The following is a list of Chinese dialects and languages.
Classification
Linguists classify these languages as the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Within this broad classification, linguistics identify between seven and fourteen subgroups.
Tradition classification
Traditional Chinese classification lists seven groups, including:
(shown here with the romanized Standard Mandarin names of the categories, ordered alphabetically).
Modern linguistic classification
James Matisoff's widely accepted[citation needed] classification includes:
Matisoff's list uses the common English names of the groups, ordered by decreasing number of speakers of languages within the group.
Ethnologue
The Ethnologue lists 14 language groups,[1] including:
Chinese, Gan |
(Gan) |
Chinese, Hakka |
(Kejia) |
Chinese, Huizhou |
(Hui) |
Chinese, Jinyu |
(Jin) |
Chinese, Mandarin |
(Mandarin) |
Chinese, Min Bei |
(Min → Min Bei) |
Chinese, Min Dong |
(Min → Min Dong) |
Chinese, Min Nan |
(Min → Min Nan) |
Chinese, Min Zhong |
(Min → Min Zhong) |
Chinese, Pu-Xian |
(Min → Pu-Xian) |
Chinese, Wu |
(Wu) |
Chinese, Xiang |
(Xiang) |
Chinese, Yue |
(Yue (Cantonese)) |
Dungan |
(Mandarin → Dungan) |
See also Campbell's article on classifying Chinese dialects[2] and ChinaDC's chart of Sino-Tibetan languages.[3]
As the above categories illustrate, there are three common approaches to naming categories and languages in English:
- A Romanization of the name in Standard Mandarin (e.g. "Gan" or "Xiang")
- The common English name, where there is one (e.g. "Cantonese" or "Mandarin")
- A Romanization of the name in the principal language of the group (e.g. "Hakka" or "Hokkien")
The classification used here is a combination of the classifications given above.
Distinction between dialects and languages
In addition to the languages and dialects given below, it is customary to speak informally of languages and dialects belonging to each province, e.g. Sichuan dialect, . These designations do not always correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each nevertheless has approximate characteristics of its own.
The question of whether these should be called dialects or languages in their own right is particularly interesting in Chinese. On the one hand, the designation seems to be as much socio-political as linguistic, reflecting Max Weinreich's comment that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy." Purely from a linguistic point of view, many of these idioms seem to meet the criteria of a language. On the other hand, to a large degree the various Chinese idioms share a common written language and literature, lending weight to calling them "dialects". Because the written language is grammatically closest to Standard Mandarin, many Chinese speakers view Standard Mandarin as "the Chinese language", and everything else as dialects.
List of dialects and languages
Gan - 赣语/贛語
-
Guan (Mandarin) - 官话/官話
Distribution of the eight main dialect groups of Mandarin in Mainland China.
First column:
* 东北 = Northeast China Mandarin
* 北京 = Beijing Mandarin
* 冀鲁 = Ji Lu Mandarin
* 胶辽 = Jiao Liao Mandarin
Second column:
* 中原 = Zhongyuan Mandarin
* 兰银 = Lan Yin Mandarin
* 江准 = Jianghuai Mandarin
* 西南 = Southwestern Mandarin
-
Hui - 徽語
-
Sometimes subcategory of Wu.
Jin - 晋语/晉語
-
Sometimes subcategory of Mandarin.
Kejia (Hakka) - 客家話
-
• |
惠州客家話 |
• |
梅州客家話 |
• |
五華客家話 |
• |
興寧客家話 |
• |
平遠客家話 |
• |
蕉嶺客家話 |
• |
大埔客家話 |
• |
豐順客家話 |
• |
龍岩客家話 |
Min - 闽语/閩語
-
Wu - 吴语/吳語
-
Xiang - 湘语/湘語
-
Yue (Cantonese) - 粵語/粤语
-
Unclassified
See also
References
- ^ Ethnologue report for Chinese. Retrieved on 2006-09-04.
- ^ James Campbell. Chinese Dialect Classification. Glossika. Retrieved on 2006-08-30. Includes descriptions of the dialects spoken in over 2,500 cities and counties in China. Includes interactive map.
- ^ Linguistic chart of Sino-Tibetan Languages. ChineseDC.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-30. In Chinese.
- ^ Also known as Putonghua (which is also the official name in English) 普通话 in the People's Republic of China, Guoyu (also spelled Kuo-yü) 國語 in the Republic of China, Huayu 华语 in Singapore. The official sanction of Standard Mandarin as an official language has also given rise to the following varieties of Standard Mandarin in areas that did not originally speak any dialect of the Mandarin group:
- ^ Used informally to refer to either Ji Lu Mandarin, spoken in northwest Shandong or Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the southwest. See Shandong culture.
- ^ Includes:
- Central Taiwanese
- Northeastern coastal Taiwanese
- Northern Taiwanese
- Southern Taiwanese