{"id":5749,"date":"2021-11-10T00:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T00:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=5749"},"modified":"2021-11-29T13:58:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T13:58:41","slug":"how-many-chinese-languages-are-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/how-many-chinese-languages-are-there\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Chinese Languages Are There? You\u2019ll Be Surprised!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So, you\u2019ve finished watching <em><i>Secret of Three Kingdoms<\/i><\/em> and you have decided to learn Chinese...<\/p>\n<p>But which one do you mean?<\/p>\n<p>Though it\u2019s often treated as a single language, Chinese is actually a gigantic group of dialects. The first question you should be asking, then, is not \u201cHow can I learn Chinese?\u201d but \u201cHow many Chinese languages are there?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Just like many languages spoken in Europe \u2014Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French among them\u2014 derive from Latin, Chinese languages derived from Classical Chinese, China\u2019s own influential lingua franca, from which many local variants have developed.<\/p>\n<p>So, how many Chinese dialects are there?<\/p>\n<p>With a population of about 1.5 billion people, China has 302 individual living languages. Of course, we cannot do justice to all of them in one blog, but we have decided to cover the most important dialects so you know what to expect if you\u2019re still thinking about taking up a Chinese language.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 22px; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/mandarin-chinese\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0082cb;\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2192Sign Up Now: Free Trial Chinese Lesson With a Native Speaker Teacher!\u2190<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"border-style: solid; border-radius: 5px; border-color: #fb804c; max-inline-size: 400px; margin: auto;\">\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 20px; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Table of Contents<\/span><\/h2>\n<div style=\"margin:20px;\">\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#mandarin\">Mandarin<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#wu\">Wu<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#gan\">Gan<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#min\">Min<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#hakka\">Hakka<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#yue\">Yue (Cantonese)<\/a><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;\"><a href=\"#xiang\">Xiang<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><a id=\"mandarin\"><\/a>Mandarin<\/h2>\n<p>If you go to a language school and you say that you need \u201cChinese lessons\u201d, there\u2019s a pretty good chance that they will offer you a Mandarin course. With almost 1 billion speakers only in China, Mandarin is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, being such a large language, it would be naive to expect this language to be a homogeneous variety. In fact, Mandarin\u2019s sub-dialects are often divided into four groups: Northern, Northwestern, Southwestern and Southern.<\/p>\n<p>Like all Chinese languages, Mandarin is tonal, which means that it relies on intonation patterns to convey meaning, which might be the most difficult factor when you learn Chinese languages. Mandarin, in particular, has four basic tones and a neutral one. Learning to use tones well is crucial to learning Mandarin, as getting a tone wrong might drastically change the meaning of a phrase or word.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"wu\"><\/a>Wu<\/h2>\n<p>With around 85 million speakers, Wu is one of the main dialects of Chinese. It gets its name from one of the three kingdoms into\u00a0which China was divided at the end of the Han\u00a0dynasty, whose inhabitants spoke a variant that is very similar to the one you can hear today in this region.<\/p>\n<p>Wu is mostly spoken in Shanghai, in most of Zhejiang, in the southern region of Jiangsu, and in parts of Anhui and Jiangxi. In recent decades, migration waves have also taken Wu to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>Though we began the article by wondering \u201cHow many Chinese languages are there?\u201d, it should be noted that most Chinese linguists would rather ask \u201cHow many Chinese <em>dialects <\/em>are there?\u201d\u00a0This is for a number of reasons: the fact that all Chinese languages (or dialects) are written in one standard form, their common cultural heritage, and the long history of political unity and centralisation that is inherent to China.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5750\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5750\" class=\"wp-image-5750 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/night-city-view-min-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5750\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/photos\/people\">People photo created by 4045 - www.freepik.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>However, it should also be said that most Chinese dialects are not mutually intelligible. Speakers of Wu, for example, would have a hard time understanding someone who speaks any of the variants of Mandarin.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"gan\"><\/a>Gan<\/h2>\n<p>Gan is a smaller dialect that is most widely spoken in western China. It is believed that 41 million people speak some form of Gan, and linguists often state that there are five main dialects within Gan: Yping, Changjing, Fuguang and Yingyi.<\/p>\n<p>Though it has enough distinct characteristics to be considered a different dialect, Gan (in all its sub-dialects) is somewhat intelligible with\u00a0Wu\u00a0and Mandarin.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most interesting aspects of Gan is that it uses a number of archaic words and phrases originally found in classical Chinese, which are now rarely or no longer used in other varieties. For instance, the word \"clothes\" in Gan is \"\u8863\u88f3\" while it is \"\u8863\u670d\" in Mandarin. Similarly, the verb \"sleep\" is \"\u774f\u89ba\" in Gan while it is \"\u7761\u89ba\" in Mandarin.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"min\"><\/a>Min<\/h2>\n<p>Min is a broad group of Sinitic dialects spoken by more than 30 million people in\u00a0the\u00a0Fujian province. Its name comes from the Min River in Fujian. Min sub-dialects are not mutually intelligible\u00a0with other varieties\u00a0nor can they be understood by speakers of other Chinese dialects. This means that, if you want to learn Chinese to be able to communicate with a large\u00a0number of people, Min might not be the best choice.<\/p>\n<p>Have you already started? Don\u2019t worry, you may find Min speakers abroad in Southeast Asia. They will most probably speak Min Nam, also known as Kokkien-Taiwanese, which is the Southern variety of Min.<\/p>\n<p>Min dialects are well-known for their resemblance with Old Chinese, and a significant number of Min words can be traced back to proto-Min. This explains why the meaning of some words present such noticeable differences when compared to other varieties.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, in Min, \u9f0e (wok)\u00a0preserves the ancient meaning \"cooking pot\", but in other Chinese dialects, this term has narrowed its meaning to refer to ancient ceremonial tripods.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"hakka\"><\/a>Hakka<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5753\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5753\" class=\"wp-image-5753 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/roof-temple-jiufen-old-street-taiwan-min-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5753\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/photos\/city\">City photo created by tawatchai07 - www.freepik.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Hakka is yet another group of Chinese dialects that complicates\u00a0the answer to our initial question\u00a0of how many Chinese languages there are. Hakka Chinese is spoken in\u00a0Southern China and Taiwan and throughout the diaspora areas of Southeast Asia and East Asia. Overseas, it is used by dozens of Chinese communities all around the world. It is estimated that the Hakka languages have 34 million speakers globally.<\/p>\n<p>Because these dialects are mainly spoken in isolated territories where communication with people from other regions is rather limited, Hakka variants have developed distinct characteristics that make the different sub-dialects almost unintelligible. On the whole, however, Hakka Chinese is most closely related to Gan and, in fact, it is sometimes argued that Hakka is a Gan variety. This argument is quite strong if we bear in mind that a couple of northern Hakka sub-dialects look and sound familiar to speakers of Southern Gan varieties.<\/p>\n<p>A salient characteristic of Hakka is that it retains one-syllable words from Old and Middle Chinese. For this reason, a big number of syllables are only distinguished by the tone in which they are said and the final consonant.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"yue\"><\/a>Yue (Cantonese)<\/h2>\n<p>Yue, also called Cantonese, is a group of related Sinitic languages mainly spoken in Liangguang, in the south of China\u00a0and Hong Kong. As it happens with Min, Yue variants are not mutually intelligible with other forms of Chinese, which means Yue is not a great place to start if you want to start to learn Chinese.<\/p>\n<p>Yue dialects are the most conservative varieties among all major Chinese dialects, meaning that they resemble Ancient Chinese more than any modern language in China. Another key difference of Cantonese compared with other varieties is that it has nine tones instead of five,\u00a0and its vowels are much longer.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, while most Chinese dialects form compound words by putting first the adjective and then the noun, Yue dialects use the reverse pattern. For instance, the Standard Chinese term for \"guest\" is \u5ba2\u4eba (k\u00e8r\u00e9n)\u00a0\"guest-person\", but the same words are interchanged in Cantonese: instead of <em>\u014bin hak<\/em>, they say <em>j\u0259n h\u026ak<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Out\u00a0of interest, Yue is more popularly\u00a0known as Cantonese instead\u00a0of Yue because\u00a0of the region\u00a0where it is spoken. Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong,\u00a0was\u00a0formerly called\u00a0Canton in English, and it was believed that the\u00a0purest form of Yue was spoken there.\u00a0Now, however, the most influential area where Yue\u00a0is spoken is Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5751\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5751\" class=\"wp-image-5751 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/hong-kong-traffic-view-min-2048x1367.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5751\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.freepik.com\/photos\/background\">Background photo created by fanjianhua - www.freepik.com<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<h2><a id=\"xiang\"><\/a>Xiang<\/h2>\n<p>If you want to learn Chinese languages\u00a0to communicate in the provices of Hunan,\u00a0Guangxi, Guizhou or Hubei, studying Xiang is a great place to start. Spoken by 36 million people across China, this is a group of dialects with two main variants\u00a0which\u00a0can be divided into New Xiang, which is heavily influenced by Mandarin, and Old Xiang, which bears a close resemblance to the Wu dialects.<\/p>\n<p>This group of historically and linguistically related dialects is primarily spoken in the Hunan province, in northern Guangxi, and in parts of Guizhou and Hubei provinces.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see,\u00a0the linguists are right. The question should not be \u201chow many different Chinese languages are there?\u201d but rather, how many Chinese <em>dialects <\/em>there are, and especially, which ones you should learn.<\/p>\n<p>The answer, of course, will depend on what you want to do with your knowledge. Whether you want to travel, read Chinese literature, or chat with an online friend, our native teachers will be able to help you make the right choice so you can learn the Chinese you need, and not the one that traditional schools want to sell you.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 22px; text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/mandarin-chinese\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #0082cb;\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2192Sign Up Now: Free Trial Chinese Lesson With a Native Speaker Teacher!\u2190<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/contact\"><u>Contact us now<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and we\u2019ll pair you up with a qualified tutor who\u2019ll\u00a0help you\u00a0communicate in any of the Chinese varieties you need. We\u2019ll find the perfect instructor for you who can teach you any form of Chinese, not only Mandarin\u00a0or Cantonese. You\u2019ll get guidance and materials from our team during your whole learning journey, as well as a syllabus personalised to your needs and interest. Want to get started now? Sign up\u00a0for one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/mandarin-chinese\"><u>Free Trial Chinese Classes<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and meet your tutor with no strings attached!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, you\u2019ve finished watching Secret of Three Kingdoms and you have decided to learn Chinese&#8230; But which one do you mean? Though it\u2019s often treated as a single language, Chinese is actually a gigantic group of dialects. The first question you should be asking, then, is not \u201cHow can I learn Chinese?\u201d but \u201cHow many(\u2026)<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md-12 text-right\">\n\t \t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-xs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/how-many-chinese-languages-are-there\/\">CONTINUE READING &raquo;<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":5750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[235,605,46],"class_list":["post-5749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-learning","tag-chinese","tag-dialects","tag-languages"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Many Chinese Languages Are There? You\u2019ll Be Surprised! - Listen &amp; Learn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How many Chinese languages are there? With a population of about 1.5 billion people, China has 302 individual living languages. Let&#039;s explore the most popular ones!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/how-many-chinese-languages-are-there\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many Chinese Languages Are There? You\u2019ll Be Surprised! - Listen &amp; Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How many Chinese languages are there? With a population of about 1.5 billion people, China has 302 individual living languages. 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Upon getting his B.Ed. in English, he has been collaborating as a content writer with clients from all around the globe. A language enthusiast, Juan is now learning French and German and hopes to always be learning new things. When he is not working or learning languages, he likes taking pictures of people, reading novels, and watching films.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/juannario\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Many Chinese Languages Are There? You\u2019ll Be Surprised! - Listen &amp; Learn","description":"How many Chinese languages are there? With a population of about 1.5 billion people, China has 302 individual living languages. 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