Can Cantonese speakers understand Taishanese?

The Zhongshan Yue dialects sound a bit like Taishanese but are mutually intelligible with Cantonese upon first contact. The southern varieties of Taishanese are very difficult for Cantonese speakers to understand without prior exposure, but are nevertheless easier than the northern varieties of Taishanese.

Can Cantonese speakers read simplified Chinese?

When there was a simplification in 1950 of the traditional Chinese, they simplified one small part of the traditional Chinese not whole! For Cantonese is easier to read simplified characters because they can guess the meaning.

Can Cantonese speakers read Chinese?

Senior Member. According to my Cantonese-speaking friends, when they encounter structures that only exist in Mandarin, they read in Mandarin. (I’ve heard that when the characters are written in traditional/simplified form, native Cantonese speakers tend to read them in Cantonese/Mandarin.

Can Cantonese speakers understand written Mandarin?

Therefore a Mandarin-speaker and a Cantonese-speaker would be able to write letters to one another with minimal difficulty. However, the two languages are distinct when spoken. Mandarin speakers typically cannot understand Cantonese speakers, and vice versa.

Is Taishanese same as Cantonese?

Taishanese, or in the Cantonese romanization Toisanese (simplified Chinese: 台山话; traditional Chinese: 台山話; Taishanese: [hɔi˨san˧wa˧˨˥]), is a language of Yue Chinese. The language is related to and is often referred to as Cantonese but has little mutual intelligibility with the latter.

Which country speaks Cantonese?

China
Cantonese language, Chinese (Pinyin) Yueyu, (Wade-Giles romanization) Yüeh-yü, variety of Chinese spoken by more than 55 million people in Guangdong and southern Guangxi provinces of China, including the important cities of Canton, Hong Kong, and Macau. Throughout the world it is spoken by some 20 million more.

How do you know if a Chinese is traditional or simplified?

The most obvious difference between traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese is the way that the characters look. Traditional characters are typically more complicated and have more strokes, while simplified characters are, as the name suggests, simpler and have fewer strokes.

Can Cantonese be written in simplified Chinese?

Although the Chinese spoken in Hong Kong is Cantonese, they write in the same way as in standard Chinese (Mandarin), albeit in traditional (and not simplified) characters. When it is read aloud, however, the pronunciation is Cantonese, so it can only be understood by someone familiar with Cantonese.

Is reading Mandarin and Cantonese the same?

Cantonese speakers can generally understand Mandarin but it’s worth noting if you listen to each dialect, you will realise they sound nothing alike. Whereas on paper, a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker could both read and understand the same text, when read out aloud, they sound completely different.

Can Mandarin speakers understand Taiwanese?

Taiwanese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible. If I learn Mandarin Chinese can I understand somebody from Taiwan? Yes, since the official (and nearly universally spoken) language in Taiwan is Mandarin.

Is Cantonese really a Chinese dialect?

On its site detailing Hong Kong’s language policy, it stated that Cantonese was a “Chinese dialect that is not an official language”. It caused an outcry, as Hong Kong residents certainly believe theirs is a proper form of Chinese, and not just a dialect. The bureau was forced to apologise and delete the phrase.

How do you read Cantonese text out loud?

Cantonese text read aloud This Cantonese learning tool allows you to enter Cantonese text and hear it read aloud. You can also enter jyutyping. You put the Chinese text (in traditional or simplified or jyutyping notation) in the left box then press double click play and in the right box you’ll hear the text pronounced.

How do I use this Cantonese learning tool?

This Cantonese learning tool allows you to enter Cantonese text and hear it read aloud. You can also enter jyutyping. You put the Chinese text (in traditional or simplified or jyutyping notation) in the left box then press double click play and in the right box you’ll hear the text pronounced.

What is the origin of Cantonese?

Cantonese is believed to have originated after the fall of the Han Dynasty in 220AD, when long periods of war caused northern Chinese to flee south, taking their ancient language with them. Mandarin was documented much later in the Yuan Dynasty in 14th century China.