【Video】Languages of China - Chinese Language Differs from Place to Place
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival ( Mooncake Festival ) to all my valuable clients, hope you are having a wonderful day today, welcome back to my channel!
I'm Yuri Ou, Founder of Linkup China Ltd., a London based PR company focusing on the Chinese Market. As in 'Oh come onnnnn, there can't be that many ways to say Good Morning in Chinese!'
【Topic Today】Languages of China - Chinese Language Differs from Place to Place (Beijinghua, Shanghaihua, Guangdonghua, Chaozhouhua, the list goes on!)
Like other languages, Chinese comes in a many different forms. Like.... MANY many. However, these are not dialects we are talking about. These are indeed considered by linguists to be different languages.
Isn't it all Chinese, I hear you ask? Well, yes and no.
Linguists state that as the languages used in different areas of China are not 'mutually intelligible', they are exactly that- languages, not dialects.
And, depending on who you ask, the number of different languages spoken could be anywhere from 80 to literally hundreds, and within different regions, for instance where the Hakka (or kejiahua) language is spoken, there are too over 10 different dialects alone.
That said, Mandarin Chinese is the standardized form of Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect, and the official language of China.
It is somewhat difficult for non-Chinese speakers to quite comprehend just HOW different these different languages sound. Now, to clarify, the characters in written Chinese are the same (of course, you have simplified and traditional styles), but the pronunciation is entirely different, in which case someone from for example Guangdong, or Canton Province as it is also known, could travel to Shanghai attempting to use Cantonese and would not be understood by anyone from Shanghai.
Having said that, in major cities particularly in downtown areas, it is largely the norm that people speak not only their own language but also standardized Mandarin.
However, this is not the case in more rural or remote areas of China.
It's true that there are many stories of Chinese learners being baffled when going on their travels to different provinces, and also to places like Macau and Hong Kong, only to find that they couldn't understand what the local people are saying and vice versa, despite their best efforts to communicate in Mandarin!
Of course, perhaps this is best demonstrated with a simple example. Take the verb, 'to eat' which translates to 'chi' in Mandarin, but in Cantonese for instance is pronounced 'sek'. To say 'you', in Mandarin would be 'ni', whereas in Cantonese the same word is pronounced 'nei'!
Hopefully you can hear just how dissimilar these are!
With pronunciation so different from place to place within China, it is always important for foreign businessmen to be aware of where they are headed, because while YES there may be an interpreter or an English speaker present, should you wish to try and score some friendship-building points by saying something in the Chinese boss' native tongue, they may be offended (or at the very least confused) if for example you say 'good morning' in Cantonese when you are actually in Beijing!
Today, I would like to share with you the 6 most useful terms in the meetings in China (in Mandarin and Cantonese):
Hello – 您好 nín hǎo /// 你好 nei5 hou2
Nice to meet you – 很开心认识您 hěn kāi xīn rèn shi nín /// 幸会 hang6 wui6
I am xxx – 我是 wǒ shì /// 我系 ngo5 hai6
Thank you – 谢谢 xiè xie /// 多谢 do1 ze6
Keep in touch – 保持联系 bǎo chí lián xì /// 保持联系 bou2 ci4 lyun4 hai6
See you – 再见 zài jiàn /// Bye Bye (or 下次见 haa6 ci3 gin3)
Well, hopefully you have learned just how diverse 'Chinese' is today, and do remember that when asking a Chinese person, 'how do you say this in Chinese?', there are many different ways that the person could respond, so be specific.
That's it for today, feel free to share your Chinese language stories and adventures in the comments of my YouTube 【Video】Languages of China - Chinese Language Differs from Place to Place!
I appreciate you, if you haven't subscribed yet, take a moment, click the subscribe button of my YouTube channel, because this channel is all about China, genuine insights from me and my team, who have all spent time living in both UK and China.
Take care my friends, have a wonderful day, and I will see you soon!
Yuri Ou x
Linkup China Ltd. is a premium luxury consultancy that specializes in helping UK firms have a trusted relationship with the High-Net-Worth Chinese community.
We also have experience and expertise in helping UK firms gain exposure in the Chinese market through media, public relations, brand image and integrated marketing strategy and communications.
Linkup China Ltd. was established in 2017 with our offices in London, UK and Shanghai, China as well as operating extensively in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
Our key services include: introducing and helping UK firms build a trusted relationship with the High-Net-Worth Chinese community, launching luxury bespoke events, press exposure, celebrity & blogger seeding, operating WeChat & Weibo accounts, and attracting Chinese tourists with our trusted official partner MaFengWo (Chinese Travel App.)
We are dedicated to providing solutions to UK companies that are ambitious in the Chinese market, and helping them to build multinational platforms and overcome various challenges and competition. We have an expert knowledge and understanding that we implement when advising the right direction for companies to take in order to gain success in the Chinese market.
Experienced residential specialist in the UK marketing
3 年Happy mid autumn festival. Keep up the good work ??