Dialects

What is the Chinese language? There is no single common Chinese language. Seven different major dialect groups are spoken within China. Mandarin is the most widely used and is understood by about 70% of the population. It is a group of northern dialects associated with the Beijing area and is the country’s official spoken language.

The written language is more standardized than the spoken language, at least within mainland China. A single script referred to as “zhongwen” is understood by about 95% of the population. It is built around simplified character set that was developed during Mao’s era. In many other parts of the Chinese language world, (e.g. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore) a more traditional, complex set of characters is still used.

From Chinesepod, below is a comparison of a few common expressions in three different dialects. Shanghainese is spoken in the Shanghai area, while Cantonese is common in Hong Kong and the southern part of the mainland.


I work with a number of people who speak Shanghainese. I hope to learn this dialect some day, so that we can converse confidentially behind the backs of the Beijingers.