Mandarin Chinese and Her Sister Languages in Taiwan

Mandarin is the most widely spoken “dialect” of Chinese and the the most widely spoken native language in the world with over a billion native speakers. Mandarin belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, which includes 250 languages across East and South Asia.

Most linguists—me included—would argue that Mandarin and the other “dialects” of Chinese discussed below are in fact distinct languages. Why? Because most of the alleged dialects of Chinese are mutually unintelligible, meaning that a native speaker of one would not be able to communicate with that of another without the help of written Chinese characters or longterm exposure. But if one insists on calling Mandarin, Cantonese, and Taiwanese “dialects of Chinese,” then they should concede that Spanish and Italian are dialects of Latin…

So What is Mandarin Chinese?

Mandarin is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and is widely spoken in Singapore, Malaysia, and ethnic Chinese communities across the globe.

There are many names for Mandarin, with each moniker bringing its own unique political, historical or cultural flavor:

• 中文 (ZhōngWén): The Zhōng (中) part refers of course to ZhōngGuó (中國), while Wén (文) is in reference to “language,” especially the written form. ZhōngWén is arguably the most common way to refer to the Mandarin Language, but some native Mandarin speakers outside of Mainland China (especially in Singapore and Malaysia) prefer to use the following term.

• 國語 (GuóYǔ): Literally meaning “National Language,” GuóYǔ is the official name for Mandarin in Taiwan. It would serve you well to avoid using this term while in the PRC…

• 普通話 (PǔTōng Huà): PǔTōng Huà is the official name for Mandarin in Mainland China. Literally translated, it means “Popular Dialect.”

• 北京話 (BěiJīng Huà): Literally meaning “Beijing Dialect,” this is the third most popular name for Mandarin in Taiwan after ZhōngWén and GuóYǔ. This term can also be used to distinguish the Mandarin used in Mainland China from that of Taiwan; with the term BěiJīng Huà connoting heavy use of the distinctly BěiJīng sound Èr (兒). Switching to BěiJīng Huà (or rather, BěiJīng Huà’er as it would be said in the dialect itself) is an easy way to get a cheap laugh from your students, colleagues or friends!

• 華語 (HuáYǔ): This is perhaps the most politically correct term since Huá (華) refers not to the nation of China, but to the Chinese culture, regardless of what country one calls home. HuáYǔ has a somewhat academic flavor, and is often used by Mandarin teachers. As you can see, Yǔ (語) is used in many of the following names. Like Wén (文), it basically means “language,” but Yǔ tends to imply the spoken form.

• 漢語 (HànYǔ): Much like HuáYǔ, this term refers more to the Chinese culture than the actual nation of China. Specifically, Hàn (漢) makes reference to Han Chinese, the ethnic group that makes up about 92% of modern China. At 19% of the world population, the Han also happen to be the largest ethnicity.

• 北方話 (BěiFāng Huà): This term, meaning “Northern Dialects” is more or less synonomous with “Mandarin,” but has a somewhat broader scope than the above terms since it also encompasses other dialects distinct from standard Mandarin. It is rarely used, especially outside of Maindland China.

• 官話 (GuānHuà): Finally, we come to etymological route of the word “Mandarin.” GuānHuà, which literally means “Bureaucratic Langauge,” was brought to English on a path as long and twisty as the Old Silk Road it spread upon:
  1. The word was first transalted into Sankrit, giving us mantrin, meaning “magistrate”
  2. The word subsequently spread to Hindi, Malay, Dutch and Portuguese, producing: mantrī, məntəri, mandarijn and mandarim respectively.
  3. From there it was a short phonetic jump to the English word we have today, M-A-N-D-A-R-I-N.

Although 官話 (GuānHuà) is considered fairly archaic by the average Joe (if they recognize the word at all), it is still favored by many linguists when referring to Mandarin and the related northern Chinese dialects.

Mandarin’s Status in Taiwan

Before CHIANG Kai-Sheck (蔣介石 JIǍNG JièShí) came to Taiwan after the end of World War II, the Taiwanese people primarily spoke the Taiwanese language (see below), a dialect from Fujian, China.

In an effort to get the Taiwanese people to identify with the Republic of China, CHIANG Kai-Sheck forced the people to begin speaking Mandarin Chinese. Under the Generalisimo, people were arrested, tortured or imprisoned for speaking the local dialect. However, toward the end of military rule in the 1980s, the Taiwan government loosened up and began allowing people to speak Taiwanese language. Mandarin Chinese, however, remains the official language.

Mandarin’s Sister Languages

In addition to Mandarin, you will hear a few of her “sister tongues” spoken in Taiwan:

Taiwanese

Called 台語 (TáiYǔ) or 台灣話 (TáiWān Huà) in Mandarin and Hoklo in the language itself, the Taiwanese language is derived from Hokkien (福建話 FúJiàn Huà “Fujian Dialect”).

As you can guess from the name, Hokkien originated in Fujian Province, and is one of the dialects of the MǐnNán languages (閩南語 MǐnNán Yǔ).

Taiwanese is now “spoken” by about three quarters of the Taiwanese population, but fluency and frequency of use varies significantly in different parts of the island and between older and younger generations. Generally speaking, older people tend to speak the language better and more often than younger folks, and you are more likely to hear it used in central and southern Taiwan than in the Taipei area where Mandarin dominates. There are many reasons for this geographic and generational disparity, but perhaps the most important is that speaking Taiwanese was strictly prohibited under the rule of CHIANG Kai-Shek.

Taiwanese is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin.

Hakka

Pronounced 客家話 (KèJiā Huà) in Mandarin and Hak Kâ Fa in Hakka, this language is spoken by members of the Hakka ethnic group spread throughout southern China, Taiwan and many overseas communities. Like Taiwanese, Hakka is mutually unintelligible with Mandarin.

Cantonese

Also called Yue (粵語 Yuè Yǔ), Cantonese (廣東話 GuǎngDōng Huà) is the official language of Hong Kong and is spoken in much of southern China. Although less common in Taiwan than Taiwanese and Hakka, you will occasionally run into native Cantonese speakers here, especially in Taipei.