What are the two main Chinese dialects?

The official dialect of China is Mandarin, also call “Putonghua”. More than 70% of the Chinese population speaks Mandarin, but there are also several other major dialects in use in China: Yue (Cantonese), Xiang (Hunanese), Min dialect, Gan dialect, Wu dialect, and Kejia or Hakka dialect.

How many people speak Teochew dialect?

10 million people
The Teochew language (Chinese: 潮州話) is spoken by roughly 10 million people in Chaoshan and more than five million outside the Chinese mainland.

Is Teochew similar to Cantonese?

Teochew is part of the Min branch of Chinese. Source: Wikipedia. Although the different varieties of Chinese are usually refer to as “dialects”, linguists consider them different languages as they are not mutually intelligible. Teochew is not intelligible to either Mandarin or Cantonese speakers.

Is Hokkien same as Teochew?

Thus, Teochew in Guangdong province is a Min dialect, and so is Hainanese. Well, since most of the people who came to Malaya from Fujian/Hokkien province came from the Min-nan lands of Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, their language for simplicity was called Hokkien.

What is the rarest Chinese dialect?

Wenzhounese
Due to its long history and the isolation of the region in which it is spoken, Wenzhounese is so unusual in its phonology that it has the reputation of being the least comprehensible dialect for an average Mandarin speaker.

What are the 7 dialects of Chinese?

The classification widely adopted divides Chinese into seven regional groups: Mandarin (northern half of China and the southwest), Wu (Jiangsu and Zhejiang, e.g., Shanghai and Suzhou dialects), Gan (Jiangxi and surrounding areas), Xiang (Hunan), Min (mainly Fujian, Hainan and Taiwan), Yue (mainly Guangdong and eastern …

Is Teochew a dying language?

What is Teochew? Teochew is considered a dying language – it’s difficult for younger generations overseas to practice the language outside of the family since it’s not nearly as popular as Mandarin or Cantonese.

How do you say hello in Teochew?

Hello. 汝好。 le2 ho2.

How do you say sorry in Teochew?

In Teochew, we express sorry as 对唔住. For example, 对唔住, 我无买你要食个鱼圆面, which translates into “Sorry, I did not buy the fishball noodles that you wanted”. I would say 对唔住 generally represents a more serious manner of apology. If the situation is not too serious, you can use 孬意思 to express your apology.

Which Chinese dialect is the hardest?

Mandarin Chinese
1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.

Is Hakka a language?

Hakka language, Chinese language spoken by considerably fewer than the estimated 80 million Hakka people living mainly in eastern and northern Guangdong province but also in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan, and Sichuan provinces.

What kind of Chinese is the Teochew dialect?

The Teochew variety ( Chinese: 潮州話; pinyin: Cháozhōuhuà; Vietnamese: Triều Châu, Chaozhou dialect: Diê⁵suan³ uê⁷; Shantou dialect: Dio⁵ziu¹ uê⁷) of Southern Min is a variety of Chinese spoken in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by the Teochew diaspora around the world. Teochew is sometimes spelled Chiuchow in Cantonese.

How many tones are there in the Teochew language?

A syllable must consist minimally of a vowel nucleus or syllabic nasal. Teochew, like other Chinese varieties, is a tonal language. It has six tones (reduced to two in stopped syllables) and extensive tone sandhi . As with sandhi in other Min Nan dialects, the checked tones interchange. The yang tones all become low.

What are the different dialects of South China?

A group of distinctive Chinese dialects in South China, including Yuebei Tuhua and Xiangnan Tuhua. It incorporates several Chinese dialects, as well as Yao languages . An independent Chinese dialect. It incorporates Chen-Xu Xiang and Qo-Xiong Miao languages. In the list below, local dialects are not listed.

Which is the correct spelling Cantonese or Teochew?

Teochew is sometimes spelled Chiuchow in Cantonese. Teochew preserves many Old Chinese pronunciations and vocabulary that have been lost in some of the other modern varieties of Chinese. As such, many linguists consider Teochew one of the most conservative Chinese dialects.