What are the eight major dialects in China?

Eight major dialects in China

There are eight major dialects in China (a language called "Pingyu" has recently been discovered, mainly distributed in Guangxi). Some people also classify Chinese dialects into nine major dialects and ten major dialects. In fact, the "eight major dialects", "nine major dialects", and even the "ten major dialects" we call are only domestic Han dialects. If the languages ??of ethnic minorities are added, China's dialects can be divided into more. Finer.

1. Northern dialect

It is customarily called "Mandarin". There are Northeast Mandarin, Northwest Mandarin, Jin dialect, Southwest Mandarin, etc. Represented by Beijing dialect, it includes the north of the Yangtze River, the riverside areas above Zhenjiang and below Jiujiang, the northwest of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei and Hunan provinces, and the northern part of Guangxi. The speaker population accounts for more than 70% of the total number of Han people. The language of the He people living in this dialect area naturally belongs to the northern dialect. The "native language" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and the overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese from this dialect area is undoubtedly the northern dialect.

2. Wu Dialect

Wu Dialect is known as the "Wu Nong Whisper" and is represented by Shanghainese dialect (one theory is that it is represented by Suzhou dialect). Including the parts south of the Yangtze River and east of Zhenjiang in Jiangsu Province (excluding Zhenjiang) and most of Zhejiang Province. The user population accounts for about 8.4% of the total Han population. The language of the He people living in this dialect area naturally belongs to the Wu dialect. The "native language" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living overseas from this dialect area is undoubtedly the Wu dialect.

3. Xiang dialect

Represented by Changsha dialect, it is distributed in most areas of Hunan Province, and its speakers account for about 5% of the total Han population. The He people who live in this dialect area speak a Xiang dialect. The "mother tongue" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from this dialect area and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living abroad should be Hunan dialect.

4. Gan dialect

Represented by Nanchang dialect, it is mainly distributed in Jiangxi Province (except the eastern riverside area and the south) and the southeastern area of ????Hubei Province. The speaker population accounts for 10% of the total number of Han people. Around 2.4%. The language spoken by the He people in this dialect area belongs to the Gan dialect. The "native language" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living overseas from this dialect area should be classified as Gan dialect.

5. Hakka dialect

Represented by Meixian dialect in Guangdong, it is mainly distributed in the eastern, southern and northern parts of Guangdong Province, southeastern Guangxi, western Fujian Province, southern Jiangxi Province, and Hunan , in a few areas of Sichuan, the user population accounts for about 4% of the total Han population. The language of the He people in this dialect area belongs to the Hakka dialect. The "native tongue" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from this dialect area and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living overseas should be the Hakka dialect.

6. Northern Fujian dialect

Represented by Fuzhou dialect, it is distributed in northern Fujian Province and part of Taiwan Province. Some overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia also speak Northern Fujian dialect. The user population accounts for about 1.2% of the total Han population. The language of the He people in this dialect area belongs to the northern Fujian dialect. The "native language" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from this dialect area and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living overseas should be the Northern Fujian dialect.

7. Southern Fujian dialect

Represented by Xiamen dialect, it is distributed in southern Fujian Province, eastern Guangdong Province, part of Hainan Province, and most areas of Taiwan Province. There are also many overseas Chinese in Nanyang who speak the Minnan dialect, and the speaker population accounts for about 3% of the total Han population. The language of the He people in this dialect area belongs to the Minnan dialect. The "mother tongue" of the He clan who immigrated to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from this dialect area and the overseas Chinese and Chinese living abroad should be the Southern Fujian dialect.

8. Cantonese dialect

Represented by Cantonese, it is distributed in most areas of Guangdong Province and southeastern Guangxi. Most of our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao, as well as overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and some other countries, speak Cantonese dialect, and its speakers account for about 5% of the total Han population.

As for the newly discovered "Pingyu dialect", it is mostly distributed in Guangxi, and its characteristic is that it is the product of the erosion of southern dialect areas by northern dialects!

Let’s talk about Hainan dialect in particular.

Hainan has been an "immigration area" throughout the ages, so the language on the island is deeply imprinted with "immigration". It can be said that the language on Hainan Island is the epitome of China’s eight major dialects. Now, several generations of Han residents have lived on Hainan Island. In addition to "Mandarin", more than a dozen dialects (including minority languages) are also spoken on Hainan Island, such as: Hainanese (Southern Fujian dialect), Junhua (Southwestern Mandarin-Northern Mandarin) dialect), "Aihua" (Hakka dialect), vernacular (Cantonese dialect). In addition, the Han residents in Hainan include: Danzhou dialect (suspected to be a variation of Cantonese dialect), Mai dialect (suspected to be a variation of Cantonese dialect), Lingao dialect (suspected to be a variation of Guangxi Zhuang dialect), Cun dialect (unknown language type), etc.

Reference: NetEase Community