[pdx]

A story that others might find interesting:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...home-headlines

[fly]

One of my NY resolutions is to try and learn Mandarin (again). Hope it sticks this time around.

[penguinsix]

Money quote in the story dealt with the fact that swearing was still much easier and more elaborate in Cantonese than in Mandarin.

[Vrindavan]

>>Cantonese is said to be closer than Mandarin to ancient Chinese.


does it mean majority of Chinese people in the past speak Cantonese ?

[kirlex]

Originally Posted by Vrindavan

>>Cantonese is said to be closer than Mandarin to ancient Chinese.


does it mean majority of Chinese people in the past speak Cantonese ?

From what I know about languages in China, there are many languages and dialects from province to province and city to city. In Guangdong, they speak Cantonese. Shanghai, Fukien, etc...also have their own languages. Standard Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect. It would be like if one day Europe decided to form their own country and chose a common tongue, they would chose either English or German.

In the early 20th century, there was a great attempt to chose a common national language. If I recall correctly, it was between Cantonese and Mandarin, and they chose Mandarin.

[Vrindavan]

of course, the China Capital is located in Beijing/North

[Valencia1]

One thing interesting is that 90% of the people I meet in the streets, esp in restaurants and shops, are recent mainland immigrants, but they speak only Cantonese to me, despite their heavy accents. I've never met anyone who speaks Mandarin or his/her own dialect to me. If Cantonese is losing its voice, it means HK is losing its position.

[Vrindavan]

Chinese, particularly Cantonese speaking Chinese should copy India method.

Using English as the common language rather than PTH.

[jdi]

Originally Posted by Vrindavan

>>Cantonese is said to be closer than Mandarin to ancient Chinese.


does it mean majority of Chinese people in the past speak Cantonese ?

at least in the written form, cantonese is more closer to the ancient chinese. but regarding with the spoken form, who knows!

[Mat]

Originally Posted by Vrindavan

Chinese, particularly Cantonese speaking Chinese should copy India method.

Using English as the common language rather than PTH.

why is that?