Guangdong province migration

[Oiler1]

I'm not that up to date on migration of people within China but I have noticed that everything I contact a woman who is in Guangdong province they speak Mandarin rather than Cantonese.

I speak a little Cantonese but have yet to find a lady that speaks it. I am assuming a lot of people from other provinces have migrated to the south in hopes of getting a better job there? I know Guangdong is more prosperous than most provinces so if any other can clue me in on my assumptions please do.

[raymond-]

during economy boom, many folks from the villages flocked to larger, metro locations, eshewing their
farming roots for hopes of fortune, ergo the switch to manuf, high tech etc.   as the recent economy
waned, many are left in limbo.....or having to make tough decisions to go back to the country.  the
young adults may not even know how to farm so it's a difficult transition for many folks.

so yes, Guangzhou saw large influx of Mandarin speakers....as did other large cities like Shanghai etc

when the new bullet train is completed to Guandong province, we'll see more of this, even with the
bobbing economy

[maxx]

The Chinese goverment teaches Manderin in the schools.With so many dilects of Chinese.They had to do somethng to get eveybody on the same page.

You want to find out somethig interesting about your lady ask her how many different dilects of Chinese she speaks.My wife can speak about 5 different dilects and understand about 10.

[David5o]

Scott is right, Mandarin is the standard language of China now. The communists during the cultural revolution all but killed off the other dialects on the mainland. Though some areas did manage to hang on to their own dilect
They also brought in the simplified Chinese characters, almost  totally eradicating the traditional Chinese  characters.
There were 4 Main dialects as i understand it, but i only know of 3 of them Mandarin, Cantonese, Fushing (i think that's how it's spelt  lol!!)
Now you will normally only come accross Cantonese in Hong Kong, along with traditional Chinese characters.
I'm pretty sure that Taiwan uses the Fushing and Mandarin dialects  and again i think the Traditional Chinese characters.

David.....

[Vince G]

When I use to write a woman in Guangdong I asked her what she spoke, being so close to Hong Kong where I know they speak Cantonese. She said she spoke Mandarin but could understand Cantonese. Repeating this question with those that followed Mandarin is what you should learn to be safe. Unless your woman speaks Cantonese but she might speak both?

[David5o]

Vince,

Maybe, but most Mainland Chinese coming to Hong Kong feel like there in a different country because of the language barrier. they can't even write things down to be understood , because neither understand each others writing haha!!

David....

[feisnik]

There are many, many dialects in China, they are still spoken, and many ladies know a number of them. And these so-called dialects are often completely different languages when spoken. But most of the under 50 crowd will know Mandarin, which is a good thing.

[raymond-]

the lady i'm currently focusing on speaks 3 dialects, and I, 2.  despite this, none connect to allow us to
communicate directly so we still require the use of the agency's translator.  somewhat amusing

[David5o]

Nik,

I think i should be calling them languages, because what i'm talking about is much more than just a dialect.
Yes your right, there any many dialects, virtually every town had it own dialect, but all based on one of the 4 main languages.....  No, the dialects are not different languages, not unless that dialect is based on one of the other 3 main languages   Wow!! All this can start sounding very confusing !!   lol !!

David....

[Oiler1]

I grew up speaking the Taishanese (Toi San in Cantonese, Hoi San in orginal Hoisan dialect). In those days in Canada, almost all the Chinese spoke this rural dialect because they were the first ones to immigrate to North America in large numbers. Now, it is a dying language spoken mainly by older people. In the good old days you were forced to learn this dialect else you don't get served in restaurants etc.

In my experience I have talked to people who spoke Cantonese, Mandarin (Putonghua), Fukienese, Shanghainese. A lot of overseas Chinese still speak Cantonese. When I was in New York people spoke Cantonese a lot. A lot of people still speak Taisanese in North America. Chinese in the Philippines speak Fukienese I believe. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong, Macau  mainly but I heard it spoken in Beijing by some mainland visitors too.

You would think in Guangdong province most people would still speak Cantonese or at least know about it if they were born there. It seems on Chnlove al ot of women have moved to that province for a better job prospect. I have yet to write to a native Cantonese speaker from there which I find a bit unusual.

If you know how to write Chinese characters, most educated people should understand it whether it is the traditional or simplified characters.

[David5o]

Since writing my last post on this thread I've spoken to Lucy, and what she told me really shocked me.

here goes .... she says there are 56 different peoples in china, each with there own language. The family of Han is the largest of those families and 90% of the people of China are from that family. The 55 other families make up the other 10%.

Now i think that what OILER has said above may account for what i think are the main Languages of China, and what Lucy was saying is that there are 56 dialects..  all derived from the main Languages (at least he knew how to spell ''Fukienese'') His is also stating 5 Main languages, where i thought only 4, i bow to his superior knowledge. I know for a fact that he is right about Fukienese being spoken by the Chinese in the Philippines....

Lucy also said that even though Mandarin is the main language of China there are many that don't know it too well, they tend to stick to there own dialect. .... So this just gets more confusing, the deeper you dig and look into it. For me, i think i know enough now, any more, and I'll know less than when this thread started!!   hahaha!!

David.....

[Oiler1]

Since writing my last post on this thread I've spoken to Lucy, and what she told me really shocked me.

here goes .... she says there are 56 different peoples in china, each with there own language. The family of Han is the largest of those families and 90% of the people of China are from that family. The 55 other families make up the other 10%.

Now i think that what OILER has said above may account for what i think are the main Languages of China, and what Lucy was saying is that there are 56 dialects..  all derived from the main Languages (at least he knew how to spell ''Fukienese'') His is also stating 5 Main languages, where i thought only 4, i bow to his superior knowledge. I know for a fact that he is right about Fukienese being spoken by the Chinese in the Philippines....

Lucy also said that even though Mandarin is the main language of China there are many that don't know it too well, they tend to stick to there own dialect. .... So this just gets more confusing, the deeper you dig and look into it. For me, i think i know enough now, any more, and I'll know less than when this thread started!!   hahaha!!

David.....

There are 56 different ethnic groups in China. I had no idea within these group how many dialects or sub-dialects there are. There are variations of pronunciation from even the same dialect!

It gets confusing when they are transliterated into English. For a long time the Cantonese pronunciation held sway but now it is the PinYin system. For example Cantonese Chan is really Chen in Mandarin as a surname. Wong is Mandarin Huang. Wang is also pronounced like Wong except it is a different character etc. etc.

[David5o]

OILER,

That's why i have given up on trying to work out what's what!!.... Too dam confusing for my liking.  I like things that you can see where there going, .....but all i can see here is a big can of worms  haha!!  I'll let you Chinese sort it all out for the rest of us!! ...hahaha!!

David.....

[raymond-]

oiler1 -
small point, but shouldn't the comparison be pinyin v wade-giles, instead of pinyin v Cantonese?

[Oiler1]

oiler1 -
small point, but shouldn't the comparison be pinyin v wade-giles, instead of pinyin v Cantonese?

Yes you are right. I am so used to referring to Chinese people as Cantonese that I sometimes forget.