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there are a lot of languages with local accents. but they are not called a completely different name. If you say Mandarin without any context, people will have difficulty understanding what it is refering to
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
It's to differentiate it from the regional dialects (Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.). Otherwise, people simply refer to it as "Chinese".
The many regional dialects that are mutually unintelligible and the relatively high exposure to Chinese culture and peoples that make it possible that a random English speaker would know to make the distinction are probably it. It’s not a super unique situatuon. People say someone speaks Farsi instead of Persian or Iranian pretty often as there are many related dialects/languages in the country though Farsi is the standard. This happens in a lot of places.
The many regional dialects that are mutually unintelligible and the relatively high exposure to Chinese culture and peoples that make it possible that a random English speaker would know to make the distinction are probably it. It’s not a super unique situatuon. People say someone speaks Farsi instead of Persian or Iranian pretty often as there are many related dialects/languages in the country though Farsi is the standard. This happens in a lot of places.
I was even gonna mention Tagalog as an example until I looked it up and for the first time realized Filipino is an actual term for the broader language. Growing up around a lot of Filipinos I was always told the language is Tagalog.
It's to differentiate it from the regional dialects (Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.). Otherwise, people simply refer to it as "Chinese".
This is the correct answer. "Chinese" is not one language, but a group of mutually unintelligible dialects that share a writing system.
Mandarin is the official, standard dialect of Chinese which is used in the media and taught to all schoolchildren. But it is a second language for many millions of Chinese.
Many "languages" have mutually unintelligible "dialects", but Chinese is the most influential one with the most speakers, so it is convenient to use different terms.
there are a lot of languages with local accents. but they are not called a completely different name. If you say Mandarin without any context, people will have difficulty understanding what it is refering to
People here commonly differentiate between Mandarin and Cantonese, being the most common Chinese languages spoken at least here. I rarely hear someone speak about just Chinese. Eg my grandson has a choice, at his school, of studying French or Mandarin. I never have to qualify that to say that Mandarin is a Chinese language. It is common knowledge.
People here commonly differentiate between Mandarin and Cantonese, being the most common Chinese languages spoken at least here. I rarely hear someone speak about just Chinese. Eg my grandson has a choice, at his school, of studying French or Mandarin. I never have to qualify that to say that Mandarin is a Chinese language. It is common knowledge.
In China, "putonghua" (roughly equal to Mandarin) only refers to the spoken language. It is extremely rare to say someone reads or writes "Mandarin".
If you tell a Chinese person you are studying Mandarin instead of Chinese, it is a little odd. Usually we expect people from Hong Kong "learn Mandarin", and foreigners just learn Chinese.
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