In 1999, the Hong Kong government specifically published theHong Kong Supplementary Character Set, which contains many unique characters for writingspoken Cantonese. Many other regions in China will also speak their regional language natively and knowledge of Mandarin may be patchy. In mainland China and Singapore, Mandarin is the spoken language and people use Simplified Chinese (SC) when they write. Some students choose to learn both Mandarin and Cantonese. Each Hnz has its own pronunciation and meaning. So, extra characters, as well as characters with different meanings from standard written Chinese are often included due to the presents of words that either do not exist in Mandarinor correspond with spoken Cantonese. Yes, theres a vocabulary overlap between the two languages. It is suitable for making a large amount of food except for flipping foods. Historically, Cantonese is the most popular form of Chinese spoken outside China. Yes, 6! Q: So Mandarin speakers use Simplified Chinese and Cantonese speakers use Traditional Chinese? Once you reach the later stages, the accent isnt really a big deal. If you are a non-native speaker, Hong Kongers will certainly prefer to speak to you in English than in Mandarin. Both the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects are tonal languages where one word has many meanings depending on the pronunciation and intonation. In Mandarin, comparison is marked by adding the word (bi), meaning comparebetween the two things, with the adjective itself unchanged. The Group has exclusive distribution rights for several international renowned skin-care brands including Erno Laszlo and h2o+. Cantonese is spoken by the people of Hong Kong, Macau and the wider Guangdong province, including Guangzhou (previously Canton in English). Yea, Cantonese and Mandarin use the same script, but they use the same characters for completely different meanings, and some of them combine characters to form new characters that the other language never thought to do. Instead, theyuse characters that are comprised of parts that depict physical objects or abstract ideas. A regular Cantonese wok has a diameter of 12 to 14 inches. This is because colloquial Cantonese written down on paper is different to how Mandarin would be written down on paper. They will also have to learn, thoughnot as intensivelyas those who learned Mandarinas a foreign language to be able to understand Cantonese verbatim. Cantonese has nine tones while Mandarin only has four, which leads some to argue it's easier for Cantonese speaker to learn Mandarin, but harder . Languages. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. How to Learn Mandarin Online The Complete Guide, How to Say and Write Your Name in Mandarin, Basic Mandarin Grammar Everything Beginners Need to Know, Numbers in Mandarin: The Complete Tutorial, 99 Basic Mandarin Words and Phrases for Total Beginners, 15 Most Common Mandarin Measure Words for Beginners, HSK Test in 2022: The Complete, Ultimate Guide, Official language: China PRC, Taiwan, Singapore. Mandarin is the official state language of China and is the lingua franca of the country. In general, older Cantonese publications useYale, whilemost newer learning materialspreferJyutping, mainly due to its conveniencewhen it comes totyping in Chinese. Weve tested dozens of online Mandarincourses, some are amazing while others arehorrible. However, they're more like accents or dialects within the same language. Out of 7,139 living languages, Chinese, including all of its varieties such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Min, Hakka, and Wu, is by far the most spoken language across the world with 1.35 billion native . For example, in South Korea, you will come across many employees in customer service who speak a decent level of Mandarin Chinese but not English. That means a speaker of either Mandarin or Cantonese with no significant exposure of familiarity with the other could at bestrecognize a couple of similar-sounding words during arandom conversation, but itd be a lost cause to understand what was happening at all. Cantonese is peppered with a lot more English loanwords than Mandarin, particularly the version spoken in Hong Kong due to over 100 years of British rule. But where might you read the former vs. latter? While in Taiwan, Zhuyin or Bopomofo is used. For example, native Mandarin speakers in China can read most traditional characters easily without dedicated learning and vice versa. Increasingly, written colloquial Cantoneseknown as Written Cantonese and based on the spoken version of the languageis on the rise. An example of how radically different the pronunciation of spoken words can be is as follows: The Chinese word secret in Mandarin is mm, which is pronounced mee-meewhist in Cantonese itsbei3 mat6, which is pronounced bay-mah. People think that Mandarin and Cantonese are actually two different languages. Mandarin changes structure based on the emotional meaning and subject while Cantonese uses a logical set of patterns. Observe the difference. Heres a quick guide to what both Mandarin and Cantonese grammar have in common. Many other minority languages spoken in China dont have any ties with Chinese languages. These days, Cantonese speakers typically write in standard written Chinese in formal occasions, which is largely based on spoken Mandarin even though their language is different. Secondly, Mandarin mainly uses simplified Chinese characters(in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia). Cantonese and Mandarin are written in the same way, though Cantonese favors traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified. They are bothChinese languagesbut come from different branches. consist of a high (flat), rising, low (dipping), falling, and neutral tone. English, Chinese. After all, the majority of non-Chinese speakers find pinyin relatively easy to grasp. The use of simplified/traditional characters and Mandarin/Cantonese varies by region but not necessarily in the same combination. In much of the country, it is the primary spoken language, including Beijing and Shanghai, although many provinces still retain their own local dialect. If you're feeling particularly bold and plan to learn both languages, it is claimedthat it's easier to learn Mandarin first and then build up to Cantonese. Mandarin, on the other hand, is the official language of mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, and boasts over a billion speakers worldwide. jyun4 jyu1 (V) to originate/stem from. If you love the history of Chinese and want to connect with the roots of the language itself, then Cantonese would be the best option youll love the feeling of reading classical Chinese poetry in Cantonese! Cantonese is older of the two languages being in existence 2000 years ago while Mandarin is just 700-800 years ago. Its symbols derive mainly from variations of ancient Chinese characters. In other words, Cantonese is read still as Cantonese but the grammar, syntax, words, etc. Have you heard ofBruce Lee? Many same-sounding characters in Mandarin have different pronunciations in Cantonese. The advice above is largely true in Macau as well, although locals there are a little less sensitive to speaking Mandarin. A standard Mandarin wok has a diameter of 14-inch. The order of two-character compound words is, in many cases, reversed by swapping the characters around in Cantonese when compared to Mandarin. 4. Another popular Chinese language is Cantonese, originating from Guangzhou in China and is believed to preserve the historic features of the Chinese language. (Written Mandarin) w sh y g n hi (Spoken Mandarin) w sh y g n hi << Both written and spoken Mandarin is the same!>> Cantonese Chinese Region: Hong Kong, Macau, and Southern China. In Cantonese speaking regions such as Hong Kong, for example, children learn to read and write Standard Chinese but with the Cantonese pronunciation of each character. Cantonese has a longer history than Mandarin. However, there are many regional languages: Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, and Shanghainese (Shanghai language), to name just a few. and learn Chinese from the comfort of your own home! Spoken Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible. depending on the region. For instance, people in Guangzhou (formerly Canton), Mainland China speak Cantonese and write in simplified characters while people in Taiwan speak Mandarin and write in traditional characters. Most of the Chinese words are pronounced differently in the two languages, even though they could look 100% the same when written down. At their core, Mandarin and Cantonese are distinct languages with different pronunciation and tone systems, a lot of unique vocabulary, and sentence structures, despite they can be written with a mostly common script and share similar grammar rules. The Chinese Internet Slang You Need to Know in 2022, Guide to Tone Changes in Mandarin Chinese. It is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220 ADwhen long periods of war caused northern Chinese to flee south, carrying their ancient language with them. Learning Cantonese, even a little bit, goes a long way. Although there are numerous regional Chinese species for political and social purposes, they are all considered a single Chinese language. There are more than 60 million native Cantonese speakers worldwide. Unlike most other languages around the world, written Chinese uses a "pictorial" representation rather than a phonetic one. An ordinary dictionary will contain about 10,000 characters. Yes,knowing either Mandarin or Cantonese definitely helps with learning the other. Cantonese has 9. Although there are a lot more Mandarin speakers than there are Cantonese speakers in terms of sheer numbers, you can hear Cantonese spoken just about everywhere in the world. So heres an extremely honest, transparent, and in-depth comparison of Mandarin vs Cantonese, covering the geographic spread, populations, similarities and differences in pronunciation, tones, vocabulary, grammar, writing system, and more. There are some phrases specific to each language. Boland, Rory. Most of the Chinese words are pronounced differently in the two languages, even though they could look 100% the same when written down. I am Lente, was born and raised in Guangdong, a province located in south of China. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Both languages have different tones, but the use of tones in Cantonese is even more challenging due to it having between 6 and 9 different tones. Here are some otherresources I suggest to learn Mandarinif youre doing it today: Mandarin vs Chinese: Whats the difference? This is because Mandarin and Cantonese share a written system even though their verbal pronunciations are very different. An example to illustrate: 'I went to the bank yesterday' [English] wo zuotian qu le yinhang [Standard Written Chinese, Mandarin pronunciation] Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Shanghainese) as their first language, yet most of them can speak Mandarin fluently as a second language after learning it in school. Cantonese is generally only appears in specific locations and among members of certain demographics, and therefore is somewhat of a niche language. In reality, the use of simplified/traditional characters varies by region, not language. The difference between and is in 'degree of emphasis'; colloquial Cantonese typically use final particles for emphasis. Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the Chinese language and are both spoken in China. And if you go to Guangzhou or Shenzhen, you can expect any educated people there to speak Mandarin fluently. For example, (learn), (snow), and (blood) are all pronounced xuein Mandarin with minor tone differences, but in Cantonese, the three characters are pronounced in three completely different ways hok, syut, and hyutrespectively. Furthermore, it can help you breeze through the bureaucratic process required to study or, Ultimately, each language has its own benefits and comes with its own special traits, cultural heritage and linguistic beauty. Mandarin isnt boring, but Cantonese is the clear winner here. "What Is the Difference Between Mandarin and Cantonese?" Copyright 2022 | Terms & Conditions | FAQ | Learn Chinese in China. By and large, Mandarin and Cantonese are two different languages under the Chinese language family with their unique rules of pronunciation, vocabulary & expression, grammar, writing systems, and dialects. You can, but no one will thank you for it. Mandarin vs Cantonese. NOT a dialect of Mandarin. See below the main difference between the two is the number of strokes. There aremanymore speakers of Mandarin than there are of Cantonese. Jillian Dara is a freelance journalist and fact-checker. Written Chinese between Mandarin and Cantonese: Mandarin uses simplified, while Cantonese mostly uses . In mainland China, locals and officials alike typically write Cantonese with simplified Chinese characters. [2] 7 Differences between Mandarin and Cantonese 1. Let's take the verb "to give". Bopomofo (also called Zhuyin ) is another romanization system for Mandarin thats used in Taiwan. Furthermore, it can help you breeze through the bureaucratic process required to study or work in China. So what is the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese? Simplified and traditional Chineserefers only to the written formof Chinese characterswhile Mandarin and Cantonese refer to dialects of the spoken word. If you understand simplified Chinese you can probably understand a good majority of traditional as well. These tones consist of a high (flat), rising, low (dipping), falling, and neutral tone. Jyutping uses numbers after the English letters to symbolize the six tones of Cantonese while Yale, like Pinyin, uses accents to mark the tones, with an additional hfor the lower register sounds. Speaking Mandarin allows you to communicate with people all over Asia and the world. Editing for authors: because every writer needs a good editor. Mandarin: (n ho) Cantonese: (nih hu) Where are you from? Well, were here to put those questions to rest! Mandarin: (Wknlenxi sh)Cantonese: (Ngo5 tai2 zo2 go2 di1 syu1). Places Where They Are Spoken: Mandarin is spoken in Mainland China, Chinatowns, Taiwan, and Singapore. If you enjoy Hong Kong moviesand Cantopop, learning Cantonese will allow you to understand the media in its native form. In general, the Yale system uses tone marks whereas Jyutping uses tone numbers. Water Oasis Group is a Hong Kong listed company and a leading skin-care and beauty group. This is because, in the 1950s and 1960s, the state council of the Peoples Republic of China simplified a large number of characters in an effort to boost literacy rates. A common misconception about Mandarin vs Cantonese is that Mandarin is always written in simplified characters and Cantonese is always written in traditional characters. Mandarin and Cantonese are the two most popular Chinese languages spoken by over one billion people in the world. At first glance, Cantonese ( Yuy or Gungdnghu) and Mandarin ( Ptnghu) may seem nearly identical. It is hard to compare the di erence between Cantonese and Mandarin with the di erence between two European languages Many aspiring language learners often struggle with the question of whether to learn Mandarin or Cantonese. Heres a quick comparison between Mandarin and Cantonese wording and vocabulary. Knowledge of Mandarin or Cantonese gives you a head-start in vocabulary because of the shared words. Cantonese is a separate language from Mandarin i.e. According to some romanization systems, there are "9 tones" in the Cantonese language. Cantonese and Mandarin are two of the most widely spoken languages in China. Mandarin is the official state language of China and is the lingua franca of the country. We're looking for a Customer Support Associate who has an excellent command of both Cantonese and/or Mandarin and English to join our team in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1. You have some advantage in pronunciation if you know Mandarin and Cantonese and learn the other. This can sometimes cause confusion for learners who may not know which system to learn first. Classicalpoetry, for example, rhymes and sounds much better when read in Cantonese than in Mandarin. Cantonese has a dedicatedhabitual aspectmarker(which specifies an action as occurring habitually), (hoi1), with no similar counterpart in Mandarin. However, if were talking about usefulness in a broader, more international sense, then Mandarin Chinese objectively wins. Vessel of Ruin (Japanese: Vessel of Ruin) is an Ability introduced in Generation IX. Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia). Search for jobs related to Mandarin vs cantonese or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 21m+ jobs. About Company. (See Cantolounges interactive Jyutping Chartwith audio if you are interested in that system.). In Mainland China, where the government only actively supports one language Mandarin, Cantonese is perceived as a dialect for politics and identity. If youre going to dedicate years of your life to learning Mandarin or Cantonese, you better enjoy it and keep internally motivated even on your off days. The dominance of Mandarin is even evident amongst Cantonese speakers, who (if not completely bilingual), generally speak at least some level of Mandarin. But there is no standardization to written vernacular Cantonese. First, Mandarin pronunciation is relatively easier there are onlyfour tones. No, because Mandarins phonology is very distant from Cantonese, itd be a lost cause for Cantonese speakers to understand whats happening at all in Mandarin without prior exposure or familiarity with the latter language. Bopomofo is a distinct alphabet that transcribes all possible sounds in Mandarin. As long as you can string a coherent sentence together and say it fluently, you may disguise yourself as a (small-town) native speaker in phone conversations. Simplified, funnily enough, appears much more simple to read and write, whereas Traditional comes across much more complex at first glance. And remember, its just the tip of the iceberg! Even though the pronunciationand tonesaredifferent, there are similar sounds in both languages. Once you have a firm grounding in one of the languages, youll have a much better foundation to pick up the other and will learn it much faster! (Written Cantonese) ngo5 si6 jat1 go3 neoi5 haai4 . Cantonese people are believed to be more superstitious than northern. If you plan on doing business in China or traveling around the country, Mandarin is the language to learn. The best thing about learning Cantoneseis that like with any minority language, learning a little Cantonesegoes a long way. Because the grammar and word choice of Written Chinese is based on Mandarin, there is a wide gulf between the grammar of spoken Cantonese and writing as it is taught in Hong Kong. As Mandarin is spoken by so many more people, including numerous second language learners across the globe, finding resources, courses, and teachers online and offline is much, much easier. Three separate romanization systems are commonly used for Cantonese: Yale, Cantonese pinyin and Jyutping. Ultimately, what language you decide to learn will always be a personal choice based on your own goals and current circumstances. Status Not open for further . Hong Konghas one of the largest and most dynamic entertainmentindustries in the world. Basic Excellent. For example,Shanghainese, a representative dialectof Northern Wu Chinese, is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin, Cantonese, or Southern Wu Chinese. Learning Cantonese gives you access to amazing Cantonese pop culture. While many Hong Kongers are now learning Mandarin as a second language, they will, for the most part, not speak the language. Mandarin is being taught in public schools worldwide and there are many opportunities for students to study abroad in China via, exam, which provides students with a solid road map to achieving an advanced level of proficiency. This is because Mandarin and Cantonese share a written system even though their verbal pronunciations are very different. The dialects are not mutually intelligible when spoken, but written Chinese can be understood by the speakers of all dialects. This is especially true in Tibet, northern regions near Mongolia and Korea and Xinjiang. Mandarin is spoken by most of mainland China, while Cantonese is mainly spoken in Hong Kong. Themaindifference, expressed in as simple terms as possible, is that Cantonese lacks the falling-rising tone which is common in Mandarin but has two additional flat tones. On the other hand, there are around 84 million native Cantonese speakers and approximately 400,000 who speak it as a second language. In Pinyin, tone marks are placed on top of vowel letters to represent the four tones of Mandarin. In comparison, the Cantonese romanization system is quite different. This is something generally agreed by the language learning community. Written vs Spoken Language Whilst Mandarin Chinese (with the exception of Taiwan) is usually written in simplified characters and Cantonese is usually written in traditional characters, most native speakers can read and generally understand both versions. In this episode we chat about the different ways Cantonese is written, as well as the fancy term "diglossia." 1. One of the biggestobstaclesto learning either Mandarinor Cantoneseis the characters. Mandarin Spoken Document Mandarin multimedia documents, including broadcasts, television and video programs, Retrieval project films, songs, and music for retrieval by sound processing 10. Different tones In terms of tones, Mandarin has only four tones, plus a neutral tone; while Cantonese has as many as nine tones, which can be divided into 6 open syllables and 3 checked syllables. Mandarin and Cantonese have distinct pronunciation rules. Whichever language you pick be it Mandarin or Cantonese, be sure that you can see yourself really trying to learn it for the long run. Whats the Difference Between Mandarin and Cantonese? Weve created a quick guide to Pinyin to help you map out all the Mandarin sounds. 3. The similarityand difference between Mandarin and Cantonese are a bit like thosebetween Spanishand Portuguese. It was gradually replaced by Standard Chinesethe written form of Mandarin based on the Beijing dialectas the lingua franca among the speakers of other Mandarin dialects and Chinese varieties. This video gives a glimpse of how Mandarin tones work. (3) Cantonese has nasal vowels with a rhyme ending in m, as well as nasal vowels with a rhyme ending in b, d, and g, while Mandarin does not. However, colloquial spoken Cantonese differs quite a lot from formal written Cantonese, which can cause a lot of headache for learners! This means that those who use traditional Chinese characters will be able to understand the simplified characters, but those accustomed to simple characters won't be able to read traditional Chinese. Cantonesehas more vowelsthan Mandarin, which can be open and closed, and it has a broader range of consonants. If you learned Mandarin abroad or in mainland China, you probably felt an enormous sense of gratitude for Mandarins pinyin transliteration system. Atk stats of all Pokmon except itself. 4. So the effort to learn a couple of hundred words and phrases will get you out-sizedresults if you plan to live in Hong Kong, Macao, or Guangzhoufor an extended period. It is peppered with slang, colloquialisms, play on words (and tones), jokes, and good-natured ribbing(this is subjective, butotherpeoples subjectiveopinionsagreewith ours). Mandarin is the native language of 920 million people living in northern and southwestern China, who constitute 65.7% of Chinas population. Spoken Mandarin uses very many compound words, words that combine meanings the way English does in such terms as "machine gun," "fire truck," "playground," etc. In pinyin, each tone is represented by an accent mark over a vowel. By far, the largest difference between Mandarin and Cantonese lies in pronunciation - they sound completely different. (Keoi5 gou1 gwo3 ngo5)Literally, He tall more than me.. 6. Around 90% percent of Hong Kongers still use Cantonese as their first language and there is some resentment at attempts by the Chinese government to push Mandarin. So you can perhaps get by speaking Mandarin in Hong Kong, although its not always well received for cultural and political reasons. Both Mandarin and Cantonese lack marking for tense, person, case, gender, or plurals. Apart from the similaritiesbetween Cantoneseand Mandarin, youll get so much positive reinforcement from local Mandarinspeakers that your job will be a loteasier. Mandarin: (n sh n gu rn?). Mainland China adopted simplified Chinese characters since the 1950s and was later followed by Singapore and Malaysia Chinese societies. But its not that simple. Now, it all boils down to this question: which should you learn Mandarin or Cantonese? This means that if you are exclusively proficient in Mandarin, you will have no problem reading a newspaper written by someone only fluent in Cantonese. A Cantonese speaker might use the grammar and vocabulary of Cantonese when speaking or when writing informally, but the grammar and vocabulary of Mandarin when writing formally. Spoken Cantoneseuses more modal particles to express a certain mood. Most communities outside of China speak Cantonese, although there has been some shift in recent years with more Mandarin speakers emigrating. If you have trouble understanding such difference, heres an analog: Many words spell and mean the same in Spanish and English, for instance, idea, cultural, manual, but theysound quite different to the casual observer. After reading this article on Mandarin vs Cantonese, you must be able to tell the difference between Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. What Is the Difference Between Mandarin and Cantonese? Knowing Cantonese helps you communicate with overseas Chinese. are basically all in Mandarin. This is the native language and mother tongue of most Hongkongers, what is spoken at home, what you hear from the moment you are born. For this reason,we use Jyutping exclusively as Cantonese romanization in this guide, and we would strongly recommend you, too, start out with Jyutping. By contrast, Cantonese is spoken predominantly in Hong Kong, Macao, and two southern provinces of Mainland China. Mandarin is being taught in public schools worldwide and there are many opportunities for students to study abroad in China via Chinese government scholarships. Other than that, the switchbetween Jyutping and Yaleis fairly easy and intuitive, so its very little effort on your part. You have to ask. Mandarin vs Cantonese Pronunciation. Furthermore, Mandarin is the lingua franca within China and to some extent in East Asia. That said, formal Cantonese looks almost the same as Mandarin on paper when its written out in standard written Chinese, so Mandarin speakers would have no problem understanding Cantonese in its written form. Overall,Mandarinis slightly easier than Cantonese for two reasons. As a result, there are more distinct syllables (sounds) in Cantonese than in Mandarin (630 vs 409), ignoring the tones. Mandarin speakers, who havent had any training in Cantonese, are unable to comprehend any Cantonese in its spoken form the pronunciation is more different than youd expect. Remember, if you are interested in learning Mandarin, you can enroll in CLIs one-on-one Online Program and learn Chinese from the comfort of your own home! soeng1 caa1 (ADJ/V) (be) different. Well, they all came from Hong Kong! Another thing to take into consideration is how useful each language is to you. In Hong Kong, the population almost exclusively uses traditional characters. However, theyre not real tones in the phonetic sense but are rather syllables that end in astop consonantsuch as -p,- t,- k,or a glottal stop. Any educated Mandarin speakers canwrite Chinese words inPinyineffortlessly and tell you what tone a word is, but it would be rather unusual tofinda Cantonese speaker outside of the language teachers who had any clue how to write a Cantonese word in Jyutping or Yale at all, or who could tell you what tone it is. Well also highlight the pros and cons of learning each language, so youll have the details necessary to determine when it makes sense to learn Mandarin and when Cantonese is the better option. So if you frequent Chinatown, youll get a lot of mileage out of speaking Cantonese. What other languages are spoken in China besides Mandarin and Cantonese? In literal Cantonese (SWC- Standard written Chinese) It is the same as Mandarin. While Mandarin is restricted to sentence-final (le)and one particle, it is possible to stack various of such particles one after the otherin Cantonese for exclamation (though they dont have any core meaning). So, a Mandarin speaker from Taiwan would write with traditional characters, and a Cantonese speaker from Mainland China would use simplified characters. Mandarin has only four tones per sound, while Cantonese has at least six (and can have up to nine). Mandarin vs Cantonese: Useful Mandarin vocabulary. As a general rule, China is home to seven major language groups: Mandarin, Min, Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Jin, Gan, and Hakka. For example, the Cantonese word for "hello" is (nih hu), while in Mandarin it's (n ho). Cantonese when speaking or when writing informally, but the grammar and vocabulary of Mandarin when writing formally. Therefore, the same word pronounced in different tones will have completely different meanings. Mandarin. Learning Mandarin and Cantonese would essentially involve internalizing two different (sometimes radically so) systems of pronunciations and tones for each character. Knowing Mandarin or Cantonese and learning the other gives you a jump start on reading and writing, as the writing script characters are mostly the same. Cantonese has six tones, whereas Mandarin has just four. In Beijing, the form is called(Bijng hu), meaning Beijing language, or Beijing dialect. No, Cantonese is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin. If you want to learn Cantonese, we recommend you start listening to Cantopop on Spotify, and watch movies and TV series from Hong Kong on Netflix. Is Mandarin simplified Chinese and Cantonese traditional? By far, the largestdifference betweenMandarin and Cantonese lies in pronunciation they sound completely different. The official romanization system for Mandarin is called Pinyin, which is used in Mainland China, and to some extent in Taiwan and Singapore. Yes, Mandarinis easy for Cantonesespeakers, andparticularlyif you know written Cantonese, which is largely based on Mandarin vocabulary and syntax. Forums. The tone system differs between Mandarin and Cantonese. Chinese characters: (simplified) / (traditional). City Hall / . For Example: ( I am a girl.) One of the convenient things about Mandarin is that there are no differences between the spoken and written language (officially called Standard Written Chinese), meaning everything is written exactly the way it is spoken. So, lets take a look at four compelling reasons why some of you might still want to learn Cantonese over Mandarin. It's pretty much the same in Cantonese, but the main difference is the pitch in which the word is sounded. Can Cantonese speakers understand Mandarin? Thats because Cantonese features 6 primary tones. A notable difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is how the spoken word is written; both can be recorded verbatim, but very few Cantonese speakers are knowledgeable in the full Cantonese written vocabulary, so a non-verbatim formalized written form is adopted, which is more akin to the Mandarin written form or Standard Chinese. History and geography aside, whats the real difference between Mandarin and Cantonese? Three separate romanization systems are commonly used for Cantonese: Although the Yale system underwent some much needed updates in 1994, Jyutping is still the more dominant method of transliteration, mainly due to its technological advantages when it comes to, was used as the formal written language throughout China. For example to express the verb 'to eat', in Mandarin one would write '' but in Cantonese one would use the word '' instead which would mean 'food/meal' in Mandarin. Boland, Rory. But Mandarin can be slightly easier for beginners to pronounce as it has only four tones while Cantonese has at least six. Different Romanization Systems In Chinese mainland, Mandarin simply uses Hanyu Pinyin for transliteration. Mandarin has 4 tones. Table of ContentsMandarin vs Cantonese: What's the Difference?Number of tonesRomanization systemsWritten vs spoken languageNumber of speakers of Mandarin and CantoneseSimilarities between Mandarin and CantoneseTraditional and simplified charactersMutual written intelligibilityIs it better to learn Mandarin or Cantonese?Mandarin is easierUsefulnessRobust accreditation and standardizationIf in doubt just learn both!Ready to learn?Mandarin vs Cantonese: Useful Mandarin vocabulary. You can also use an HSK certificate to provide proof of your language proficiency. 2. As we discussed in a previous blog about Chinese Mandarin vs Cantonese, Mandarin is based on the northern dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing. (You'll traditionally hear 9 tones mentioned, but some of them have merged). Theydiffer between the two languages. There are some differences between the initial consonants used in each system. 3. A page published in 1955 in the Beijing Daily announcing the newspaper will begin using simplified, rather than traditional, characters. Here's an example of the Jyutping, Yale and Cantonese pinyin romanization systems side-by-side: Unfortunately, theres no official Cantonese transliteration system due to a lack of government standardization. language has benefits, so there is no need to worry too much about whether youve picked the right one. 2as of 2010; source: Wikipedia, . In fact, if a Cantonesespeaker knows just a bit of Mandarin, or if a Mandarinspeaker has some exposure to Cantonese music or movies, it becomes possible to figure out whats going on, if vaguely (it requires one person to speak slowly, and the other to listen patiently). Notice how the cof Jyutping Romanization is replaced with a chin the Yale system, and how an his added at the end to indicate the low pitch. Mandarin uses a standardized version while Cantonese uses a traditional version. Furthermore, there are far fewer differences between colloquial and formal Mandarin. Mandarin is generally easier for students to learn than Cantonese. In reality, though, Cantonesespeakers typically understand spoken Mandarin muchbetter than Mandarinspeakers understand spoken Cantonese. Although most Cantonese speakers reside in and around Hong Kong, its important to note that mainland China also boasts a substantial population of Cantonese speakers, especially in Guangdong Province. Mandarin and Cantonese speakers can communicate in writing. Visit here. is the symbol for "person".) Chou and Tzeng (1999), Mandarin 600 short paragraphs recorded by three male and three female speakers Tseng and Chou (1999) 9. When writing Korean, the system Hangeul is split up into vowels and consonants. Someone from Madrid has a different accent than someone from Mexico City, but they both speak Spanish. Here are some of the most important differences between Mandarin and Cantonese in terms of pronunciation: Heres a video clip of Canadian comedian Dashan speaking Mandarin and Cantonese. Like any variety of Chinese, both Mandarin and Cantonese are tonal languages (in which the pitch tone is used to distinguish the meaning of words), but they have a different tone system. Cantonese is a really beautiful language. Shanghainese vs Mandarin: Whats the Difference? ), while in Mandarin it's (n sh n gu rn? This percentage changes when you leave China, however. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong province in China and also widely spoken in Southeast Asia by overseas Chinese. For self-paced learners, this lack of resources is a huge disadvantage. Both Mandarin and Cantonese use lots of slang and idioms. Until the 20th century, Classical Chinese was used as the formal written language throughout China. Mandarin or Cantonese Translation? The main difference between Chinese and mandarin is that Chinese is spoken, and Chinese writing differs. Comparison isformed differently in Mandarin and Cantonese. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant dialect while people write in Traditional Chinese (TC). You can check out ourMandarin learningresources pagefor a starting point. In Cantonese, however, comparison is formed by adding the marker (gwo3) after an adjective. Cantonese is known as a more difficult language to learn compared to Mandarin. Cantonese hasunique syllable endings in final consonants, like. We explain each of these differences in greater depth below. All Chinese characters could be pronounced in both languages. Not really. For example, we write the tones that modify the Mandarin vowel a as follows: Mandarin tones may seem tough to comprehend, but they are even trickier in Cantonese. Yet fundamentally, they are two very distinct dialects and have many important differences. PoC . 1This description is deliberately vague, to avoid political issues. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. People from other areas of China generally speak another variety of Chinese (e.g. It was Emperor Qin Shihuang who first united Chinese words over 2200 years ago in 221 B.C. Around 65 million of these are in Guangdong Province (capitalGuangzhou, historicallycalledCanton, hence Cantonese), around 25 million in southern Guangxi Province, 7 million in Hong Kong, and 550 thousand in Macao. ). De facto official language: Hong Kong, Macao; Standard Written Chinese (written as how its said). Before we delve into the details, lets take a quick overview of the key differences between Mandarin and Cantonese. Cantonese vs. Mandarin. [citation needed] Donald B. ) Cantonese: ( n ho ) Cantonese: Mandarin is the spoken language and are both spoken in China. Two reasons because Mandarin and Cantonese? 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