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Standard Mandarin
*** Shopping-Tip: Standard Mandarin
'''Standard Mandarin''' is the official
Chinese spoken language used by the
People's Republic of China, the
Republic of China (
Taiwan) and
Singapore.
The phonology of Standard Mandarin is based on that of the
Beijing dialect, which belongs to '''
Mandarin (linguistics) Mandarin''', a large and very diverse group of Chinese
dialects spoken across northern and southwestern China. The vocabulary is largely drawn from this group of dialects. The grammar of Standard Mandarin is standardized to the body of modern works written in
Vernacular Chinese, which in practice follows the tradition of the Mandarin group of dialects most closely with some notable exceptions. As a result, Standard Mandarin itself is usually called "Mandarin" in non-academic, everyday usage. However,
linguistics linguists use "Mandarin" to refer to the entire group of dialects. This convention will be adopted by the rest of this article.
Standard Mandarin is officially known in the
People's Republic of China as '''PÇ”tÅ?nghuà ''' ({{zh-s.html">Republic of China (
Taiwan) as '''Guóyǔ''' ({{zh-ts
t=國語|s=国è¯}}, literally "national language"), and in Malaysia and
Singapore as '''HuáyÇ”''' ({{zh-ts|t=è?¯èªž|s=å?Žè¯}}, literally "the Chinese (in a cultural sense) language"). All three terms are used interchangeably in Chinese communities around the world where different groups have come into contact.
History
:''Main article:
History of Standard Mandarin''
Since ancient history, the
Chinese language has always consisted of a wide variety of dialects; hence prestige dialects and
lingua francas have always been needed.
Confucius, for example, used ''yǎyán'' (
wiktionary:雅 雅wiktionary:言 言), or "elegant speech", rather than colloquial regional dialects; text during the
Han Dynasty also referred to ''tÅ?ngyÇ”'' (
wiktionary:通 通wiktionary:è¯ è¯), or "common language".
Rime books, which were written since the
Southern and Northern Dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard
pronunciation during those times. However, all of these standard dialects were probably unknown outside the educated elite; even among the elite, pronunciations may have been very different, as the unifying factor of all Chinese dialects,
Classical Chinese, was a written standard, not a spoken one.
The
Ming Dynasty (
1368 -
1644) and the
Qing Dynasty (
1644 -
1912) began to use the term ''guÄ?nhuà '' (官è¯?), or "official speech", to refer to the speech used at the
noble court courts. It seems that during the early part of this period, the standard was based on the
Nanjing dialect, but later the
Beijing dialect became increasingly influential, despite the mix of officials and commoners speaking various dialects in the capital,
Beijing. In the
17th century, the Empire had set up
Orthoepy Academies (æ£éŸ³æ›¸é™¢, ZhèngyÄ«n ShÅ«yuà n) in an attempt to make pronunciation conform to the Beijing standard. But these attempts had little success. As late as the
19th century the emperor had difficulty understanding some of his own ministers in court, who did not always try to follow any standard pronunciation. Nevertheless, by
1909, the dying
Qing Dynasty had established the Beijing dialect as ''guóyÇ”'' (国è¯), or the "national language".
After the
Republic of China was established in
1912, there was more success in promoting a common national language. A
Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation was convened with delegates from the entire country. At first there was an attempt to introduce a standard pronunciation with elements from regional dialects. But this was deemed too difficult to promote, and in
1924 this attempt was abandoned and the Beijing dialect became the major source of standard national pronunciation, due to the status of that dialect as a prestigious dialect since the
Qing Dynasty. Elements from other dialects continue to exist in the standard language, but as exceptions rather than the rule.
The
People's Republic of China, established in
1949, continued the effort. In
1955, standard Mandarin was renamed ''pÇ”tÅ?nghuà '' (普通è¯?), or "common speech". (The name change was not recognized by the
Republic of China which has governed only
Taiwan and some surrounding islands since 1949.) Since then, the standards used in
mainland China and Taiwan have diverged somewhat.
After the
handovers of
Hong Kong [http://www.info.gov.hk/info/hkbrief/eng/ahk.htm] and
Macau, the term
Putonghua is used in those
Special Administrative Regions of the
People's Republic of China, and the
pinyin system is widely used.
In both
mainland China and Taiwan, the use of Standard Mandarin as the medium of instruction in the educational system and in the media has contributed to the spread of standard Mandarin. As a result, Standard Mandarin is now spoken fluently by most people in
Mainland China and on Taiwan. However in
Hong Kong, due to historical and linguistic reasons, the language of education and both formal and informal speech remains the local
Cantonese (linguistics) Cantonese but standard Mandarin is becoming increasingly influential.
The advent of the 20th century has seen many profound changes in Standard Mandarin.
Chinese honorifics Many polite and humble words that were in use in imperial China have almost entirely disappeared in daily conversation in modern-day Standard Mandarin, such as ''jià n'' (贱 "my humble") and ''guì'' (贵 "your honorable").
{{IPA notice}}
Phonology
The standardized
phonology of Standard Mandarin is reproduced below. Actual reproduction varies widely among speakers, as everyone (including national leaders) inadvertently introduces elements of his/her own native dialect. By contrast,
television and
radio announcers are usually chosen for their pronunciation accuracy. Below is the phonology of Standard Mandarin.
Initials
The following is the
initial (linguistics) initial inventory of Standard Mandarin as represented in the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA):
{|border="2" cellpadding="5" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; line-height: 1.2em; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; font-family: Doulos SIL, GentiumAlt, Lucida Sans Unicode, Gentium, Code2000, Chrysanthi Unicode, TITUS Cyberbit Basic, Bitstream Cyberbit, Bitstream Vera, Arial Unicode MS, Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro, Lucida Grande; font-family /**/:inherit; font-size: 110%; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid;"
|- style="font-size: 80%;"
|
! colspan="2" |
Bilabial consonant Bilabial
! colspan="2" |
Labiodental consonant Labio-
dental
! colspan="2" |
Alveolar consonant Alveolar
! colspan="2" |
Retroflex consonant Retroflex
! colspan="2" |
Alveolo-palatal consonant Alveolo-
palatal
! colspan="2" |
Velar consonant Velar
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Stop consonant Plosives
| {{IPA|p}}
| {{IPA|pÊ°}}
| colspan="2" |
| {{IPA|t}}
| {{IPA|tÊ°}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| {{IPA|k}}
| {{IPA|kÊ°}}
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Nasal consonant Nasals
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|m}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|n}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Fricative consonant Fricatives
| colspan="2" |
| {{IPA|f}}
|
| {{IPA|s}}
|
| {{IPA|Ê‚}}
| {{IPA|(Ê?)}}
1
| {{IPA|(É•)}}
|
| {{IPA|x}}
|
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Affricate consonant Affricates
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| {{IPA|ʦ}}
| {{IPA|ʦʰ}}
| {{IPA|ʈʂ}}
| {{IPA|ʈʂʰ}}
| {{IPA|(tɕ)}}
| {{IPA|(tɕʰ)}}
| colspan="2" |
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Lateral approximant Lateral
approximant
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|l}}
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|-
! style="font-size: 80%; text-align: left;" |
Approximant consonant Approximants
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" | {{IPA|É»}}
1
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2" |
|}
1 {{IPA|/É»/}} is often transcribed as {{IPA|[Ê?]}} (a
voiced retroflex fricative) or even described as having a fricative allophone, though this is questioned due to the fact that studies have shown that {{IPA|/É»/}} is pronounced with very little friction and because Standard Mandarin has no other voiced/voiceless consonant pairs.
Corresponding chart in:
*
Pinyin#Initials Pinyin
* Zhuyin
* Gwoyeu Romatzyh
For more complete information, showing how initials and finals interact, see this Zhuyin-IPA [http://www.wfu.edu/~moran/Cathay_Cafe/IPA_NPA_4.htm chart]. The
vowel sounds in that
chart have been verified against the official IPA: [http://www.sil.org/computing/speechtools/softdev2/IPAhelp2/ipavowel2.htm site]. A table of valid initial and final combinations can also be seen at:
*
Pinyin table
*
Zhuyin table
What are traditionally termed ''retroflex'' are phonetically not true retroflex articulations. These consonants are, rather, ''flat apical postalveolar'', and thus differ from both palatoalveolar and (true) retroflex consonants (Ladefoged & Wu 1984; Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:150-154).
The
alveolo-palatal consonants {{IPA.html">complementary distribution (see
minimal pair) with the
alveolar consonants {{IPA
/ts tsʰ s/}}, retroflex consonants {{IPA|/tʂ tʂʰ ʂ/}} and
velar consonants {{IPA.html">allophones of one of the three other sets, commonly of the last one in order to make the set {{IPA
/k_kÊ° x/}} phoneme|phonemically parallel to the sets {{IPA|/p pÊ° f/}} and {{IPA|/t tÊ° l/}}.
{{IPA|/w/}} is commonly pronounced {{IPA|[Ê‹]}} (a
labiodental approximant) by speakers around Beijing; this may be considered substandard, but it nevertheless occurs frequently.
{{IPA|/tɕ tɕʰ ɕ/}} may be pronounced as {{IPA|[tsj tsʰj sj]}}, which is characteristic of the speech of young women, and also of some men. This is usually considered rather effeminate and may also be considered substandard.
Some linguists analyze a [{{IPA|Ê?}}] when an
open vowel like /{{IPA|a}}/ begins a syllable.
Finals
The
Final (linguistics) final is a combination of a medial, a
syllable nucleus nucleus, and a
syllable coda coda. The medial can be absent, or it can be one of the three
glide (linguistics) glides: {{IPA|-i-}}, {{IPA|-u-}}, {{IPA|-y-}}. The nucleus can be analyzed as being based on a contrast of {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/É™/}}; it's also possible for the vowel of the glide to act as the vowel of the syllable in the absence of either {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/É™/}}. The coda can be absent; it can be one of two
glide (linguistics) glides: {{IPA|-i}}, {{IPA|-u}}; or it can be one of two
nasal consonant nasals: {{IPA|-n}}, {{IPA|-Å‹}}.
When the medial, nucleus, and coda combine into a final, their pronunciations may be affected. The following is the full table of finals of Standard Mandarin in
International Phonetic Alphabet IPA:
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
|rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Nucleus||rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Coda||colspan=4 style="background:#efefef"|Medial
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|Ø||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|y}}
|-
|rowspan=5 style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|a}}||style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|ɑ}}||{{IPA|iɑ}}||{{IPA|uɑ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|aɪ}}|| ||{{IPA|uaɪ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|aÊŠ}}||{{IPA|iaÊŠ}}|| ||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|n}}||{{IPA|an}}||{{IPA|iɛn}}||{{IPA|uan}}||{{IPA|yɛn}}
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ŋ}}||{{IPA|ɑŋ}}||{{IPA|iɑŋ}}||{{IPA|uɑŋ}}||
|-
|rowspan=5 style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ə}}||style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|ɤ}}||{{IPA|iɛ}}||{{IPA|uo}}
1||{{IPA|yɛ}} ²
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|eɪ}}|| ||{{IPA|ueɪ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|ɤʊ}}||{{IPA|iɤʊ}}|| ||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|n}}||{{IPA|ən}}||{{IPA|in}}||{{IPA|uən}}||{{IPA|yn}}
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ŋ}}||{{IPA|ɤŋ}}||{{IPA|iɤŋ}}||{{IPA|uɤŋ}} ³||{{IPA|yʊŋ}}
|-
|colspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|z̩}}||{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|y}}
|}
1 Both
pinyin and
zhuyin have an additional "o", used after "b p m f", which is distinguished from "uo", used after everything else. "o" is generally put into the first column instead of the third. However, in Beijing pronunciation, these are identical.
² Another way to represent the four finals of this line is: {{IPA|[ɯʌ iɛ uɔ yœ]}}, which reflects Beijing pronunciation.
³ {{IPA|/uɤŋ/}} is pronounced {{IPA|[ʊŋ]}} when it follows an initial.
Standard Mandarin also uses a
rhotic consonant, {{IPA|/É»/}}. There are two cases in which it is used:
#In a small number of words, such as 二 "two", 耳 "ear", etc. All of these words are pronounced as {{IPA|[ɑɻ]}} with no initial consonant.
#As a
noun suffix (Traditional: -å…’, Simplified: -å„¿). The suffix combines with the final, and regular changes occur as a result. The following chart shows how the finals from the above chart are affected by the addition of this suffix:
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
|rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Nucleus||rowspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Coda
(+rhotic)||colspan=4 style="background:#efefef"|Medial
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|Ø||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|y}}
|-
|rowspan=5 style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|a}}||style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|ɑɻ}}||{{IPA|iɑɻ}}||{{IPA|uɑɻ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|ɑɻ}}|| ||{{IPA|uɑɻ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|aÊŠÉ»}}||{{IPA|iaÊŠÉ»}}|| ||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|n}}||{{IPA|ɑɻ}}||{{IPA|iɑɻ}}||{{IPA|uɑɻ}}||{{IPA|yɑɻ}}
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ŋ}}||{{IPA|ɑ̃ɻ}}||{{IPA|iɑ̃ɻ}}||{{IPA|uɑ̃ɻ}}||
|-
|rowspan=5 style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ə}}||style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|ɤɻ}}||{{IPA|iɛɻ}}||{{IPA|uoɻ}}||{{IPA|yɛɻ}}
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|i}}||{{IPA|əɻ}}|| ||{{IPA|uəɻ}}||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|u}}||{{IPA|ɤʊɻ}}||{{IPA|iɤʊɻ}}|| ||
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|n}}||{{IPA|əɻ}}||{{IPA|iəɻ}}||{{IPA|uəɻ}}||{{IPA|yəɻ}}
|-
|style="background:#efefef"|{{IPA|ŋ}}||{{IPA|ɤ̃ɻ}}||{{IPA|iɤ̃ɻ}}||{{IPA|ʊ̃ɻ}}||{{IPA|yʊ̃ɻ}}
|-
|colspan=2 style="background:#efefef"|Ø||{{IPA|əɻ}}||{{IPA|iəɻ}}||{{IPA|uɻ}}||{{IPA|yəɻ}}
|}
The attached {{IPA|/É»/}} simply removes the codas {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/n/}}, and removes the coda {{IPA|/Å‹/}} by
nasal vowel nasalizing the nucleus.
Corresponding chart in:
*
Pinyin#Finals Pinyin
* Zhuyin
* Gwoyeu Romatzyh
A table of valid initial and final combinations can also be seen at:
*
Pinyin table
*
Zhuyin table
Tones
Image:Pinyin_Tone_Chart.png right|thumb|150px|Relative pitch changes of the four tones
Mandarin, like most Chinese dialects, is a
tonal language. This means that
Tone (linguistics) tone, just like consonants and vowels, are used to distinguish words from each other. Many foreigners have difficulties mastering the tones of each character, but correct tonal pronunciation is essential for intelligibility because of the vast number of
homophones in the language. The following are the 4 tones of Standard Mandarin:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
Tone name
! Yin Ping
! Yang Ping
! Shang
! Qu
|-
!
Tone contour
| 55
| 35
| 21 (4)
| 51
|-
!
Tone number
| 1
| 2
| 3
| 4
|}
# '''First tone''', or '''high-level tone''' (é™°å¹³/阴平 yÄ«npÃng, literal meaning:
yin-level):
#: a steady high
sound, as if it were being sung instead of spoken.
# '''Second tone''', or '''rising tone''' (陽平/阳平 yángpÃng, literal meaning:
yang-level), or
linguistically, '''high-rising''':
#: is a sound that rises from mid-level tone to high (e.g., What?!)
# '''Third tone''' (low tone, or low-falling-raising, 上�/上声 shǎngshēng or shà ngshēng, literal meaning: "up tone"):
#: has a mid-low to low descent, if at the end of a sentence or before a pause, it is then followed by a rising pitch.
# '''Fourth tone''', '''falling tone''' (去�/去声 qùshēng, literal meaning: "away tone"), or '''high-falling''':
#: features a sharp downward accent ("dipping") from high to low, and is a shorter tone, similar to curt commands. (e.g., Stop!)
:{{Audio|zh-pinyin_tones_with_ma.ogg|The syllable "ma" pronounced with the four main tones}}
Other pitch shapes sometimes called ''tones'':
* '''Fifth tone''', '''neutral tone''', or '''zeroth tone''' (輕�/轻声 qīng shēng, literal meaning: "light tone"):
*: All unstressed syllables are pronounced with this "tone", which is sometimes considered as a lack of tone. In most varieties of Mandarin, the second syllable in two-syllable compounds is weaker in tonal prominence than the first character, and is sometimes called a "neutral" tone. On the other hand, if a very unemphasized '''incorrect''' tone is produced, its presence may be noted by the careful listener.
Most
romanizations represent the tones as
diacritics on the vowels (e.g.,
Pinyin#Tones Pinyin,
MPS II and
Tongyong Pinyin).
Zhuyin uses diacritics as well. Others, like
Wade-Giles, use superscript numbers at the end of each syllable. The tone marks and numbers are rarely used outside of
textbooks.
Gwoyeu Romatzyh is a rare example where tones are not represented as special
symbols, but using normal letters of the alphabet (although in a very complex fashion).
To listen to the tones, see [http://www.wku.edu/~shizhen.gao/Chinese101/pinyin/tones.htm http://www.wku.edu/~shizhen.gao/Chinese101/pinyin/tones.htm] (click on the blue-red yin yang symbol).
Pronunciation also varies with context according to the rules of
tone sandhi. The most prominent phenomenon of this kind is when there are two third tones in immediate sequence, in which case the first of them changes to a second tone. If there are three third tones in series, the first may or may not be converted to a second tone, depending on the preference of the speaker and the dialect area.
Relationship between
Middle Chinese and modern tones:
V- =
phonation unvoiced initial (linguistics) initial consonant
L =
sonorant initial consonant
V+ =
phonation voiced initial consonant (not
sonorant)
It is known that if the two
morphemes of a compound word cannot be ordered by grammar, the order of the two is usually determined by tones — Yin Ping (1), Yang Ping (2), Shang (3), Qu (4), and Ru, which is the plosive-ending tone that has already disappeared. Below are some compound words that show this rule. Tones are shown in parentheses, and ''R'' indicates Ru.
左� (34)
�北 (2R)
輕� (14)
貧富 (24)
凹凸 (1R)
喜怒 (34)
哀樂 (1R)
ç”Ÿæ» (13)
æ»æ´» (3R)
陰陽 (12)
明暗 (24)
æ¯€è½ (34)
褒貶 (13)
離� (2R)
Romanization
{{RCL}}
Ever since the first
Western world Westerners entered China and tried to learn Mandarin, the need for a phonetic transcription system to record the pronunciation of Chinese characters became apparent. Over the years, many such systems have been proposed. The first to be widely accepted was the
Wade-Giles system, named after its
19th century inventors.
Postal System Pinyin, standardized in
1906, is a similar and somewhat irregular system used predominantly for place names. These two systems are still in use today, but they are rapidly losing ground to
Hanyu Pinyin. They are now mostly encountered in older materials such as textbooks and histories.
In the
20th century, Chinese linguists proposed various
transcription (linguistics) transcription systems, one of which even introduced a whole new syllabic alphabet: the
Zhuyin system (Bopomofo). The most successful of these transcription systems was
Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, which was accepted as the official transcription system for the Chinese language by the PRC in
1958 and later by the
United Nations and other international organizations. During the
1950s, there were plans for Pinyin to supersede the Chinese characters. These plans, however, were abandoned, due to the prevalence of
homonymic
morphemes in Chinese (as well as the reliance of written Chinese forms, especially
Classical Chinese, on disambiguation of homonyms via different logographs), the link between the various Chinese languages provided by the logographic system, and the long and close association between the writing system and the literature and culture of China.
A variety of transcription systems are used on Taiwan, in a situation that has often been politicised. The ROC central government adopted
Tongyong Pinyin in 2002, but has permitted local governments to override that decision in favor of their own preferred romanization systems, e.g.,
Taipei City's mayor and current leader of the mildly pro-unification opposition party
Kuomintang,
Ma Ying-jeou, adopted
Hanyu Pinyin in the street names of Taipei, as well as on the
Taipei Rapid Transit System, which extends into the
Taipei County controlled by the ruling party, the
Democratic Progressive Party. This has resulted in protests accusing Ma of failing to consult and showing disrespect to the
Taipei County Government, as well as disregarding central language policies.
Zhuyin is used as the method for teaching pronunciation of characters and compounds in schools. Efforts to phase out this system in favor of Tongyong Pinyin have stalled due to disagreements over which form of pinyin to use, and the massive effort needed to produce new educational materials and to completely retrain teachers.
A less popular and outdated Romanization is the
Yale Romanization. The Yale system is notable because it is a more direct representation of the
phonemes of Mandarin than the other systems: It avoids the orthographic alternations between 'y' and 'i', 'w' and 'u', 'wei' and 'ui', 'o' and 'uo', etc. that are part of
Pinyin and
Wade-Giles.
Standard Mandarin and Beijing dialect
By the official definition of the People's Republic of China, standard Mandarin uses:
* The
phonology or sound system of
Beijing. A distinction should be made between the sound system of a dialect or language and the actual pronunciation of words in it. The pronunciations of words chosen for Standard Mandarin -- a standardized speech -- do not necessarily reproduce those of the Beijing dialect. The pronunciation of words is a standardization choice and occasional standardization differences (not accents) do exist, between putonghua and guoyu, for example.
In fluent speech, Chinese speakers can easily tell the difference between a speaker of the Beijing dialect and a speaker of Standard Mandarin. Beijingers speak Standard Mandarin with elements of their own dialect (i.e. "accents") in the same way as other speakers.
* The
vocabulary of Mandarin dialects in general. This means that all
slang and other elements deemed "regionalisms" are excluded. On the one hand, the vocabulary of all Chinese dialects, especially in more technical fields like
science,
law, and
government, are very similar. (This is similar to the profusion of
Latin and
Greek language Greek words in European languages.) This means that much of the vocabulary of standardized Mandarin is shared with all varieties of Chinese. On the other hand, many colloquial vocabulary and
slang found in Beijing dialect are not found in Standard Mandarin, and may not be understood by people not from Beijing.
* The
grammar and
usage of exemplary modern
Chinese literature, such as the work of
Lu Xun, collectively known as "
Vernacular Chinese". Vernacular Chinese, the standard written form of modern Chinese, is in turn based loosely upon a mixture of northern (predominant), southern, and
Classical Chinese classical grammar and usage. This gives formal standard Mandarin structure a slightly different feel from that of street Beijing dialect.
In theory the Republic of China defines standard Mandarin differently, though in reality the differences are minor and are concentrated mostly in the
tonal language tones of a small minority of words.
Although Chinese speakers make a clear distinction between Standard Mandarin and the Beijing dialect, there are aspects of Beijing dialect that have made it into the official standard. Standard Mandarin has a
T-V distinction between the polite and informal versions of you that comes from Beijing dialect. In addition, there is a distinction between "''zánmen''" (''we'' including the listener) and "''wǒmen''" (''we'' not including the listener). In practice, these distinctions are almost never used by most Chinese.
Standard Mandarin and other dialects
The national standard can be very different from a local Mandarin speech, to the point of being unintelligible. In addition, since standard Mandarin is taught as a second language across all
China, it is also very common for two people who both believe themselves to be speaking standard Mandarin to require a translator. Nevertheless, efforts by the PRC, ROC, and Singapore to promote standard Mandarin as the standard tongue have greatly boosted the number of standard Mandarin speakers.
To the dismay of non-Mandarin speakers, the predominant role of standard Mandarin has led to the common misidentification of Mandarin as the only "
Chinese language". Although both Mainland China and Taiwan use standard Mandarin as the official language and Mainland China is keen to promote its nationwide use, there is hardly any official intent in either location to have standard Mandarin replace local dialect, and as a practical matter, standard Mandarin still does not supplant the local dialects that are in use in some locations, particularly in the southern provinces of Mainland China or on Taiwan. Speaking only standard Mandarin in these areas is sometimes regarded as a significant social handicap; many Chinese language speakers there, particularly the elderly, do not speak standard Mandarin very well. This situation appears to be changing, though, especially in large urban centers, as social changes, migrations, and urbanization take place.
In the predominantly
Han Chinese Han areas in
Mainland China, the interaction between standard Mandarin and the local Chinese dialects has generally not been controversial. Although the use of standard Mandarin is encouraged as the common working language, the People's Republic of China has attempted to be sensitive to the status of local dialects and has not discouraged their use. One example of this is
Mao Zedong himself, who often spoke in
Xiang (linguistics) Xiang, a category of Chinese that does not even fall within the wider category of regional
Mandarin (linguistics) Mandarin dialects. Many native speakers of Chinese find Mao's spoken language to be largely incomprehensible, even when speaking in formal occasions.
Standard Mandarin, however, is used very commonly for logistical reasons in that it is often the only means of communications between people from different areas. In many parts of southern China, the linguistic diversity is so large that even people from neighboring cities find it difficult to talk to each other in the local form of Chinese, thereby requiring the use of a
lingua franca such as standard Mandarin. Curiously the use of standard Mandarin in the 20th century has supplanted the use of
pidgin English which was used as a common language in some parts of southern China in the 18th and 19th century.
In Taiwan, the relationship between standard Mandarin and local dialects, particularly
Taiwanese (linguistics) Taiwanese has been more heated. Until the
1980s the government discouraged the use of Taiwanese and other vernaculars, even portraying them as being inferior. This produced a backlash in the
1990s. Although some more extreme supporters of
Taiwan independence tend to be opposed to standard Mandarin in favor of Taiwanese, efforts to replace standard Mandarin either with Taiwanese or with a multi-lingual standard have remained stalled.
In Singapore, the government has heavily promoted a "Speak Mandarin" campaign to adopt a common language among its diverse Chinese population. The use of non-Mandarin dialects in broadcast media is prohibited and the use of dialect in any context is officially discouraged. This has led to some resentment, as Singapore's Chinese community is almost entirely of southern Chinese descent and thus considers Mandarin a foreign language.
Note that while the term ''Hà nyÇ”'' (漢語; simplified: 汉è¯), or "the
Han Chinese language", is sometimes used to refer to just standard Mandarin, it is more precisely used to refer to all variants of Chinese, since they are, after all, all spoken by
Han Chinese. Some speakers of
Hakka (linguistics) Hakka, for example, object that their own dialect should carry the name ''Hanyu,'' as its grammar is closer to that of ancient texts.
See also:
*
Commission on the Unification of Pronunciation
*
Mandarin Promotion Council
Accents
Most Chinese (Beijingers included) speak Standard Mandarin with elements of their own dialects (i.e. their "accents") mixed in.
For example, natives of Beijing, add a final "er" ({{IPA|/É»/}}) — commonly used as a
diminutive — sound to vocabulary items that other speakers would leave unadorned (兒音/儿音; pinyin: éryÄ«n).
On the other hand, speakers from northeastern and southern China as well as Taiwan often mix up ''zh ch sh'' and ''z c s'', because their own home dialects often do not make these distinctions.
See
List of Chinese dialects for a list of articles on individual Chinese dialects and how their features differ from Standard Mandarin.
Role of standard Mandarin
From an official point of view, standard Mandarin is theoretically something like a
lingua franca — a way for
Han Chinese and
List of Chinese nationalities non-Han ethnic groups speaking a wide variety of mutually unintelligible languages to communicate with each other. The very name of "Putonghua", or "common speech", reinforces this idea. In practice, however, standard Mandarin is sometimes given the aura of the "only right language", and other languages or dialects, both
Chinese spoken language Chinese and non-Chinese, have shown signs of losing ground to standard Mandarin, to the chagrin of many local culture proponents.
On Taiwan, ''Guoyu'' (national language) continues to be the official term for standard Mandarin. The term ''Guoyu'' is rarely used in
Mainland China, because declaring a Beijing-dialect-based standard to be the national language would be deemed unfair to other Chinese dialects and ethnic minorities. The term ''Putonghua'' (ordinary speech), on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a
lingua franca. However, ''Guoyu'' does persist among many older Mainland Chinese, and it is common in U.S. Chinese communities, even among Mainlanders. Some in Taiwan, especially proponents of
Taiwan independence, also object to the term ''Guoyu'' to refer to standardized Mandarin, on the grounds that the "nation" referred to in the name of the language is China and that Taiwan is or should be independent. They prefer to refer to Mandarin with the terms "Beijing dialect" or ''Zhongwen'' (writing of China). As with most things
Politics of Taiwan political in Taiwan, some support the name for precisely the same reasons that others oppose them.
In December
2004, the first survey of
language use in the
People's Republic of China revealed that only 53% of its population could communicate in Standard Mandarin. [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/26/content_403419.htm (China Daily)]
See also
{{book}}
*
Chinese grammar
*
Mandarin slang
References
*Ladefoged, Peter; & Maddieson, Ian. (1996). ''The sounds of the world's languages''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-19814-8 (hbk); ISBN 0-631-19815-6 (pbk).
*Ladefoged, Peter; & Wu, Zhongji. (1984). Places of articulation: An investigation of Pekingese fricatives and affricates. ''Journal of Phonetics'', ''12'', 267-278.
*San Duanmu (2000) ''The Phonology of Standard Chinese'' ISBN 0-19-824120-8
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