Cantonese (linguistics)

:This article is on all of the Cantonese (Yuet) dialects. For the dialect of Guangzhou and Hong Kong, see Standard Cantonese.

Dialects of Cantonese

There are at least four major dialect groups of Cantonese: Yuehai, which includes the dialect spoken in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau as well as the dialects of Zhōngshān 中山, and Dōngguǎn; Sìyì (四邑, sei yap), exemplified by Táishān (台山, Toisaan, Hoisaan) dialect, which used to be ubiquitous in American Chinatowns before 1970; Gaoyang, as spoken in Yangjiang; and Guinan (Nanning dialect) spoken widely in Guangxi. However, Cantonese generally refers to the Yuehai dialect.

Related Topics:
Zhōngshān - Dōngguǎn - Táishān - Chinatown - Yangjiang

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the last 150 years, Guangdong Province has been the home of most of the Chinese emigrants; one county near its center, Táishān (where the Sìyì or sei yap dialect of Cantonese is spoken), alone may have been the home to more than 60% of Chinese immigrants to the US before 1965, and as a result, Guangdong dialects such as sei yap (the dialects of Táishān 台山, Ēnpíng 恩平, Kāipíng 開平, Xīnhuì 新會 Counties) and what we understand to be mainstream Cantonese (with a heavy Hong Kong influence) have been the major spoken dialects abroad. As more and different kinds of Chinese emigrate, however, the situation is now changing, so that Min (Hokkien, or Fujianese dialect speakers) and Wu dialect speakers are also now heard, as well as Mandarin in increasing numbers from Taiwanese and Northern mainland immigrants.

Related Topics:
Guangdong - Táishān - Ēnpíng - Kāipíng - Xīnhuì - Hokkien - Wu dialect - Mandarin - Taiwan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In addition, there are at least three other major Chinese languages spoken in Guangdong Province—Putonghua 普通話, which is official standard Mandarin, spoken in official occasions, used in education, and among the many internal migrants from the north seeking work in the developing south; Min-nan 閩南 (Southern Min) spoken in the eastern regions bordering Fújiàn 福建, such as those from Cháozhōu 潮州 and Shàntóu 汕頭; and Hakka 客家(話), the language of the Hakka minority 客家(人). Hànyǔ 漢語 or Mandarin is mandatory through the state education system, but in the Southern household, the popularization of Cantonese-language media (Hong Kong films, television serials, and Cantopop, most notably), isolation from the other regions of China, and the healthy economy of the Cantonese diaspora ensure that the language has a life of its own. Most wuxia films from Canton are filmed originally in Cantonese and then dubbed in Mandarin or English or both.

Related Topics:
Chinese language - Putonghua - Min-nan - Cháozhōu - Shàntóu - Hakka - Hakka minority - Cantopop - Wuxia - Mandarin - English

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~