List of varieties of Chinese
The following is a list of Chinese dialects and languages.
Classification
Linguists classify these languages as the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Within this broad classification, linguistics identify between seven and fourteen subgroups.
Tradition classification
Traditional Chinese classification lists seven groups, including:
| • Gan | |
| • Guan | (Mandarin or Beifang) |
| • Kejia | (Hakka) |
| • Min | (including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants) |
| • Wu | |
| • Xiang | |
| • Yue | (Cantonese) |
(shown here with the romanized Standard Mandarin names of the categories, ordered alphabetically).
Modern linguistic classification
James Matisoff's widely accepted[citation needed] classification includes:
| Mandarin | → Jin |
| Wu | → Hui |
| Cantonese | → Ping |
| Min | |
| Xiang | |
| Hakka | |
| Gan |
Matisoff's list uses the common English names of the groups, ordered by decreasing number of speakers of languages within the group.
Ethnologue
The Ethnologue lists 14 language groups,[1] including:
| Chinese, Gan | (Gan) |
| Chinese, Hakka | (Kejia) |
| Chinese, Huizhou | (Hui) |
| Chinese, Jinyu | (Jin) |
| Chinese, Mandarin | (Mandarin) |
| Chinese, Min Bei | (Min → Min Bei) |
| Chinese, Min Dong | (Min → Min Dong) |
| Chinese, Min Nan | (Min → Min Nan) |
| Chinese, Min Zhong | (Min → Min Zhong) |
| Chinese, Pu-Xian | (Min → Pu-Xian) |
| Chinese, Wu | (Wu) |
| Chinese, Xiang | (Xiang) |
| Chinese, Yue | (Yue (Cantonese)) |
| Dungan | (Mandarin → Dungan) |
See also Campbell's article on classifying Chinese dialects[2] and ChinaDC's chart of Sino-Tibetan languages.[3]
As the above categories illustrate, there are three common approaches to naming categories and languages in English:
- A Romanization of the name in Standard Mandarin (e.g. "Gan" or "Xiang")
- The common English name, where there is one (e.g. "Cantonese" or "Mandarin")
- A Romanization of the name in the principal language of the group (e.g. "Hakka" or "Hokkien")
The classification used here is a combination of the classifications given above.
Distinction between dialects and languages
In addition to the languages and dialects given below, it is customary to speak informally of languages and dialects belonging to each province, e.g. Sichuan dialect, Henan dialect. These designations do not always correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each nevertheless has approximate characteristics of its own.
The question of whether these should be called dialects or languages in their own right is particularly interesting in Chinese. On the one hand, the designation seems to be as much socio-political as linguistic, reflecting Max Weinreich's comment that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy." Purely from a linguistic point of view, many of these idioms seem to meet the criteria of a language. On the other hand, to a large degree the various Chinese idioms share a common written language and literature, lending weight to calling them "dialects". Because the written language is grammatically closest to Standard Mandarin, many Chinese speakers view Standard Mandarin as "the Chinese language", and everything else as dialects.
List of dialects and languages
Gan - 赣语/贛語
| • Dongkou dialect | 洞口話 |
| • Huaining dialect | 懷寧話 |
| • Fuzhou (Jiangxi) dialect | 撫州話 |
| • Ji'an (Jiangxi) dialect | 吉安話 |
| • Leiyang dialect | 耒陽話 |
| • Nanchang dialect | 南昌話 |
| • Xianning dialect | 鹹寧話 |
| • Yichun dialect | 宜春話 |
| • Yingtan dialect | 鷹潭話 |
Guan (Mandarin) - 官话/官話
Hui - 徽語
Sometimes subcategory of Wu.
| • Jixi (Anhui) dialect | |
| • Shexian (Anhui) dialect | 歙縣話 |
| • Tunxi dialect | 屯溪話 |
| • Yixian (Anhui) dialect |
Jin - 晋语/晉語
Sometimes subcategory of Mandarin.
| • Baotou dialect | 包頭話 |
| • Datong dialect | 大同話 |
| • Handan dialect | 邯郸话 |
| • Hohhot dialect | 呼市話 |
| • Taiyuan dialect | 太原話 |
| • Xinxiang dialect | 新乡话 |
Kejia (Hakka) - 客家話
| • Huizhou (Guangdong) Hakka dialect | 惠州客家話 |
| • Meizhou Hakka dialect | 梅州客家話 |
| • Wuhua Hakka dialect | 五華客家話 |
| • Xingning Hakka dialect | 興寧客家話 |
| • Pingyuan Hakka dialect | 平遠客家話 |
| • Jiaoling Hakka dialect | 蕉嶺客家話 |
| • Dapu Hakka dialect | 大埔客家話 |
| • Fengshun Hakka dialect | 豐順客家話 |
| • Longyan Hakka dialect | 龍岩客家話 |
Min - 閩語/闽语
Wu - 吴语/吳語
| Taihu division | 太湖片 |
| • Changzhou dialect | 常州話/常州话 |
| • Suzhou dialect | 苏州话/蘇州話 |
| • Wuxi dialect | 无锡话/無錫話 |
| • Hangzhou dialect | 杭州話/杭州话 |
| • Huzhou dialect | 湖州話/湖州话 |
| • Jiaxing dialect | 嘉興話/嘉兴话 |
| • Shaoxing dialect | 紹興話/绍兴话 |
| • Ningbo dialect | 寧波話/宁波话 |
| • Shanghai dialect (Shanghainese) | 上海話/上海话 |
| Taizhou division | 台州片 |
| • Taizhou dialect | 台州話 |
| • Linhai dialect | 臨海話 |
| • Sanmen dialect | 三門話 |
| • Tiantai dialect | 天台話 |
| • Xianju dialect | 仙居話 |
| • Huangyan dialect | 黃岩話 |
| • Jiaojiang dialect | 椒江話 |
| • Wenling dialect | 溫嶺話 |
| • Yuhuan dialect | 玉環話 |
| • Leqing dialect | 樂清話 |
| • Ninghai dialect | 寧海話 |
| Dongou division | 東甌片 |
| • Wenzhou dialect | 溫州話 |
| Wuzhou division | 婺州片 |
| • Jinhua dialect | 金華話 |
| • Lanxi dialect | 蘭溪話 |
| • Pujiang dialect | 浦江話 |
| • Yiwu dialect | 義烏話 |
| • Dongyang dialect | 東陽話 |
| • Pan'an dialect | 磐安話 |
| • Yongkang dialect | 永康話 |
| • Wuyi dialect | 武義話 |
| • Jiande dialect | 建德話 |
| Chuqu division | 處衢片 |
| • Lishui dialect | 麗水話 |
| • Qingtian dialect | 青田話 |
| • Quzhou dialect | 衢州話 |
| • Shangrao dialect | 上饒話 |
| Xuanzhou division | 宣州片 |
| • Xuancheng dialect | 宣城話 |
Xiang - 湘语/湘語
| Chang Yi division | |
| • Changsha dialect | 长沙话 |
| • Hengyang dialect | 衡阳话 |
| • Hengnan dialect | 衡南话 |
| • Hengshan dialect | 衡山话 |
| • Hengdong dialect | 衡东话 |
| • Qidong dialect | 祈东话 |
| • Qiyang dialect | 祈阳话 |
| • Leiyang dialect | 耒阳话 |
| • Changning dialect | 常宁话 |
| • Yiyang dialect | 益阳话 |
| • Ningxiang dialect | 宁乡话 |
| • Zhuzhou dialect | 株洲话 |
| • Changde dialect | 常德话 |
| Lou Shao division | |
| • Loudi dialect | 娄底话 |
| • Shaoyang dialect | 邵阳话 |
| • Shuangfeng dialect | 双峰话 |
| Chen Xu division | |
| • Chenxi dialect | 郴西话 |
| • Xupu dialect | 溆浦话 |
Yue (Cantonese) - 粵語/粤语
Unclassified
| Danzhou dialect | 儋州話 / 儋州话 |
| Linghua | |
| Maojiahua | |
| Pingdi Yaohua | |
| Shaozhou Tuhua | 韶州土話 / 韶州土话 |
| Wutunhua | |
| Xianghua |
See also
- Chinese language
- Chinese spoken language
- Chinese written language
- Dialects of Mandarin
- Dialect (discussion of "dialect" or "language")
- Identification of the varieties of Chinese
| Major groups | | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard forms | |||||||||
| Phonology | |||||||||
| Grammar | |||||||||
| Idioms | |||||||||
| Input | |||||||||
| History | |||||||||
| Literary forms |
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| Scripts |
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References
- ^ "Ethnologue report for Chinese". Retrieved 2006-09-04.
- ^ James Campbell. "Chinese Dialect Classification". Glossika. Retrieved 2006-08-30. Includes descriptions of the dialects spoken in over 2,500 cities and counties in China. Includes interactive map.
- ^ "Linguistic chart of Sino-Tibetan Languages". ChineseDC.com. Retrieved 2006-08-30. In Chinese.
- ^ Also known as Putonghua (which is also the official name in English) 普通话 in the People's Republic of China, Guoyu (also spelled Kuo-yü) 國語 in the Republic of China, Huayu 华语 in Singapore. The official sanction of Standard Mandarin as an official language has also given rise to the following varieties of Standard Mandarin in areas that did not originally speak any dialect of the Mandarin group:
- ^ Includes:
- Central Taiwanese
- Northeastern coastal Taiwanese
- Northern Taiwanese
- Southern Taiwanese