How many languages in China?
China is China is located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and East Asia.
Looking at the world map, it is difficult to find a country with a superior geographical position like China. China with vast hinterland, long coastline, deserts, plains, plateaus, mountains, hills, basins and other complete landforms, which are backed by the largest continent in the world-Asia and Europe, and embrace the widest ocean in the world-Pacific Ocean.
In the long history of more than 5,000 years, China has developed into a country with the Central Plains as the center. Up to now, China has 34 provincial administrative regions including 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 special administrative regions. Each of these 34 administrative regions has its own characteristics, including three northeastern provinces covered by ice and rich in mineral resources, five provinces in Central China, which are backed by the Yangtze River and convenient transportation, six provinces in East China, which are developed and economically developed by the sea, economy, and important northwest cities with Hexi Corridor and Silk Road.
Due to the complexity of China's geographic location, the barriers of mountains and rivers, and the development of history, people living in different areas of China have different languages.
According to the division of world languages, there are 56 ethnic groups in China, of which 55 ethnic minorities have 130 ethnic languages, and the Chinese dialects of Han ethnic group are divided into 17 types. They are divided into five major language families (Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, South Asian, Indian European languages), Korean and lingua franca.
Sino-Tibetan family languages
The Sino-Tibetan language family is divided into four language families: Chinese, Tibeto-Burman, Dong-Tai, and Miao.
The Chinese language family can be divided into two areas. The first area is "complex Han dialect area (Chinese dialect area with complex tones)"; the second area is "Mandarin area (Chinese dialect area with simple tones)". Divided into Northeast Mandarin, Beijing Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin, Jiaoliao Mandarin, Central Plains Mandarin, Lanyin Mandarin, Jianghuai Mandarin, Southwest Mandarin, Jin dialect, Wu dialect, Min dialect, Hakka dialect, Cantonese, Xiang dialect, Gan dialect, Hui dialect, Pinghua and local dialect.
The Tibeto-Burman language family is divided into five branches: Tibetan, Qiang, Jingpo, Yi, and Burmese (Bai and Tujia are temporarily Tibetan-Burman languages with undetermined branches).
The Dong-Tai language family is divided into four groups: Zhuang Dai, Dong Shui, Li, and Yang.
The Miao-Yao language family can be divided into two groups: the Miao language branch and the Yao language branch.
Altaic family language
Geographically, the three family language of the Altaic language family are generally distributed continuously from east to west. The Manchu-Tungus family is mainly distributed in the northeastern part of the Asian continent, including Manchu and Tungusic languages; the Mongolian family is mainly distributed in the northern part of the Asian continent; the Turkic family is mainly distributed in the central and western parts of the Asian continent and the eastern edge of the European continent. Among them, the Tur family has the Xi-Hungarian branch and the East-Hungarian branch.
South Asian family language
The Austro-Asian language family is the second only to the Sino-Tibetan language family, the Altaic language family, and the Austronesian language family in China. It is divided into Meng Khmer language family and Yue Mang language family.
Austronesian family language
The Austronesian language family is also known as the Malay-Polynesian language family. It is distributed on the islands of Madagascar in southeastern Africa in the west, Easter Island in Chile in the east, Taiwan Province of China and Hawaii in the north, and islands in the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand in the south. The Austronesian languages of China are 15 languages used by ethnic minorities in Taiwan Provinceas well as Huihui languages belonging to the Cham group spoken by the Hui people in Yanglan Township and Huixin Villages, Sanya City, Hainan Province.
Indo-European language family
The only Indo-European languages in China are Tajik, which belongs to the Pamir branch of the Iranian language family, and the Russian language, which belongs to the East Slavic branch of the Slavic language family.
Korean
The language family is undetermined. The most concentrated area of Korean in China is Jilin Province. Besides, some people in the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia also use Korean.
Mixed language
China has been a multi-ethnic and multilingual country since ancient times. Along with the contact and integration between ethnic groups in history, the contact and integration of languages have also occurred frequently. The phenomenon of language mixing in a broad sense is common in Chinese language contact, but it is not very common for two (or more) to be mixed so far from the source language that they become a new language instance, like this There are three kinds of mixed languages, namely: Wutun dialect, Tangwang dialect, and Dahua.
CCJK provides localization and translation services to businesses and individuals on a global scale. We offer quality translation at reasonable prices in over 80 language pairs. With thousands of native and industry-specific linguists worldwide, we work around the clock to deliver projects in the fastest turnaround times to our clients.located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and East Asia.
Looking at the world map, it is difficult to find a country with a superior geographical position like China. China with vast hinterland, long coastline, deserts, plains, plateaus, mountains, hills, basins and other complete landforms, which are backed by the largest continent in the world-Asia and Europe, and embrace the widest ocean in the world-Pacific Ocean.
In the long history of more than 5,000 years, China has developed into a country with the Central Plains as the center. Up to now, China has 34 provincial administrative regions including 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 special administrative regions. Each of these 34 administrative regions has its own characteristics, including three northeastern provinces covered by ice and rich in mineral resources, five provinces in Central China, which are backed by the Yangtze River and convenient transportation, six provinces in East China, which are developed and economically developed by the sea, economy, and important northwest cities with Hexi Corridor and Silk Road.
Due to the complexity of China's geographic location, the barriers of mountains and rivers, and the development of history, people living in different areas of China have different languages.
According to the division of world languages, there are 56 ethnic groups in China, of which 55 ethnic minorities have 130 ethnic languages, and the Chinese dialects of Han ethnic group are divided into 17 types. They are divided into five major language families (Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, South Asian, Indian European languages), Korean and lingua franca.
Sino-Tibetan family languages
The Sino-Tibetan language family is divided into four language families: Chinese, Tibeto-Burman, Dong-Tai, and Miao.
The Chinese language family can be divided into two areas. The first area is "complex Han dialect area (Chinese dialect area with complex tones)"; the second area is "Mandarin area (Chinese dialect area with simple tones)". Divided into Northeast Mandarin, Beijing Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin, Jiaoliao Mandarin, Central Plains Mandarin, Lanyin Mandarin, Jianghuai Mandarin, Southwest Mandarin, Jin dialect, Wu dialect, Min dialect, Hakka dialect, Cantonese, Xiang dialect, Gan dialect, Hui dialect, Pinghua and local dialect.
The Tibeto-Burman language family is divided into five branches: Tibetan, Qiang, Jingpo, Yi, and Burmese (Bai and Tujia are temporarily Tibetan-Burman languages with undetermined branches).
The Dong-Tai language family is divided into four groups: Zhuang Dai, Dong Shui, Li, and Yang.
The Miao-Yao language family can be divided into two groups: the Miao language branch and the Yao language branch.
Altaic family language
Geographically, the three family language of the Altaic language family are generally distributed continuously from east to west. The Manchu-Tungus family is mainly distributed in the northeastern part of the Asian continent, including Manchu and Tungusic languages; the Mongolian family is mainly distributed in the northern part of the Asian continent; the Turkic family is mainly distributed in the central and western parts of the Asian continent and the eastern edge of the European continent. Among them, the Tur family has the Xi-Hungarian branch and the East-Hungarian branch.
South Asian family language
The Austro-Asian language family is the second only to the Sino-Tibetan language family, the Altaic language family, and the Austronesian language family in China. It is divided into Meng Khmer language family and Yue Mang language family.
Austronesian family language
The Austronesian language family is also known as the Malay-Polynesian language family. It is distributed on the islands of Madagascar in southeastern Africa in the west, Easter Island in Chile in the east, Taiwan Province of China and Hawaii in the north, and islands in the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand in the south. The Austronesian languages of China are 15 languages used by ethnic minorities in Taiwan Provinceas well as Huihui languages belonging to the Cham group spoken by the Hui people in Yanglan Township and Huixin Villages, Sanya City, Hainan Province.
Indo-European language family
The only Indo-European languages in China are Tajik, which belongs to the Pamir branch of the Iranian language family, and the Russian language, which belongs to the East Slavic branch of the Slavic language family.
Korean
The language family is undetermined. The most concentrated area of Korean in China is Jilin Province. Besides, some people in the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia also use Korean.
Mixed language
China has been a multi-ethnic and multilingual country since ancient times. Along with the contact and integration between ethnic groups in history, the contact and integration of languages have also occurred frequently. The phenomenon of language mixing in a broad sense is common in Chinese language contact, but it is not very common for two (or more) to be mixed so far from the source language that they become a new language instance, like this There are three kinds of mixed languages, namely: Wutun dialect, Tangwang dialect, and Dahua.
CCJK provides localization and translation services to businesses and individuals on a global scale. We offer quality translation at reasonable prices in over 80 language pairs. With thousands of native and industry-specific linguists worldwide, we work around the clock to deliver projects in the fastest turnaround times to our clients.