Chinese+Language

Imagine living in a country where ones relatives speak a different language than you depending of the region they live in. In china, this is often the case. Mandarin is one of the main dialects spoken in China. In order to understand the importance of the Mandarin language in China it is necessary to examine its background, formation and its structure. Standard Chinese is the official modern language and is used mostly in mainland China and Taiwan. It is also one of the four commonly used language in Singapore, Indonesia. “The Standard Mandarin is based off of the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. ( [] ). Their vocabulary is also very widely drawn and comes from many different languages.
 * The Mandarin Language by April**

Mandarin, like all Chinese languages is mostly tonal. This means that tones like constants and vowels are used to distinguish words from each other. The four tones of the Mandarin language are, Yin Ping, Yang Ping, Shang, and Qu. There is also a neutral tone, which often comes at the end of either a word or a full phrase and is often said with a short manner getting straight to the point. The use of Standard Mandarin is often encouraged as a common working language, for people in the business industries, but can also be used for logistical reasons, like schooling or even tourists. Their sentence formations are very structured and well worded.

The Mandarin language is made up of polysyllabic words. Most Chinese words are formed out of native Chinese morphemes, which is the smallest meaningful element. Morphemes also include describing words such as objects and ideas. Official Mandarin however only has four-hundred spoken monosyllables, but over ten-thousand written characters. Mandarin can be used either as an academic language for learning or a non-academic language for travelers.

All over China the Mandarin language is used daily. It often differs depending on the region of China you live in. In order to fully understand the Mandarin language you must examine and learn about the background, the formation of their words and phrases, and also the structure of their sentences.

**Chinese Communications by Tara** Writing is a worldwide way for communication, yet not all writing is based on a simple alphabet. Chinese writing is based on a system that is hard for a non-Chinese local to understand. Chinese writing can be understood when one realizes it is telling a story through its characters, the number of strokes, and the unique numbering system.

Chinese writing system is unique because they use pictures to stand for their words. The characters used were at first based on people, animals, or other things. Overtime, the characters really do not represent the word it is talking about anymore (Omniglot-Writing). Symbols have been combined together to make new ones (Omniglot-Writing). When writing the language, each character takes up exactly the same amount of space as all the others even if it is more difficult (Omniglot-Writing). No spaces are put between any of the characters even if they are different words (Omniglot-Writing). Chinese is a hard language to read because you have to space all the characters out, find out what they mean, how to pronounce them, and which characters go together and which ones don’t (Omniglot-Writing). In order to draw these symbols, though, you need to get the basic strokes down.

The characters in the writing system can all be broken down into the twelve basic strokes (Omniglot-Strokes). dot, horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling, rising, four types of hooks, and two types of turning (Omniglot- Strokes). To write a character, the strokes must be in a certain order and must be written a certain way (Chinese-Strokes). The direction the strokes are written is always the same along with the order of which to write the strokes (Omniglot-Strokes). If you wanted to write a Chinese character the right way, you would need a brush and ink (Chinese-Strokes). It is harder to make a character look good if you use a pencil (Chinese-Strokes). Writing Chinese is more tricky than it looks. The Chinese writing system also has numbers, but they are written in a different way. If you were to use checks, banknotes, or coins, you would write out the word using the complex numerals, one, two, three (Omniglot-Numerals). You would use the simple numerals, 1, 2, 3, for everything else (Omniglot-Numerals). Unlike the English system of numbers, where we have a name for every number, the Chinese system adds numbers together (Chinese Number System). They use the numbers 0-9 and multiples of 10 to make new numbers (Chinese Number System). Just like the Chinese writing system, the numeral system is just as hard (Chinese Number System).

The Chinese writing system is very similar to the English system, but very different at the same time. The Chinese writing system is unique through its characters, strokes, and numbering system. It is more complex than the English system, which is based on a simple alphabet. This is why the language is so unique in all possible ways.

In China there are two main languages that you would mostly hear. These languages are Cantonese and Mandarin. Cantonese is a more conservative language and Mandarin is more world wide. There are many things between these languages that different and similar.
 * Differences Between Mandarin and Cantonese**
 * By Mandee**

Cantonese is mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of Mainland China, Hong Kong, Maucau, by the Chinese minorities in Southeast Aisa. This language is a very distinctive language and is spoken by over 70 million Cantonese people. "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 Zhongshan, and Dongquan." ([|www.nationmaster.com]) these four dialects are the main ones spoken. Another language spoken in these areas is Mandarin.

Mandarin is the most widely spoken language in China. It is spoken all over northern China and is the native language of two-thirds of the population. This language is the basis of Modern Standard Chinese. "Mandarin uses four tones—level, rising, falling, and high-rising—to distinguish words or syllables that have the same series of consonants and vowels but different meanings; both Mandarin and the Standard language have few words ending with a consonant." (www.britannica.com) This language is easier to comprehend and is spoken in many schools and homes. Also books and other writing documents can be found in this world known language.

Cantonese and Mandarin are very similar but different. Cantonese and Mandarin have similar characters but "Most universities in the US do not and have not historically taught Cantonese. Most only offer Chinese classes in Mandarin because of Mandarin's status as the official dialect of both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China." ([|www.nationmaster.com]). This shows that Cantonese is not as widely spoken around the world while Mandarin is a language that is around you everyday and is taught in many places. These two languages make up most of China. China is one of the biggest countries in the world and Mandarin and Cantonese are the languages you'll hear when you go there. Everything you hear has been spoken for many years and has been heard world wide. Hearing these languages to us is mainly sounds foreign but in China thee are the few languages you will hear and be around. Without theses languages China would not exist the way we know it.

Works Cited

"A Brief Description of the Chinese Number System." Chinese Numbers. 7 Oct. 1999 .

Ager, Simon. "Numerals." Omniglot. Bangor University. 1988 .

Ager, Simon. "Strokes." Omniglot. Bangor University. 1988 .

Ager, Simon. "The Chinese Writing System." Omniglot. Bangor University. 1988 .

"Basic Strokes; Stroke Order." Learn Chinese. EuroAsiaSoftware. 1999 . "Cantonese language." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 28 Mar. 2009 <[|http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/93234/Cantonese-languag] "NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Cantonese language." __NationMaster - World Statistics, Country Comparisons__. 28 Mar. 2009 .

"Standard Cantonese -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 28 Mar. 2009 .

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Pictures

Blue Peace Sign.(Online Image) Available at http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/3152096004_79e862e676.jpg, March 20, 2009. Chinese Characters.(Online Image) Available at http://home.vicnet.net.au/%7Eozideas/images/Chinese%20logos.gif, March 20, 2009.

Chinese Symbol for Trust.(Online Image) Available at [], March 26, 2009

Chinese Symbols Picture. (Online Image) Available at [], March 26, 2009

Chines Word for Love.(Online Image) Available at http://media.photobucket.com/image/chinese%20love/chinesecomments/lovetest6-1.gif

"Mandarin Symbols Picture." __ASK ANDY ABOUT CLOTHES__. 28 Mar. 2009 .

"Symbol for good luck." __Mama Lisa's World of Children and International Culture__. 28 Mar. 2009 .

Pink Symbol.(Online Image) Available at http://farm1.static.flickr.com/2/3580712_c1193d4ed4.jpg, March 20, 2009.