China's numerous dialects form what most people in and outside of China call the Chinese language. However, the differences between these dialects are often greater than the similarities. How, why and even if certain dialects should be divided is still debated by linguists.
Chinese Dialect Controversy and Debate
Officially, Chinese is one language with around 10 different dialects; linguists disagree on the exact number. Many linguists claim that Chinese is actually not one single language, but rather that each dialect is a language in and of itself. They point to the fact that speakers of different dialects can rarely communicate effectively with each other. This indicates that Chinese is actually a set of many related but separate languages.
Some linguists believe that Chinese is classified as one language for the purposes of political unification. The Chinese language and its dialects are strongly associated with the Han people, China’s major ethnic group. These linguists believe that political education emphasizes the unity of the Chinese language to secure the political unity of the Han people.
Many claim that while spoken dialects vary widely, the written language of all Chinese dialects are the same and as such Chinese is a unified language. This is a myth. In fact, people rarely write in dialect; almost all writing is done in standard Mandarin (the official language). When dialects are actually written down, they cannot be easily understood by non-dialect speakers.
Mandarin Dialect
Mandarin is a dialect widely spoken throughout China’s northeast, north and parts of the southwest. It is also commonly used in areas with large numbers of migrants, such as Shenzhen and Xinjiang.
In English, the term Mandarin is often used to describe Standard Chinese or Putonghua (meaning “common speech” in Chinese). However, Mandarin actually encompasses many different types of speech; Standard Chinese or Putonghua is a part of the Mandarin dialect.
There are more than 850 million native speakers of Mandarin, making it the most widely spoken native language in the world.
Cantonese Dialect
Guangdong province, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, are the centers of the Cantonese dialect. The Cantonese dialect is further divided into various sub-categories. but he standard form is spoken in Guandgong's capital, Guangzhou.
Cantonese has eight distinct tones and many features that Mandarin dialects do not (such as non-nasal consonant endings). Some claim that Cantonese represents Chinese traditions better since it has many linguistic features of ancient Chinese dialects that no longer exist in Mandarin.
A strong identity revolves around Cantonese. Guangdong culture is closely linked to it and movies, songs and other media that use Cantonese have a strong following, both in China and worldwide. Many Chinese immigrants abroad also speak this dialect. China is home to about 70 million Cantonese speakers.
Wu Dialect
The Wu dialect is spoken in eastern China, concentrating on Zhejiang, parts of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian, as well as Shanghai municipality. Other Chinese speakers often consider this dialect to be smooth and pleasant sounding (and there is even a word to describe this quality, wunongruanyu).
Wu, like Cantonese, is said to be similar to older forms of Chinese than Mandarin is. Though in China is it spoken by a small minority (about 90 million people), it still counts as one of the world's most popular languages.
Min Dialect
Spoken in Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Hainan and parts of Zhejiang, Min is one of the most diverse Chinese dialects and can be divided into a huge variety of different categories, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Even speakers that live in the same county may not understand each other.
Min is spoken by many overseas Chinese communities, such as in Malaysia and Singapore.
