What are the main languages spoken in China?

Answer

The main languages spoken in China are Mandarin, Chinese and more.

Answer

There is only one written Chinese language but the characters in which it is expressed allow many oral versions of the same language. The written language does impose some restrictions on the oral languages: they all follow the same grammar; since each character represents one syllable, a word in one oral form should have the same number of syllables as a word in another oral form.

It is official government policy that all oral versions of the Chinese language are only dialects - there is only one Chinese language. This approach is understandable in that the Chinese government is trying to encourage national unity. However, it is arguable that there are several variants that are sufficiently different as to constitute separate languages.

The one dialect being taught right across China is called, in English, Mandarin. Cantonese is perhaps the second most common language, universally spoken in Hong Kong and spoken as a first language or dialect in the neighbouring Guandong province and neighbouring areas. Another major dialect is often called Shanghainese.

Each major town or city has its own distinctive dialect. For example, cities in the eastern Jiangsu province have dialects that can only be followed with a little difficulty by a native of neighbouring Shanghai.

In addition to the above, some minority groups have their own written and oral languages.

First answer by ID2093299722. Last edit by Dick Harfield. Contributor trust: 382 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 4 [recommend question]