Sinitic Languages: Basic Phrases (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Shanghainese, Hakka)

Published on May 5, 2018 “Mandarin (普通话 / 汉语 / 国语 / 华语) Mandarin is a variety of Chinese spoken mainly in China, Taiwan, and Singapore by just over 1 billion people (in 2013). It is the main language of government, the media and education in China and Taiwan, and one of the four official languages in Singapore. Mandarin is also spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Brunei, Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, the USA, Vietnam, Laos, the UK and Mauritius. Cantonese (廣東話 / 粵語) Cantonese (gwóngdùngwá/yuhtyúh) Cantonese is spoken by about 72 million people, mainly in the south east of China, particularly in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan. It is also spoken in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and among Overseas Chinese communities in many other countries. Hokkien (福建話; pinyin: Fújiànhuà;