Chinese written language

The Chinese written language consists of a writing system stretching back nearly 4000 years. Its logographic writing system employs a large number of symbols, known as characters, to represent individual words or morphemes. The writing system is considered to have also been a unifying force for much of Chinese history, transcending differences in spoken language. From the time of the Qin Dynasty onwards, a standard written language (at first Classical Chinese and later Vernacular Chinese) has always been in place to bridge the divergent spoken variants of Chinese.

Related Topics:
Logographic - Characters - Words - Morphemes - Qin Dynasty - Classical Chinese - Vernacular Chinese - Spoken variants of Chinese

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