Mandarin Chinese Language

Mandarin

Definition

• Mandarin is a dialect of Chinese, also known as Standard Chinese or Putonghua
• Official language of China and one of the six official languages of the United Nations

Characteristics

• Tonal language: distinguishes between four tones and a neutral tone
• Logographic writing system: uses characters (/) to represent words and concepts
• Grammatically, Mandarin is an isolating language: no inflectional endings, no grammatical gender

History

• Developed from the dialects of the Beijing region
• Became the official language of China in the 20th century
• Influenced by other languages, including English, Japanese, and Russian

Dialects

• Beijing dialect: considered the standard dialect
• Taiwan Mandarin: spoken in Taiwan, with some differences in vocabulary and pronunciation
• Singaporean Mandarin: spoken in Singapore, with influences from other languages

Spoken Mandarin

• Spoken by over 1 billion people worldwide
• Widely used in international communication, education, and business

Written Mandarin

• Uses simplified Chinese characters (/) in mainland China
• Uses traditional Chinese characters (/) in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau
• Romanization systems, such as Hanyu Pinyin, are used to transcribe Mandarin into the Latin alphabet

Mandarin Definition

• Mandarin is a dialect of Chinese, also known as Standard Chinese or Putonghua.
• It is an official language of China and one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Characteristics

• Mandarin is a tonal language, distinguishing between four tones and a neutral tone.
• It uses a logographic writing system, with characters (/) representing words and concepts.
• Mandarin is an isolating language grammatically, with no inflectional endings and no grammatical gender.

History

• Mandarin developed from the dialects of the Beijing region.
• It became the official language of China in the 20th century.
• Mandarin has been influenced by other languages, including English, Japanese, and Russian.

Dialects

• The Beijing dialect is considered the standard dialect.
• Taiwan Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan, with some differences in vocabulary and pronunciation.
• Singaporean Mandarin is spoken in Singapore, with influences from other languages.

Spoken Mandarin

• Over 1 billion people worldwide speak Mandarin.
• Mandarin is widely used in international communication, education, and business.

Written Mandarin

• Simplified Chinese characters (/) are used in mainland China.
• Traditional Chinese characters (/) are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
• Romanization systems, such as Hanyu Pinyin, transcribe Mandarin into the Latin alphabet.

Furniture

• Bed is referred to as 床 (chuáng) in Chinese.
• 椅子 (yuèzi) means chair in Chinese.
• 桌子 (zhuōzi) is the Chinese term for table.
• 书桌 (shūzhuō) refers to a desk in Chinese.
• A bedside table is called 床头柜 (chuángtóu guì) in Chinese.

Electronics

• TV is referred to as 电视 (diànshì) in Chinese.
• The Chinese term for computer is 电脑 (diànnǎo).
• Sound systems or speakers are called 音响 (yīnxiǎng) in Chinese.
• 电话 (diànhuì) means phone in Chinese.
• Lamp is referred to as 灯 (dēng) in Chinese.

Decorations

• Picture is referred to as 照片 (zhàopiàn) in Chinese.
• Flower is called 花 (huā) in Chinese.
• 植物 (zhíwù) is the Chinese term for plant.
• Wallpaper is referred to as 壁纸 (bìzhǐ) in Chinese.
• Curtains are called 窗帘 (chuānglián) in Chinese.

Personal Items

• Bookbag is referred to as 书包 (shūbāo) in Chinese.
• Pen is called 钢笔 (gāngbǐ) in Chinese.
• Notebook is referred to as 笔记本 (bǐjìběn) in Chinese.
• Clock is called 钟 (zhōng) in Chinese.
• Jewelry is referred to as 首饰 (shǒushì) in Chinese.