glide, a main vowel, and an optional ending. Some varieties, like Gan, have a wide range of vowels, while others, like Mandarin, have fewer distinct vowels. Many northern and central varieties have special vowels that act like syllabic fricatives. In Wu varieties, vowels and glides often simplify, creating many different vowels in open syllables. Reduction of glides is common in Yue varieties.

The endings from Middle Chinese, including glides, nasals, and stops, are best preserved in southern varieties, especially Yue varieties like Cantonese. In some Min varieties, certain endings change into nasal sounds and soft stops. In Jin, Lower Yangtze Mandarin, and Wu varieties, stops have turned into a final soft stop, while in most northern varieties they have disappeared. In Mandarin varieties, final /m/ has merged with /n/, while some central varieties have a single nasal ending.

All Chinese varieties, like neighboring languages in the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, use tones. Each syllable can be said with between three and seven different pitch patterns, showing different meanings. For example, in Beijing, mā means 'mother', má means 'hemp', mǎ means 'horse', and mà means 'to scold'. The number of tone differences varies, with northern varieties usually having fewer than southern ones.

The tones of modern Chinese varieties come from the four tones of Middle Chinese. Middle Chinese had three tone levels for syllables ending in vowels or nasals, and a fourth category for syllables ending in stops. Over time, these tones split into higher and lower pitches based on the beginning consonant of the syllable. This created eight tone categories, but most Chinese varieties have fewer. For example, Mandarin has four tones. In Wu varieties, the tone split did not become a separate tone distinction, but the pitch still changes based on the beginning consonant. Most Wu varieties keep the Middle Chinese tone categories, but some, like Shanghainese, have merged a few.

Many Chinese varieties show tone sandhi, where the pitch of a syllable changes based on nearby syllables. For example, in Standard Chinese, a certain tone changes pitch when followed by the same tone. Wu and coastal Min varieties have especially complex patterns. In northern varieties, many small words or endings have reduced pitch, which is determined by the syllable before them. This is less common in southern varieties.

Vocabulary

Most words in Chinese languages are single sounds that come from very old Chinese words, and they are shared across all these languages.

All Chinese languages use the same words for "come" and "go." In the south, the words for "run" and "walk" are still used as they were long ago. But in the north, "run" has changed to mean "walk," and a new word is used for "run." The old word for "stand" is only used in a few places in the north and middle of China. Most places in the north use a different word for "stand," and places in the south use yet another word.

Southern Chinese languages also have some words that came from languages that are not Chinese. Some of these words may have come from Tai-Kadai and Austroasiatic languages.

Grammar

Chinese varieties do not usually change words to show grammar rules. Instead, they use special words called particles and prepositions to show meaning. There are big differences between the northern and southern types of Chinese, but sometimes areas in the north share traits with the south and vice versa.

The usual order in sentences is subject–verb–object. Other orders are used to show emphasis or contrast. Words that describe others, like adjectives, usually come before the word they describe. In the south, some words that describe others can come after the main word.

Nouns are usually not changed to show if there is one or many. When a noun is used with a word showing amount or a pointing word, a special word called a classifier is needed. The south often has more types of classifiers than the north.

Most Chinese varieties add a small ending to nouns to show smallness or closeness, often using a word for "child." In some areas, this ending changes based on the word.

All varieties have words for "I" and "you," but words for "he," "she," or "it" can differ. Some areas add endings to show more than one person. The word for "this" or "that" also changes a lot between areas.

Questions are usually formed by replacing the unknown word with a question word or adding a special ending to the end of the sentence. Some areas repeat the verb with a negative word to ask questions.

Sociolinguistics

Language policy

Mainland China

In mainland China, there has been a strong effort to promote Putonghua, or Standard Chinese. Schools teach only in Mandarin from the second year of primary school. However, people still use their local language varieties in many everyday situations. In Hong Kong, formal documents use written Cantonese, but the characters used are closer to Mandarin. Differences in language do not usually relate to political groups, so they have not caused major conflicts.

Historically, many leaders who promoted Chinese nationalism came from southern China and did not speak Mandarin as their first language. For example, Mao Zedong often spoke with a strong accent from Hunan, making his words hard for many to understand. Leaders like Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen also came from southern China. Because of this, China does not have a strong tradition of spoken political speeches, and most political works are written rather than spoken. Another reason dialect differences have not caused big political issues is that families often include people who speak different varieties.

Taiwan

Before 1945, most people in Taiwan were Han Chinese, some of whom also spoke Japanese, along with Taiwanese Hokkien or Hakka, and a smaller group of Taiwanese aborigines who spoke Formosan languages. After losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Kuomintang moved to Taiwan and brought many speakers of Northern Chinese varieties. They promoted Mandarin to support their claim to represent all of China. Schools taught only in Mandarin, and children were punished for using other languages.

From the 1970s, the government continued to promote Mandarin for adult education, official use, and broadcasting. Over time, this helped spread Mandarin widely, but it also created social divides, as Mandarin speakers had an advantage in government jobs but faced difficulties in private companies. Starting in the 1990s, schools began to include Taiwanese languages like Hokkien, Hakka, and Formosan languages, first in some areas and later across the island.

Singapore

When Singapore became independent in 1965, it had many different languages. Most people were ethnically Chinese, speaking varieties like Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, and others. The government chose English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil as official languages. For Chinese students, they were taught Mandarin even if they did not speak it at home. The government believed Mandarin would be more useful economically and help preserve Chinese culture.

A report in 1976 showed that many students struggled to learn two languages. The government then started a major campaign to promote Mandarin, arguing it would help students, unite Chinese Singaporeans, and provide a common language useful beyond Singapore. By 2010, far fewer homes used non-Mandarin varieties. Since 1987, schools have taught in English, with a second language for each student based on their ethnicity.

Bilingualism and code-switching

In southern China, far from Hong Kong and Macau, the difference between Standard Chinese and local varieties is strong. Well-educated people usually know Standard Chinese well and also speak their local variety. People choose which to use based on the situation. Standard Chinese is more formal and used when speaking to someone who does not understand the local variety. The local variety feels more intimate and is used with family and friends.

People often switch between Standard Chinese and their local variety in conversations. Parents usually speak to their children in the local variety. Local varieties are valued as part of regional culture.

People usually feel connected to their hometown variety rather than a broader group. For example, someone from Wuxi might say they speak the Wuxi dialect, even if it is similar to Shanghainese. Knowing the local variety helps socially, and people who move to a new area often try to learn it through everyday life and listening to sounds change. It usually takes about a year to understand a new variety and three to five years to speak it well. Because there are so many varieties, there are not many formal ways to learn them.

Mandarin speakers often mix words from their local language into their Mandarin speech. Each area of China also has its own accent when speaking Mandarin. The standard form of Mandarin pronunciation is mostly heard on news and radio. Even in Beijing, people speak Mandarin with different sounds than what is heard in the media.

In Taiwan, most people understand or speak Taiwanese Hokkien, so Taiwanese Mandarin includes many words from Hokkien. Some words are used directly, like "蚵仔煎" for "oyster omelet," which most people call by its Hokkien name. Other times, Mandarin creates new words that sound like Hokkien ones, like "哇靠" for "damn," which comes from the Hokkien "goák-hàu."

While most people in Taiwan understand Hokkien, fewer understand or speak Hakka, so Taiwanese Mandarin has fewer Hakka words. Although Hokkien, Hakka, and Indigenous languages are now official national languages, Hokkien remains the most respected language besides Mandarin and English in Taiwan. On the Taipei metro, announcements are made in Mandarin, English, Hokkien, Hakka, and sometimes Japanese or Korean.