What is the difference between chinese and cantonese

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But it is the tone of colloquial Cantonese that makes it difficult for Mandarin speakers to understand. The pronunciation of shared words in Cantonese and Mandarin is totally different. Mandarin utilizes four tones, whereas Cantonese has at least six and sometimes as many as nine. And different tones have different meanings, even when used for the same word.

Mandarin is the official state language of China and the most widely spoken Chinese dialect in the country. It is spoken in many of the largest cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai. Mandarin is spoken widely in Singapore and Taiwan. Cantonese, however, is spoken largely in Hong Kong, as well as in Macau and the Guangdong province, including Guangzhou. No, though more and more people who reside in Hong Kong are learning Mandarin as a second language. However, according to a ministry of education statement in , 30 percent of people living in China — around million people — cannot speak Mandarin.

Most of us have already seen written Chinese characters. If you are not a native speaker, it may be challenging for you to write Chinese characters at first. One of the major differences between Cantonese and Mandarin is the way how they are written. Because both dialects share the same origin and have the same base characters, they have almost written the same way. When it comes to writing the characters, Mandarin is written using simplified characters as set by the Chinese government in the s.

Cantonese, on the other hand, is still written traditionally. It has many strokes than Mandarin. Spoken Mandarin and Cantonese are mutually unintelligible. What does it mean? People who speak Mandarin will not generally be able to understand people who speak Cantonese, and vice versa.

Both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers have their own distinct way of pronouncing words. It is the standardized version of Mandarin that literally means "common language". Writing and reading are two different skills to learn. In the case of Mandarin and Cantonese, there is a misconception that they are the same but they just differ in pronunciation. Well, they are not. So, what are the differences and similarities of these dialects?

The very important thing that we should learn is Mandarin and Cantonese are both tonal dialects which means that the tones affect the meaning of the word. The truth about Mandarin and Cantonese is they each have different tones.

See the different tones of Mandarin and Cantonese below. Mandarin has Five 5 different tones and one neutral tone. The neutral tone is a de-emphasized syllable with no tone distinction. These are the following:. Cantonese has six different 6 tones. There are three historical tones and these are usually used for syllables ending in p, t, or k. In total, Cantonese has nine 9 Check the following and compare it to Mandarin. Learning the tones requires more comprehensive studies but for now, what is important is you have an idea about the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin when it comes to their tones.

When we talk about the grammatical structure, Cantonese and Mandarin are really different. For non-native speakers, it might be easier for you to learn and understand Cantonese because it follows a logical set of patterns. On the other hand, it will be harder for you to learn Mandarin because it often changes its structure based on the emotional meaning and the subject.

Of course when learning a language, one of the things that you should consider is the usefulness of the language. Which is more useful?