View source for Social:Languages of China

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{{Languages of
| country        = China
| image          = Language families of China.svg
| caption        = Distribution of language families in China
| official       = {{Unbulleted list|Standard Mandarin|[[Social:Cantonese|Cantonese]] {{Small|([[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] and [[Place:Macau|Macau]])}}|[[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{Small|([[Place:Macau|Macau]])}}|[[Social:English language|English]] {{Small|([[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]])}}|[[Social:Mongolian language|Mongolian]] {{Small|([[Place:Inner Mongolia|Inner Mongolia]], Haixi in Qinghai, Bayingolin and Bortala in Xinjiang)}}|[[Social:Korean language|Korean]] {{Small|(Yanbian in Jilin)}}|[[Social:Standard Tibetan|Standard Tibetan]] {{Small|([[Place:Tibet|Tibet]], Qinghai)}}|[[Social:Uyghur language|Uyghur]] {{Small|([[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]])}}|Zhuang {{Small|(Guangxi, Wenshan in Yunnan)}}|[[Social:Kazakh language|Kazakh]] {{Small|(Ili in Xinjiang)}}|Yi {{Small|(Liangshan in Sichuan, Chuxiong and Honghe in Yunnan)}}}}
| sign           = {{Unbulleted list|[[Social:Chinese Sign Language|Chinese Sign]]|Hong Kong Sign|Tibetan Sign}}
}}
There are several hundred languages in {{wipe|China}}. The predominant language is [[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]], which is based on Beijingese, but there are hundreds of related [[Social:Chinese language|Chinese language]]s, collectively known as ''Hanyu'' ({{zh|s=汉语|t=漢語|p=Hànyǔ}}, 'Han language'), that are spoken by 92% of the population. The Chinese (or 'Sinitic') languages are typically divided into seven major language groups, and their study is a distinct academic discipline.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dwyer |first=Arienne |url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse |date=2005 |publisher=East-West Center Washington |isbn=1-932728-29-5 |series=Political Studies 15 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=31–32 |quote=Tertiary institutions with instruction in the languages and literatures of the regional minorities (e.g., Xinjiang University) have faculties entitled ''Hanyu xi'' ("Languages of China Department") and ''Hanyu wenxue xi'' ("Literatures of the Languages of China Department"). |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716184716/http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS015.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2007}}</ref> They differ as much from each other [[Social:Morphology (linguistics)|morphologically]] and phonetically as do English, German and Danish, but meanwhile share the same writing system (Hanzi) and are mutually intelligible in written form. There are in addition approximately 300 minority languages spoken by the remaining 8% of the population of China.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |date=2009 |publisher=SIL International |editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=M. Paul |edition=16th |location=Dallas, Texas |chapter=Languages of China |quote=The number of individual languages listed for China is 299. |chapter-url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CN}}</ref> The ones with greatest state support are [[Social:Mongolian language|Mongolian]], [[Social:Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]], [[Social:Uyghur language|Uyghur]] and [[Social:Standard Zhuang|Zhuang]].

According to the 2010 edition of ''[[Nationalencyklopedin]]'', 955 million out of China's then-population of 1.34 billion spoke some variety of [[Social:Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]] as their first language, accounting for 71% of the country's population.<ref>Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin. Asterisks mark the 2010 estimates for the top dozen languages.</ref> According to the 2019 edition of ''[[Social:Ethnologue|Ethnologue]]'', 904 million people in China spoke some variety of Mandarin as their first language in 2017.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |date=2019 |publisher=SIL International |editor-last=Eberhard |editor-first=David M. |edition=22nd |location=Dallas, Texas |chapter=China: Languages |editor-last2=Simons |editor-first2=Gary F. |editor-last3=Fennig |editor-first3=Charles D. |chapter-url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/CN/languages}}</ref>

[[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]], known in China as ''Putonghua'', based on the Mandarin dialect of Beijing,<ref name="Barnes 1978">{{Cite journal |last=Barnes |first=Dayle |date=1978 |title=The Language of Instruction in Chinese Communities |journal=International Review of Education |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=371–374 |doi=10.1007/BF00598052 |jstor=3443833|bibcode=1978IREdu..24..371B |s2cid=144750671 }}</ref> is the official national spoken language for the mainland and serves as a lingua franca within the Mandarin-speaking regions (and, to a lesser extent, across the other regions of mainland China). Several other autonomous regions have additional official languages. For example, [[Social:Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]] has official status within the Tibet Autonomous Region and [[Social:Mongolian language|Mongolian]] has official status within [[Place:Inner Mongolia|Inner Mongolia]]. Language laws of China do not apply to either [[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] or [[Place:Macau|Macau]], which have different official languages ([[Social:Cantonese|Cantonese]], [[Social:English language|English]] and [[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]]) from the mainland.

==Spoken languages==
The spoken languages of nationalities that are a part of China belong to at least nine families:
[[File:China ethnolinguistic 1967.jpg|thumb|250px|Ethnolinguistic map of China]]
* The [[Social:Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan family]]: 19 official ethnicities (including the Han and Tibetans)
* The Tai–Kadai family: several languages spoken by the Zhuang, the Bouyei, the Dai, the Dong, and the Hlai (Li people); 9 official ethnicities.
* The [[Social:Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien family]]: 3 official ethnicities
* The [[Social:Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic family]]: 4 official ethnicities (De'ang, Blang, Gin (Vietnamese), and Wa)
* The [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic family]]: Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Salars, etc.; 7 official ethnicities.<ref name="Yugur">[[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur]] is a Turkic language, whereas [[Social:Eastern Yugur language|Eastern Yugur]] is a Mongolic language.</ref>
* The [[Social:Mongolic languages|Mongolic family]]: Mongols, Dongxiang, and related groups; 6 official ethnicities.<ref name="Yugur" />
* The [[Social:Tungusic languages|Tungusic family]]: Manchus (formerly), Hezhe, etc.; 5 official ethnicities.
* The [[Social:Koreanic languages|Koreanic family]]: Korean
* The [[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]]: 2 official ethnicities, the Russians and Tajiks (actually Pamiri people). There is also a heavily Persian-influenced [[Social:Äynu language|Äynu language]] spoken by the Äynu people in southwestern Xinjiang, who are officially considered Uyghurs.
* The [[Social:Austronesian languages|Austronesian family]]: 1 official ethnicity (the Gaoshan, who speak many languages of the Formosan branch), 1 unofficial (the Utsuls, who speak the [[Social:Tsat language|Tsat language]] but are considered Hui.)

Below are lists of ethnic groups in China by linguistic classification. Ethnicities not on the official PRC list of 56 ethnic groups are italicized. Respective Pinyin transliterations and Chinese characters (both simplified and traditional) are also given.

===[[Social:Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]===
* Sinitic
** [[Social:Chinese language|Chinese]], {{zhi|c=汉语}}, {{zhi|c=漢語}}
*** [[Social:Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin Chinese]], {{zhi|c=官话}}, {{zhi|c=官話}}
**** Beijing Mandarin, {{zhi|c=北京官话}}, {{zhi|c=北京官話}}
***** [[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]], {{zhi|c=普通话}}, {{zhi|c=普通話}}
***** Singaporean Mandarin, {{zhi|c=新加坡华语}}, {{zhi|c=新加坡華語}}
***** Malaysian Mandarin, {{zhi|c=马来西亚华语}}, {{zhi|c=馬來西亞華語}}
**** Taiwanese Mandarin, {{zhi|c=台湾华语}}, {{zhi|c=臺灣華語}}
***** Taipei Mandarin, {{zhi|c=台北腔}}/{{zhi|c=国语}}, {{zhi|c=臺北腔}}/{{zhi|c=國語}}
**** Northeastern Mandarin, {{zhi|c=东北官话}}, {{zhi|c=東北官話}}
**** Jilu Mandarin, {{zhi|c=冀鲁官话}}, {{zhi|c=冀魯官話}}
**** Jiaoliao Mandarin, {{zhi|c=胶辽官话}}, {{zhi|c=膠遼官話}}
**** Zhongyuan Mandarin, {{zhi|c=中原官话}}, {{zhi|c=中原官話}}
**** Lanyin Mandarin, {{zhi|c=兰银官话}}, {{zhi|c=蘭銀官話}}
**** Lower Yangtze Mandarin, {{zhi|c=江淮官话}}, {{zhi|c=江淮官話}}
**** Southwestern Mandarin, {{zhi|c=西南官话}}, {{zhi|c=西南官話}}
*** [[Social:Jin Chinese|Jin Chinese]], {{zhi|c=晋语}}, {{zhi|c=晉語}}
*** [[Social:Wu Chinese|Wu Chinese]], {{zhi|c=吴语}}, {{zhi|c=吳語}}
**** [[Social:Shanghainese|Shanghainese]], {{zhi|c=上海话}}, {{zhi|c=上海話}}
*** [[Social:Huizhou Chinese|Huizhou Chinese]], {{zhi|c=徽语}}, {{zhi|c=徽語}}
*** [[Social:Yue Chinese|Yue Chinese]], {{zhi|c=粤语}}, {{zhi|c=粤語}}
**** [[Social:Cantonese|Cantonese]], {{zhi|c=广东话}}, {{zhi|c=廣東話}}
*** Ping Chinese, {{zhi|c=平话}}, {{zhi|c=平話}}
*** Gan Chinese, {{zhi|c=赣语}}, {{zhi|c=贛語}}
*** [[Social:Xiang Chinese|Xiang Chinese]], {{zhi|c=湘语}}, {{zhi|c=湘語}}
*** Hakka language, {{zhi|c=客家话}}, {{zhi|c=客家話}}
*** [[Social:Min Chinese|Min Chinese]], {{zhi|c=闽语}}, {{zhi|c=閩語}}
**** [[Social:Southern Min|Southern Min]], {{zhi|c=闽南语}}, {{zhi|c=閩南語}}
***** [[Social:Hokkien|Hokkien]], {{zhi|c=泉漳话}}, {{zhi|c=泉漳話}}
***** [[Social:Teochew dialect|Teochew dialect]], {{zhi|c=潮州话}}, {{zhi|c=潮州話}}
**** [[Social:Eastern Min|Eastern Min]], {{zhi|c=闽东语}}, {{zhi|c=閩東語}}
**** [[Social:Pu-Xian Min|Pu-Xian Min]], {{zhi|c=莆仙话}}, {{zhi|c=莆仙話}}
**** Leizhou Min, {{zhi|c=雷州话}}, {{zhi|c=雷州話}}
**** Hainanese, {{zhi|c=海南话}}, {{zhi|c=海南話}}
**** Northern Min, {{zhi|c=闽北语}}, {{zhi|c=閩北語}}
**** [[Social:Central Min|Central Min]], {{zhi|c=闽中语}}, {{zhi|c=閩中語}}
**** Shao-Jiang Min, {{zhi|c=邵将语}}, {{zhi|c=邵將語}}
* [[Social:Bai language|Bai]], {{zhi|c=白語}}
** Dali language, {{zhi|c=大理語}}
*** Dali dialect([[Social:Bai language|Bai]]: Darl lit)
*** Xiangyun dialect
** Yitdut language/Jianchuan language, {{zhi|c=剑川语}}, {{zhi|c=劍川語}}
*** Yitdut dialect([[Social:Bai language|Bai]]: Yit dut)
*** Heqing dialect([[Social:Bai language|Bai]]: hhop kait)
** Bijiang language
*** Bijiang dialect
*** Lanping dialect([[Social:Bai language|Bai]]: ket dant)
*** 
* Tibeto-Burman
** [[Social:Tujia language|Tujia]]
** [[Social:Qiangic languages|Qiangic]]
*** [[Social:Qiangic languages|Qiang]]
**** Northern Qiang
**** Southern Qiang
*** [[Social:Pumi language|Prinmi]]
*** [[Social:Baima language|Baima]]
*** [[Social:Tangut language|Tangut]]
** Bodish
*** [[Social:Tibetic languages|Tibetan]]
**** [[Social:Central Tibetan language|Central Tibetan]] ([[Social:Standard Tibetan|Standard Tibetan]])
**** Amdo Tibetan
**** Khams Tibetan
*** Lhoba
*** [[History:Monpa people|Monpa]]/Monba
** Lolo–Burmese–Naxi
*** Burmish
**** [[Social:Achang language|Achang]]
*** [[Social:Loloish languages|Loloish]]
**** Yi
**** [[Social:Lisu language|Lisu]]
**** [[Social:Lahu language|Lahu]]
**** [[Social:Hani language|Hani]]
**** [[Social:Jino language|Jino]]
*** Nakhi/[[Social:Naxi language|Naxi]]
** Jingpho–Nungish–Luish
*** [[Social:Jingpho language|Jingpho]]
*** [[Social:Derung language|Derung]]
*** Nu
**** [[Social:Nusu language|Nusu]]
**** [[Social:Zauzou language|Rouruo]]

===[[Social:Kra–Dai languages|Kra–Dai]]===
(''Possibly the ancient Bǎiyuè {{zhi|c=百越}}'')
* [[Social:Be language|Be]]
* Kra
** [[Social:Gelao language|Gelao]]
* Kam–Sui
** Dong
** [[Social:Sui language|Sui]]
** [[Social:Maonan language|Maonan]]
** Mulao/[[Social:Mulam language|Mulam]]
* [[Social:Hlai languages|Hlai]]/Li
* Tai
** [[Social:Zhuang languages|Zhuang]] (Vahcuengh)
*** [[Social:Standard Zhuang|Northern Zhuang]]
*** [[Social:Zhuang languages|Southern Zhuang]]
** [[Social:Bouyei language|Bouyei]]
** Dai
*** Tai Lü language
*** Tai Nüa language
*** [[Social:Tai Dam language|Tai Dam language]]
*** [[Social:Tai Ya language|Tai Ya language]]
*** Tai Hongjin language

===[[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]]===
* [[Social:Karluk languages|Karluk]]
** [[Social:Ili Turki language|Ili Turki]]
** [[Social:Uyghur language|Uyghur]]
** [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]]
* [[Social:Kipchak languages|Kipchak]]
** [[Social:Kazakh language|Kazakh]]
** [[Social:Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]
** [[Social:Tatar language|Tatar]]
* [[Social:Oghuz languages|Oghuz]]
** [[Social:Salar language|Salar]]
* [[Social:Siberian Turkic languages|Siberian]]
** [[Social:Äynu language|Äynu]]
** [[Social:Fuyu Kyrgyz language|Fuyu Kyrgyz]]
** [[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur]]
** [[Biography:Tuvan language|Tuvan]]
** ''[[Social:Old Uyghur language|Old Uyghur]] (extinct)''
* ''[[Social:Old Turkic language|Old Turkic]] (extinct)''

===[[Social:Mongolic languages|Mongolic]]===
* [[Social:Mongolian language|Mongolian]]
* [[Social:Oirat language|Oirat]]
** [[Social:Torgut Oirat|Torgut Oirat]]
* [[Social:Buryat language|Buryat]]
* [[Social:Daur language|Daur]]
* Southeastern
** [[Social:Monguor language|Monguor]]
*** [[Social:Eastern Yugur language|Eastern Yugur]]
** Dongxiang
** [[Social:Bonan language|Bonan]]
** [[Social:Kangjia language|Kangjia]]
* ''[[Social:Tuoba language|Tuoba]] (extinct)''

;Para-Mongolic
* ''[[Social:Khitan language|Khitan]] (extinct)''
* ''[[Social:Tuyuhun language|Tuyuhun]] (extinct)''

===[[Social:Tungusic languages|Tungusic]]===
* Southern
** [[Social:Manchu language|Manchu]]
*** [[Social:Jurchen language|Jurchen]]
** [[Social:Xibe language|Xibe]]
** [[Social:Nanai language|Nanai]]/Hezhen
* Northern
** [[Social:Evenki language|Evenki]]
** [[Social:Oroqen language|Oroqen]]

===[[Social:Korean language|Korean]]===
* Korean

===[[Social:Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien]]===
(''Possibly the ancient Nánmán {{zhi|c=南蛮}}, {{zhi|c=南蠻}}'')
* [[Social:Hmong language|Hmong]]
* [[Social:Iu Mien language|Mien]]
* [[Social:She language|She]]

===[[Social:Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]===
* Palaung-Wa
** Palaung/[[Social:Blang language|Blang]]
** [[Social:Palaung language|De'ang]]
** [[Social:Wa language|Wa]]/Va
* [[Social:Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]/Kinh

===[[Social:Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]===
* Formosan languages
* [[Social:Tsat language|Tsat]]

===[[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]===
* Russian
* ''[[Social:Tocharian languages|Tocharian]] (extinct)''
* ''[[Social:Saka language|Saka]] (extinct)''
* Pamiri, (mislabelled as "Tajik")
** [[Social:Sarikoli language|Sarikoli]]
** [[Social:Wakhi language|Wakhi]]
* [[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]] (spoken in Macau)
* [[Social:English language|English]] (spoken in Hong Kong)

===[[Social:Yeniseian languages|Yeniseian]]===
* ''Jie (Kjet) (extinct)'' (?)

===Unclassified===
* ''[[Social:Rouran language|Rouran]] (Rouran) (extinct)''

===Mixed===
* ''[[Social:Wutun language|Wutun]] (Mongolian-Tibetan mixed language)''
* ''Macanese (Portuguese creole)''

==Written languages==
[[File:Yuzhi Wuti Qingwen Jian Tian.svg|thumb|280px|The first page of the astronomy section of the 御製五體清文鑑 ''Yuzhi Wuti Qing Wenjian''. The work contains four terms on each of its pages, arranged in the order of Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, Chagatai, and Chinese languages. For the Tibetan, it includes both transliteration and a transcription into the Manchu alphabet.  For the Chagatai, it includes a line of transcription into the Manchu alphabet.]]

The following languages traditionally had written forms that do not involve Chinese characters (''hanzi''):
* The Dai people
** Tai Lü language – [[Social:New Tai Lue alphabet|Tai Lü alphabet]]
** Tai Nüa language – Tai Nüa alphabet
* The Daur people – [[Social:Daur language|Daur language]] – [[Social:Manchu alphabet|Manchu alphabet]]
* The Hmong people – [[Social:Hmongic languages|Hmongic languages]] – Hmong writing(Pollard script, [[Social:Pahawh Hmong|Pahawh Hmong]], [[Social:Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong|Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong]], etc.)
* The Kazakhs – [[Social:Kazakh language|Kazakh language]] – [[Social:Kazakh alphabets|Kazakh alphabets]]
* The Koreans – [[Social:Korean language|Korean language]] – Chosŏn'gŭl alphabet
* The Kyrgyz – [[Social:Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz language]] – [[Social:Kyrgyz alphabets|Kyrgyz alphabets]]
* The Lisu people – [[Social:Lisu language|Lisu language]] – Lisu script
* The Manchus – [[Social:Manchu language|Manchu language]] – [[Social:Manchu alphabet|Manchu alphabet]]
* The Mongols – [[Social:Mongolian language|Mongolian language]] – Mongolian alphabet
* The Naxi – [[Social:Naxi language|Naxi language]] – Dongba characters
* The Qiang people – Qiang language or Rrmea language – Rma script
* The Santa people (Dongxiangs in Chinese) – [[Social:Santa language|Santa language]] – Arabic script
* The Sui – [[Social:Sui language|Sui language]] – [[Social:Sui script|Sui script]]
* The Tibetans – [[Social:Tibetic languages|Tibetan language]] – Tibetan alphabet
* The Uyghurs – [[Social:Uyghur language|Uyghur language]] – Uyghur Arabic alphabet
* The [[Social:Xibe language|Xibe]] – [[Social:Xibe language|Xibe language]] – [[Social:Manchu alphabet|Manchu alphabet]]
* The Yi – Yi language – Yi syllabary

Many modern forms of spoken Chinese languages have their own distinct writing system using Chinese characters that contain colloquial variants.
These typically are used as sound characters to help determine the pronunciation of the sentence within that language:
* Written Sichuanese – Sichuanese
* Written Cantonese – [[Social:Cantonese|Cantonese]]
* Written Shanghainese – [[Social:Shanghainese|Shanghainese]]
* Written Hakka – Hakka
* Written Hokkien – [[Social:Hokkien|Hokkien]]
* Written Teochew – [[Social:Teochew dialect|Teochew]]

Some non-Sinitic peoples have historically used Chinese characters:
* The Koreans – [[Social:Korean language|Korean language]] – [[Social:Hanja|Hanja]]
* The Vietnamese – [[Social:Vietnamese language|Vietnamese language]] – Chữ nôm
* The Zhuang (Tai people) – [[Social:Zhuang languages|Zhuang languages]] – [[Social:Sawndip|Sawndip]]
* The Bouyei people – [[Social:Bouyei language|Bouyei language]] – Bouyei writing({{zhi|c=方塊布依字}})
* The Bai people – [[Social:Bai language|Bai language]] – Bai writing({{zhi|c=僰文}})
* The Dong people – Dong language (China) – Dong writing({{zhi|c=方塊侗字}})

Other languages, all now extinct, used separate logographic scripts influenced by, but not directly derived from, Chinese characters:
* The Jurchens (Manchu ancestors) – [[Social:Jurchen language|Jurchen language]] – [[Social:Jurchen script|Jurchen script]]
* The Khitans (Mongolic people) – [[Social:Khitan language|Khitan language]] – Khitan [[Social:Khitan large script|large]] and [[Social:Khitan small script|small]] scripts
* The Tanguts (Sino-Tibetan people) – [[Social:Tangut language|Tangut language]] – [[Social:Tangut script|Tangut script]]

During Qing dynasty, palaces, temples, and coins have sometimes been inscribed in five scripts:
* [[Social:Chinese characters|Chinese]]
* [[Social:Manchu alphabet|Manchu]]
* Mongol
* Tibetan
* Chagatai

During the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the official writing system was:
* [[Social:'Phags-pa script|'Phags-pa script]]

[[File:RMB4-1jiao-B.jpg|300px|thumb|The reverse of a one jiao note with Chinese (Pinyin) at the top and Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Zhuang along the bottom.]]
Chinese banknotes contain several scripts in addition to Chinese script.  These are:
* Mongol
* Tibetan
* [[Social:Uyghur language#Writing system|Arabic (for Uyghur)]]
* Latin (for Zhuang)

Other writing system for Chinese languages in China include:
* Nüshu script

Ten nationalities who never had a written system have, under the PRC's encouragement, developed phonetic alphabets. According to [http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/20050301/index.htm a government white paper] published in early 2005, "by the end of 2003, 22 ethnic minorities in China used 28 written languages."

==Language policy==
One decade before the demise of the Qing dynasty in 1912, Mandarin was promoted in the planning for China's first public school system.<ref name="Barnes 1978"/>

Mandarin has been promoted as the commonly spoken language for the country since 1956, based [[Social:Phonology|phonologically]] on the [[Social:Dialect|dialect]] of Beijing. The North Chinese [[Social:Language family|language group]] is set up as the standard [[Social:Grammar|grammatically]] and [[Social:Lexicon|lexically]]. Meanwhile, [[Biography:Mao Zedong|Mao Zedong]] and [[Biography:Lu Xun|Lu Xun]] writings are used as the basis of the [[Social:Stylistics|stylistic]] standard.<ref name="Barnes 1978" /> Pronunciation is taught with the use of the romanized phonetic system known as ''pinyin''. Pinyin has been criticized for fear of an eventual replacement of the traditional character orthography.<ref name="Barnes 1978" />

The Chinese language policy in mainland China is heavily influenced by the Soviet nationalities policy and officially encourages the development of standard spoken and written languages for each of the nationalities of China.<ref name="Barnes 1978" /> Language is one of the features used for ethnic identification.<ref name="Dreyer 1978">{{Cite journal |last=Dreyer |first=June Teufel |date=1978 |title=Language Planning for China's Ethnic Minorities |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=369–383 |doi=10.2307/2757936 |jstor=2757936}}</ref> In September 1951, the ''All-China Minorities Education Conference'' established that all minorities should be taught in their language at the primary and secondary levels when they count with a writing language. Those without a writing language or with an "imperfect" writing language should be helped to develop and reform their writing languages.<ref name="Dreyer 1978" />

However, in this schema, Han Chinese are considered a single nationality and the official policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) treats the different varieties of Chinese differently from the different national languages, even though their differences are as significant, if not more so, as those between the various Romance languages of [[Earth:Europe|Europe]].
While official policies in mainland China encourage the development and use of different orthographies for the national languages and their use in educational and academic settings, realistically speaking it would seem that, as elsewhere in the world, the outlook for
minority languages perceived as inferior is grim.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Prospects for the Long-Term Survival of Non-Han Minority Languages in the South of China |url=http://www.linguapax.org/congres04/pdf/prosser.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821081528/http://www.linguapax.org/congres04/pdf/prosser.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2008 |via=linguapax.org}}</ref>
The Tibetan Government-in-Exile argue that social pressures and political efforts result in a policy of sinicization and feels that Beijing should promote the [[Social:Standard Tibetan|Tibetan language]] more.
Because many languages exist in China, they also have problems regarding diglossia. Recently, in terms of Fishman's typology of the relationships between bilingualism and [[Social:Diglossia|diglossia]] and his [[Taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]] of diglossia (Fishman 1978, 1980) in China:  more and more minority communities have been evolving from "diglossia without bilingualism" to "bilingualism without diglossia." This could be an implication of mainland China's power expanding.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zhou |first=Minglang |title=Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages, 1949–2002 |date=2003 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-092459-6 |location=Berlin}}</ref>

In 2010, [[Social:2010 Tibetan language protest|Tibetan students protested]] against changes in the Language Policy on the schools that promoted the use of Mandarin Chinese instead of Tibetan. They argued that the measure would erode their culture.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Branigan |first=Tania |date=20 October 2010 |title=Tibetans Protest Against Language Curbs in Chinese Schools |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/20/tibetans-protest-language-chinese-schools |access-date=15 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014949/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/20/tibetans-protest-language-chinese-schools |archive-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> In 2013, China's Education Ministry said that about 400 million people were unable to speak the national language Mandarin. In that year, the government pushed linguistic unity in China, focusing on the countryside and areas with ethnic minorities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 September 2013 |title=Beijing Says 400 Million Chinese Cannot Speak Mandarin |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-23975037 |access-date=15 January 2021}}</ref>


Mandarin Chinese is the prestige language in practice, and failure to protect ethnic languages does occur. In summer 2020, the Inner Mongolian government announced an education policy change to phase out Mongolian as the language of instructions for humanities in elementary and middle schools, adopting the national instruction material instead. Thousands of ethnic Mongolians in northern China gathered to protest the policy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Qin |first=Amy |date=4 September 2020 |title=Curbs on Mongolian Language Teaching Prompt Large Protests in China |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/world/asia/china-protest-mongolian-language-schools.html |access-date=18 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919031621/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/world/asia/china-protest-mongolian-language-schools.html |archive-date=19 September 2020}}</ref> The Ministry of Education describes the move as a natural extension of the ''Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language'' ({{zh|c=通用语言文字法}}) of 2000.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lin |first=Jin 林瑾 |date=24 September 2020 |title=Nèiménggǔ jiàogǎi fēngbō zhēngyì yánshāo – Zhōngguó jiàoyùbù: Bùtóng kànfǎ shì zhànshí de |script-title=zh:内蒙古教改风波争议延烧 中国教育部: 不同看法是暂时的 |work=Duōwéi xīnwén |url=https://www.dwnews.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/60212835/%E5%86%85%E8%92%99%E5%8F%A4%E6%95%99%E6%94%B9%E9%A3%8E%E6%B3%A2%E4%BA%89%E8%AE%AE%E5%BB%B6%E7%83%A7%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2%E9%83%A8%E4%B8%8D%E5%90%8C%E7%9C%8B%E6%B3%95%E6%98%AF%E6%9A%82%E6%97%B6%E7%9A%84 |script-work=zh:多维新闻}}</ref>

==Study of foreign languages==
[[Social:English language|English]] has been the most widely-taught foreign language in China, as it is a required subject for students attending university.<ref name="Faisal Kidwai 2018">{{cite web |last=Faisal Kidwai |date=22 October 2018 |title=Retooling English Learning in China |url=http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201810/22/WS5bcd33b3a310eff303283b99.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031903/http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201810/22/WS5bcd33b3a310eff303283b99.html |archive-date=23 June 2019 |access-date=22 June 2019 |website=Chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=What Languages Are Spoken in China? |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-china.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031904/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-china.html |archive-date=23 June 2019 |access-date=22 June 2019 |website=WorldAtlas}}</ref> Other languages that have gained some degree of prevalence or interest are [[Social:Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Social:Korean language|Korean]], [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and [[Social:Russian language|Russian]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Phillips |first=Tom |date=2 September 2018 |title=Study of Portuguese and Spanish Explodes as China Expands Role in Latin America |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/02/study-of-portuguese-and-spanish-explodes-as-china-expands-role-in-latin-america |access-date=23 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031903/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/02/study-of-portuguese-and-spanish-explodes-as-china-expands-role-in-latin-america |archive-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Zhou |first1=Lihua |last2=Zhou |first2=Sally |date=9 July 2017 |title=Increasing Number of Middle Schools Offer Russian Language Courses |work=Chinadaily.com.cn |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-07/09/content_30045936.htm |access-date=23 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031906/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-07/09/content_30045936.htm |archive-date=23 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Top 6 Most Popular Foreign Language Teachers in China |url=http://top.at0086.com/China-Job-Center/Top-6-Most-Popular-Foreign-Language-Teachers-in-China.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031906/http://top.at0086.com/China-Job-Center/Top-6-Most-Popular-Foreign-Language-Teachers-in-China.html |archive-date=23 June 2019 |access-date=23 June 2019 |website=At0086.com}}</ref> During the 1950s and 1960s, [[Social:Russian language|Russian]] had some social status among elites in mainland China as the international language of [[Social:Socialism|socialism]].

In the late 1960s, English replaced the position of Russian to become the most studied foreign language in China.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} After the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1988, English was taught in public schools starting in the third year of primary school.<ref name="English craze">{{cite web |title=English Craze Hits Chinese Language Standards |url=http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/english-craze-hits-chinese-language-standards |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225063643/https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/english-craze-hits-chinese-language-standards |archive-date=25 February 2020 |access-date=27 July 2018 |website=YaleGlobal Online}}</ref><ref name="Asians offer">{{Cite news |last=The Miami Herald |date=25 April 2004 |title=Asians Offer Region a Lesson – in English |work=YaleGlobal Online |url=http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/asians-offer-region-lesson-%E2%80%93-english |url-status=dead |access-date=6 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219214821/http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/asians-offer-region-lesson-%E2%80%93-english |archive-date=19 February 2010}}</ref>

Russian, [[Social:French language|French]], and [[Social:German language|German]] language classes have been made widely available in universities and colleges.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 April 2015 |title=German Language Study on the Rise Worldwide |url=https://monitor.icef.com/2015/04/german-language-study-on-the-rise-worldwide/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031908/https://monitor.icef.com/2015/04/german-language-study-on-the-rise-worldwide/ |archive-date=23 June 2019 |access-date=23 June 2019 |website=ICEF Monitor}}</ref> In Northeast China, there are many bilingual schools (Mandarin-Japanese; Mandarin-Korean; Mandarin-Russian), in these schools, students learn languages other than English.

''[[Finance:The Economist|The Economist]]'' reported in 2006 that up to one fifth of the population was learning English. Gordon Brown, the former British prime minister, estimated that the total English-speaking population in China would outnumber the native speakers in the rest of the world in two decades.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 April 2006 |title=English Beginning to be Spoken Here |work=Economist.com |url=http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6803197 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060417192251/http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6803197 |archive-date=17 April 2006}}</ref>

There have been a growing number of students studying [[Social:Modern Standard Arabic|Arabic]], due to reasons of cultural interest and belief in better job opportunities.<ref>{{cite web |last=Walker |first=Alyssa |date=18 December 2017 |title=More Chinese Students Study Arabic |url=https://www.academiccourses.com/news/more-chinese-students-study-arabic-2215/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623031904/https://www.academiccourses.com/news/more-chinese-students-study-arabic-2215/ |archive-date=23 June 2019 |access-date=23 June 2019 |website=Academiccourses.com}}</ref> The language is also widely studied amongst the Hui people.<ref name="Michael Dillon 1999 155">{{Cite book |last=Dillon |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwuSpFiOFfYC&q=hunan+uyghur&pg=PA154 |title=China's Muslim Hui Community: Migration, Settlement and Sects |date=1999 |publisher=Curzon Press |isbn=0-7007-1026-4 |location=Richmond |page=155}}</ref> In the past, literary Arabic education was promoted in Islamic schools by the Kuomintang when it ruled mainland China.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJzB6wrz6Q4C&q=ma+fuxiang+military+academy&pg=PA251 |title=Intellectuals in the Modern Islamic World: Transmission, Transformation, Communication |date=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-36835-3 |editor-last=Dudoignon |editor-first=Stéphane A. |location=London |page=251 |editor-last2=Komatsu |editor-first2=Hisao |editor-last3=Kosugi |editor-first3=Yasushi}}</ref>

There have also been a growing number of students choosing to learn [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]], due to interest in Pakistani culture, close ties between the respective nations, and job opportunities provided by the CPEC.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 2017 |title=Chinese Students Eager to Learn Urdu Anticipating Job Opportunities Under Cpec |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1338888 |access-date=23 June 2019 |website=Dawn |agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref>

Interest in [[Social:Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Social:Spanish language|Spanish]] have increased greatly, due in part to Chinese investment in Latin America as well as in African nations such as Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde. Portuguese is also one of the official languages in [[Place:Macau|Macau]], although its use had stagnated since the nation's transfer from Portugal to the {{wipe|China}}. It was estimated in 2016 that 2.3% of Macau's locals spoke the language,<ref>{{cite web |last=Statistics and Census Service |date=2017 |title=2016 Population By-Census Detailed Results |url=https://www.dsec.gov.mo/getAttachment/e20c6bab-ada4-4f83-9349-e72605674a42/E_ICEN_PUB_2016_Y.aspx}}</ref> although with government backing since then, interest in it has increased.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 2018 |title=In Macau, the Old Colonial Tongue Is Back in Vogue |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2018/11/08/in-macau-the-old-colonial-tongue-is-back-in-vogue |access-date=23 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110100230/https://www.economist.com/china/2018/11/08/in-macau-the-old-colonial-tongue-is-back-in-vogue |archive-date=10 November 2018}}</ref>

Esperanto became prominent in certain circles in the early 20th century and reached its peak in the 1980s, though by 2024 its prominence had declined.<ref name=HeWuLastEsp>{{cite web|last1=He|first1=Kai|last2=Wu|first2=Huiyuan|url=https://www.sixthtone.com:443/news/1013747|title=China's Last Esperanto Students|magazine=Sixth Tone|date=15 September 2023|access-date=6 January 2023}}</ref>

===Use of English===
In China, English is used as a lingua franca in several fields, especially for business settings,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wang |first1=Wenpu |title=SHS Web of Conferences |last2=Wei |first2=Lin |date=2016 |editor-last=Liu |editor-first=X. |volume=25 |chapter=Chinese English in As Lingua Franca in Global Business Setting: A Case Study of Ongoing Emails of A Foreign Company in China |page=01013 |doi=10.1051/shsconf/20162501013 |editor-last2=Wang |editor-first2=J. |editor-last3=Li |editor-first3=N. |doi-access=free}}</ref> and in schools to teach Standard Mandarin to people who are not Chinese citizens.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Danping |title=Language Alternation, Language Choice and Language Encounter in International Tertiary Education |date=2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-007-6475-0 |editor-last=Haberland |editor-first=Hartmut |volume=5 |location=Dordrecht |pages=161–177 |chapter=The Use of English as a Lingua Franca in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Case Study of Native Chinese Teachers in Beijing |series=Multilingual Education |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-6476-7_8 |editor-last2=Lønsmann |editor-first2=Dorte |editor-last3=Preisler |editor-first3=Bent}}</ref> English is also one of the official languages in [[Place:Hong Kong|Hong Kong]].

==See also==
* ''[[Social:Language Atlas of China|Language Atlas of China]]''
* ''Linguistic Atlas of Chinese Dialects''
* Varieties of Chinese
* List of varieties of Chinese
* Han Chinese subgroups
* Demographics of China
* Racism in China
* Hong Kong English
* Languages of Hong Kong
* Culture of Macau
* Macanese Portuguese
* List of ethnic groups in China
* Classification of Southeast Asian languages
* [[Social:Cantonese|Cantonese]]
* [[Social:Standard Chinese|Standard Chinese]]
* Chinglish

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kane |first=D. |title=The Chinese Language: Its History and Current Usage |date=2006 |publisher=Tuttle |isbn=0-8048-3853-4 |location=North Clarendon, VT}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Halliday |first1=M. A. K. |title=Studies in Chinese Language |last2=Webster |first2=J. |date=2005 |publisher=Continuum |isbn=978-1-84714-449-2 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=S. Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2E_5nR0SoXoC |title=The Languages of China |date=1987 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691014685 |edition=illustrated, reprint |location=Princeton, NJ}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hong |first=B. |title=Chinese Language Use |date=1978 |publisher=Contemporary China Centre, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University |isbn=0-909596-29-8 |location=Canberra}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cheng |first1=C. C. |title=Language & Linguistics in the People's Republic of China |last2=Lehmann |first2=W. P. |date=1975 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-74615-6 |location=Austin}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.nssd.org/journal/cn/80601X/ Minzu Yuwen (民族语文): ''Minority Languages of China'' journal]
* [http://www.muturzikin.com/cartesasie/9.htm Linguistic maps of China] on Muturzikin.com
* [http://globalrecordings.net/country/CH?page=all Audio Bible recordings in various minority languages of China]

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