Languages of China - Chinese Language Differs from Place to Place

Hi everyone, hope you are having a wonderful day today, welcome back to my channel!

I'm Yuri O, as in O come onnnnn, there can’t be that many ways to say Good Morning in Chinese!

Topic Today: Chinese language and boy oh boy does it differ from place to place! Beijinghua, Shanghaihua, Guangdonghua, Chaozhouhua, the list goes on!

Like other languages, Chinese comes in a many different forms. Like…. MANY many.

However, these are not dialects we are talking about. These are indeed considered by linguists to be different languages. Well isn’t it all Chinese, I hear you ask?

Well, yes and no. Linguists state that as the languages used in different areas of China are not ‘mutually intelligible’, they are exactly that- languages, not dialects. And, depending on who you ask, the number of different languages spoken could be anywhere from 80 to literally hundreds, and within different regions, for instance where the Hakka (or kejiahua) language is spoken, there are too over 10 different dialects alone.

That said, Mandarin Chinese is the standardised form of Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect, and the official language of China.

It is somewhat difficult for non-Chinese speakers to quite comprehend just HOW different these different languages sound. Now, to clarify, the characters in written Chinese are the same (of course, you have simplified and traditional styles), but the pronunciation is entirely different, in which case someone from for example Guangdong, or Canton Province as it is also known, could travel to Shanghai attempting to use Cantonese and would not be understood by anyone from Shanghai.

Having said that, in major cities particularly in downtown areas, it is largely the norm that people speak not only their own language but also standardised Mandarin.

However, this is not the case in more rural or remote areas of China.

It’s true that there are many stories of Chinese learners being baffled when going on their travels to different provinces, and also to places like Macau and Hong Kong, only to find that they couldn’t understand what the local people are saying and vice versa, despite their best efforts to communicate in Mandarin!

Of course, perhaps this is best demonstrated with a simple example. Take the verb, ‘to eat’ which translates to ‘chi’ in Mandarin, but in Cantonese for instance is pronounced ‘sek’. To say ‘you’, in Mandarin would be ‘ni’, whereas in Cantonese the same word is pronounced ‘nei’! Hopefully you can hear just how dissimilar these are!

With pronunciation so different from place to place within China, it is always important for foreign businessmen to be aware of where they are headed, because while YES there may be an interpreter or an English speaker present, should you wish to try and score some friendship-building points by saying something in the Chinese boss’ native tongue, they may be offended (or at the very least confused) if for example you say ‘good morning’ in Cantonese when you are actually in Beijing!

Today, I would like to share with you the 6 most useful terms in the meetings in China (in Mandarin and Cantonese)

Hello – 您好 nín hǎo /// 你好 nei5 hou2

Nice to meet you – 很开心认识您 hěn kāi xīn rèn shi nín /// 幸会 hang6 wui6

I am xxx – 我是 wǒ shì /// 我系 ngo5 hai6

Thank you – 谢谢 xiè xie /// 多谢 do1 ze6

Keep in touch – 保持联系 bǎo chí lián xì /// 保持联系 bou2 ci4 lyun4 hai6

See you – 再见 zài jiàn /// Bye Bye (or 下次见 haa6 ci3 gin3)

Wellll, hopefully you have learned just how diverse ‘Chinese’ is today, and do remember that when asking a Chinese person, ‘how do you say this in Chinese?’, there are many different ways that the person could respond, so be specific.

That's it for today, feel free to share your Chinese language stories and adventures in the comments below! I appreciate you, if you haven't subscribed yet, take a moment, click the subscribe button, because this channel is all about China, genuine insights from me and my team, who have all spent time living in both UK and China.

Take care my friends, have a wonderful day, and I will see you soon!

Yuri O x