14/04/2024
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This article is about the Chinese language, which includes many varieties. For the standardized form, see Standard Chinese. For other languages in China, see Languages of China. For different varieties, see Sinitic languages.
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The neutrality of this article's introduction is disputed. (February 2024)
Chinese (simplified Chinese: 汉语; traditional Chinese: 漢語; pinyin: Hànyǔ; lit. 'Han language' or 中文; Zhōngwén; 'Chinese writing') is a group of languages[d] spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. Approximately 1.35 billion people, or around 16% of the global population, speak a variety of Chinese as their first language.[4]
Chinese
汉语; 漢語; Hànyǔ or 中文; Zhōngwén
Hànyǔ written in traditional (top) and simplified (middle) forms, Zhōngwén (bottom)
Native to
Mainland ChinaTaiwanSingaporethroughout the Sinophone world
Native speakers
1.35 billion (2017–2022)[1]
Language family
Sino-Tibetan
Sinitic
Chinese
Early forms
Proto-Sino-Tibetan
Old Chinese
Eastern Han Chinese
Middle Chinese[a]
Standard forms
Standard Chinese
Standard Cantonese
Dialects
Mandarin Jin Wu Gan Xiang Min Hakka Yue Ping Huizhou
Writing system
Chinese charactersBopomofoPinyinXiao'erjingDunganChinese BrailleʼPhags-pa script
Official status
Official language in
Mandarin
Mainland China
Taiwan
Singapore
Cantonese[b]
Hong Kong
Macau
Regulated by
Ministry of Education[c] (mainland China)
National Languages Committee (Taiwan)
Civil Service Bureau (Hong Kong)
Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (Macau)
Chinese Language Standardisation Council (Malaysia)
Promote Mandarin Council (Singapore)
Language codes
ISO 639-1
zh
ISO 639-2
chi (B)
zho (T)
ISO 639-3
zho – inclusive code
Individual codes:
cdo – Eastern Min
cjy – Jinyu
cmn – Mandarin
cpx – Pu-Xian Min
czh – Huizhou
czo – Central Min
gan – Gan
hak – Hakka
hsn – Xiang
mnp – Northern Min
nan – Southern Min
wuu – Wu
yue – Yue
csp – Southern Pinghua
cnp – Northern Pinghua
och – Old Chinese
ltc – Late Middle Chinese
lzh – Classical Chinese
Glottolog
sini1245
Linguasphere
79-AAA
Map of the Chinese-speaking world
Regions with a native Chinese-speaking majority.
Regions where Chinese is not native but an official or educational language.
Regions with significant Chinese-speaking minorities.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Han language
Simplified Chinese
汉语
Traditional Chinese
漢語
Literal meaning
Han language
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hànyǔ Bopomofo ㄏㄢˋ ㄩˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hannyeu Wade–Giles Han4-yu3 Tongyong Pinyin Hàn-yǔ Yale Romanization Hàn-yǔ IPA [xân.ỳ] Wu Romanization hoe3 nyiu2 Hakka Romanization Hon Ngi Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hon yúh Jyutping hon3 jyu5 Canton Romanization hon3 yü5 IPA Cantonese pronunciation: [hɔ̄ːn.jy̬ː] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hàn-gí, Hàn-gú Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Háng-ngṳ̄
Chinese writing
Chinese
中文
Literal meaning
Chinese writing
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngwén Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨㄣˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Jongwen Wade–Giles Chung1-wen2 Tongyong Pinyin Jhong-wún Yale Romanization Jūng-wén IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.wə̌n] Wu Romanization tson1 ven1 Hakka Romanization Chung-Vun Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jūng mán Jyutping zung1 man4*2 Canton Romanization Zung1 men4*2 IPA
[tsɔːŋ˥ mɐn˩]
[tsɔːŋ˥ mɐn˧˥]
Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiong-bûn Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Dṳng-ùng
Han writing (esp. when distinguished from other languages of China)
Simplified Chinese
汉文
Traditional Chinese
漢文
Literal meaning
Han writing
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hànwén Bopomofo ㄏㄢˋ ㄨㄣˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hannwen Wade–Giles Han4-wen2 Tongyong Pinyin Hàn-wún IPA [xân.wə̌n]
Ying, a speaker of Henan Chinese
Chinese languages form the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The spoken varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be dialects of a single language. However, their lack of mutual intelligibility means they are sometimes considered to be separate languages in a family.[e] Investigation of the historical relationships among the varieties of Chinese is ongoing. Currently, most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups based on phonetic developments from Middle Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin with 66%, or around 800 million speakers, followed by Min (75 million, e.g. Southern Min), Wu (74 million, e.g. Shanghainese), and Yue (68 million, e.g. Cantonese).[6] These branches are unintelligible to each other, and many of their subgroups are unintelligible with the other varieties within the same branch (e.g. Southern Min). There are, however, transitional areas where varieties from different branches share enough features for some limited intelligibility, including New Xiang with Southwestern Mandarin, Xuanzhou Wu Chinese with Lower Yangtze Mandarin, Jin with Central Plains Mandarin and certain divergent dialects of Hakka with Gan (though these are unintelligible with mainstream Hakka). All varieties of Chinese are tonal to at least some degree, and are largely analytic.
The earliest Chinese written records are oracle bone inscriptions dating from the Shang dynasty c. 1250 BCE. The phonetic categories of Old Chinese can be reconstructed from the rhymes of ancient poetry. During the Northern and Southern period, Middle Chinese went through several sound changes and split into several varieties following prolonged geographic and political separation. The Qieyun, a rime dictionary, recorded a compromise between the pronunciations of different regions. The royal courts of the Ming and early Qing dynasties operated using a koiné language known as Guanhua, based on the Nanjing dialect of Mandarin.
Standard Chinese is an official language of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan), one of the four official languages of Singapore, and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Standard Chinese is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, and was first officially adopted in the 1930s. The language is written primarily using a logography of Chinese characters, largely shared by readers who may otherwise speak mutually unintelligible varieties. Since the 1950s, the use of Simplified characters has been promoted by the government of the People's Republic of China, with Singapore officially adopting them in 1976. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and among Chinese-speaking communities overseas. Traditional characters are also in use in mainland China, despite them not being the first choice in daily use. For example, practising Chinese calligraphy requires the knowledge of traditional Chinese characters.
Classification
History
Varieties
Phonology
Grammar
Vocabulary
Writing system
As a foreign language
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Last edited 1 day ago by Phi1 618033
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