This page is for giving a general overview of the Chinese Language, written as
中文. Here I will give some facts of the Chinese language and
information regarding current issues of the Chinese Language.
Chinese is the world's number one most used language, with over 1.2 billion speakers worldwide in total. There are several varieties of Chinese. There are approximately 13 sub-divisions of the Chinese language. There are, in addition, several dialects (a variety of a language) only spoken in some of the provinces located in China. The four largest speaker dialects are:
Chinese is the world's number one most used language, with over 1.2 billion speakers worldwide in total. There are several varieties of Chinese. There are approximately 13 sub-divisions of the Chinese language. There are, in addition, several dialects (a variety of a language) only spoken in some of the provinces located in China. The four largest speaker dialects are:
| DID YOU KNOW? |
|---|
| Although the different verbal dialects in Chinese are different, most Chinese languages use the same Chinese characters for writing. Huh. |
| Name | Chinese Name | Number of Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | 普通話 | 850 million |
| Shanghainese (Wu) | 吳語 | 90 million |
| Cantonese (Yue) | 廣東話 | 80 million |
| Taiwanese (Min) | 閩語 | 50 million |
Written Chinese is made up of written symbols, called characters. Chinese characters
do not follow any sort of alphabet. Instead, each character represents a single one syllable
word. The characters are often built up of pieces that may define objects, notions, or
pronunciation. (See Writing for more details)
Written Chinese is considered one of the oldest written languages to date. Chinese characters have been traced back to 1500 BCE. It is thought that Chinese characters were standardized around 220 BCE. (See History for more details)
Written Chinese is considered one of the oldest written languages to date. Chinese characters have been traced back to 1500 BCE. It is thought that Chinese characters were standardized around 220 BCE. (See History for more details)