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Is Cantonese a separate language from Chinese?
By the comprehensibility criterion, Cantonese is not a dialect of Chinese. Rather, it is a language, as are Shanghaiese, Mandarin and other kinds of Chinese. Most Western linguists classify them as “Sinitic languages”, not “dialects of Chinese”. (And some languages in China, like Uighur, are not Sinitic at all.)
Is Cantonese taught in schools?
The government revived teaching in Cantonese during the early 1980s, but by the end of 1994, only 20\% of secondary schools had adopted Cantonese as the language medium of teaching. From the 1998-1999 school year, with direction from the government, 75\% of schools began to use Cantonese in their classes.
Is Cantonese taught in China?
A language under siege It has been reported that increasingly young people in Guangzhou, the homeland of Cantonese, are no longer fluent in the language – because classes are taught in Mandarin, and the use of Cantonese is frowned upon at schools.
Why is Mandarin the official language of China and not Cantonese?
How did Mandarin become the official language? All of the official spoken languages were once dialects. Mandarin was the dialect spoken in the Northern regime and especially Beijing. At the time, Mandarin speakers did not necessarily outnumber other major dialects, mainly Cantonese and Wu, by much.
Is Cantonese dying 2021?
According to these experts, Cantonese isn’t dying at all. For now. “From a linguistic point of view, it’s not endangered at all. It’s doing quite well compared to other languages in the China region,” said Mr Lau.
Should Malaysian parents send their children to Chinese primary school?
Despite his own experience, however, he recommends parents send their children to Chinese primary school for their first six years of schooling. Malaysian Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid said in April that vernacular schools should become more involved in ‘nationhood programmes’.
Where does the Cantonese language come from?
‘Standard Cantonese’) is a language within the Chinese (or Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (also known as Canton) and its surrounding area in Southeastern China. It is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has over 80 million native speakers.
How common is Cantonese in Hong Kong and Macau?
Due to the linguistic history of Hong Kong and Macau, and the use of Cantonese in many established overseas Chinese communities, the use of Cantonese is quite widespread compared to the presence of its speakers residing in China. Cantonese is the predominant Chinese variety spoken in Hong Kong and Macau.
What is the difference between Cantonese and Yue?
It is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has over 80 million native speakers. While the term Cantonese specifically refers to the prestige variety, it is often used to refer to the entire Yue subgroup of Chinese, including related but largely mutually unintelligible languages and dialects such as Taishanese .