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Distribution of Chinese dialect groups within the Greater China Region This video explains the differences in pronunciation and vocabulary among Mandarin Dialects (Std. Mandarin, Sichuan Mandarin and NE Mandarin) and Cantonese. The following is a list of Sinitic languages and their dialects.
Linguistically, Xiaogan dialect is a dialect of Mandarin, but the pronunciation and diction are quite different from spoken Standard Chinese. Knowing the local dialect is of considerable social benefit, and most Chinese who permanently move to a new area will attempt to pick up the local dialect.
Mandarin dialects frequently employ neutral tones in the second syllables of words, creating syllables whose tone contour is so short and light that it is difficult or impossible to discriminate. These atonal syllables also occur in non-Mandarin dialects, but in many southern dialects the tones of all syllables are made clear. [101]
"Cantonese" as used to refer to the language native to the city of Canton, which is the traditional English name of Guangzhou, was popularized by An English and Cantonese Pocket Dictionary (1859), a bestseller by the missionary John Chalmers. [6] Before 1859, this variant was often referred to in English as "the Canton dialect". [7] [6]
Most Yue varieties have merged the Middle Chinese retroflex sibilants with the alveolar sibilants, in contrast with Mandarin dialects, which have generally maintained the distinction. [39] For example, the words 將; jiāng and 張; zhāng are distinguished in Mandarin, but in modern Cantonese they are both pronounced as jēung.
Cantonese, historically the language of most Chinese immigrants, was the third most widely spoken non-English language in the United States in 2004. [6] [page needed] Many Chinese schools have been established to accomplish these goals. Most of them have classes only once a week on the weekends, however especially in the past there have been ...
Mandarin’s four tones are enough to flummox English speakers. For example, depending on the inflection, "ma" can mean "mother," "numb," "horse" or "yell at." With nine tones, Cantonese is even ...
Those with higher education also speak Mandarin and/or English. The use of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties still prevails. Hokkien (a Southern Min dialect) is mostly used in Yangon as well as in Lower Burma, while Taishanese (a Yue language akin to Cantonese) and Yunnanese Mandarin are well preserved in Upper Burma.