Chinese-Dialect

ChineseDialectHongkongForthousandsofyears,Chinesepeoplespeakinhundredsdifferentdialects,butuseonlyonewrittensystem,HanCharacter(汉字),whichmakesthewrittencommunicationandcultureinheritancepossible.TheseparationofthewrittenandspokenformsoftheChineselanguageprovidesatiethatholdstheChinesepeopletogetherwhilegivesaspacefordifferentexpressionsindailylives.ChinahavetheseedsofcapitalismOverthedevelopmentofcommodityeconomyduringtheMingandQingDynasties.ThisistheeraforHuimerchants(徽商).AnhuiDialectmainlyusedbypeopleinAnhuiprovinceJiangxiDialectalsocalledgang(赣)dialect,thereare53millionusersintheworld.Kejia（hakka）ancestorslivingintheCentralPlainsatfirst，thenmovetothesoutheast.SouthmigrationprocessbringtheirmothertonguetotheJiangxi,Fujian,Guangdong,Guangxiandothersouthernprovince.Kejiatulou(土楼)GujiaDialect(alsocalledMinnanDialect)mainlyusedbypeopleinFujianandTaiwanProvinces.MinnanDialectisclosesttotheancientChinesespoken2,000yearsago.HunanDialectalsocalledXiang(湘)Dialect,mainlyusedinHunanProvince，therearemorethan25millionusersnowadays.CantoneseBeijingDialectForeignerslearningMandarinistheBeijingDialectaccentandtheBeijingDialectclosertotheManchuofficials(满清官员).Therearemany(perhapshundredsof)Mandarindialects.AstheofficiallanguageofMainlandChina,Taiwan,andSingapore,MandarinhasmanyregionalvariationswhichareusuallyreferredtoasMandarindialects.MandarinChineseisalsospokeninMalaysia,Macau,HongKongandmanycountrieswherethereisasizeableChinesepopulation.ThismakesMandarinbecomeoneofthemostwidely-spokenlanguagesintheworld.ThepositivesignificanceofthepromotionofMandarinistomakethepeopleofallnationalitieshaveasamecommunicationtool.MandarinholdstheChinesepeopletogetherwhilegivesaspacefordifferentexpressionsindailylives.BecausethesuccessoftheRevolutionof1911（辛亥革命）SunYat-senwantedtounifiedthenationallanguage，butCantonesejustlostonevotetoBeijingDialectInanelection.(CuzThenorthisunstableandthesouthhadbeendominatedatthattime.)Andthereare100millionCantoneseuserintheworldnowadays.CantonesemainlyusedbypeopleinGuangdongProvinceandHongkong.Inolddays，Cantonesehadthehabittohavethemorningteasincelongtimeago.Theywillsittogethertohaveagoodrestduringtheteatime.Atlasttheleaderwouldpaythebillwiththedishesnumberssincetherewasnobillpaperatthattime.(Oneofthemeaningof“埋”)Well,majorofthemwerewillingtopaythebillatfirst.Someonewouldsay:This’smyturn。another:Well,sitdownplease,it’smyturn.Theotherwouldsay:It’smyturn,guy!!!That’schaoticenough.Sometimesyoucanfindthedialectsaremeaningfulandrelatedwithhistory.TakeCantoneseforexample.Afterthat,cantonesewillpaythebillinadvancetoavoidthat.(Anothermeaningof“埋”)AnotherexampleinBeijingdialect：Originally,PaiGow“牌九”(oldonekindofgambling)likethe“secondboard”(二板)and“Whatfive”(么五)twocards,putthesetwocardstogetheristenpointsasknownasthe“deathten.”（推牌九）ItisthesmallestpointinPaiGow,andnoonesmallerthanit.Sopeopleusethe“fivesecondboard”(shortfor二板and么五）todescribethelazyandstupidpeople.Overtime，the“fivesecondboard”iscalledinto“twohundredsandfifty.”（二百五）TakeShanghaiDialectforexample:Theproductioninmoltenmoney(铸钱)inSongdynastyneedtomakeupsixty-fourWen（文）.Withthetimepassedby,peopleinShanghaiwilldescribeotherswhentheyfindsomeoneinallseriousnessorworkverywell.IappreciateZhoulibolikemanypeople，andShanghaidialectisinterestingformesinceI’veseenthe“LIBOSHOW”ButasIcanhearfromtheelderShanghaipeople,apartoftheyoungergenerationdonotliketousetheShanghaidialectnowadays.Thetimepassby,thegrandparentswilllostthecommunicationwiththemastheirMandarinispoor.AndtheyreallyhopeShanghaiDialectwillbeacceptedbymoreandmorepeople。Ithinkit’ssameforme,totellthetruth,myhometowndialect-ChaoshanDialect(潮汕话)it’ssopoorsinceImovetofoshanin5-year-old.Ifeelsorryformygrandpabecausehejustcanuseonlythehometownlanguage.SoItrymebesttolearnthehometowndialectthatIcancommunicatewithhimwithoutproblemseveryLanternfestival.ThoughIjustmeethimafewdayseveryyear,thesmileinhisfaceisthebestpresentforme.LanternfestivalWiththedevelopmentofmodernsociety,weliveinarapidandmulticulturalsociety.SometimeswecanfindthatChineseandEnglisharemixedtogetherlike:给力vable：usefulandpowerful百year公：anelderman(Cantonese)Whataboutthefamousnetworkwordsin2009:lei(雷)?Beiju（杯具）?Duomaomao（躲猫猫）?Maybesomeofthemhadlostcharmoftheoriginal.Majorpartofthenetworkwordsaremeaningless,SothenetworkwordswilllastedforcenturieslikeCantoneseorShanghaidialect.Maybe,timewillgivemetheanswer.Someonewillpointoutthat:BeijingDialectsoundsabnormal?ShanghaiDialectsoundslikeJapanese?Cantoneseissohardtounderstand?Sowhat!Asaseeit,dialectisonlyuseoforalexpression.It’suselessforpeopletocomparewhichisabnormal,hardtounderstand,.Thehometowndialectismeaningfulforeveryone,respectforthemandwecanusetheminapoliteway.