Is Wu spoken in Shanghai?

Wu languages are spoken in most of Zhejiang province, the whole municipality of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province, as well as smaller parts of Anhui and Jiangxi provinces. Many are located in the lower Yangtze River valley.

Is Wu different from Mandarin?

Wu is a member of the Han languages, which includes several other dialects. This soft, fluid, and light language (or dialect) is different from Mandarin in how its two tones are spoken. Furthermore, unlike Mandarin or even Cantonese, Wu has voiced consonants like “d”, “g”, and “b”, for example.

What dialect is spoken in Shanghai?

Shanghainese (上海閒話 [z̥ɑ̃̀héɦɛ̀ɦʊ̀] in Shanghainese), or the Shanghai language (simplified Chinese: 上海话 or 沪语; traditional Chinese: 上海話 or 滬語), is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.

Is Mandarin understood in Shanghai?

Since Shanghai is in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the official language of the city is standard Mandarin Chinese, also known as Putonghua. However, the traditional language of the Shanghai region is Shanghainese, which is a dialect of Wu Chinese which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese.

Is Cantonese Wu Chinese?

The Wu is linguistically more different from Mandarin than is Cantonese. This doesn’t make it more “difficult” – which depends on your starting point. There are differences among the dialects in China in grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary etc.

Is Wu Mandarin or Cantonese?

Wu (or Woo or Wou) is also the Cantonese transliteration of the Chinese surname 胡 (Mandarin Hu), used in Hong Kong, and by overseas Chinese of Cantonese-speaking areas of Guangdong, Guangxi, and/or Hong Kong/Macau origin.

Is Wu a language?

Wu language, variety of Chinese dialects spoken in Shanghai, in southeastern Jiangsu province, and in Zhejiang province by more than 8 percent of the population of China (some 85 million people) at the turn of the 21st century. Major cities in which Wu is spoken include Hangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningpo, and Wenzhou.

Is Cantonese a dialect?

By the comprehensibility criterion, Cantonese is not a dialect of Chinese. Rather, it is a language, as are Shanghaiese, Mandarin and other kinds of Chinese. Most Western linguists classify them as “Sinitic languages”, not “dialects of Chinese”. (And some languages in China, like Uighur, are not Sinitic at all.)

What is the dialect of the Wu language in Shanghai?

The dialect spoken in Shanghai is a form of northern Wu , and it is the most common form within this linguistic group. If we consider the Wu language as a whole, it should be noted that it is still spoken in a large part of Zhejiang Province, southern Jiangsu Province, as well as in small parts of the Anhui Provinces,…

Is the Shanghainese language similar to Mandarin Chinese?

Shanghainese is part of the larger Wu Chinese of Chinese languages. It is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, Southern Min (such as Hokkien-Taiwanese), and any other Chinese languages outside Wu. Modern Shanghainese, however, has been heavily influenced by standard Chinese.

Is Shanghainese mutually intelligible with other languages?

Shanghainese is part of the larger Wu Chinese of Chinese languages. It is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, Southern Min (such as Hokkien-Taiwanese), and any other Chinese languages outside Wu.

What languages are spoken in Shanghai?

Languages. Since Shanghai is in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the official language of the city is standard Mandarin Chinese, also known as Putonghua. However, the traditional language of the Shanghai region is Shanghainese, which is a dialect of Wu Chinese which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese.