China is more in population than the whole of Europe put together.
The records show that China accounts for about 18.41% of the world population and the population of the country is estimated to be around 1.4 billion people.
Writing System
02.
Traditional Chinese:
The traditional Chinese represent pre-reform system of Chinese writing.
Traditional Chinese is still the main script in Taiwan, Hongkong, and, Macau.
Writing System
03.
Simplified Chinese:
Simplified Chinese was massively promoted by the communist leaders in the 1950s in the bid to educate the massive population.
Simplified China is used in Mainland China, Malaysia and overseas.
TonalLanguage
04.
When the pitch at which one utters a syllable determines the very meaning of the word, it is classified as a tonal language.
Mandarin has four tones; On the other hand, Cantonese Chinese has six.
4 tones4 meanings
05.
Mandarin Chinese, the word “ma” means different things depending on its tone.
1. má – “hemp”
2. mà – “scold”
3. mă – “horse”
4. mā – “mother”
MiddleKingdom
06.
Chinese always considered themselves the middle of the world, hence the word “zhongguo” literally means “middle kingdom”, which in English is translated into “China”.
MiddleLanguage
07.
Their language “zhongwen” literally means “middle language”, which in English means “Chinese” language.
SevenLanguages
08.
The middle Chinese changed in different ways to emerge as seven different languages of China spoken in mainland China today.
SevenLanguages
09.
The seven languages (or dialects) are,
1. Mandarin (Putonghua)
2. Gan
3. Hakka
4. Min
5. Wu
6. Xiang
7. Yue (Cantonese)
OfficialLanguage
10.
There are 302 languages spoken in China and 276 of them are indigenous languages.
Mandarin is the official language of China and Taiwan. Mandarin became official language of China in 1913.