Chinese forms part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. About one-fifth of the people in the world speak some variety of Chinese as their native language. Internal diversity in Chinese, with respect to grammar, vocabulary, and syntax, is comparable to the Romance languages, and greater than the North Germanic languages and East Slavic languages. However, owing to China's sociopolitical and cultural situation, whether these variants should be known as languages or dialects is a subject of ongoing debate. Some people call Chinese a language and its subdivisions dialects, while others call Chinese a language family and its subdivisions languages. Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family of about 250 languages of East Asia, second only to Indo-European in terms of the number of speakers. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families. ... A variety of a language is a form that differs from other forms of the language systematically and coherently. ... Romance languages in the world: Blue – French; Green – Spanish; Orange – Portuguese; Yellow – Italian; Red – Romanian The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ... The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages (including English, German, and Dutch) and the East Germanic languages (now extinct). ... This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families Most languages are known to belong to language families (families hereforth). ...

From a purely descriptive point of view, "languages" and "dialects" are simply arbitrary groups of similar idiolects, and the distinction is irrelevant to linguists who are only concerned with describing regional speeches scientifically. However, the language/dialect distinction has far-reaching implications in socio-political issues, such as the national identity of China, regional identities within China, and the very nature of the (Han) Chinese "nation" or "race". As a result, it has become a subject of contention. In linguistics, prescription is the laying down or prescribing of normative rules for a language. ... An idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. ...

Self-descriptions of speakers of regional variants

Although linguists have made great progress in describing and classifying the regional varieties of Chinese over the last century, their classification does not necessarily correspond to how these regional variants have traditionally been viewed and categorized. Thus, although the first-level divisions of Chinese are often referred to as "languages", they do not always correspond to linguistic or cultural self-identity.

It is customary in China to refer to the speeches of cities and provinces, even though these provincial boundaries correspond poorly to the groupings devised by linguists. For example, the various dialects within Anhui Province are often called "Anhui dialect", even though they are scattered in four of the "Chinese languages" recognized by linguists — Mandarin, Wu, Hui, and Gan. Similarly, the dialects that linguistics consider to be part of the Wu language are spoken over Zhejiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, and Shanghai Municipality, and so can be described variously as "Zhejiang dialect", "Jiangsu dialect", "Anhui dialect", and "Shanghai dialect". Another example is that although the Sichuan dialect is considered to be distinct from the Beijing dialect, linguists consider Sichuan dialect and Beijing dialect both to be part of the Mandarin group. With such a contradiction between geography-based and linguistics-based classification, linguistic self-identity is also rather complex. Anhui (Chinese: 安徽; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: An-hui; Postal System Pinyin: Ngan-hui, Anhwei or An-hwei) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Wu (吳方言 pinyin wú fāng yán; 吳語 pinyin wú yÇ” lumazi wu niu(nyu)) is one of the major divisions of the Chinese language. ... The Hui (徽) dialects are unrelated to the Hui (回) ethnic group of China. ... Gan (赣) is one of the major divisions of spoken Chinese, concentrated in and typical of Jiangxi Province. ... Zhejiang (Chinese: 浙江; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Che-chiang; Postal System Pinyin: Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Jiangsu (Simplified Chinese: 江苏; Traditional Chinese: 江蘇; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-su; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsu) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. ... Situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in Eastern China, Shanghai (Chinese: 上海; pinyin: ; Shanghainese: ) is Chinas largest city by population. ... Shanghainese (上海話; pinyin: Shànghǎihuà, Shanghainese in SAMPA: [ zA~ hE hE wo ]) is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai. ... Sichuan dialect sometimes means a dialect belonging to the Southeast Mandarin group, spoken in Sichuan China, and sometimes it means all dialects spoken in Sichuan. ... Sichuan dialect sometimes means a dialect belonging to the Southeast Mandarin group, spoken in Sichuan China, and sometimes it means all dialects spoken in Sichuan. ...

On one hand, there is a tendency to regard dialects as variations of a single written Chinese language. This is partly because speakers of different varieties of Chinese all use one formal standard written language, athough in modern times this written language is itself based on one variety of spoken Chinese, Mandarin. In pre-20th Century China Classical Chinese was used. Vernacular Chinese (pinyin: báihuà; Wade-Giles: paihua) is a style or register of the written Chinese language essentially modeled after the spoken language and associated with Standard Mandarin. ...

On the other hand, some regions with strong senses of regional cohesiveness have become more aware of regional groupings of dialects, as well as self-identities based on these linguistic groupings. In some self-identified linguistic groups, such as Wu or Hakka, these groups correspond well to those devised by linguists. In other self-identified linguistic groups, such as Teochew and Taiwanese, the correspondences are not as exact. Wu (吳方言 pinyin wú fāng yán; 吳語 pinyin wú yǔ lumazi wu niu(nyu)) is one of the major divisions of the Chinese language. ... Hakka (Simplified Chinese: 客家话, Traditional Chinese: 客家話, Hakka: Hak-ka-fa/-va, pinyin: Kèjiāhuà) is a Chinese dialect/language spoken predominantly in southern China by the Hakka ethnic group and descendants in diaspora throughout East and Southeast Asia and around the world. ... The Chaozhou language , also called Teochew, Teochiu, Tiuchiu, or Diojiu, is a dialect of the Chinese spoken variant of Minnan 閩南, spoken in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong. ... See alternative meanings for other possible definitions. ...

It is notable that in Chinese, whether the standard or the regional languages, there is typically no conscious distinguishing between "language" and "dialect" when referring to any of the languages, unless the subject matter necessitates the distinction (and even then, the distinction is not always made). If, for example, a Guangdong inhabitant refers to the Suzhou dialect, he talks about 蘇州話 Sūzhōu huà ("Suzhou speech"), not 蘇州方言 Sūzhōu dialect or the like. Standard Mandarin refers to the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; Pinyin: GuÇŽngdōng; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Suzhou (Simplified Chinese: 苏州; Traditional Chinese: 蘇州; Pinyin: SÅ«zhōu; Wade-Giles: Su-chou; sometimes seen transliterated as Su-chow, Suchow, or Soochow) is a famous city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. ...

Implications of the language / dialect distinction

The idea of single language has major overtones in politics and self-identity, and explains the amount of emotion over this issue. The idea of Chinese as a language family may suggest that China consists of several different nations, challenge the notion of a single Han Chinese nationality, and legitimize secessionist movements. This is why some Chinese are uncomfortable with it, while supporters of Taiwan independence tend to be strong promoters of Min- and Hakka-language education. Furthermore, for some, suggesting that Chinese is more correctly described as multiple languages implies that the notion of a single Chinese language and a single Chinese state or nationality is artificial. Han Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 汉族; Traditional Chinese: 漢族; Pinyin: hànzú) is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. ... Taiwan independence (Traditional Chinese: 台灣獨立; Pinyin: , Pe̍h-oē-jī: Tâi-oân To̍k-li̍p; abbreviated to 台獨, Táidú, Tâi-to̍k) is a political movement whose goal is primarily to create an independent and sovereign Republic of Taiwan (out of the lands currently administered by the...

However, the links between ethnicity, politics, and language can be complex. Many Wu, Min, Hakka, and Cantonese speakers consider their own varieties as separate spoken languages, but the Han Chinese nationality as one entity. They do not regard these two positions as contradictory, but consider the Han Chinese an entity of great internal diversity. Moreover, the government of the People's Republic of China officially states that China is a multinational state, and that the term "Chinese" refers to a broader concept Zhonghua Minzu that incorporates groups that do not natively speak Chinese, such as Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongols. (Groups that do speak Chinese are properly called Han Chinese, and are regarded as one component of a multi-ethnic whole.) This is seen as an ethnic and cultural concept, not a political one. Similarly, on Taiwan, some supporters of Chinese reunification promote the local language, while some supporters of Taiwan independence have little interest in the topic. And the Taiwanese identity incorporates Taiwanese aborigines, who are not considered Han Chinese because they speak Austronesian languages, predate Han Chinese settlement, and are culturally and genetically linked to other Austronesian-speaking peoples such as Polynesians. Han Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 汉族; Traditional Chinese: 漢族; Pinyin: hànzú) is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. ... The Peoples Republic of China officially describes itself as a multi-ethnic unitary state and as such officially recognizes 56 nationalities or mínzú (民族), within China: the Han being the majority (>92%), and the remaining 55 nationalities being the national minorities. ... Zhonghua Minzu (Traditional Chinese: 中華民族; Simplified Chinese: 中华民族; Hanyu Pinyin: ), is a Mandarin Chinese term that in modern China, describes a notion of a Chinese nationality transcending ethnic divisions- in other words, a civic nationality as opposed to an ethnic one, with a central loyalty to China as a whole. ... The Tibetan people are a people living in Tibet and some surrounding areas. ... The Uyghur (Uyghur: ئۇيغۇر; Turkish: Uygur; Simplified Chinese: 维吾尔; Traditional Chinese: 維吾爾; Pinyin: Wéiwúěr) are a Turkic people, forming one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Peoples Republic of China. ... The Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China. ... Han Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 汉族; Traditional Chinese: 漢族; Pinyin: hànzú) is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. ... Chinese (re)unification (Traditional Chinese: 中國統一; Simplified Chinese: 中国统一; Pinyin: ) is a goal of Chinese nationalism that refers to the reunification of all of China under a single political entity. ... A Rukai village Chief visiting the Department of Anthropology in Tokyo Imperial University during the Japanese rule. ... The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ... Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the triangle Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a large grouping of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. ...

Comparison with Europe

Differences in the socio-political context of Chinese and European languages gave rise to the difference in terms of linguistic perception between the two cultures. In Europe, political fragmentation gave rise to independent states roughly the size of Chinese provinces. This generated a political desire to create separate cultural and literary standards to differentiate nation-states and standardize the language within a nation-state. In China, a single cultural and literary standard (Classical Chinese and later, Vernacular Chinese) continued to exist while the spoken language continued to diverge between different cities and counties, much as European languages diverged, due to the scale of the country, and the obstruction of communication by geography. Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of very old forms of Chinese , making it very different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. ... Vernacular Chinese (pinyin: báihuà; Wade-Giles: paihua) is a style or register of the written Chinese language essentially modeled after the spoken language and associated with Standard Mandarin. ...

The diverse Chinese spoken forms and common written form comprise a very different linguistic situation from that in Europe. In Europe, linguistic differences sharpened as the language of each nation-state was standardized. For example, a farmer on the French side of the border would start to model his speech and writing after Paris while his neighbour on the Spanish side after Madrid. The use of local speech became erroneous. In China, standardization of spoken dialects was weaker, and mostly due to cultural influence. Although, as with Europe, dialects of regional political or cultural capitals were still prestigious and widely used as the region's lingua franca, their linguistic influence depended more on the capital's status and wealth than entirely on the political boundaries of the region.

Comparison with India

China's linguistic situation is more similar to India's. Although India was historically not as unified as China, parts of it speaking multiple languages have long been united in various states, and many of its languages were not standardized until the last few decades through political centralization. Like Classical Chinese, Sanskrit long played a role as a common written language. Unlike Classical Chinese, its descendants are recognized as separate languages, eighteen of which are official national languages. The Sanskrit language (Skt. ...