An Introduction of Chinese Language

1. An Introduction of Chinese Language Julin Chen, Project Tui Dong Li Specialist Nathalie Longrée-Guevara, Project Tui Dong Li Director October 19, 2010

2. Special Acknowledgements • Lisa Nolting • Jackie Wicks • Teachers of Mandarin immersion program

3. Why Learn Mandarin? • One fifth of the planet speaks Chinese. Mandarin Chinese is the mother tongue of over one billion people, making it the most widely spoken first language in the world. 

4. Why Learn Mandarin? • Chinese culture is over 5000 years old.  By learning the Chinese Language, you will learn another culture. Learning a language gives you a better understanding through the grammar and even how the words are derived of the culture behind them.

5. Why Learn Mandarin? • China is one of the largest trading partners of the United States. To take advantage of this huge economic shift and opportunities, learning to speak Chinese is a great way to give our children an advantage in the increasingly competitive business world.

6. The Languages in China • Chinese Language in China • The language of the Han people, the major ethnic group of China. • Spoken by over one billion people • Approximately 95 percent of the Chinese population • Non-Chinese Languages in China • The languages of Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur, Miao, Korean and other 53 minorities, except Hui and She. • Majority Chinese-speaking population is in • China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, • Substantial numbers are also found • throughout the southeast Asia, especially in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. • Important Chinese-speaking communities are also found • in many other parts of the world, especially in Europe, North and South America, and the Hawaiian Islands.

7. Chinese Language and its dialects • Spoken Chinese comprises many regional dialects. Each dialect group consists of a large number of sub-dialects. • The boundaries between one so-called dialect and the next are not always easy to define. • Most Chinese speak one of the Mandarin dialects, which are largely mutually intelligible.

8. Chinese Language and its dialects • Mandarin language group forms the largest group. The Mandarin group consists of a wide range of dialects in the northern, central, and western regions. • Wu dialect The majority of the inhabitants of Zhejiang, as well as people living in southern areas of Jiangsu and Anhui, speak the Wu dialects. The Wu dialects share marginal mutual intelligibility with the Mandarin and Gan dialects. • Cantonese dialect Cantonese are spoken in Hong Kong, Guangdong, Southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, parts of Hainan, Macau, and in many overseas settlements, esp. in the United States.

9. Chinese Language and its dialects • Kejia (Hakka) dialects Kejia dialects are spoken in Guangdong, southwestern Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hainan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, many overseas Chinese communities, and in pockets throughout Southeast Asia. • Xiang dialects Most of the inhabitants of the south central region in Hunan use the Xiang dialects, also known as Hunanese. • Min dialects Min dialects are spoken in most of Fujian, large areas of Taiwan and Hainan, parts of Eastern Guangdong and the Leizhou Bandao Peninsula, and in areas of Southeast Asia. • Gan dialects Most of the people living in Jiangxi, eastern part of Hunan, and the southeastern corner of Hubei use the Gan dialects

10. Grammar, Pronunciation, and Vocabulary • The various forms of Chinese differ least in grammar, more in vocabulary, and most in pronunciation. • For example • In English: Sister, please pass me the cotton yarn. • In Mandarin: 妹妹，棉纱线拿来 • In Pinyin: Mèimei,mián shā xiàn ná lái. • Wu Dialect: Mīmī, mī sāo xī dǎo lāi.

11. Mandarin • Mandarin is spoken across most of northern and southwestern Mainland China. It is the medium of instruction in all schools nationwide. • The Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing functions as the official spoken language of the mainland China (Putonghua), • the official language of Taiwan (Guoyu), • and one of the official languages of Singapore(Huayu).

12. Tones and homophones • Official modern Mandarin has only 400 spoken monosyllables • but there are over 10,000 written characters, so there are many homophones only distinguishable by the four tones. • Even this is often not enough unless the context and exact phrase or cí (词)is identified.

13. The Mandarin tone system • Mandarin uses four tones to clarify the meanings of words. Since many characters have the same sound, tones are used to differentiate words from each other. The four tones in Mandarin are: • high level – first tone • rising – second tone • falling rising – third tone • falling – fourth tone

14. The Mandarin tone system • Pinyin uses tone marks to indicate the tones. Here is the word ‘ma’ with tone marks: • First tone: mā mother • Second tone: má linen • Third tone: mǎ horse • Fourth tone: mà scold • The tones are used to determine the meaning of a Mandarin word. So mǎ (horse) is very different from mā (mother).

15. The Mandarin tone system • Mandarin tones are especially difficult for English speakers. Here is another example, • Suppose you are reading a book and your brother (or sister or child) keeps on interrupting you. You are likely to become exasperated and say “I’m trying to read a book!” In English, this would be said with an emphatic falling tone at the end. • But if you use a falling tone in Mandarin, the meaning completely changes. • Wŏ yào kàn shū.我要看书。= I want to read a book. • Wŏ yào kǎn shù. 我要砍树。= I want to cut trees! • The second version of this sentence would have your listeners scratching their heads. • So practice the tones! They are essential for speaking and understanding Mandarin.

16. The Chinese Writing System • The Chinese writing system developed more than 4,000 years ago; • the oldest extant examples of written Chinese are from the 14th or 15th cent. B.C., in Shang dynasty. • Now baihua has been used for all writing, including governmental, commercial, and journalistic texts as well as literary works.

17. The number of Chinese characters

18. Evolution of Chinese characters Chinese characters have changed over time from their earliest known pictographic forms, to the versions used today. Here is an example of the word “horse”, mǎ, 马.