Is Chinese a Germanic language?

Linguists generally describe Germanic languages in three groups: West Germanic, North Germanic, and East Germanic. The West Germanic group includes German, English, and Dutch. North Germanic includes Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese. Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken language in this family.

How similar are Chinese dialects?

To summarize, Chinese languages are very loosely related like Romance, for example Mandarin and Cantonese are like Italian and French, and even within Mandarin/Italian there are large differences between varieties (like Hebei vs Sichuan and Tuscan (standard) vs Sicilian). Don’t take the analogy too far!

What is the difference between German dialects and varieties?

In linguistics of German, German dialects are distinguished from varieties of Standard German. The German dialects are the traditional local varieties. The varieties of Standard German refer to the different local varieties of the pluricentric language Standard German.

What are the different types of Chinese dialects?

In general, dialects can be roughly classified into one of the seven large groups: Putonghua (Mandarin), Gan, Kejia (Hakka), Min, Wu, Xiang, and Yue ( Cantonese ). Each language group contains a large number of dialects.

What are the High German dialects of Poland?

Wymysorys, Sathmarisch and Siebenbürgisch are High German dialects of Poland and Romania . The High German varieties spoken by Ashkenazi Jews (mostly in Czarist Russia, then the former Soviet Union and Poland) have several unique features and are usually considered as a separate language.

What is the difference between Xiang and Cantonese?

Xiang is a southern dialect concentrated in Hunan province. Cantonese, or Yue, is also a southern dialect. It is spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, and Macau. A distinguishing feature across all Chinese languages is tone.