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The following is a 'list of Chinese dialects and languages'.

Contents

Classification

Tradition classification

Modern linguistic classification

Ethnologue

Distinction between dialects and languages

List of dialects and languages

Gan - 赣语/贛語

Guan (Mandarin) - 官话/官話

Hui - 徽語

Jin - 晋语/晉語

Kejia (Hakka) - 客家話

Min - 闽语/閩語

Wu - 吴语/吳語

Xiang - 湘语/湘語

Yue (Cantonese) - 粵語/粤语

Unclassified

See also

References

Classification

Linguists classify these languages as the ''Sinitic'' branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Within this broad classification, linguistics identify between seven and fourteen subgroups.

Tradition classification

Traditional Chinese classification lists seven groups, including:

• Gan
• Guan	(Mandarin or Beifang)
• Kejia	(Hakka)
• Min	(including the Hokkien and Taiwanese variants)
• Wu
• Xiang
• Yue	(Cantonese)

(shown here with the romanized Standard Mandarin names of the categories, ordered alphabetically).

Modern linguistic classification

James Matisoff's widely accepted classification includes:

Mandarin	→ Jin
Wu	→ Hui
Cantonese	→ Ping
Min
Xiang
Hakka
Gan

Matisoff's list uses the common English names of the groups, ordered by decreasing number of speakers of languages within the group.

Ethnologue

The Ethnologue lists 14 language groups,^[1] including:

Chinese, Gan	(Gan)
Chinese, Hakka	(Kejia)
Chinese, Huizhou	(Hui)
Chinese, Jinyu	(Jin)
Chinese, Mandarin	(Mandarin)
Chinese, Min Bei	(Min → Min Bei)
Chinese, Min Dong	(Min → Min Dong)
Chinese, Min Nan	(Min → Min Nan)
Chinese, Min Zhong	(Min → Min Zhong)
Chinese, Pu-Xian	(Min → Pu-Xian)
Chinese, Wu	(Wu)
Chinese, Xiang	(Xiang)
Chinese, Yue	(Yue (Cantonese))
Dungan	(Mandarin → Dungan)

See also Campbell's article on classifying Chinese dialects^[2] and ChinaDC's chart of Sino-Tibetan languages.^[3]
As the above categories illustrate, there are three common approaches to naming categories and languages in English:

★ A Romanization of the name in Standard Mandarin (e.g. "Gan" or "Xiang")

★ The common English name, where there is one (e.g. "Cantonese" or "Mandarin")

★ A Romanization of the name in the principal language of the group (e.g. "Hakka" or "Hokkien")
The classification used here is a combination of the classifications given above.

Distinction between dialects and languages

In addition to the languages and dialects given below, it is customary to speak informally of languages and dialects belonging to each province, e.g. ''Sichuan dialect'', ''Henan dialect''. These designations do not always correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each nevertheless has approximate characteristics of its own.
The question of whether these should be called dialects or languages in their own right is particularly interesting in Chinese. On the one hand, the designation seems to be as much socio-political as linguistic, reflecting Max Weinreich's comment that "a language is a dialect with an army and a navy." Purely from a linguistic point of view, many of these idioms seem to meet the criteria of a language. On the other hand, to a large degree the various Chinese idioms share a common written language and literature, lending weight to calling them "dialects". Because the written language is grammatically closest to Standard Mandarin, many Chinese speakers view Standard Mandarin as "the Chinese language", and everything else as dialects.

List of dialects and languages

Gan - 赣语/贛語

Main articles: Gan (linguistics)

• Dongkou dialect	洞口話
• Huaining dialect	懷寧話
• Fuzhou (Jiangxi) dialect	撫州話
• Ji'an (Jiangxi) dialect	吉安話
• leiyang dialect	耒陽話
• Nanchang dialect	南昌話
• Xianning dialect	鹹寧話
• Yichun dialect	宜春話
• Yingtan dialect	鷹潭話

Guan (Mandarin) - 官话/官話

Main articles: Mandarin (linguistics)

'Beijing Mandarin'	'北京官話'
• Beijing dialect	北京话/北京話
• Standard Mandarin	[4]
• Chengde dialect	承德話
• Chifeng dialect
• Hailar dialect
• Karamay dialect
'Ji Lu Mandarin'
• Baoding dialect	保定話
• Jinan dialect	濟南話
• Shijiazhuang dialect	石家莊話
• Tianjin dialect	天津話
'Jianghuai Mandarin'	'江准官話'
• Hefei dialect	合肥話
• Hainan Junjiahua	軍家話
• Nanjing dialect	南京話
• Nantong dialect	南通話
• Xiaogan dialect
• Yangzhou dialect	揚州話
'Jiao Liao Mandarin'	'膠遼官話'
• Dalian dialect	大连话/大連話
• Qingdao dialect	青岛话/青島話
• Weihai dialect	威海話
• Yantai dialect	烟台话/煙台話
'Lan Yin Mandarin'	'蘭銀官話'
• Dungan language	東干語
• Lanzhou dialect	蘭州話
• Urumqi dialect of Chinese
• Xining dialect	西宁话/西寧話
• Yinchuan dialect	银川话/銀川話
'Northeast China Mandarin'	'东北官话/東北官話'
• Changchun dialect	长春话/長春話
• Harbin dialect	哈尔浜话/哈爾濱話
• Qiqihar dialect	斉斉哈尔话/齊齊哈爾話
• Shenyang dialect	沈阳话/瀋陽話
'Shandong Mandarin' [5]	'山東話'
'Southwestern Mandarin'	'西南官话/西南官話'
• Changde dialect
• Chengdu dialect	成都话/成都話
• Chongqing dialect	重慶話
• Dali dialect	大理話
• Guiyang dialect	貴陽話
• Kunming dialect	昆明話
• Liuzhou dialect	柳州話
• Wuhan dialect	武漢話
• Xichang dialect	西昌話
• Yichang dialect	宜昌話
'Zhongyuan Mandarin'	'中原官話'
• Hanzhong dialect	漢中話
• Kaifeng dialect	開封話
• Kashgar dialect of Chinese	喀什話
• Luoyang dialect	洛陽話
• Nanyang dialect
• Qufu dialect	曲埠話
• Tianshui dialect	天水話
• Xi'an dialect	西安話
• Xuzhou dialect	徐州話
• Yan'an dialect	延安話
• Zhengzhou dialect	郑州话/鄭州話

Hui - 徽語

Main articles: Hui (linguistics)

Sometimes subcategory of Wu.

• Jixi (Anhui) dialect
• Shexian (Anhui) dialect	歙縣話
• Tunxi dialect	屯溪話
• Yixian (Anhui) dialect

Jin - 晋语/晉語

Main articles: Jin (linguistics)

Sometimes subcategory of Mandarin.

• Baotou dialect	包頭話
• Datong dialect	大頭話
• Handan dialect	邯郸话
• Hohhot dialect	呼市話
• Taiyuan dialect	太原話
• Xinxiang dialect	新乡话

Kejia (Hakka) - 客家話

Main articles: Hakka (linguistics)

• Huizhou (Guangdong) Hakka dialect	惠州客家話
• Meizhou Hakka dialect	梅州客家話
• Wuhua Hakka dialect	五華客家話
• Xingning Hakka dialect	興寧客家話
• Pingyuan Hakka dialect	平遠客家話
• Jiaoling Hakka dialect	蕉嶺客家話
• Dapu Hakka dialect	大埔客家話
• Fengshun Hakka dialect	豐順客家話
• Longyan Hakka dialect	龍岩客家話

Min - 闽语/閩語

Main articles: Min (linguistics)

'Min Bei (Northern Min)'	'闽北语'
• Jian'ou dialect	建瓯话/建甌話
'Min Dong (Eastern Min)'	'闽东语'
• Fu'an dialect	福安話
• Fuqing dialect (Hók-chiăng-uâ)
• Fuzhou dialect (Hók-ciŭ-uâ; Foochow)	福州話
'Min Nan (Southern Min)'	'闽南语/閩南語'
• ''Chaoshan division''
• Shantou dialect (Swatow)	汕头话/汕頭話
• Chaozhou dialect (Teochew)	潮州话/潮州話
• Haifeng dialect (Hailufeng dialect/Lufeng dialect)	海豐話 (海陸豐話/陸豐話)
• ''Mintai division''	閩台片
• Lan-nang	咱人話/咱儂話
• Quanzhou dialect	泉州話
• Penang Hokkien	福建話
• Taiwanese (see regional variations) [6] || 臺灣話/台湾话
• Xiamen dialect (Amoy/Hokkien)	厦门话/廈門話
• Zhangzhou dialect	漳州話
'Min Zhong (Central Min)'	'闽中语'
• Sanming dialect	三明話
'Pu Xian'
• Putian dialect (Henghwa/Hinghwa)	莆田話
• Xianyou dialect
'Qiong Wen'	'瓊文片'
• Hainan dialect (Hainanese)	海南話
• Zhanjiang dialect	湛江話
• Leizhou dialect	雷州話
'Shao Jiang'

Wu - 吴语/吳語

Main articles: Wu (linguistics)

'Taihu division'	'太湖片'
• Changzhou dialect	常州話/常州话
• Suzhou dialect	苏州话/蘇州話
• Wuxi dialect	无锡话/無錫話
• Hangzhou dialect	杭州話/杭州话
• Huzhou dialect	湖州話/湖州话
• Jiaxing dialect	嘉興話/嘉兴话
• Shaoxing dialect	紹興話/绍兴话
• Ningbo dialect	寧波話/宁波话
• Shanghai dialect (Shanghainese)	上海話/上海话
'Taizhou division'	'浙东片'
• Taizhou (Zhejiang) dialect	台州話
'Oujiang division'
• Wenzhou dialect	溫州話
'Wuzhou division'
• Jinhua dialect	金華話
• Yiwu dialect	義烏話
• Yongkang dialect	永康話
'Chu Qu division'
• Lishui dialect	麗水話
• Quzhou dialect	衢州話
• Shangrao dialect	上饒話
'Xuanzhou division'
• Xuancheng dialect	宣城話

Xiang - 湘语/湘語

Main articles: Xiang (linguistics)

'Chang Yi division'
• Changsha dialect	长沙话
• Hengyang dialect	衡阳话
• Hengnan dialect	衡南话
• Hengshan dialect	衡山话
• Hengdong dialect	衡东话
• Qidong dialect	祈东话
• Qiyang dialect	祈阳话
• Leiyang dialect	耒阳话
• Changning dialect	常宁话
• Yiyang dialect	益阳话
• Ningxiang dialect	宁乡话
• Zhuzhou dialect	株洲话
• Changde dialect	常德话
'Lou Shao division'
• Loudi dialect	娄底话
• Shaoyang dialect	邵阳话
• Shuangfeng dialect	双峰话
'Chen Xu division'
• Chenxi dialect	郴西话
• Xupu dialect	溆浦话

Yue (Cantonese) - 粵語/粤语

Main articles: Cantonese (linguistics)

'Yue Hai division'	'粤海片/粵海片'
• ''Standard Cantonese (Guangfu)''	广府话/廣府話
• Guangzhou dialect	广州/廣州
• Hong Kong Cantonese	香港廣東話
• ''Sam-yap''	三邑/南番順
• Nanhai dialect	南海話
• Panyu dialect	番禺話
• Shunde dialect	順德話
• Zhaoqing dialect	肇庆话/肇慶話
• Zhongshan dialect	中山話
• Zhuhai dialect	珠海話
• Jiujiang dialect	九江話
• Qingyuan dialect	庆元话/慶元話
'Guan Bao division'	'莞寶片'
• Dongguan dialect	东莞话/東莞話
• Bao'an dialect	寶安話
• Waitau dialect	圍頭話/畬話
'Luoguang division'	'罗岗片/羅崗片'
'Seiyap division (Siyi)'	'四邑片'
• Enping dialect	恩平話
• Heshan dialect	鶴山話
• Jiangmen dialect	江门话/江門話
• Kaiping dialect	开平话/開平話
• Taishanese (Hoisanese, Toisanese)	台山話
• Xinhui dialect	新會話
'Gouyeung division'	'高阳片/高陽片'
• Maoming dialect	茂名話
• Yeunggong dialect	阳阳江话/陽江咶
'Gwainaam division (Cancerese)'	'桂南片'
• Beihai dialect	北海話
• Nanning dialect of Yue (Naamning)	南宁话/南寧話
• Moujau (Guangxi) dialect	婺州話
• Yuklam dialect	郁林话/鬱林話
'Mouchyun dialect'	'武川話'
'Danjia dialect'	'蜑家話'

Unclassified

Danzhou dialect	儋州話 / 儋州话
Linghua
Maojiahua
Pingdi Yaohua
Shaozhou Tuhua	韶州土話 / 韶州土话
Wutunhua
Xianghua

See also

★ Chinese language

★ Chinese spoken language

★ Chinese written language

★ Dialects of Mandarin

★ Dialect (discussion of "dialect" or "language")

★ Identification of the varieties of Chinese

References

1. Ethnologue report for Chinese
2. Chinese Dialect Classification James Campbell Includes descriptions of the dialects spoken in over 2,500 cities and counties in China. Includes interactive map.
3. Linguistic chart of Sino-Tibetan Languages In Chinese.
4. Also known as Putonghua (which is also the official name in English) 普通话 in the People's Republic of China, Guoyu (also spelled Kuo-yü) 國語 in the Republic of China, Huayu 华语 in Singapore.The official sanction of Standard Mandarin as an official language has also given rise to the following varieties of Standard Mandarin in areas that did not originally speak any dialect of the Mandarin group:
★ Cantonese Mandarin
★ Singaporean Mandarin
★ Taiwanese Mandarin
5. Used informally to refer to either Ji Lu Mandarin, spoken in northwest Shandong or Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the southwest. See Shandong culture.
6. Includes:
★ Central Taiwanese
★ Northeastern coastal Taiwanese
★ Northern Taiwanese
★ Southern Taiwanese