|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
| Chinese zodiac. |
Chinese
Chinese (simplified Chinese: 汉语; traditional Chinese:
漢語; pinyin: Hànyǔ[b] or also 中文; Zhōngwén,[c] especially
for the written language) is a group of language
varieties that form the Sinitic branch of the
Sino-Tibetan languages, spoken by the ethnic Han Chinese
majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater
China. About 1.2 billion people (or approximately 16% of
the world's population) speak a variety of Chinese as
their first language.
Classification
Linguists classify all varieties of Chinese as part of
the Sino-Tibetan language family, together with Burmese,
Tibetan and many other languages spoken in the Himalayas
and the Southeast Asian Massif. Although the
relationship was first proposed in the early 19th
century and is now broadly accepted, reconstruction of
Sino-Tibetan is much less developed than that of
families such as Indo-European or Austroasiatic.
Difficulties have included the great diversity of the
languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, and
the effects of language contact. In addition, many of
the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas
that are difficult to reach and are often also sensitive
border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of
proto-Sino-Tibetan, the higher-level structure of the
family remains unclear. A top-level branching into
Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed,
but has not been convincingly demonstrated. |
|
History
The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago
during the Shang dynasty. As the language evolved over
this period, the various local varieties became mutually
unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have
repeatedly sought to promulgate a unified standard. |
|
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, often called Mandarin, is the official
standard language of China and Taiwan, and one of the
four official languages of Singapore (where it is called
"Huáyŭ" 华语 or simply Chinese). Standard Chinese is based
on the Beijing dialect, the dialect of Mandarin as
spoken in Beijing. The governments of both China and
Taiwan intend for speakers of all Chinese speech
varieties to use it as a common language of
communication. Therefore, it is used in government
agencies, in the media, and as a language of instruction
in schools. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Search Fun Easy English |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About
Contact
Copyright
Resources
Site Map |
