Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Other Languages > Other Languages


Spoken Chinese

 

Being the language lovers that we are... A place to talk about, or write in languages other than Spanish and English.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 28, 2008, 11:53 PM
Catyjane Catyjane is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1
Catyjane is on a distinguished road
Spoken Chinese

Spoken Chinese is a dialect continuum. Differences between the spoken language generally become more pronounced as distances increase. However, the degree of intelligibility varies immensely depending on region. For example, the Mandarin spoken in all three northeastern Chinese provinces is mutually intelligible, but in the small province of Zhejiang a person from one valley may be completely unable to comprehend the language from the next valley, even though both are considered dialects of Wu Chinese. This unevenness of mutual intelligibility makes classification difficult.
-----
Catyjane
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old October 29, 2008, 02:56 AM
Planet hopper's Avatar
Planet hopper Planet hopper is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Kuwait suburbia
Posts: 386
Native Language: Irish-Canadian English and Andalusian Spanish.
Planet hopper is on a distinguished road
I disagree, differences are not that great, I lived just north of zhejiang for 3 years and everybody would understand putonghua. What they speak is something else, but they understand standard, most of them.
I don't think you need to classify dialects, China is such a thriving community...chinese every day do more domestic tourism.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 29, 2008, 05:20 AM
Jessica's Avatar
Jessica Jessica is offline
...
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 8,187
Native Language: English, Chinese
Jessica is on a distinguished road
Most Chinese speak Mandarin. There are many ethnic groups, however ....
my mom can speak "Suzhou" hua and she can speak Putonghua too.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 29, 2008, 06:35 AM
ElDanés's Avatar
ElDanés ElDanés is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 318
ElDanés is on a distinguished road
I'm no expert on Chinese, but I have a good friend who speaks Hokkien fluently, but is unable to understand other "dialects" of Chinese. So I believe that some of what the now banned user wrote is right.
__________________
¡Correcciones son muy bienvenidas!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old October 29, 2008, 07:46 AM
Planet hopper's Avatar
Planet hopper Planet hopper is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Kuwait suburbia
Posts: 386
Native Language: Irish-Canadian English and Andalusian Spanish.
Planet hopper is on a distinguished road
Jessica, does your mum cook pork ribs in sweet sauce? It's a classic there in suzhou.
If she does, you gotta treat me for a dinner, definitely worth the plane ticket.
Gosh, I'm always talking about food, it's lunch time here.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old October 29, 2008, 01:49 PM
Jessica's Avatar
Jessica Jessica is offline
...
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 8,187
Native Language: English, Chinese
Jessica is on a distinguished road
my mom cooks Chinese food, yes, but I don't think she cooked pork ribs in sweet sauce. She was born in Suzhou, though. I have to ask her.
lol you should always come here for dinner. My mom is a fabulous Chinese cooker. Some Chinese food I don't like (don't ask me why ^^) but you should taste her dumplings!! We call them huan tun but some people call them jiao zi. The dumplings she make are better than other people's who make them
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old March 30, 2009, 07:10 PM
chanman's Avatar
chanman chanman is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Nueva Jersey
Posts: 124
Native Language: Hablo inglés y chino nativamente.
chanman is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by jchen View Post
Most Chinese speak Mandarin. There are many ethnic groups, however ....
my mom can speak "Suzhou" hua and she can speak Putonghua too.
You're suzhounese? Me too! (Well half, my dad is Hong-Kongnese).
Yeah, I can understand Suzhounese, but not too well, and can barely speak it at all. I'm fluent in Mandarin though (Don't even get me started on Cantonese).

Anyways, I think the "now banned user" was talking about "dialects" of Chinese, not dialects of Mandarin, as Mandarin itself is a dialect of Chinese. If that is what she was talking about, yes, it is very hard to mutually understand different Chinese "dialects". In the North, "dialects" are relatively similar, but in the South, the closest two you would get are probably Suzhounese and Shanghainese, which are almost identical but still have subtle differences. Apart from that, most southern dialects are radically different.
__________________
¿Puedes corregir mi español, por favor? ¡Muchas Gracias!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old March 30, 2009, 07:31 PM
Jessica's Avatar
Jessica Jessica is offline
...
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: PA
Posts: 8,187
Native Language: English, Chinese
Jessica is on a distinguished road
oooo another Chinese person like me you can help me teach others Chinese (I have a thread)! ^_^

Well, I'm not exactly Suzhounese, because I don't know how to speak it. My mom does, and my dad is from Binhai. I'm okay with Mandarin, though (like you).

Last edited by Jessica; March 30, 2009 at 07:34 PM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Chinese Arabic or Russian? laker Other Languages 3 March 30, 2009 07:06 PM
"We have never spoken/conversed before." vswezie Grammar 7 February 07, 2007 12:14 PM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:22 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X