Knowra Standard Chinese Standard Chinese Standard Chinese is the standardized national language of China, based chiefly on Beijing Mandarin pronunciation, northern Mandarin vocabulary, and modern written vernacular grammar.
Mandarin Chinese : A major group of Sinitic languages spoken across northern and southwestern China. Standard Chinese takes its pronunciation and much of its vocabulary from Mandarin.
Tones of Standard Chinese : The four lexical tones and neutral tone that distinguish syllables in Standard Chinese. Tone is part of the standard pronunciation and can distinguish otherwise identical syllables.
Guoyu : The name used for the national language standard in Taiwan and historically in China. Its early Republican-era standardization projects helped shape later debates about a national spoken language.
Language policy in China : Government measures governing language use, education, and promotion in the People's Republic of China. Policy makes Standard Chinese the principal common language in national public institutions.
Cantonese : A Sinitic language variety centered on Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, with its own phonology and grammar. Cantonese is not simply a pronunciation variant of Standard Chinese; it is a distinct Sinitic variety.
Beijing dialect : The Mandarin variety spoken in Beijing, known for features including extensive erhua. Its pronunciation provides the chief phonological basis of Standard Chinese.
Erhua : A Mandarin phonological process in which a syllable acquires a rhotic ending, often written with 儿. Beijing speech features erhua, though its use is variable in Standard Chinese.
Mandarin (late imperial lingua franca) : A family of regional speech varieties that served as a lingua franca among officials in imperial China. The modern standard inherited the name and northern linguistic basis associated with this older lingua franca.
Education in China : The system of schooling and higher education in the People's Republic of China. Standard Chinese is the primary language of instruction and a required subject in schools.
Taiwanese Mandarin : The Mandarin variety used in Taiwan, with distinctive pronunciation, vocabulary, and usage. It shares a Mandarin basis with Standard Chinese but follows different norms and local conventions.
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