Understanding difference between Cantonese & Mandarin

[bippy6184]

2010.7.28 (Founding father level) - Nai how (^0<)!!. May I please thank you for developing these lessons to help people communicate. And bring more real peace and understanding to the world. This is all new to me.

Just two questions... 1) I have Chinese friends from the Shanghai area. Can I use the greeting we have learned in the GREETINGS lesson without a problem with them? Or do I have to change them slightly? Like "Ni how" instead of Nai how"? I really don't know (>o<)!!

2) I have heard that there are 59 dialects of Chinese in all of China. Do I have to worry a little about greeting someone in Chinese... to be sure where they are from first? Like Mandarin and Cantonese are the two areas I am thinking about. Can you help me with your answers, please? I hope so. Zai chi en!!

[nickcripps]

1) Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong and I think some parts of Guangxi. It's also spoken by overseas Chinese who come from those regions. Your friends from Shanghai will speak Mandarin (the official language in China) and their own dialect, Shanghainese. If you greet them with "nei hou" (Cantonese), they might understand only because they probably have some exposure to Hong Kong movies. However it will be strange because it's not their language, it's almost like greeting someone from Spain with "bonjour." You should greet your Shanghai friends (or any other Chinese friends) with "ni hao" instead.

2) Generally most Chinese people you will encounter will speak Mandarin, although they will have different levels of proficiency. Greetings are very basic, so you can greet anyone from China with "ni hao," even people from Hong Kong. But since we are here to learn Cantonese, you should greet Cantonese-speaking people with "nei hou."

[chenyihanyy7437]

Since I'm from Changzhou (A city near Shanghai. We speak Wu Chinese there), I'll add some informations.
Native people from Shanghai speak Shanghainese, which is the prestige dialect of the Wu Chinese language; just like Cantonese is the prestige dialect of the Yue Chinese language. (Of course, there's great debate between whether Yue, Wu, Min, etc. are languages or dialects. I believe they are independent languages within the Chinese language family. But one thing for sure, Shanghainese is not a dialect of Mandarin.) The basic greeting in Shanghainese is "Non Hau", pronounced like "Nung ho" in Jyutping. Your Shanghainese friends will be pleasantly surprised if you greet them with "Non Hau”!

[solidtext_17138]

2010.7.28 (Founding father level) - Nai how (^0<)!!. May I please thank you for developing these lessons to help people communicate. And bring more real peace and understanding to the world. This is all new to me.

Just two questions... 1) I have Chinese friends from the Shanghai area. Can I use the greeting we have learned in the GREETINGS lesson without a problem with them? Or do I have to change them slightly? Like "Ni how" instead of Nai how"? I really don't know (>o<)!!

2) I have heard that there are 59 dialects of Chinese in all of China. Do I have to worry a little about greeting someone in Chinese... to be sure where they are from first? Like Mandarin and Cantonese are the two areas I am thinking about. Can you help me with your answers, please? I hope so. Zai chi en!!

"Ni How" will be universal for greeting any one in China, but "Nai How" could still be understood in most parts of the country.

Mandarin and Cantonese are two SPOKEN styles/dialects of Chinese language. Mandarin is the official state language of China and is the lingua franca of the country. It is in many areas the primary spoken language, including Beijing and Shanghai, although many provinces still retain their own local dialect. Mandarin is also the main dialect in Taiwan and Singapore. Cantonese is spoken by the people of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province, including Guangzhou (previously Canton in English). Most foreign Chinese communities, such as those in London and San Francisco, also speak Cantonese thanks to emigration from Guangdong. So why didn't other Chinese dialects gain the same or similar importance in western world? Why don't we hear much of "Shanghainese", "Shandongnese" or "Sichuanese". This is because the Grangdong (Canton) province was the earliest in China to start its communication and economic exchange with the western world more than one hundred years ago (Hong Kong was then a small village lying on the south coast of Guangdong). Many Chinese people nowadays living in the United States are of Canton (Guangdong) origin, and their accent (Cantonese) is much more heard by western people than any other Chinese dialect was.

Read this article (http://www.actranslation.com/chinese/ch ... tonese.htm) if you are interested in this topic.

[slc_17055]

Hello bippy6184,

Thank you for using Cantoneseclass101.com. Glad to hear that you like the lesson.

(1) If you have Chinese friends from Shanghai area, you can use Mandarin to communicate with them. Most of the time they understand Mandarin more than Cantonese. You can take a look of the lesson in ChineseClass101.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJhnlR ... PGSvL8Ml8Q

(2)As the article below mentioned that Mandarin is the lingua franca of China, most of the Chinese can speak Mandarin nowadays. If you can also speak Cantonese, I think that will be so helpful.

Siuling
Team CantoneseClass101.com