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Created page with "*''Japanese'': 中国語 ''(Chûgoku go)'' *''Chinese'': 漢語 ''(Hànyu)'', 中文 ''(Zhōngwén)'' "Chinese language" is a large and overarching term. While it is most oft..."
*''Japanese'': 中国語 ''(Chûgoku go)''
*''Chinese'': 漢語 ''(Hànyu)'', 中文 ''(Zhōngwén)''

"Chinese language" is a large and overarching term. While it is most often used to refer to Mandarin Chinese or to Cantonese, there are in fact many languages and dialects that can all be subsumed under the category of "Chinese language(s)."

Mandarin Chinese, grew out of the [[Beijing]]-based "officials' language" (官話, ''guān huà'';<ref>Chia-Ying Yeh, "The Revival and Restoration of Ryukyuan Court Music, Uzagaku: Classification and Performance Techniques, Language Usage, and Transmission," PhD thesis, University of Sheffield (2018), 118.</ref> "mandarin" being an English term for Chinese court officials) of the [[Qing dynasty|Qing court]], and was later declared the standard language of China by the People's Republic of China. "Standard Chinese" or "Mandarin Chinese" is typically referred to in Mandarin as ''pǔtōnghuà'' 普通話 (lit. "standard language") or as ''guóyǔ'' 国語 ("national language").

Mandarin Chinese terms that might correspond more broadly to "Chinese language(s)" as a whole include ''Hànyu'' 漢語 (lit. "language of the [[Han people]]"), ''Zhōngwén'' 中文 (lit. "Chinese writing" or "Chinese words"), and ''Huáyǔ'' 華語 (lit. "Chinese language").<ref>The ''Zhōng'' 中 here referring to ''Zhōngguó'' 中国, i.e. "the Middle Kingdom," or China itself, while ''Huá'' 華 refers to Chinese culture or civilization, spanning beyond the political/geographical boundaries of China itself.</ref> The most typical term in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] for "Chinese language" is simply ''Chûgoku go'' 中国語, i.e. "the language of [the country] of China."

While most forms of Chinese share the same writing system, differing only in how the language is read and spoken but differing little in how the language is written, there are nevertheless a great many languages and dialects included within the broader umbrella of "Chinese language(s)." These include not only Mandarin, but also Cantonese, Shanghainese, Taiwanese (Taiwanese Mandarin), Hokkien (Min Nan), and a number of others.

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==References==
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[[Category:Culture]]
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