Chinaa land of linguistic minorities

1Chinese languages?
The phrase “Chinese languages” isambiguous:(1) the languages of China (i.e., thelanguages spoken in China)(2) the Sinitic languages (i.e., thelanguages that are genetically
Chinese, i.e., similar to Mandarin
Chinese)Many of the languages of China are
not Sinitic languages.
2

the Sino-Tibetan language family
Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken
throughout China. The Tibetic languages(yellow) are spoken mostly in Tibet, andthe Sinitic languages (red) are spoken
mostly in the eastern areas.
The Burmese (green) and Karen (purple)
languages are part of this language family.

3

major Sinitic languages
The many Sinitic languages form avast dialect continuum. However,the dialects far from each other are
not mutually intelligible.
Mandarin is by far the mostwidely spoken Sinitic language.
Over the past century, Mandarin
has become commonly spoken inManchuria and in Xinjiang.
4

China proper (e.g., 1912)
In this 1912 map, the area ofChina proper is shaded pink.
This is an area where the Siniticlanguages have been dominantsince the Qing dynasty. Otherareas with pink borders (Tibet,Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria)
are non-Chinese areas claimedby China.
58 main dialects of Mandarin

Even Mandarin has several
identifiable dialects.

6non-Sino-Tibetan languages of China

Some of the non-Sino-Tibetan languages of China areimportant because they have many speakers or they are
dominant in certain local areas.
Other non-Sino-Tibetan languages have international ties withChina’s historic ethnic enemies and political rivals.

7Tai-Kadai languages

Tai-Kadai languages are spoken insouthern China.

8Hmong-Mien languages

Communities that speak
Hmong-Mien languages arescattered across southern China.

9Austro-Asiatic languages
Only a few Austro-Asiatic languages are spokenin China.
Palaung and Wa are spoken near the borders
with Burma and Laos.
Mang, Bolyu, and Bugan are spoken in southernChina. Mang is also spoken in Vietnam and Laos.
The language of the Jīngzú 京族 people is very
similar to Vietnamese.
10

Turkic languages
The Turkic languages are spoken across Asia, and some are also spoken in China.
Uyghur has
10-15 million speakers,
and it is written in a
Perso-Arabic script.
The number of
Uyghur speakers is
uncertain because of
their persecution by
the government.
11

Mongolic languages
Mongolian is widely spoken throughout the part of China known as Inner Mongolia.
Daur, Oirat,
and other
Mongoliclanguages
are also spokenin China.
Evenki is usuallyclassified as aTungusic language.
12

Tungusic languages
Some Tungusic
languages, including
Evenki, are spoken innortheast China.
However, the numberof speakers isdecreasing.
13

Koreanic languages

There are many Korean language
communities in areas of China nearKorea.

14

standardization of Mandarin
Because of the many languages spoken throughout China, Mandarin
became a lingua franca during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Successive
Chinese governments have used Mandarin 官話 for many years.
In 1919, 國音字典 (the Dictionary of National Pronunciation) waspublished by the Republic of China.
In 1956, 普通话 Pǔtōnghuà, which has northern grammar and Beijing
pronunciation, became the standard of the People’s Republic of China.
15Mandarin as a lingua academica
Despite having variation in writing, Mandarin has become a lingua
academica for scholars in the People’s Republic of China (including
Hong Kong and Macau), the Republic of China, Singapore, and alsoworldwide.
The Republic of China 中華民國 (Taipei) continues to use thetraditional writing system for Mandarin.
The People’s Republic of China 中华人民共和国 (Beijing) writes
Mandarin with simplified characters.
1617