Are Chinese and Mandarin the same?

Are Chinese and Mandarin the same?

Are Chinese and Mandarin the same language? Mandarin is a dialect of Chinese. Chinese is a language (Mandarin is one of the dialects of Chinese alongside Shanghainese, Cantonese and many more).

Who speaks Cantonese vs Mandarin?

It is spoken in many of the largest cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai. Mandarin is spoken widely in Singapore and Taiwan. Cantonese, however, is spoken largely in Hong Kong, as well as in Macau and the Guangdong province, including Guangzhou.

Is Cantonese a dying language?

It depends. Cantonese will not die out for the foreseeable future as some alarmists seem to purport, but the Cantonese speaking population may experience a decrease given the greater prominence of Mandarin in China and a decrease in the overseas Cantonese diaspora.

How do you say hello in Cantonese?

To say “hello” in Cantonese, you would say néih hóu (nay hoh). This is similar to the Mandarin greeting nǐ hǎo (nee how), which you may be familiar with.

Should I learn Cantonese or Mandarin?

Mandarin is easier to learn As we covered above, Mandarin is easier to learn in regards to both writing and speaking. Cantonese is seen to be more difficult because it has from 6 to 9 tones, each of which signify different things (while Mandarin only has 4 tones).

Do Hong Kongers speak Mandarin?

Hong Kongers speak Cantonese, a southern dialect of Chinese originating in the Guangdong region. So while you may speak “Chinese,” if you’ve learned Mandarin, only 48 percent of Hong Kong residents speak the dialect.

Do Cantonese speakers understand Mandarin?

Yes and no. Cantonese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible in spoken form. Through written Standard Chinese, speakers of both languages can communicate, which when read aloud is Mandarin to Mandarin speakers and very formal to Cantonese speakers.

Are you OK in Cantonese?

你有冇事? en are you OK?

Can all Chinese understand each other?

Sometimes, speakers of same dialects cannot understand each other. Chinese dialects are not mutually intelligible. Well, technically they are languages not dialects. Coming to question 2, People speaking different dialects cannot understand each other.

Should I learn Mandarin or Cantonese in Hong Kong?

If you want to be more widely understood, you should learn Mandarin. Nowadays with more and more trade and communication between Hong Kong and mainland China, more and more Cantonese speakers are learning Mandarin. Of course, if you plan to travel or work in China in the future, you can learn Mandarin.

Is Cantonese older than Mandarin?

Cantonese and Mandarin: which came first? Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220AD, when long periods of war caused northern Chinese to flee south, taking their ancient language with them. Mandarin was documented much later in the Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China.

Can you live in Hong Kong only speaking English?

People Hong Kong can generally speak English so there shouldn’t be any problem in your daily life and your work. Some expatriates have lived and worked in Hong Kong for decades without learning to speak Cantonese or Mandarin.

Is Mandarin or Cantonese more common in the US?

In New York City, although Standard Mandarin Chinese is spoken as a native language among only ten percent of Chinese speakers, it is used as a secondary dialect and is replacing Cantonese as their lingua franca….Chinese language and varieties in the United States.

Year	Speakers
2000	2,022,143
2010	2,808,692
^a Foreign-born population only

Is Cantonese the hardest language to learn?

Cantonese can be difficult even for those fluent in other Chinese dialects because of its tonal system. This gives a new hurtle to language learning, since a reader of Cantonese can’t sound out syllables in a text as we can with phonetic alphabets.