Chinese Dialects 11 Feb 2008
For thousands of years, Chinese people speak in hundreds different dialects, but use only one written system, Han Character (汉字), which makes the written communication and culture inheritance possible. The separation of the written and spoken forms of the Chinese language provides a tie that holds the Chinese people together while gives a space for different expressions in daily lives. The following is a brief overview of today’s Chinese dialects: 1, Northern Dialect (also called Mandarin) The official tongue of China, mainly based on Beijing dialect. 2, Jiangsu Dialect (also called Wu Dialect) Mainly based on Suzhou dialect, which in a way is closer to the Song mandarin than that of the northern dialect. Song Dynasty (960-1279) is the most economically, culturally and intellectually developed period in Chinese history with vast volume of written materials produced during that time. Jiangsu Dialect agian branches into many different sub-dialects, and Shanghai dialect is one of them. 3, Anhui Dialect (also called Hui Dialect) Mainly used by people in Anhui province. 4, Jiangxi Dialect (also called Gang Dialect) Mainly used by people in Jianxi Province. 5, Hunan Dialect (also called Xiang Dialect) Mainly used by people in Hunan Province 5, Gujian Dialect (also called Minnan Dialect) Mainly sued by people in Fujian and Taiwan Provinces 6, Kejia Dialect Mainly ethnicaly based (by Kejia ethnic people). People who speak this particular form of dialect can be found in Fujian, Taiwan and other southern provinces. 7, Cantoneses Mainly used by people in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. Pre: Monkey
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