Varieties of Chinese

Chinese (汉语/漢語 Hànyǔ), also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds
of local language varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The differences are similar to those within the
Romance languages, with variation particularly strong in the more rugged southeast. These varieties have been classified into
seven to ten groups, the largest being Mandarin (e.g. Beijing dialect), Wu (e.g. Shanghainese), Min (e.g. Taiwanese
Hokkien), and Yue (e.g. Cantonese).

Chinese varieties differ most in their phonology, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and syntax. Southern varieties tend to
have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the Middle Chinese final
consonants. All have phonemic tones, with northern varieties tending to have fewer distinctions than southern ones. Many
have tone sandhi, with the most complex patterns in the coastal area from Zhejiang to eastern Guangdong.

History

At the end of the 2nd millennium BC, a form of Chinese was spoken in a compact area around the lower Wei River and
middle Yellow River. From there it expanded eastwards across the North China Plain to Shandong and then south into the
valley of the Yangtze River and beyond to the hills of south China. As the language spread, it replaced formerly dominant
languages in those areas, and regional differences grew. Simultaneously, especially in periods of political unity, there was a
tendency to promote a central standard to facilitate communication between people from different regions. [

The first evidence of dialectal variation is found in texts from the Spring and Autumn period (722–479 BC). At that time, the
Zhou royal domain, though no longer politically powerful, still defined standard speech. The Fangyan (early 1st century
AD) is devoted to differences in vocabulary between regions.Commentaries from the Eastern Han period (first two centuries
AD) contain much discussion of local variations in pronunciation. The Qieyun rhyme book (601 AD) noted wide variation in
pronunciation between regions, and set out to define a standard pronunciation for reading the classics. This standard, known
as Middle Chinese, is believed to be a diasystem based on the reading traditions of northern and southern capitals.
The North China Plain provided few barriers to migration, leading to relative linguistic homogeneity over a wide area in
northern China. In contrast, the mountains and rivers of southern China have spawned the other six major groups of Chinese
languages, with great internal diversity, particularly in Fujian.

Standard Chinese

Until the mid-20th century, most Chinese people spoke only their local language. As a practical measure, officials of the
Ming and Qing dynasties carried out the administration of the empire using a common language based on Mandarin
varieties, known as Guānhuà (官話, literally "speech of officials"). Knowledge of this language was thus essential for an
official career, but it was never formally defined.

In the early years of the Republic of China, Literary Chinese was replaced as the written standard by written vernacular
Chinese, which was based on northern dialects. In the 1930s a standard national language was adopted, with its
pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect, but with vocabulary also drawn from other Mandarin varieties. It is the official
spoken language of the People's Republic of China and of the Republic of China governing Taiwan, and one of the official
languages of Singapore.

Standard Chinese now dominates public life, and is much more widely studied than any other variety of Chinese. Outside of
China, the only two varieties commonly taught in formal courses are Standard Chinese and Cantonese.

Classification

Chinese has a diversity that has been likened to that within the Romance languages. The dialectologist Jerry Norman
estimated that there are hundreds of mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinese. These varieties form a dialect continuum, in
which differences in speech generally become more pronounced as distances increase, although there are also some sharp
boundaries. However, the rate of change in mutual intelligibility varies immensely depending on region. For example, the
varieties of Mandarin spoken in all three northeastern Chinese provinces are mutually intelligible, but in the province of
Fujian, where Min varieties predominate, the speech of neighbouring counties or even villages may be mutually
unintelligible.

Dialect groups

Proportions of first-language speakers (all countries)

Mandarin (70.9%) Gan (1.7%) Yue (5.0%)

Jin (3.8%) Xiang (3.0%) Pinghua (0.2%)
Wu (6.5%) Min (6.0%)
Huizhou (0.4%) Hakka (2.5%)

Classifications of Chinese varieties in the late 19th century and early 20th century were based on impressionistic criteria.
They often followed river systems, which were historically the main routes of migration and communication in southern
China. The first scientific classifications, based primarily on the evolution of Middle Chinese voiced initials, were produced
by Wang Li in 1936 and Li Fang-Kuei in 1937, with minor modifications by other linguists since. The conventionally
accepted set of seven dialect groups first appeared in the second edition of Yuan Jiahua's dialectology handbook (1961):

Mandarin

This is the group spoken in northern and southwestern China and has by far the most speakers. This group includes the
Beijing dialect, which forms the basis for Standard Chinese, called Putonghua or Guoyu in Chinese, and often also translated
as "Mandarin" or simply "Chinese". In addition, the Dungan language of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is a Mandarin variety
written in the Cyrillic script.
Wu

These varieties are spoken in Shanghai, most of Zhejiang and the southern parts of Jiangsu and Anhui. The group comprises
hundreds of distinct spoken forms, many of which are not mutually intelligible. The Suzhou dialect is usually taken as
representative, because the Shanghai dialect features several atypical innovations. Wu varieties are distinguished by their
retention of voiced or murmured obstruent initials (stops, affricates and fricatives).

Gan
These varieties are spoken in Jiangxi and neighbouring areas. The Nanchang dialect is taken as representative. In the past,
Gan was viewed as closely related to Hakka because of the way Middle Chinese voiced initials became voiceless aspirated
initials as in Hakka, and were hence called by the umbrella term "Hakka–Gan dialects".

Xiang

The Xiang varieties are spoken in Hunan. The New Xiang varieties, represented by the Changsha dialect, have been
significantly influenced by Southwest Mandarin, whereas Old Xiang varieties, represented by the Shuangfeng dialect retain
features such as voiced initials.

Min

Spoken in Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, parts of Southeast Asia, and other parts of the world, Min is the only
branch of Chinese that cannot be directly derived from Middle Chinese. It is also the most diverse, with many of the varieties
used in neighbouring counties—and, in the mountains of western Fujian, even in adjacent villages—being mutually
unintelligible. The most widely spoken Min language is Hokkien, which includes the Amoy dialect of southern Fujian,
Taiwanese in Taiwan, and is also spoken by many Chinese in Southeast Asia. Early classifications divided Min into
Northern and Southern subgroups, but a survey in the early 1960s found that the primary split was between inland and
coastal groups.

Hakka

The Hakka (literally "guest families") are group of Han Chinese living in the hills of northeast Guangdong and many other
parts of southern China, as well as Taiwan and parts of Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Singapore. The Meixian dialect
is the prestige form. Most Hakka varieties retain the full complement of nasal endings, -m -n -ŋ and stop endings -p -t -k,
though there is a tendency for Middle Chinese velar codas -ŋ and -k to yield dental codas -n and -t after front vowels.

Yue

These varieties are spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau, and have been carried by immigrants to
Southeast Asia and many other parts of the world. The prestige variety is Cantonese, from the city of Guangzhou, which is
also the native language of the majority in Hong Kong and Macau. Taishanese, from a coastal area southwest of Guangzhou,
is the most common Yue dialect among overseas communities. Not all Yue varieties are mutually intelligible. Most Yue
varieties retain the full complement of Middle Chinese word-final consonants (p, t, k, m, n and ŋ) and have rich inventories
of tones.

The Language Atlas of China (1987) follows a classification of Li Rong, distinguishing three further groups:

Jin

These varieties, spoken in Shanxi and adjacent areas, were formerly included in Mandarin. They are distinguished by their
retention of the Middle Chinese entering tone category.

Huizhou

The Hui dialects, spoken in southern Anhui, were previously considered a transitional group between Wu and Gan.

Pinghua

These varieties are descended from the speech of the earliest Chinese migrants to Guangxi, predating the later influx of Yue
and Southwest Mandarin speakers. Some linguists treat them as a mixture of Yue and Xiang.

Some varieties remain unclassified, including the Danzhou dialect of northwestern Hainan, Waxiang, spoken in a small strip
of land in western Hunan, and Shaozhou Tuhua, spoken in the border regions of Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi. This
region is an area of great linguistic diversity and has not yet been conclusively described.

Relationships between groups

Jerry Norman classified the traditional seven dialect groups into three larger groups: Northern (Mandarin), Central (Wu,
Gan, and Xiang) and Southern (Hakka, Yue, and Min). He argued that the Southern Group is derived from a standard used in
the Yangtze valley during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), which he called Old Southern Chinese, while the Central
group was transitional between the Northern and Southern groups. Some dialect boundaries, such as between Wu and Min,
are particularly abrupt, while others, such as between Mandarin and Xiang or between Min and Hakka, are much less clearly
defined.
Scholars account for the transitional nature of the central varieties in terms of wave models. Iwata argues that innovations
have been transmitted from the north across the Huai River to the Lower Yangtze Mandarin area and from there southeast to
the Wu area and westwards along the Yangtze River valley and thence to southwestern areas, leaving the hills of the
southeast largely untouched.

Quantitative similarity

A 2007 study compared fifteen major urban dialects on the objective criteria of lexical similarity and regularity of sound
correspondences, and subjective criteria of intelligibility and similarity. Most of these criteria show a top-level split with
Northern, New Xiang, and Gan in one group and Min (samples at Fuzhou, Xiamen, Chaozhou), Hakka, and Yue in the other
group. The exception was phonological regularity, where the one Gan dialect (Nanchang) was in the Southern group and
very close to Hakka, and the deepest phonological difference was between Wenzhounese (the southernmost Wu dialect) and
all other dialects.[40]

The study did not find clear splits within Northern and Central area:

 Changsha (New Xiang) was always within the Mandarin group. No Old Xiang dialect was in the sample.
 Taiyuan (Jin or Shanxi) and Hankou (Wuhan, Hubei) were subjectively perceived as relatively different from other
Northern dialects but were very close in subjective intelligibility. Objectively, Taiyuan had substantial
phonological divergence but little lexical divergence.
 Chengdu (Sichuan) was somewhat divergent lexically but very little on the other measures.

The two Wu dialects occupied an intermediate position, closer to the Northern/New Xiang/Gan group in lexical similarity
and strongly closer in subjective intelligibility but closer to Min/Hakka/Yue in phonological regularity and subjective
similarity, except that Wenzhou was farthest from all other dialects in phonological regularity. The two Wu dialects were
close to each other in lexical similarity and subjective similarity but not in subjective intelligibility, where Suzhou was
actually closer to Northern/Xiang/Gan than to Wenzhou.

In the Southern subgroup, Hakka and Yue grouped closely together on the three lexical and subjective measures but not in
phonological regularity. The Min dialects showed high divergence, with Min Fuzhou (Eastern Min) grouped only weakly
with the Southern Min dialects of Xiamen and Chaozhou on the two objective criteria and was actually slightly closer to
Hakka and Yue on the subjective criteria.

Terminology

Local varieties from different areas of China are often mutually unintelligible, differing at least as much as different
Romance languages. These varieties form the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family (with Bai sometimes being
included in this grouping). Because speakers share a standard written form, and have a common cultural heritage with long
periods of political unity, the varieties are popularly perceived among native speakers as variants of a single Chinese
language, and this is also the official position. Conventional English-language usage in Chinese linguistics is to use dialect
for the speech of a particular place (regardless of status) while regional groupings like Mandarin and Wu are called dialect
groups. ISO 639-3 follows the Ethnologue in assigning language codes to eight of the top-level groups listed above (all but
Min and Pinghua) and five subgroups of Min. Other linguists choose to refer to the major groupings as languages.

In Chinese, the term fāngyán is used for any regional subdivision of Chinese, from the speech of a village to major branches
such as Mandarin and Wu. Linguists writing in Chinese often qualify the term to distinguish different levels of classification.
All these terms used have customarily been translated into English as dialect, a practice that has been criticized as confusing.

Phonology

Traditional Chinese syllable structure

The usual unit of analysis is the syllable, traditionally analysed as consisting of an initial consonant, a final and a tone. In
general, southern varieties have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the
Middle Chinese final consonants. Some varieties, such as Cantonese and the Shanghai dialect, include syllabic nasals as
independent syllables.

Initials

In the 42 varieties surveyed in the Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects, the number of initials (including a zero
initial) ranges from 15 in some southern dialects to a high of 35 in the dialect of Chongming Island, Shanghai.

Initials of selected varieties

Fuzhou (Min) Suzhou (Wu) Beijing (Mandarin)
St v p t ts k p t ts tɕ k p t ts tɕ tʂ k
o oi
p ce
s le
a ss
n u
d n
af as
fr pi
ic ra
at te
es d
v pʰ tʰ ts kʰ pʰ tʰ ts tɕ kʰ pʰ tʰ ts tɕ tʂ kʰ
oi ʰ ʰ ʰ ʰ ʰ ʰ
ce
le
ss
as
pi
ra
te
d
v b d d g
oi ʑ
ce
d
F v s x f s ɕ h f s ɕ ʂ x
ri oi
c ce
at le
iv ss
es v v z ʑ ɦ
oi
ce
d
N m n ŋ m n ȵ ŋ m n
as
al
s
S l ∅ l ∅ l ɹ/ ∅
o ʐ
n
o
r
a
nt
s

The initial system of the Fuzhou dialect of northern Fujian is a minimal example. With the exception of /ŋ/, which is often
merged with the zero initial, the initials of this dialect are present in all Chinese varieties, although several varieties do not
distinguish /n/ from /l/. However, most varieties have additional initials, due to a combination of innovations and retention of
distinctions from Middle Chinese. Most non-Min varieties have a labio-dental fricative /f/, which developed from Middle
Chinese bilabial stops in certain environments. The voiced initials of Middle Chinese are retained in Wu dialects such as
Suzhou and Shanghai, as well as Old Xiang dialects, but have merged with voiceless initials elsewhere. The Middle Chinese
retroflex initials are retained in many Mandarin dialects, including Beijing but not southwestern and southeastern Mandarin
varieties. In many northern and central varieties there is palatalization of dental affricates or velars (or both).

Finals

Chinese finals may be analysed as an optional medial glide, a main vowel and an optional coda.

Conservative vowel systems, such as those of Gan and Hakka dialects, have high vowels /i/, /u/ and /y/, which also function
as medials, mid vowels /e/ and /o/, and a low /a/-like vowel. In other dialects, including Mandarin dialects, /o/ has merged
with /a/, leaving a single mid vowel with a wide range of allophones. Many dialects, particularly in northern and central
China, have apical or retroflex vowels, which are syllabic fricatives derived from high vowels following sibilant initials. In
many Wu dialects, vowels and final glides have monophthongized, producing a rich inventory of vowels in open syllables.
Reduction of medials is also common in Yue dialects.

The Middle Chinese codas, consisting of glides /j/ and /w/, nasals /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/, and stops /p/, /t/ and /k/, are best preserved
in southern dialects, particularly Yue dialects. In Jin, Lower Yantze Mandarin and Wu dialects, the stops have merged as a
final glottal stop, while in most northern varieties they have disappeared. In Mandarin dialects final /m/ has merged with /n/,
while some central dialects have a single nasal coda, in some cases realized as a nasal vowel.

Tones

All varieties of Chinese, like neighbouring languages in the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area, have phonemic tones.
Each syllable may be pronounced with between three and six distinct pitch contours, denoting different morphemes. The
number of tonal contrasts varies between dialects, with northern dialects tending to have fewer distinctions than southern
ones.[67] For example, in the standard language the four phonemic tones can be demonstrated with mā (妈; "mother"), má
(麻; "hemp"), mǎ (马; "horse") and mà (骂; "to scold"). Many dialects have tone sandhi, in which the pitch contour of a
syllable is affected by the tones of adjacent syllables in a compound word of phrase. This process is so extensive in
Shanghainese that the tone system is reduced to a pitch accent system much like modern Japanese.

The tonal categories of modern varieties can be related by considering their derivation from the tones of Middle Chinese,
though cognate tonal categories in different dialects are often realized as quite different pitch contours. Middle Chinese had a
three-way tonal contrast on all syllables except those ending in stops. The traditional names of the tonal categories are píng
(平; "level"), shǎng (上; "rising"), and qù (去; "departing"). Syllables ending in a stop consonant /p/, /t/ or /k/ (checked
syllables) had no tonal contrasts but were traditionally treated as a fourth tone category, rù (入; "entering"), corresponding to
syllables ending in nasals /m/, /n/, or /ŋ/.

The tones of Middle Chinese, as well as similar systems in neighbouring languages, experienced a tone split conditioned by
syllabic onsets. Syllables with voiced initials tended to be pronounced with a lower pitch, and by the late Tang Dynasty, each
of the tones had split into two registers conditioned by the initials, known as the yīn (阴; 陰; "upper"), and the yáng (阳; 陽;
"lower"). When voicing was lost in all dialects except the Wu and Old Xiang groups, this distinction became phonemic,
yielding eight tonal categories, with a six-way contrast in unchecked syllables and a two-way contrast in checked syllables.
Cantonese maintains these tones and has developed an additional distinction in checked syllables. However, most varieties
have reduced the number of tonal distinctions. For example, in Mandarin, the tones resulting from the split of Middle
Chinese rising and departing tones merged, leaving four tones. Furthermore, final stop consonants disappeared in most
Mandarin dialects, and such syllables were reassigned to one of the other four tones.

Tonal categories and pitch contours in colloquial layers

Middle Chinese tone and initial

level rising departing entering

vl. n. vd. vl. n. vd. vl. n. vd. vl. n. vd.

Jin Taiyuan 1˩ 3 ˥˧ 5˥ 7 ˨˩ 8 ˥˦
 Mandarin Xi'an 1 ˧˩ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˦˨ 5˥ 1 2

Beijing 1˥ 2 ˧˥ 3 ˨˩˦ 5 ˥˩ 1,2,3,5 5 2

Chengdu 1˦ 2 ˧˩ 3 ˥˧ 5 ˩˧ 2

Yangzhou 1 ˨˩ 2 ˧˥ 3 ˧˩ 5˥ 7˦

Xiang Changsha 1˦ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˥˨ 6 5 ˦˩˨ 6 ˧˩ 7˦ 8 ˨˧

Shuangfeng 1˦ 2 ˨˧ 3 ˨˩ 6 5 ˧˥ 6˧ 2, 5

Gan Nanchang 1 ˦˨ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˨˩˧ 6 5 ˦˥ 6 ˨˩ 7˥ 8 ˨˩

Wu Suzhou 1˦ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˦˩ 6 5 ˥˩˧ 6 ˧˩ 7˦ 8 ˨˧

Shanghai 1 ˦˨ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˧˥ 2 3 2 7˥ 8 ˨˧

Wenzhou 1˦ 2 ˧˩ 3 ˦˥ 4 ˨˦ 5 ˦˨ 6˩ 7 ˨˧ 8 ˩˨

Min Xiamen 1˥ 2 ˨˦ 3 ˥˩ 6 5˩ 6˧ 7 ˧˨ 8˥

Hakka Meixian 1˦ 2 ˩˨ 3 ˧˩ 1,3 1 5 ˦˨ 7 ˨˩ 8˦

Yue Guangzhou 1 ˥˧ 2 ˨˩ 3 ˧˥ 4 ˨˦[c] 5˦ 6˧ 7a ˥ 7b ˦ 8˧

In Wu, voiced obstruents were retained, and the tone split never became phonemic: the higher-pitched allophones occur with
initial voiceless consonants, and the lower-pitched allophones occur with initial voiced consonants. (Traditional Chinese
classification nonetheless counts these as different tones.) Most Wu dialects retain the tone categories of Middle Chinese, but
in Shanghainese several of these have merged.

Many Chinese varieties exhibit tone sandhi, in which the realization of a tone varies depending on the context of the syllable.
For example, in Standard Chinese a third tone changes to a second tone when followed by another third tone. Particularly
complex sandhi patterns are found in Wu dialects and coastal Min dialects. In Shanghainese, the tone of all syllables in a
word is determined by the tone of the first, so that Shanghainese has word rather than syllable tone.

Vocabulary

The following table was transliterated using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The forms account for lexical (writing)
differences in addition to phonological (sound) differences. For example, the Mandarin word for the pronoun "s/he" is 他
[tʰa˥], but in Cantonese (Yue) a different word, 佢 [kʰɵy˩˧], is used.

Beijing Shanghai Changsha Nanchang Meixian Hong Kong Xiamen

English
(Mandarin) (Wu) (Xiang) (Gan) (Hakka) (Yue) (Min)
I wɔ˨˩˦ ŋu ŋo ŋo˨˩˧ ŋai˩ ŋɔː˩˧ ɡua˥˩
you ni˨˩˦ noŋ n̩ n̩ ˨˩˧ n˩, nʲi˩ nei˩˧, lei˩˧ li˥˩
(s)he tʰa˥ ɦi tʰo kiɛ˨˩˧ kʰi˩, ki˩ kʰɵy˩˧ i˥
this tʂɤ˥˩ ɡəʔ ko ko˨˩˧ e˧˩, nʲia˧˩ niː˥, jiː˥ tɕɪt˥
that na˥˩ ɛ lai hɛ˨˦ ke˥˧ kɔː˧˥ he˥
human ɻən˧˥ ȵin zɛ̃ ɳin˦˥ nʲin˩ jɐn˨˩ laŋ˩˦
man nan˧˥ nø lã lan˦˥ nam˩ naːm˨˩, laːm˨˩ lam˩˦
woman ny˨˩˦ ȵy ɳy ɳi˨˩˧ ŋ˧˩, nʲi˧˩ nɵy˩˧, lɵy˩˧ li˥˩
father pa˥˩ pa˩ ɦia io ia˦˥ a˦ pa˦ paː˥ lau˧ pe˧
mother ma˥ ma˨ ȵiã m mo ɳiɔŋ˦˥ a˦ me˦ maː˥ lau˧ bo˥˩
child ɕjɑʊ˩ χai˧˥ ɕiɔ ȵiŋ ɕi ŋa tsɨ ɕi˦˥ ŋa tsɨ se˥˧˥ nʲin˩ e˧ sɐi˧ lou˨ ɡɪn˥ a˥˩
fish y˧˥ ɦŋ y ɳiɛ˦˥ ŋ˩ e˧ jyː˨˩ hi˩˦
snake ʂɤ˧˥ zo sə sa˦˥ sa˩ sɛː˨˩ tsua˩˦
meat ɻoʊ˥˩ ȵioʔ zəu ɳiuk˥ nʲiuk˩ jʊk˨ ba˧˨ʔ
bone ku˨˩˦ kuəʔ kui kut˥ kut˩ kʷɐt˥ kut˥
eye jɛn˨˩˦ ŋɛ ŋã ŋan˨˩˧ muk˩, ŋan˧˩ ŋaːn˩˧ ba˦k
ear ɑɻ˨˩˦ ȵi ə ɛ˨˩˧ nʲi˧˩ jiː˩˧ hĩ˧
nose pi˧˥ biɪʔ pi pʰit˨ pʰi˥˧ pei˨ pʰĩ˧
to eat tʂʰɨ˥ tɕʰiɪʔ tɕʰio tɕʰiak˥ sɨt˥ sɪk˨ tɕia˦ʔ
to drink χɤ˥ haʔ tɕʰio tɕʰiak˥ sɨt˥, jim˧˩ jɐm˧˥ lɪm˥
to say ʂwɔ˥ kɑ̃ kã ua˨˩ ʋa˥˧, ham˥˧, kɔŋ˧˩ kɔːŋ˧˥ kɔŋ˥˩
to hear tʰiŋ˥ tʰin tʰiɛ̃ tʰiaŋ˦˨ tʰaŋ˥˧ tʰɛːŋ˥ tʰiã˥
to see kʰan˥˩ kʰø uã ɕiɔŋ˦˥, mɔŋ˨˩ kʰon˥˧ tʰɐi˧˥ kʰuã˧˩
to smell wən˧˥ mən uɛ̃ ɕiuŋ˦˥ ʋun˩, pʰi˥˧ mɐn˨˩ pʰĩ˧
to sit tswɔ˥˩ zu tsu tsʰo˨˩ tsʰɔ˦ tsʰɔː˩˧ tse˧
to be lying down tʰɑŋ˨˩˦ kʰuən tʰã kʰun˨˦ min˩, sɔi˥˧, tʰoŋ˧˩ fɐn˧ to˥˩
to stand tʂan˥ liɪʔ tsã tɕʰi˨˩ kʰi˦ kʰei˩˧ kʰia˧
sun tʰaɪ˥˩ jɑŋ˧˥ ȵiɪʔ dɤ ɳi tɛu ɳit˥ tʰɛu nʲit˩ tʰɛu˩ tʰaːi˧ jœːŋ˨˩ lɪt˧˩ tʰau˩˦
moon ɥœ˥˩l jɑŋ˩ ɦyɪʔ liã y liã ɳiot˨ kuɔŋ nʲiet˥ kuɔŋ˦ jyuːt˨ kʷɔːŋ˥ ɡe˧˩ʔ niu˩˦
mountain ʂan˥ sɛ sã san˦˨ san˦ saːn˥ suã˥
water ʂweɪ˨˩˦ sɨ ɕyei sui˨˩˧ sui˧˩ sɵy˧˥ tsui˥˩
red χʊŋ˧˥ ɦoŋ xɛ̃ fuŋ˦˥ fuŋ˩ hʊŋ˨˩ aŋ˩˦
green ly˥˩ loʔ ləu liuk˥ liuk˥, tsʰiaŋ˦ lʊk˨ lɪ˦k
yellow χwɑŋ˧˥ ɦuã õ uɔŋ˦˥ ʋoŋ˩ wɔːŋ˨˩ ŋ˩˦
white pai˧˥ bɐʔ pə pʰak˨ pʰak˥ paːk˨ pe˦ʔ
black χei˥ həʔ xə u˦˨ ʋu˦ haːk˥ ɔ˥
daytime pai˧˥ tʰiɛn˥ ɳiɪʔ li ɕiã pə tʰiẽ ɳit˥ li nʲit˩ sɨn˩ tʰeu˩ jɐt˨ tʰɐu˧˥ dʒɪ˧˩t ɕi˩˦
am˥˧ pu˦ tʰeu˩,
night jɛ˥˩ wan˨˩˦ ɦia tɔ io ka tsi ia˨˩ li jɛː˨ maːn˩˧ am˥˩ ɕi˩˦
am˥˧ pu˦ sɨn˩

Examples of variations

The Min languages are often regarded as furthest removed linguistically from Standard Chinese in phonology, grammar, and
vocabulary. Historically, the Min languages were the first to diverge from the rest of the Chinese languages (see the
discussion of historical Chinese phonology for more details). The Min languages are also the group with the greatest amount
of internal diversity and are often regarded as consisting of at least five separate languages, e.g. Northern Min, Southern
Min, Central Min, Eastern Min, and Puxian Min.

To illustrate, in Taiwanese (a variety of Hokkien, a Min language) to express the idea that one is feeling a little ill ("I am not
feeling well."), one might say (in Pe̍ h-oē-jī)

Goá kā-kī lâng ū tām-po̍ h-á bô sóng-khoài.

我家己人有淡薄無爽快。（我家己人有淡薄无爽快）

which, when translated cognate-by-cognate into Mandarin, would be spoken as an awkward or semantically unrecognizable
sentence:
Wǒ jiājǐ rén yǒu dànbó wú shuǎngkuài.

Could roughly be interpreted as:

My family's own person is weakly not feeling refreshed.

Whereas when spoken colloquially in Mandarin, one would either say,

Wǒ zìjǐ yǒu yīdiǎn bù shūfu.

我自己有一點不舒服。（我自己有一点不舒服）

I myself feel a bit uncomfortable.

or

Wǒ yǒu yīdiǎn bù shūfu.

我有一點不舒服。（我有一点不舒服）

I feel a bit uncomfortable.

the latter omitting the reflexive pronoun (zìjǐ), not usually needed in Mandarin.

Some people, particularly in northern China, would say,

Wǒ yǒu diǎnr bù shūfu.

我有點兒不舒服。（我有点儿不舒服）

Literally: I am [a] bit[DIM.] uncomfortable.

Sociolinguistics

Comparison with Europe

Chinese has been likened to the Romance languages of Europe, the modern descendents of Latin. In both cases, the ancestral
language was spread by imperial expansion over substrate languages 2000 years ago, by the Qin–Han empire in China and
the Roman Empire in Europe. In Western Europe, Medieval Latin remained the standard for scholarly and administrative
writing for centuries, and influenced local varieties, as did Literary Chinese in China. In both Europe and China, local forms
of speech diverged from the written standard and from each other, producing extensive dialect continua, with widely
separated varieties being mutually unintelligible.

On the other hand, there are major differences. In China, political unity was restored in the late 6th century and has persisted
(with interludes of division) until the present day, while Europe remained fragmented and developed numerous independent
states. Vernacular writing, facilitated by the alphabet, supplanted Latin, and these states developed their own standard
languages. In China, however, Literary Chinese maintained its monopoly on formal writing until the start of the 20th
century. The logographic writing, read with varying local pronunciations, continued to serve as a source of vocabulary and
idioms in the local varieties. The new national standard, Vernacular Chinese, the written counterpart of spoken Standard
Chinese, was also used as a literary form by speakers of all varieties.

Bilingualism with the standard variety

In southern China (not including Hong Kong and Macau), where the difference between Standard Chinese and local dialects
are particularly pronounced, well-educated Chinese are generally fluent in Standard Chinese, and most people have at least a
good passive knowledge of it, in addition to being native speakers of the local dialect. The choice of dialect varies based on
the social situation. Standard Chinese is usually considered more formal and is required when speaking to a person who does
not understand the local dialect. The local dialect (be it non-Standard Chinese or non-Mandarin altogether) is generally
considered more intimate and is used among close family members and friends and in everyday conversation within the local
area. Chinese speakers will frequently code switch between Standard Chinese and the local dialect. Parents will generally
speak to their children in dialect, and the relationship between dialect and Mandarin appears to be mostly stable. Local
languages give a sense of identity to local cultures.
Knowing the local dialect is of considerable social benefit, and most Chinese who permanently move to a new area will
attempt to pick up the local dialect. Learning a new dialect is usually done informally through a process of immersion and
recognizing sound shifts. Generally the differences are more pronounced lexically than grammatically. Typically, a speaker
of one dialect of Chinese will need about a year of immersion to understand the local dialect and about three to five years to
become fluent in speaking it. Because of the variety of dialects spoken, there are usually few formal methods for learning a
local dialect.

Due to the variety in Chinese speech, Mandarin speakers from each area of China are very often prone to fuse or "translate"
words from their local tongue into their Mandarin conversations. In addition, each area of China has its recognizable accents
while speaking Mandarin. Generally, the nationalized standard form of Mandarin pronunciation is only heard on news and
radio broadcasts. Even in the streets of Beijing, the flavour of Mandarin varies in pronunciation from the Mandarin heard on
the media.

Political issues

Within mainland China, there has been a persistent drive towards promoting the standard language (大力推广普通话; dàlì
tuīguǎng Pǔtōnghuà); for instance, the education system is entirely Mandarin-medium from the second year onward.
However, usage of local dialect is tolerated and socially preferred in many informal situations. In Hong Kong, colloquial
Cantonese characters are never used in formal documents other than quoting witnesses' spoken statements during legal trials,
and within the PRC a character set closer to Mandarin tends to be used. At the national level, differences in dialect generally
do not correspond to political divisions or categories, and this has for the most part prevented dialect from becoming the
basis of identity politics. Historically, many of the people who promoted Chinese nationalism were from southern China and
did not natively speak the national standard language, and even leaders from northern China rarely spoke with the standard
accent. For example, Mao Zedong often emphasized his Hunan origins in speaking, rendering much of what he said
incomprehensible to many Chinese. One consequence of this is that China does not have a well-developed tradition of
spoken political rhetoric, and most Chinese political works are intended primarily as written works rather than spoken works.
Another factor that limits the political implications of dialect is that it is very common within an extended family for
different people to know and use different dialects.

In Taiwan, the government has had a policy of promoting Mandarin over the local languages, such as Taiwanese Hokkien
and Hakka. This policy was implemented rigidly when Mandarin was the only language of instruction in schools, while
English was offered as the compulsory second language. Since the late 1990s, other languages have also been offered as a
second language.

List of varieties of Chinese

Geographic distribution of Chinese language families within the Greater China Region including mainland China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong and Macao (not shown in the map)

The following is a list of Chinese varieties, many of which are mutually unintelligible.

Classification

Linguists classify these varieties as the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Within this broad classification,
there are between seven and fourteen subgroups, depending on the classification.

Traditional classification

Traditional Chinese classification lists seven groups, comprising:

• Gan (Jiangxinese)
• Guan (Mandarin or Beifanghua)
• Kejia (Hakka)
• Min (including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants)
• Wu (including the Shanghainese variant)
• Xiang (Hunanese)
• Yue (including the Cantonese and Taishanese variants)

(shown here with the romanized Standard Chinese names of the categories, ordered alphabetically).

Modern linguistic classification

James Matisoff's classification is as follows:

 Mandarin → Jin
 Wu → Huizhou
 Yue → Pinghua
 Min
 Xiang
 Hakka (Kejia)
 Gan

Matisoff's list uses the common English names of the groups, ordered by decreasing number of speakers of languages within
the group.

Distinction between dialects and languages

In addition to the varieties listed below, it is customary to speak informally of dialects of each province (such as Sichuan
dialect and Hainan dialect). These designations do not generally correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each
nevertheless has characteristics of its own.

List of dialects and languages

Gan

 赣语/贛語
 Gan in Mainland China.

The main dialect areas of Gan in Mainland China.

Main article: Gan Chinese
• Dongkou dialect 洞口话 洞口話
• Huaining dialect 怀宁话 懷寧話
• Fuzhou (Jiangxi) dialect 抚州话 撫州話
• Ji'an (Jiangxi) dialect 吉安话 吉安話
• Leiyang dialect 耒阳话 耒陽話
• Nanchang dialect 南昌话 南昌話
• Xianning dialect 咸宁话 鹹寧話
• Yichun dialect 宜春话 宜春話
• Yingtan dialect 鹰潭话 鷹潭話

Mandarin

 官话/官話
The eight main dialect areas of Mandarin in Mainland China.

Beijing Mandarin 北京官话 北京官話

• Beijing dialect 北京话 北京話
普通话 Putonghua (PRC) 普通話 Putonghua (PRC)
• Standard Chinese 国语 Guoyu (ROC) 國語 Guoyu (ROC)
标准华语 Biaozhun Huayu (Singapore) 標準華語 Biaozhun Huayu (Singapore)
• Philippine Mandarin 菲律宾华语 菲律賓華語
• Malaysian Mandarin 马来西亚华语 馬來西亞華語
• Chengde dialect 承德话 承德話
• Chifeng dialect 赤峰话 赤峰話
• Hailar dialect 海拉尔话 海拉爾話
Ji–Lu Mandarin 冀鲁官话 冀魯官話
• Baoding dialect 保定话 保定話
• Jinan dialect 济南话 濟南話
• Shijiazhuang dialect 石家庄话 石家莊話
• Tianjin dialect 天津话 天津話
Jianghuai Mandarin 江淮官话 江淮官話
• Hefei dialect 合肥话 合肥話
• Hainan Junjiahua 军家话 軍家話
• Nanjing dialect 南京话 南京話
• Nantong dialect 南通话 南通話
• Xiaogan dialect 孝感话 孝感話
• Yangzhou dialect 扬州话 揚州話
Jiao–Liao Mandarin 胶辽官话 膠遼官話
• Dalian dialect 大连话 大連話
• Qingdao dialect 青岛话 青島話
• Weihai dialect 威海话 威海話
• Yantai dialect 烟台话 煙台話
Lan–Yin Mandarin 兰银官话 蘭銀官話
• Lanzhou dialect 兰州话 蘭州話
• Xining dialect 西宁话 西寧話
• Yinchuan dialect 银川话 銀川話
Northeastern Mandarin 东北官话 東北官話
• Changchun dialect 长春话 長春話
• Harbin dialect 哈尔浜话 哈爾濱話
• Qiqihar dialect 斉斉哈尔话 齊齊哈爾話
 • Shenyang dialect 沈阳话 瀋陽話
Southwestern Mandarin 西南官话 西南官話
• Changde dialect 常德话 常德話
• Chengdu dialect 成都话 成都話
• Chongqing dialect 重庆话 重慶話
• Dali dialect 大理话 大理話
• Guiyang dialect 贵阳话 貴陽話
• Kunming dialect 昆明话 昆明話
• Liuzhou dialect 柳州话 柳州話
• Wuhan dialect 武汉话 武漢話
• Xichang dialect 西昌话 西昌話
• Yichang dialect 宜昌话 宜昌話
• Hanzhong dialect 汉中话 漢中話
Zhongyuan Mandarin 中原官话 中原官話
• Dungan language 东干语 東干語
• Gangou dialect 甘沟话 甘溝語 (influenced by Monguor)
• Kaifeng dialect 开封话 開封話
• Luoyang dialect 洛阳话 洛陽話
• Nanyang dialect 南阳话 南陽話
• Qufu dialect 曲埠话 曲埠話
• Tianshui dialect 天水话 天水話
• Xi'an dialect 西安话 西安話
• Xuzhou dialect 徐州话 徐州話
• Yan'an dialect 延安话 延安話
• Zhengzhou dialect 郑州话 鄭州話
unclassified
• Gyami language

Hui

 徽语/徽語

Sometimes subcategory of Wu.

• Jixi (Anhui) dialect 绩溪话 績溪話

• Shexian (Anhui) dialect 歙县话 歙縣話
• Tunxi dialect 屯溪话 屯溪話
• Yixian (Anhui) dialect 黟县话 黟縣話

Jin

 晋语/晉語
 The main dialect areas of Jin in China.

Sometimes a subcategory of Mandarin.

• Baotou dialect 包头话 包頭話

• Datong dialect 大同话 大同話
• Handan dialect 邯郸话 邯郸话
• Hohhot dialect 呼市话 呼市話
• Taiyuan dialect 太原话 太原話
• Xinxiang dialect 新乡话 新鄉話

Hakka

 客家话/客家話

• Huizhou Chinese 惠州客家话 惠州客家話

• Meizhou dialect 梅州客家话 梅州客家話
• Wuhua dialect 五华客家话 五華客家話
• Xingning dialect 兴宁客家话 興寧客家話
• Pingyuan dialect 平远客家话 平遠客家話
• Jiaoling dialect 蕉岭客家话 蕉嶺客家話
• Dabu dialect 大埔客家话 大埔客家話
• Fengshun dialect 丰顺客家话 豐順客家話
• Longyan dialect 龙岩客家话 龍岩客家話
• Lufeng (Hakka) dialect 陆丰客家话 陸豐客家話

Min

 闽语/閩語
The main dialect areas of Min in Mainland China, Hainan and Taiwan
Min Bei (Northern Min) 闽北语 閩北語
• Jian'ou dialect 建瓯话 建甌話
Shao–Jiang Min 邵将语 邵將語
Min Dong (Eastern Min) 闽东语 閩東語
• Fu'an dialect 福安话 福安話
• Fuding dialect 福鼎話 福鼎話
• Xiapu dialect 霞浦话 霞浦話
• Shouning dialect 寿宁话 壽寧話
• Zhouning dialect 周宁话 周寧話
• Ningde dialect 宁德话 寧德話
• Zherong dialect 柘荣话 柘榮話
• Fuzhou dialect (Hók-ciŭ-uâ) 福州话 福州話
• Minhou dialect 闽侯话 閩侯話
• Yongtai dialect 永泰话 永泰話
• Minqing dialect 闽清话 閩清話
• Changle dialect 长乐话 長樂話
• Luoyuan dialect 罗源话 羅源話
• Lianjiang dialect 连江话 連江話
• Fuqing dialect (Hók-chiăng-uâ) 福清话 福清話
• Pingtan dialect 平潭话 平潭話
• Pingnan dialect 屏南话 屏南話
• Gutian dialect 古田话 古田話
Min Nan (Southern Min) 闽南语 閩南語
• Hokkien (Mintai division) 福建话（闽台片） 福建話 (閩台片)
• Quanzhou dialect 泉州话 泉州話
• Amoy 厦门话 廈門話
• Taiwanese (see regional variations) [2] 台湾话 台灣話
• Lan-nang dialect (Philippine Hokkien) 咱人话/咱侬话（菲律宾福建话） 咱人話/咱儂話 (菲律賓福建話)
• Zhangzhou dialect 漳州话 漳州話
• Singaporean Hokkien 新加坡福建话 新加坡福建話
• Penang Hokkien 槟城福建话 檳城福建話
• Muar Hokkien 麻坡福建话 麻坡福建話
 • Medan Hokkien 棉兰福建话 棉蘭福建話
• Zhenan division 浙南片 浙南片
• Longhai dialect 龙海话 龍海話
• Zhangpu dialect 漳浦话 漳浦話
• Anxi dialect 安溪话 安溪話
• Hui'an dialect 惠安话 惠安話
• Tong'an dialect 同安话 同安話
• Teochew (Chaoshan division) 潮汕方言 潮汕方言
• Chaozhou dialect 潮州话 潮州話
• Shantou dialect (Swatow) 汕头话 汕頭話
• Chaoyang dialect 潮阳话 潮陽話
• Puning dialect 普宁话 普寧話
• Huilai dialect 惠来话 惠來話
• Hailufeng dialect 海陆丰话 海陸豐話
• Bangkok Teochew 曼谷潮州话 曼谷潮州話
• Zhongshan Min division 中山闽方言 中山閩方言
• Longdu dialect 隆都话 隆都話
• Nanlang dialect 南朗话 南朗話
• Sanxiang dialect 三乡话 三鄉話
• Zhangjiabian dialect 张家边话 張家邊話
Min Zhong (Central Min) 闽中语 閩中語
• Yong'an dialect 永安话 永安話
• Sanming dialect 三明话 三明話
• Sha dialect 沙县话 沙縣話
Pu–Xian Min 莆仙话 莆仙話
• Putian dialect 莆田话 莆田話
• Xianyou dialect 仙游话 仙遊話
Qiong Wen 琼文片 瓊文片
• Hainan dialect (Hainanese) 海南话 海南話
Leizhou 雷语 雷語
• Leizhou dialect 雷州话 雷州話
• Zhanjiang dialect 湛江话 湛江話

Wu

 吴语/吳語
The main dialect areas of Wu in Mainland China.
Taihu 太湖片 太湖片
• Changzhou dialect 常州话 常州話
• Suzhou dialect 苏州话 蘇州話
• Wuxi dialect 无锡话 無錫話
• Hangzhou dialect 杭州话 杭州話
• Huzhou dialect 湖州话 湖州話
• Jiaxing dialect 嘉兴话 嘉興話
• Shaoxing dialect 绍兴话 紹興話
• Ningbo dialect 宁波话 寧波話
• Shanghai dialect 上海话 上海話
Taizhou 台州片 台州片
• Taizhou dialect 台州话 台州話
• Linhai dialect 临海话 臨海話
• Sanmen dialect 三门话 三門話
• Tiantai dialect 天台话 天台話
• Xianju dialect 仙居话 仙居話
• Huangyan dialect 黄岩话 黃岩話
• Jiaojiang dialect 椒江话 椒江話
• Wenling dialect 温岭话 溫嶺話
• Yuhuan dialect 玉环话 玉環話
• Leqing dialect 乐清话 樂清話
• Ninghai dialect 宁海话 寧海話
Oujiang (Dong'ou) 瓯江（东瓯）片 甌江 (東甌) 片
• Wenzhou dialect 温州话 溫州話
• Rui'an dialect 瑞安话 瑞安話
• Wencheng dialect 文成话 文成話
Wuzhou 婺州片选 婺州片
• Jinhua dialect 金华话 金華話
• Lanxi dialect 兰溪话 蘭溪話
• Pujiang dialect 浦江话 浦江話
• Yiwu dialect 义乌话 義烏話
• Dongyang dialect 东阳话 東陽話
• Pan'an dialect 磐安话 磐安話
• Yongkang dialect 永康话 永康話
• Wuyi dialect 武义话 武義話
 • Jiande dialect 建德话 建德話
Chuqu 处衢片 處衢片
• Lishui dialect 丽水话 麗水話
• Qingtian dialect 青田话 青田話
• Quzhou dialect 衢州话 衢州話
• Shangrao dialect 上饶话 上饒話
Xuanzhou 宣州片 宣州片
• Xuancheng dialect 宣城话 宣城話

Xiang

 湘语/湘語

Language map of Hunan Province.

New Xiang is orange, Old Xiang yellow, and Chen-Xu Xiang red.
Non-Xiang languages are (clockwise from top right) Gan (purple), Hakka (pink along the right), Xiangnan Tuhua (dark
green), Waxianghua (dark blue on the left), and Southwestern Mandarin (light blue, medium blue, light green on the left;
part of dark green).

Chang–Yi dialects (New Xiang) 长益片 長益片

• Changsha dialect 长沙话 長沙話
• Zhuzhou dialect 株洲话 株洲話
• Xiangtan dialect 湘潭话 湘潭話
• Ningxiang dialect 宁乡话 寧鄉話
• Yiyang dialect 益阳话 益陽話
• Xiangyin dialect 湘阴话 湘陰話
• Miluo dialect 汨罗话 汨羅話
• Yueyang dialect 岳阳话 岳陽話
• Hengyang dialect 衡阳话 衡陽話
• Hengshan dialect 衡山话 衡山話
• Hengdong dialect 衡东话 衡東話
Lou–Shao dialects (Old Xiang) 娄邵片 婁邵片
• Loudi dialect 娄底话 婁底話
• Shuangfeng dialect 双峰话 雙峰話
• Xinhua dialect 新化话 新化話
• Xiangxiang dialect 湘乡话 湘鄉話
• Shaoyang dialect 邵阳话 邵陽話
• Shaodong dialect 邵东话 邵東話
• Wugang dialect 武冈话 武岡話
• Qidong dialect 祁东话 祁東話
• Qiyang dialect 祁阳话 祁陽話
Chen–Xu dialects (Chen-Xu Xiang) 辰溆片 辰漵片
• Chenxi dialect 辰溪话 辰溪話
• Xupu dialect 溆浦话 漵浦話
• Luxi dialect 泸溪话 瀘溪話
Yongquan dialects (Yong-Quan Xiang) 永全片 永全片
• Yongzhou dialect 永州话 永州話
• Quanzhouxian dialect 全州话 全州話

Yue

 粤语/粵語

Distribution of Pinghua and Yue dialect groups in Guangxi and Guangdong

Guibei (N Pinghua) Gou–Lou
Guinan (S Pinghua) Guangfu
Siyi
Yong–Xun Gao–Yang
Qin–Lian Wu–Hua
Yuehai dialect 粤海方言 粵海方言
Cantonese (Guangfu) 广府话, 广州话, 广东话 廣府話, 廣州話, 廣東話
• Hong Kong Cantonese 香港粵语 香港粵語
• Malaysian Cantonese 马来西亚粵语 馬來西亞粵語
• Ngchow dialect 梧州话 梧州話
• Tanka dialect 蜑家话 蜑家話
• Saigwan dialect 西关话 西關話
Sanyi dialect (Samyap) 三邑方言/南番順方言
• Namhoi Dialect 南海话 南海話
• Jiujiang Cantonese 九江白话 九江白話
• Saiciu dialect 西樵话 西樵話
• Poonyu dialect 番禺话 番禺話
• Sundak dialect 顺德话 順德話
Zhongshan dialect 中山方言/香山方言
• Sheckinese 石岐话 石岐話
• Samkok Township dialect 三角话 三角話
Guan-Bao dialect 莞宝方言 莞寶方言
• Dunggwun dialect 东莞话 東莞話
• Bo'on dialect (Waitau dialect) 宝安话/围头话 寶安話/圍頭話
Yong–Xun dialects (Jungcam) 邕浔方言 邕潯方言
• Namning dialect 南宁话 南寧話
• Yongning dialect 邕宁话 邕寧話
• Gwaiping dialect 桂平话 桂平話
• Songjor dialect 崇左话 崇左話
• Ningming dialect 宁明话 寧明話
• Wang County dialect 横县话 橫縣話
• Baaksik dialect 百色话 百色話
Goulou dialects (Ngaulau) 勾漏方言
• Yuklam dialect 玉林话 玉林話
• Gwongning dialect 广宁话 廣寧話
• Waijap dialect 怀集话 懷集話
• Funghoi dialect 封开话 封開話
• Dakhing dialect 德庆话 德慶話
• Yuknam dialect 郁南话 郁南話
• Seunglam Plain Speech 上林白话 上林白話
 • Bunyeong dialect 宾阳话 賓陽話
• Tang County dialect 藤县话 藤縣話
Luo–Guang dialects 罗广方言 羅廣方言
• Loding dialect 罗定话 羅定話
• Siuhing dialect 肇庆话 肇慶話
• Seiwui dialect 四会话 四會話
• Yeungsan dialect 阳山话 陽山話
• Linjau dialect 连州话 連州話
• Linsan dialect 连山话 連山話
• Tsingyun dialect 清远话 清遠話
Siyi dialect (Seiyap) 四邑方言
• Hoisanese 台山话 台山話
• Senweh dialect 新会话 新會話
• Seecin dialect 司前话 司前話
• Gujen dialect 古镇话 古鎮話
• Yunping dialect 恩平话 恩平話
• Hoiping dialect 开平话 開平話
Gao–Yang dialects 高阳方言 高陽方言
• Kochow dialect 高州话 高州話
• Yeunggong dialect 阳江话 陽江話
Qin–Lian dialects (Jamlim) 钦廉方言 欽廉方言
• Bakhoi dialect 北海话 北海話
• Yamjau dialect 钦州话 欽州話
• Fongsinggong dialect 防城港话 防城港話
• Limjau dialect 廉州话 廉州話
• Lingsan dialect 灵山话 靈山話
Wu–Hua dialects (Ngfaa) 吴化方言 吳化方言
• Ngchuen dialect 吴川话 吳川話
• Faajau dialect 化州话 化州話

Pinghua

 平话/平話

Pinghua 平话 平話
• Guibei Pinghua 桂北平话 桂北平話
• Bendihua 本地话 本地話
• Guinan Pinghua 桂南平话 桂南平話

Ba-Shu

 巴蜀语/巴蜀語

Ba-Shu Chinese 巴蜀语 巴蜀語

Other

The non-Min dialects of Hainan were once considered Yue, but are now left unclassified:

Hainan "Yue" 海南方言

• Danzhou dialect 儋州话 儋州話
• Mai dialect 迈话 邁話

Mixed languages
In addition to the varieties within the Sinitic branch of Sino-Tibetan, a number of mixed languages also exist that comprise
elements of one or more Chinese varieties with other languages.

Linghua 伶话 伶話 A Mandarin Chinese and Miao mixed language

猫家 貓家
Maojia A Qo-Xiong Miao and Chinese dialects mixed language
话 話
Shaozhou 韶州 韶州 A group of distinctive Chinese dialects in South China, including Yuebei Tuhua and Xiangnan
Tuhua 土话 土話 Tuhua. It incorporates several Chinese dialects, as well as Yao languages.
唐汪 唐汪
Tangwang A Mandarin Chinese and Dongxiang mixed language
话 話
瓦乡 瓦鄉 An independent Chinese dialect. It incorporates Chen-Xu Xiang and Qo-Xiong Miao languages.
Waxiang
话 話
五屯 五屯 A Mandarin Chinese, Tibetan and Mongolian mixed language
Wutun
话 話

List in the Atlas

The extensive 1987 Language Atlas of China groups Chinese topolects (geographical varieties) as follows. Units are:

 Supergroup (dàqū), of which there are but two: Mandarin and Min
 Group (qū), corresponding to the varieties of Chinese of the ISO standard
 Subgroup (piàn), which may be mutually unintelligible with other subgroups[4]
 Cluster (xiǎopiànn), which may be mutually unintelligible with other clusters
 Local dialect (diǎn), which are the dialects sampled by the Atlas

In the list below, local dialects are not listed. Groups are in bold, subgroups are numbered, and clusters are bulleted.

MANDARIN Jin
Northeastern Mandarin
1. Bingzhou
1. Jishen 2. Lüliang
o Jiaoning o Fenzhou
o Tongxi o Xingxi
o Yanji 3. Shangdang
2. Hafu 4. Wutai
o Zhaofu 5. Dabao
o Changjin 6. Zhanghu
3. Heisong 7. Hanxin
o Nenke o Cizhang
o Jiafu o Huoji
o Zhanhua 8. Zhiyan

Beijing Mandarin Wu

1. Jingshi 1. Taihu
2. Huaicheng o Piling
3. Chaofeng o Suhujia
4. Shike o Tiaoxi
o Hangzhou
Jilu Mandarin o Linshao
o Yongjiang
2. Taizhou
1. Baotang
3. Oujiang
o Laifu
4. Wuzhou
o Dingba 5. Chuqu
o Tianjin o Chuzhou
o Jizun o Longqu
o Luanchang 6. Xuanzhou
o Fulong o Tongjin
2. Shiji o Taigao
o Zhaoshen
 o Xingheng o Shiling
o Liaotai
3. Canghui Hui
o Huangle
o Yangshou
1. Jishe
o Juzhao 2. Xiuyi
o Zhanghuan 3. Qide
4. Yanzhou
Jiaoliao Mandarin 5. Jingzhan

1. Qingzhou Gan
2. Denglian
3. Gaihuan 1. Changjing
2. Yiliu
Central Plains Mandarin 3. Jicha
4. Fuguang
5. Yingyi
1. Zhengcao
6. Datong
2. Cailu
7. Leizi
3. Luoxu
8. Dongsui
4. Xinbeng
9. Huaiyue
5. Fenhe
o Pingyang
o Jiangzhou Xiang
o Xiezhou
6. Guanzhong 1. Changyi
7. Qinlong 2. Loushao
8. Longzhong 3. Jixu
9. Nanjiang
Yue
Lanyin Mandarin
1. Guangfu
1. Jincheng 2. Yongxun
2. Yinwu 3. Gaoyang
3. Hexi 4. Siyi
4. Tami 5. Goulou
6. Wuhua
7. Qinlian
Southwestern Mandarin

Pinghua
1. Chengyu
2. Dianxi
o Yaoli 1. Guibei
o Baolu 2. Guinan
3. Qianbei
4. Kungui Hakka
5. Guanchi
o Minjiang 1. Yuetai
o Renfu o Jiaying
o Yamian o Xinghua
o Lichuan o Xinhui
6. Ebei o Shaonan
7. Wutian 2. Yuezhong
8. Cenjiang 3. Huizhou
9. Qiannan 4. Yuebei
10. Xiangnan 5. Tingzhou
11. Guiliu 6. Ninglong
12. Changhe 7. Yugui
8. Tonggu
Jianghuai Mandarin
MIN
1. Hongchao Southern Min
2. Tairu
 3. Huangxiao
1. Quanzhang
(unclassified Mandarin) 2. Datian
3. Chaoshan
1. Hubeihua
2. Henanhua Puxian
3. Nanping dialect Eastern Min
4. Yangyu dialect
5. Junhua 1. Houguan
6. Longmen dialect 2. Funing

Northern Min
Central Min
Qiongwen

1. Fucheng
2. Wenchang
3. Wanning
4. Yaxian
5. Changgan

Leizhou
Shaojiang
Unclassified topolects

 Shehua (the Chinese variety now spoken by the She people)

 Danzhou dialect
 Xianghua
 Shaoguan Tuhua
 Southern Hunan Tuhua

Korean dialects

A number of Korean dialects are spoken in the Korean Peninsula. The peninsula is extremely mountainous and each
dialect's "territory" corresponds closely to the natural boundaries between different geographical regions of Korea. Most of
the dialects are named for one of the traditional Eight Provinces of Korea. One is sufficiently distinct from the others to be
considered a separate language, the Jeju language.

The standard language

 In South Korea, Standard Korean (표준어/標準語) is defined by the National Institute of the Korean Language as
"the modern speech of Seoul widely used by the well-cultivated" (교양있는 사람들이 두루 쓰는 현대 서울말).
In practice, it tends not to include features that are found exclusively in Seoul.
  In North Korea, the adopting proclamation stated that the Pyongan dialect spoken in the capital of Pyongyang and
its surroundings should be the basis for the North Korean standard language (Munhwaŏ); however, in practice, it
remains "firmly rooted" in the Seoul dialect, which had been the national standard for centuries.

Despite North–South differences in the Korean language, the two standards are still broadly intelligible. One notable feature
within the divergence is the North's lack of anglicisms due to isolationism and self-reliance—pure/invented Korean words
are used in replacement.

Regional dialects

Various words for "dragonfly" (Standard Korean of South Korea: 잠자리).

Korea is a mountainous country, and Korean is consequently divided into numerous small local dialects. There are few clear
demarcations, so dialect classification is necessarily to some extent arbitrary. Nonetheless, the following divisions are
commonly cited in the literature:

 Hamgyŏng dialect, also called Northeastern dialects. Spoken in the Hamgyong Province (Kwanbuk and
Kwannam) region, the northeast corner of Pyongan Province, and the Ryanggang Province of North Korea as well
as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Northeast China (in Jilin). Nine vowels: the eight of the
standard language plus ö.[citation needed]
 Northwestern dialects
o Pyongan dialect: spoken in Pyongyang, Pyongan Province, Chagang Province, and neighboring
Liaoning, of China.
o Hwanghae dialect: spoken in Hwanghae Province of North Korea. Commonly included among the
Central dialects, but do not fit there comfortably.
o Yukchin dialect. Spoken in the historical Yukchin region of northeastern North Hamgyŏng province, far
removed from P'yŏng'an, but has more in common with P'yŏng'an dialects than with the surrounding
Hamgyŏng dialects.
 Central dialects. Commonly divided along provincial boundaries:
o Seoul dialect, also called Gyeonggi: spoken in Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, Seoul (South Korea), and
Kaesong (North Korea). The basis of the standard language.
o Yeongseo dialects: spoken in Yeongseo, Gangwon Province (South Korea) and neighbouring Kangwon
Province (North Korea) to the west of the Taebaek Mountains. Though commonly subsumed under
Gangwon dialect, Yeongseo is quite distinct from the Yeongdong dialects to the east of the mountains.
o Chungcheong dialects: spoken in the Chungcheong Province (Hoseo) region of South Korea, including
the city of Daejeon.
 Yeongdong dialects: spoken in Yeongdong, Gangwon Province (South Korea) and neighbouring Kangwon
Province (North Korea) to the east of the Taebaek Mountains. Though commonly subsumed under Gangwon
dialect (강원 방언), Yeongdong is quite distinct from the Central Korean dialects to the west of the mountains.
  Gyeongsang dialects, also called Southeastern dialects: spoken in Gyeongsang Province (Yeongnam) of South
Korea, including the cities of Busan, Daegu, and Ulsan. This dialect is easily distinguished from the Seoul dialect
because its pitch is more varied. Six vowels, i, e, a, eo, o, u.
 Jeolla dialect, also called Southwestern dialects: spoken in the Jeolla Province (Honam) region of South Korea,
including the city of Gwangju. Ten vowels: i, e, ae, a, ü, ö, u, o, eu, eo.
 Jeju language is spoken on Jejudo off the southwest coast of South Korea and is sometimes considered a separate
Koreanic language. The nine vowels of Middle Korean, including arae-a (ɔ). May have additional consonants as
well.

Outside of the Korean peninsula

 Koryo-mar (Autonym: Корё мар/고려말, Standard Korean: 중앙아시아 한국어), usually identified as a
descendant of the Hamgyŏng dialect, is spoken by the Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans in the former USSR. It
consists of a Korean base vocabulary, but takes many loanwords and calques from Russian and the Turkic
languages.
 Zainichi Korean language (재일어; 재일조선어) is a language or a dialect spoken among Koreans in Japan,
strongly influenced by Japanese.
 Korean language in China (중국조선) As discussed above, Koreans in China use a dialect nearly identical to
Hamgyŏng dialect in North Korea, but there are still some differences, as the former has many modern terms that
came from Chinese.

Classification

Korea Continental Northeastern

Hamgyŏng dialect
n
Ryukchin dialect
Northwestern
Pyongan
Central
Hwanghae dialect

Seoul dialect

Yeongdong dialect

Chungcheong dialect
Southeastern
Gyeongsang dialect
Southwestern
Jeolla dialect
Insular
Jeju language

Japanese dialects
 Map of Japanese dialects (north of the heavy grey line)

The dialects of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including Tokyo) and Western (including
Kyoto), with the dialects of Kyushu and Hachijō Island often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the
most divergent of all. The Ryukyuan languages of Okinawa Prefecture and the southern islands of Kagoshima Prefecture
form a separate branch of the Japonic family, and are not Japanese dialects.

History

Regional variants of Japanese have been confirmed since the Old Japanese era. Man'yōshū, the oldest existing collection of
Japanese poetry, includes poems written in dialects of the capital (Nara) and eastern Japan, but other dialects were not
recorded. The recorded features of eastern dialects were rarely inherited by modern dialects, except for a few language
islands such as Hachijo Island. In the Early Middle Japanese era, there were only vague records such as "rural dialects are
crude". However, since the Late Middle Japanese era, features of regional dialects had been recorded in some books, for
example Arte da Lingoa de Iapam, and the recorded features were fairly similar to modern dialects. The variety of Japanese
dialects developed markedly during the Edo period because many feudal lords restricted the movement of people to and
from other fiefs. Some isoglosses agree with old borders of han, especially in Tohoku and Kyushu. From the Nara period to
the Edo period, the dialect of Kinai (now central Kansai) had been the de facto standard form of Japanese, and the dialect of
Edo (now Tokyo) took over in the late Edo period.

With modernization in the late 19th century, the government and the intellectuals promoted establishment and spread of the
standard language. The regional languages and dialects were slighted and suppressed, and so, locals had a sense of inferiority
about their "bad" and "shameful" languages. The language of instruction was Standard Japanese, and some teachers
administered punishments for using non-standard languages, particularly in the Okinawa and Tohoku regions (see also
Ryukyuan languages#Modern history). From the 1940s to the 1960s, the period of Shōwa nationalism and the post-war
economic miracle, the push for the replacement of regional varieties with Standard Japanese reached its peak.

Now Standard Japanese has spread throughout the nation, and traditional regional varieties are declining because of
education, television, expansion of traffic, urban concentration etc. However, regional varieties have not been completely
replaced with Standard Japanese. The spread of Standard Japanese means the regional varieties are now valued as
"nostalgic", "heart-warming" and markers of "precious local identity", and many speakers of regional dialects have gradually
overcome their sense of inferiority regarding their natural way of speaking. The contact between regional vareties and
Standard Japanese creates new regional speech forms among young people, such as Okinawan Japanese.

Classification
 Eastern Japanese dialects are blue, Western Japanese tan. Green dialects have both Eastern and Western features. Kyushu
dialects are orange; southern Kyushu is quite distinctive.

Kyoto type (tone+downstep)

Tokyo type (downstep)
Map of Japanese pitch-accent types. The divide between Kyoto and Tokyo types is used as the Eastern–Western Japanese
boundary in the main map.

There are several generally similar approaches to classifying Japanese dialects. Misao Tōjō classified mainland Japanese
dialects into three groups: Eastern, Western and Kyushu dialects. Mitsuo Okumura classified Kyushu dialects as a subclass
of Western Japanese. These theories are mainly based on grammatical differences between east and west, but Haruhiko
Kindaichi classified mainland Japanese into concentric circular three groups: inside (Kansai, Shikoku, etc.), middle (Western
Kanto, Chubu, Chugoku, etc.) and outside (Eastern Kanto, Tohoku, Izumo, Kyushu, Hachijo, etc.) based on systems of
accent, phoneme and conjugation.

Eastern and Western Japanese

A primary distinction exists between Eastern and Western Japanese. This is a long-standing divide that occurs in both
language and culture. The map in the box at the top of this page divides the two along phonological lines. West of the
dividing line, the more complex Kansai-type pitch accent is found; east of the line, the simpler Tokyo-type accent is found,
though Tokyo-type accents also occur further west, on the other side of Kansai. However, this isogloss largely corresponds
to several grammatical distinctions as well: West of the pitch-accent isogloss:

The perfective form of -u verbs such as harau 'to pay' is harōta (or minority haruta), rather than Eastern (and Standard)
haratta

o The perfective form of -su verbs such as otosu 'to drop' is also otoita in Western Japanese (largely apart
from Kansai dialect) vs. otoshita in Eastern
  The imperative of -ru (ichidan) verbs such as miru 'to look' is miyo or mii rather than Eastern miro (or minority
mire, though Kyushu dialect also uses miro or mire)
 The adverbial form of -i adjectival verbs such as hiroi 'wide' is hirō (or minority hirū) as hirōnaru, rather than
Eastern hiroku as hirokunaru
 The negative form of verbs is -nu or -n rather than -nai or -nee, and uses a different verb stem; thus suru 'to do' is
senu or sen rather than shinai or shinee (apart from Sado Island, which uses shinai)

 Copula isoglosses. The blue–orange da/ja divide corresponds to the pitch-accent divide apart from Gifu and Sado.
(blue: da, red: ja, yellow: ya; orange and purple: iconically for red+yellow and red+blue; white: all three.)
 The copula is da in Eastern and ja or ya in Western Japanese, though Sado as well as some dialects further west
such as San'in use da [see map at right]
 The verb iru 'to exist' in Eastern and oru in Western, though Wakayama dialect uses aru and some Kansai and
Fukui subdialects use both

However, while these grammatical isoglosses are close to the pitch-accent line given in the map, they do not follow it
exactly. Apart from Sado Island, which has Eastern shinai and da, all of the Western features are found west of the pitch-
accent line, though a few Eastern features may crop up again further west (da in San'in, miro in Kyushu). East of the line,
however, there is a zone of intermediate dialects which have a mixture of Eastern and Western features. Echigo dialect has
harōta, though not miyo, and about half of it has hirōnaru as well. In Gifu, all Western features are found apart from pitch
accent and harōta; Aichi has miyo and sen, and in the west (Nagoya dialect) hirōnaru as well: These features are substantial
enough that Toshio Tsuzuku classifies Gifu–Aichi dialect as Western Japanese. Western Shizuoka (Enshū dialect) has miyo
as its single Western Japanese feature.

The Western Japanese Kansai dialect was the prestige dialect when Kyoto was the capital, and Western forms are found in
literary language as well as in honorific expressions of modern Tokyo dialect (and therefore Standard Japanese), such as
adverbial ohayō gozaimasu (not *ohayaku), the humble existential verb oru, and the polite negative -masen (not *-
mashinai).

Kyushu Japanese

Kyushu dialects are classified into three groups, Hichiku dialect, Hōnichi dialect and Satsugu (Kagoshima) dialect, have
several distinctive features:

 as noted above, Eastern-style imperatives miro ~ mire rather than Western Japanese miyo
 ka-adjectives in Hichiku and Satsugu rather than Western and Eastern i-adjectives, as in samuka for samui 'cold',
kuyaka for minikui 'ugly' and nukka for atsui 'hot'
 the nominalization and question particle to except for Kitakyushu and Oita, versus Western and Eastern no, as in
tottō to? for totte iru no? 'is this taken?' and iku to tai or ikuttai for iku no yo 'I'll go'
 the directional particle sai (Standard e and ni), though Eastern Tohoku dialect use a similar particle sa
 the emphatic sentence-final particles tai and bai in Hichiku and Satsugu (Standard yo)
 a concessive particle batten for dakedo 'but, however' in Hichiku and Satsugu, though Eastern Tohoku Aomori
dialect has a similar particle batte
  /e/ is pronounced [je] and palatalizes s, z, t, d, as in mite [mitʃe] and sode [sodʒe], though this is a conservative
(Late Middle Japanese) pronunciation found with s, z (sensei [ʃenʃei]) in scattered areas throughout Japan.
 as some subdialects in Shikoku and Chugoku, but generally not elsewhere, the accusative particle o resyllabifies a
noun: honno or honnu for hon-o 'book', kakyū for kaki-o 'persimmon'.
 /r/ is often dropped, for koi 'this' versus Western and Eastern Japanese kore
 vowel reduction is frequent especially in Satsugu and Gotō Islands, as in in for inu 'dog' and kuQ for kubi 'neck'

Much of Kyushu either lacks pitch accent, or has its own, distinctive accent. Kagoshima dialect is so distinctive that some
have classified it as a fourth branch of Japanese, alongside Eastern, Western, and the rest of Kyushu.

Hachijō Japanese

A small group of dialects spoken in Hachijōjima and Aogashima, islands south of Tokyo, as well as the Daitō Islands east of
Okinawa. Hachijō dialect is quite divergent and sometimes thought to be a primary branch of Japanese. It retains an
abundance of inherited ancient Eastern Japanese features.

Cladogram

The relationships between the dialects is approximately as follows: