Varieties of Chinese

Chinese
Sinitic
Geographic distribution	China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese
Early forms	Old Chinese Eastern Han Chinese Middle Chinese[a]
Subdivisions	Mandarin Jin Wu Hui Gan Xiang Min Hakka Yue Ping
ISO 639-5	zhx
Linguasphere	79-AAA
Glottolog	sini1245
Primary branches of Chinese according to the Language Atlas of China.[3] The Mandarin area extends into Yunnan and Xinjiang (not shown).
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	汉语
Traditional Chinese	漢語
Hanyu Pinyin	Hànyǔ
Literal meaning	Han language
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hànyǔ Bopomofo ㄏㄢˋ ㄩˇ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hannyeu Wade–Giles Han4-yu3 Tongyong Pinyin Hàn-yǔ Yale Romanization Hàn-yǔ IPA [xân.ỳ] Wu Romanization hoe3 nyiu2 Hakka Romanization Hon Ngi Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization hon yúh Jyutping hon3 jyu5 Canton Romanization hon3 yü5 IPA [hɔ̄ːn.jy̬ː] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hàn-gí, Hàn-gú Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Háng-ngṳ̄

There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties^[b] forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast part of mainland China. The varieties are typically classified into several groups: Mandarin, Wu, Min, Xiang, Gan, Jin, Hakka and Yue, though some varieties remain unclassified. These groups are neither clades nor individual languages defined by mutual intelligibility, but reflect common phonological developments from Middle Chinese.

Chinese varieties have the greatest differences in their phonology, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and syntax. Southern varieties tend to have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the Middle Chinese final consonants. All have phonemic tones, with northern varieties tending to have fewer distinctions than southern ones. Many have tone sandhi, with the most complex patterns in the coastal area from Zhejiang to eastern Guangdong.

Standard Chinese takes its phonology from the Beijing dialect, with vocabulary from the Mandarin group and grammar based on literature in the modern written vernacular. It is one of the official languages of China and one of the four official languages of Singapore. It has become a pluricentric language, with differences in pronunciation and vocabulary between the three forms. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

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