What is difference between Mandarin and Cantonese?
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What is difference between Mandarin and Cantonese?
Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, GuangZhou, and Southern parts of China in that vicinity. Mandarin is spoken in Mainland China and Taiwan. Cantonese and Mandarin are written in the same way, though Cantonese favors traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified. Mandarin has 4 tones.
Should my child learn Mandarin or Cantonese?
Mandarin is easier to learn As we covered above, Mandarin is easier to learn in regards to both writing and speaking. Cantonese is seen to be more difficult because it has from 6 to 9 tones, each of which signify different things (while Mandarin only has 4 tones).
Is Mandarin or Cantonese more common in the US?
In New York City, Standard Mandarin Chinese was spoken as a native language among only ten percent of Chinese speakers as 2002, but was being used as a secondary dialect and replacing Cantonese as their lingua franca….Chinese language and varieties in the United States.
| Year | Speakers |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 2,022,143 |
| 2010 | 2,808,692 |
| ^a Foreign-born population only |
Is Cantonese really a Chinese dialect?
On its site detailing Hong Kong’s language policy, it stated that Cantonese was a “Chinese dialect that is not an official language”. It caused an outcry, as Hong Kong residents certainly believe theirs is a proper form of Chinese, and not just a dialect. The bureau was forced to apologise and delete the phrase.
Which came first Cantonese or Mandarin?
Cantonese and Mandarin: which came first? Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220AD, when long periods of war caused northern Chinese to flee south, taking their ancient language with them. Mandarin was documented much later in the Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China.
Is Cantonese Hong Kong’s ‘mother tongue’?
Hong Kong’s leader on Thursday dismissed a controversy over the use of Mandarin in public schools and whether Cantonese could be considered the city’s mother tongue as a “non-issue”, telling legislators her administration had no plan to change its policy on the language used to teach.
How much Mandarin is spoken in Hong Kong?
When Hong Kong was handed back from the UK to China in 1997, only a quarter of the population spoke any Mandarin. Now, two decades later, that figure has nearly doubled.