Name:
粤语 Yue (Cantonese)
Population:
52,000,000 (PRC); 54,810,598 (World)
Region:
Southern China: Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, Hong Kong and Macau. Also spoken in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Panama, USA and more overseas Chinese communities.
Information:
The Yue dialect group is well known not only because overseas Chinese communities tend to speak “Cantonese,” but also because the group as a whole actually has a group mentality. Whereas the Wu dialect has a larger population, speakers do not relate to each other as having a common identity; they may not even be aware that their local dialect is part of a large group of very similar dialects. Yue speakers, on the other hand, have a strong identity.
The linguistic capital of the Yue region is nominally Guangzhou, Guangdong Province (广州, 广东). This important commercial city is the mainland social and economic capital of Southern China. Therefore, Yue dialect is often referred to in Chinese as 广东话 guangdonghua, or “Cantonese” in English. Cantonese is the specific dialect of Guangzhou, and within the greater Yue family, there are several sub-dialects. Guangzhou Yue serves as a regional standard.
Despite Guangzhou’s historical significance as a regional center, it seems that these days Hong Kong is more important to Yue speakers. Hong Kong has been spared many of the linguistic reforms of the Communists and retained Cantonese as its common language. In contrast, Guangzhou was subject to the same enforcement of Putonghua education as in the rest of Mainland China, so most people from Guangzhou are bilingual with Putonghua.
The word 粤 Yue is emblematic of the Cantonese identity. It is often used as a synonym for “South China.” This is especially apparent when it comes to food where so called “Southern Cuisine” really means 粤菜 yue4cai4, or Cantonese Cuisine. The area also has a strong local literary culture in the form of songs, 南音 nan2yin1 “southern melody,” chanted poetry and local opera. There are also some works of vernacular literature that feature a set of written characters (汉字 han4zi4) that is widely recognized among Yue speakers and unrecognizable to anyone else.
Characteristics:
- Only one series of initial sibilants (ts-, tʃ-, s) where Mandarin has three (Pinyin: s-; z-, c-, j-; zh-, ch-, sh-). Cantonese have a hard time mastering the distinctions in Putonghua initials.
- No medial vowels. Mandarin has finals with multiple vowels such as -uo and -ia, these combinations of vowels are impossible in Cantonese.
- h- or f- where Mandarin has k-.
- Initial consonant ng- and nasal syllables.
- Distinct vowel length.
- Six final consonants: -m, -n, -ng, -p, -t, -k
- Nine basic tones and two “changed tones” that are used on derived words.
- Direct objects precede indirect objects (i.e. “He gave the ball to me” instead of “He gave me the ball”).