Table of Contents
How close is Mandarin and Taiwanese?
No, they’re very different. If you speak Mandarin, you won’t understand Taiwanese at all. Taiwanese is a form of Hokkien, a language spoken in southeastern China. However, almost everyone in Taiwan speaks Mandarin, and about 30\% of the country speaks it natively.
Do Taiwanese and Chinese have the same language?
The languages Taiwanese use traditional characters in all written Chinese. Standard Chinese, which is a form of Mandarin Chinese, is the official language of China, and although there are differences between it and the Chinese spoken in Taiwan, both are quite similar. China is also home to many languages and dialects.
What are the key differences between Mainland Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin?
Another key difference is the use of “Erhua”. This is a feature of Mainland Mandarin that’s largely absent from Taiwanese Mandarin. To illustrate the “erhua difference”, let’s use the word 好玩 (fun). There’s a general perception that the Mandarin you hear in Taiwan (and southern mainland China) sounds softer than…
What is the Hokkien-influenced Mandarin accent in Taiwan?
These Hokkien-influenced Mandarin accent in Taiwan is generally similar to the Hokkien-influenced Mandarin accent in Minnan region of Fujian. However, as young Taiwanese today speaks more Standard Mandarin, Hokkien-influenced Mandarin appears to be less heard today, compared to the past.
Why do Taiwanese people pronounce “u” instead of “I”?
In Taiwan, older Taiwanese people or inhabitants in southern regions of the island tend to pronounce u when speaking Mandarin Chinese instead of i, which is used in most standard Chinese pronunciations. Let’s discover them in the following table!
When did Mandarin become the official language of Taiwan?
In 1945 when the Republic of China took over Taiwan and surrounding islands from Japan, Mandarin was introduced as the official language and made compulsory in schools.