![]() ![]() Chinese words often have only one syllable, although modern Chinese makes greater use of compounds than did the earlier language. Modern Standard Chinese has four tones, while the more archaic Cantonese language uses at least six tones, as did Ancient Chinese. The sound system of Chinese is marked by its use of tones to indicate differences of meaning between words or syllables that are otherwise identical in sound (i.e., have the same consonants and vowels). Modern knowledge of the sounds of Chinese during the Ancient Chinese period is derived from a pronouncing dictionary of the language of the Ancient period published in ad 601 by the scholar Lu Fayan and also from the works of the scholar-official Sima Guang, published in the 11th century. The works of Confucius and Mencius mark the beginning of the Archaic Chinese period. The Proto-Sinitic period is the period of the most ancient inscriptions and poetry most loanwords in Chinese were borrowed after that period. Some scholars divide the history of the Chinese languages into Proto-Sinitic (Proto-Chinese until 500 bc), Archaic (Old) Chinese (8th to 3rd century bc), Ancient (Middle) Chinese (through ad 907), and Modern Chinese (from c. If you live for word associations, derivations, and definitions then you’re going to love this quiz! Modified in 1958, the system was formally prescribed (1979) for use in all diplomatic documents and foreign-language publications in English-speaking countries. In 1956 a new system of romanization called Pinyin, based on the pronunciation of the characters in the Beijing dialect, was adopted as an educational instrument to help in the spread of the modern standard language. In the early 1900s a program for the unification of the national language, which is based on Mandarin, was launched this resulted in Modern Standard Chinese. (Its use continues in certain literary and scholarly circles.) Before 1917 the wenyan was used for almost all writing since that date it has become increasingly acceptable to write in the vernacular style ( baihua) instead, and the old literary language is dying out in the daily life of modern China. This literary language has no single standard of pronunciation a speaker of a language reads texts according to the rules of pronunciation of his own language. These languages include Mandarin in the northern, central, and western parts of China Wu Northern and Southern Min Gan (Kan) Hakka (Kejia) and Xiang and Cantonese (Yue) in the southeastern part of the country.Īll the Chinese languages share a common literary language ( wenyan), written in characters and based on a common body of literature. Most of the differences among them occur in pronunciation and vocabulary there are few grammatical differences. They differ from each other to about the same extent as the modern Romance languages. The spoken varieties of Chinese are mutually unintelligible to their respective speakers. ![]() More people speak a variety of Chinese as a native language than any other language in the world, and Modern Standard Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Chinese exists in a number of varieties that are popularly called dialects but that are usually classified as separate languages by scholars. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Ĭhinese languages, also called Sinitic languages, Chinese Han, principal language group of eastern Asia, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives. ![]()
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