I just read this morning, in a Chinese newspaper, that Mandarin chinese is only spoken by 53 percent of the 1.3 billion Chinese, and of that 53 percent many are not frequent users. This information stems from a survey conducted by the National Language Commission(Chinese government organization).
This means that Mandarin Chinese is spoken by only about 689 million people, not the often quoted, over 1 billion. On top of that, for many of the speakers, it is their second language.
Many people believe that everyone in China, or almost everyone, speak the same language. This is just not true, there are probably more dialects and languages in the the one Nation of China than in all of Europe, and most are not mutually intelligable.
Interesting. . .
Well I've never actually heard anyone claim that Mandarin was spoken by a billion people.
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/posts/7493.htm
Adam's first post here list Chinese(mandarin) as having 1,075,000,000 speakers.
I don't mean to be nitpicky, but if you haven't heard it, then this post wasn't directed at you.
Sorry.
*skulks out of thread*
As a Chinese myself, I'd agree with you that Mandarin is probably not spoken by 1 billion people. However, the number of people who could speak Mandarin worldwide has a good chance of at least approaching the mythical 1 billion threshold figure.
Yes, "dialects" are plentiful in China, mainly in the south. But many Chinese under the age of 30 can and do speak Mandarin on a professional basis. In fact, the preponderance of the Beijing dialect has gradually resulted in the steady erosion of the mother tongues. For example, my native dialect is Teochew but our Teochew conversation is peppered with many Mandarin expressions, especially when we are broaching upon themes or subjects with no Teochew equivalent.
By the way, I am never a big fan of Mandarin speakers. Cocky, arrogant and condescending bastards who'd never deign to learn other chinese languages because of a pompous and self-assured mentality that their dialect is the lingua franca of China. I'd never forget the memorable incident at the Shenzhen customs. I addressed the customs officer in Cantonese while he brusquely retorted that I must speak putonghua or Mandarin.
Chinese is a bit strange in that the written language is understandable to over a billion people, but the spoken language is not. Since written Chinese gives no real indication of proper pronunciation, spoken versions of the language are so divergent that they are no longer mutually intelligible. The drive to teach everyone Mandarin is intended to remedy this situation. Some Chinese are native speakers of Mandarin, but supposedly everyone is supposed to learn it (?).
Personally I think it would be far more efficient if everyone spoke the same version of the spoken language. Accents are fine, but complete unintelligibility is not. Since most people already speak Mandarin, that seems like a logical choice.
I hadn't considered Mandarin speakers outside of China. . .
Good point, but how many are there outside of China?
Jesus Christ, Mxsmanic, I knew that you disliked dialects, but now you want to eradicate entire languages!
I agree that Mandarin is not spoken by over 1 billion people. As a Chinese person myself, I do not speak Mandarin. I can understand a few words and sentences, but I speak Cantonese. Indeed I do find most Mandarin speakers as "Cocky, arrogant and condescending bastards who'd never deign to learn other chinese languages because of a pompous and self-assured mentality that their dialect is the lingua franca of China." as Louis said. I think that Chinese should be split up into their dialects and each considered their own language.
"Personally I think it would be far more efficient if everyone spoke the same version of the spoken language."
Too bad history isn't always efficient. You say it as if the country could just wake up tomorrow and switch everyone over to Mandarin and abandon their native languages.
I hear that Cantonese is more useful than Mandarin outside of China because it is the most spoken in all of the Chinese communities around the world. Do you agree Louis?
I've also heard the same thing. I know that in Canadian China Towns most people do speak Cantonese, especially Vancouver.
<< San Francisco's Chinatown was the port of entry for early Taishanese and Zhongshanese Chinese immigrants from the southern Guangdong province of China from the 1850s to the 1900s. The Chinatown in particular was a stronghold for the Taishanese community. The majority of shopkeepers and restaurant owners in San Francisco were predominantly Taishanese.
* * *
In recent years, however, Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong and Hakka and Mandarin (Putonghua)-speaking immigrants from Mainland China have gradually replaced the Taishanese dialect. >>
<< A gradual shift from Cantonese, a dialect spoken in southern China, to China's official language of Mandarin, has been taking place in America's Chinese communities. These days, Mandarin's growing influence can be heard even in San Francisco's Chinatown, long a bastion of Cantonese speakers.
* * *
Statistics document the shifting landscape: a 1986 consumer survey found almost 70 percent of Chinese households in the San Francisco area spoke Cantonese; 19 percent spoke Mandarin. A survey last year showed the divide narrowing to 53 percent Cantonese and 47 percent Mandarin, according to a study for KTSF, a television station that devotes most of its programming to Asian-language shows.
The trend is similar in Los Angeles and New York, the nation's two other major Chinese markets, said Saul Gitlin of Kang & Lee Advertising in New York.
* * *
The linguistic changes tell the story of Chinese in America. In the mid-19th century, tens of thousands of Cantonese fled economic and political turmoil in southern China's Pearl River Delta area, following the lure of the Gold Rush. Over the next few decades, several Chinatowns sprang up across the nation, said Chinese-American historian Him Mark Lai.
The Immigration Act of 1965 lifted national origins quotas, ushering in a second wave of immigrants from Hong Kong, where mostly Cantonese is spoken and Taiwan, where Mandarin is more common.
Complete article:
http://www.modelminority.com/article636.html