How do you tell the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin?
How do you tell the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin?
Both the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects are tonal languages where one word has many meanings depending on the pronunciation and intonation. Cantonese has six tones, whereas Mandarin has just four. Cracking the tones are said to be the hardest part of learning Chinese.
Do Cantonese and Mandarin sound different?
While they are both tonal languages (where different tones give different meanings to the same sound), the number of tones is different. Mandarin has only four tones per sound, while Cantonese has at least six (and can have up to nine). Mandarin and Cantonese even have different vowels and consonants.
Do Cantonese speakers understand Mandarin?
Yes and no. Cantonese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible in spoken form. Through written Standard Chinese, speakers of both languages can communicate, which when read aloud is Mandarin to Mandarin speakers and very formal to Cantonese speakers.
Does Cantonese sound better than Mandarin?
Cantonese is more gutteral and sounds kind of badass. Mandarin is more lyrical and easy on the ears. And the sound is very different coming from Northern and Southern Chinese.
Does WAYV speak Mandarin or Cantonese?
Lucas, Hendery, and Xiaojun all speak Cantonese. When the group is together they all speak Mandarin. Ten and YangYang speak English to each other. Kun speaks Korean to Ten.
Is Lucas a Cantonese?
On 7 April 2017, Lucas made an appearance in NCT member Ten’s “Dream In A Dream” music video. Lucas, whose mother tongue is Cantonese, studied Korean and Mandarin in preparation for his debut.
What is the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese?
People in Hong Kong often refer to the language differences as “the chicken talking to the duck” — though they have quite a bit in common, they cannot easily understand each other. Mandarin utilizes four tones, whereas Cantonese has at least six and sometimes as many as nine.
Can Mandarin and Cantonese speakers communicate in writing?
Mandarin and Cantonese speakers can communicate in writing. This is because Mandarin and Cantonese share a written system even though their verbal pronunciations are very different. This means that if you are exclusively proficient in Mandarin, you will have no problem reading a newspaper written by someone only fluent in Cantonese.
What is the capital of the Cantonese-speaking world?
Guangzhou (formerly Canton) is the capital of the Cantonese-speaking world. The characters used for Mandarin and Cantonese share the same roots in ancient China, but Mandarin uses simplified characters, which were set as the standard by the Chinese government in 1950s, while Cantonese still uses the traditional characters.
How many Cantonese speakers are there in China?
There are an estimated 63 million Cantonese speakers in China (5% of China’s population) compared with 933 million Mandarin first-language speakers (67% of people in China). Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken throughout different parts of China, and where in China you go will dictate which one you will encounter.
