Chinese Mandarin Language: History and Media

China is a huge country with the largest population. Now here lives more than a billion people. Probably, therefore, many dialects and dialects are used on the territory of the state. Although there is also an official language, which is used in most regions. Also there is his oral variety and written. So, today we will find out if something has a common Mandarin language with citrus, and where and by whom it is used.

Where from?

Speaking of this dialect, it is worth starting with the main thing. The North Chinese language is not just the most common in the country. He is also considered the main dialectal group. It is here that the Chinese Mandarin language also applies. In addition to the fact that the Dungan belongs to the North Chinese, it is often called "mandarin" (from the word "Putunhua"). This name is probably justified. Although the Mandarin language is only part of the group. But the name of the North Chinese was due to Western literature, in particular Europeans. In the understanding of the inhabitants of the CIS, it is the Chinese language - this is the North Chinese, or its version of Putonghua.

The diversity of the North Chinese

As mentioned earlier, this dialect is not only Mandarin Mandarin, but also other dialects. They are all divided into 8 subgroups. And they are classified due to the regions of the republic. For example, there is a north-eastern subgroup of dialects. It is not difficult to guess that it is used by residents of this particular region of China. There is also a Beijing subgroup on which residents of the capital speak.

There are, of course, more complex associations, according to which it is difficult for ordinary people to understand the ownership of dialect speakers. For example, the Jianghuai subgroup occupies a small territory, which is located near the Yangtze River. Among other things, there are zhongyuan, ying-yin, ji-lu and jiao-liao subgroups. They occupy a large territory. But the most common, perhaps, can be considered the south-western subgroup. In the photo below, the areas in which the Mandarin dialect is used are dark green.

Addition

Along with the Mandarin language, there are less common in the North Chinese group. For example, Jin language uses only 45 million people. They live in Shanxi Province, as well as in the northern part of Shaanxi and Hebei.

Beijing branch

This includes the seven main dialects. Of the most famous: Peking and Putonghua (Mandarin). Among other things, there are special adverbs that, in principle, have similar roots to the standard Chinese language. But still they are distinguishable because of their distribution and carriers.

There is Karamai, Hailar, Chifan dialects, as well as adverbs of Chengde and Jin, mentioned earlier. All these language forms belong, in particular, to the Beijing branch and are the most understandable for those who study the Chinese language, since they are the most standardized ones.

Officiality

The official language of the PRC is Chinese. He has 10 dialect groups. For communication, the population uses the normative Chinese language, which here is called Putonghua. It is also used in Singapore (huyuy), and in Hong Kong and Taiwan it is called goyuy. Putonghua is usually called an adverb, spoken orally. In writing, the standard is called baihua.

The basis

As mentioned earlier, Putonghua refers to the Beijing dialect, which belongs to the North Chinese group. The grammar of the language corresponds to all norms that are fixed in literary works.

Name

Putonghua can be called differently in different regions. The official name is used directly in Beijing and the surrounding area. As mentioned earlier, in Singapore it is called huayu, as well as in Malaysia. But in Taiwan - goyuy. Putonghua in the West and did get a strange name - the Mandarin language. It all began with European literature. And they like to call it not just Putonghua, but the entire North Chinese group.

In addition, in the West, a special term is used for this dialect - Standard Mandarin. He has many options: Mandarin, Mandarin, Chinese, etc. In Russia, however, it is customary to distinguish between Putonghua and its related dialects. And the "citrus" version is not accepted by the academic community at all. Although the media for "red words" like to use this name.

Portuguese roots

The Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language is due to this "citrus" name of Portugal. Few people know that the North Chinese language is sometimes called guanhua. Literally this translates as "bureaucratic speech." This once again proves that Putonghua is used only by educated and very well-read people.

In Portugal, often VIPs were called "mandarins", which meant "minister, official". In the days of imperial China, this is how the Portuguese called influential people. Therefore, a tracing note appeared later on guanhua, and the Mandarin received the unofficial name Mandarin.

Variety of "mandarin"

In general, besides the fact that Putonghua is a very common dialect, it still has several subgroups. This is primarily due to the fact that when it was introduced as an official dialect, those areas that had not previously spoken in any North Chinese dialect reformatted the Putonghua into their own version. As a result, dialects of the Mandarin language, as mentioned earlier, are common in other regions. Among them Taiwanese goyu, Singapore huyuy, and also a variant of Putonghua - guandong.

Historical background

Until the Putonghua, an informal oral form of the northern dialect - guanhua was previously used. There is a possibility that it began to form in 1266. Then the Chinese capital was moved to the territory of modern Beijing. At that time, the Yuan dynasty began its reign . In 1909 the goyu became famous, which for some time was the official standard. Later it was renamed Putonghua. This standard included not only written but also oral norms.

Who is speaking?

The authorities faced the task of actively disseminating Putonghua as an oral equivalent of speech in those regions of China where other dialects are used. This issue was even fixed in the Chinese Constitution. But the process of distribution itself is rather slow. Nowadays, the Putonghua is used on TV and radio, but only half of the country's population can be explained in this language. Only 18% use the dialect at home, in communication. And 42% of the residents speak Putonghua in school and at work.

To control this issue, an exam was introduced that shows the level of possession of the dialect. To determine who is speaking Mandarin, it has become much easier. But it turned out that the results are not what we would like to see after more than 30 years of implementing the Putonghua.

The highest level is the level of "1-A". It is assigned to those who have made less than 3% of the errors. Most often, the result of this examination is the native born Pekingese. And among the rest of the population, this indicator is extremely rare. If in Beijing it was received by 90% of the examined, then the nearest leader was the city of Tianjin with 25% of those who passed.

To work on radio and television, you can make no more than 8% of errors, and this level is "1-B". It is media representatives who should receive such an outcome of the exam. To get a job as a teacher of Chinese literature, you can make no more than 13% of errors - the level of "2-A". Despite such depressing indicators of the spread of Putonghua, many Chinese are still able to understand this dialect. Although they may not be able to speak this language.