- This manual only provides explanations in standard Chinese (Mandarin, Mandarin). There are local dialects in various parts of China (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). Please refer toPhrasebook#Chinese branch. For languages spoken by ethnic minorities in China, please refer toPhrasebook#Chinese Minority Languages. For the overall language distribution in China, please refer toChinese language。
Chinese(Also calledChinese、ChineseEtc.) is the most spoken language in the world, spoken by more than 1 billion people in Greater China alone. However, due to various reasons, there have been some obvious differences in the shape, pronunciation, and vocabulary of Chinese in different regions. This article aims to provide some common differences that are useful to travelers.
The standard language of mainland China is based on Beijing accent, called "Mandarin」。
In Taiwan, "Standard Chinese" is also based on Beijing accent, called "Mandarin of the Republic of China"(Usually referred to asMandarin), but the pronunciation of some characters is different from that of mainland Mandarin.
Although Hong Kong and Macau passCantonese, But in recent years, with the liberalization of free travel, many businesses have also begun to use Putonghua, but there are many local expressions that must be paid special attention to.
Traditional and simplified glyphs
In the middle of the 20th century, the People's Republic of China simplified Chinese characters. After that, the Chinese mainland began to use simplified characters (commonly known as "simplified characters"). Singapore and Malaysia formally adopted simplified Chinese characters in 1974. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and some overseas Chinese communities continue to use the original glyphs. Taiwan is generally known as "traditional characters" and "national characters" (also known as "traditional characters"), and other regions are commonly referred to as "traditional characters".
Differences between traditional and simplified fontsSimplified Chinese | Traditional Chinese |
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Shenyang | Shenyang | sink | Sink/sink | Tokyo | Tokyo | Seoul | Seoul | Manila | Manila | Jakarta | Jakarta | international Hotel | international Hotel | restaurant | restaurant | | Internal Differences in Traditional ChineseIncluded in Mainland Chinese Dictionaries | Actual use in Hong Kong | Actual use in Taiwan |
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Production | Produce | Produce | Chicken | Chicken | Chicken | Record | record | record | Kai (start) | start | start | Say | Say | Say | Yan (yan) | Gorgeous | Gorgeous | All | Crowd | Crowd | | Punctuation difference (subject to horizontal arrangement)name | Mainland China | Hong Kong and Taiwan customary | illustrate |
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comma period | ,。 | ,。 | Mainland China is at the bottom left, Hong Kong and Taiwan are at the center. | quotation marks | “ ‘ ’ ” | 「 『 』 」 | Hong Kong uses a mixture of the two. | Title Number | 《》 | 《》 | Hong Kong and Taiwan also use quotation marks in informal occasions (「 『 』 」) Instead of the title number. | |
Comparative readingSimplified | Traditional Chinese |
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Traditional Chinese art forms include Chinese music, opera, calligraphy, Chinese painting, literature, ceramic art, sculpture, etc., and traditional entertainment activities include chess, go, and mahjong. Chinese martial arts martial arts are world-renowned. Tea, wine, vegetables and chopsticks are China's characteristic food culture, and the Spring Festival (Xia Li New Year), Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, etc. are traditional festivals. China is traditionally a Confucian country, with the Xia calendar as the calendar, the five moral principles as the moral code, and the Hanfu as the national service. The Chinese have a strong patrilineal clan concept and ancestor worship, so they put the surname representing the family before the personal name. The Chinese also attached great importance to education and the selection of talents. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius started to run private schools to train talents. In the Han Dynasty, officials were selected by scrutiny and elections. In the Sui Dynasty, imperial examinations were adopted to select talents among civilians. He has made achievements in ancient culture, science, technology, etc. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, modern science and technology and democratic political ideas from the West have been introduced into China. | Traditional Chinese art forms include Chinese music, opera, calligraphy, Chinese painting, literature, ceramic art, sculpture, etc., and traditional entertainment activities include chess, go, and mahjong. Chinese martial arts martial arts are world-renowned. Tea, wine, vegetables and chopsticks are China's characteristic food culture, and the Spring Festival (Xia Li New Year), Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, etc. are traditional festivals. China is traditionally a Confucian country, with the Xia calendar as the calendar, the five moral principles as the moral code, and the Hanfu as the national service. The Chinese have a strong patrilineal clan concept and ancestor worship, so they put the surname representing the family before the personal name. The Chinese also attached great importance to education and the selection of talents. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius started to run private schools to train talents. In the Han Dynasty, officials were selected by scrutiny and elections. In the Sui Dynasty, imperial examinations were adopted to select talents among civilians. He has made achievements in ancient culture, science, technology, etc. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, modern science and technology and democratic political ideas from the West have been introduced into China. |
pronounce
Phonetic method
phonetic notation
Mandarin phonetic symbols were formulated in the first year of the Republic of China (1912) and began to be used in 1918. Later, when the two sides of the strait were divided and ruled, the mainland switched to using pinyin characters (that is, Hanyu Pinyin) to spell the pronunciation of Chinese characters, while Taiwan continued to use phonetic symbols. Use phonetic symbols to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. "Zhuyin" starts with "ㄅ" and ends with "ㄦ". It is divided into initials and vowels. There are 37 in total.
Although the mainland has abolished the phonetic symbols, some dictionaries still mark the phonetic symbols of Chinese characters. In addition, Hanyu Pinyin follows the arrangement of phonetic symbols (ㄅㄆㄇㄈ… → b p m f ...), so there is no need to re-memorize the sequence when learning another phonetic method.
Comparison of phonetic symbols with Chinese phonetic alphabet (arranged by phonetic keyboard)ㄅ b | ㄉ d | | | ㄓ zh | | | ㄚ a | ㄞ ai | ㄢ an | ㄦ er |
ㄆ p | ㄊ t | ㄍ g | ㄐ j | ㄔ ch | ㄗ z | ㄧ i | ㄛ o | ㄟ ei | ㄣ en | |
ㄇ m | ㄋ n | ㄎ k | ㄑ q | ㄕ sh | ㄘ c | ㄨ u | ㄜ e | ㄠ ao | ㄤ ang | |
ㄈ f | ㄌ l | ㄏ h | ㄒ x | ㄖ r | ㄙ s | ㄩ ü | ㄝ ê | ㄡ ou | ㄥ eng | |
Chinese Pinyin
In addition to the original phonetic symbols, Taiwan has introduced the same Hanyu Pinyin as the mainland since 2008. Hanyu Pinyin is the most common in street traffic signs and MRT stations. E.g:
Zhongxiao East Road | Zhongxiao E. Rd. |
MRT Ximen Station | MRT Ximen Station |
Xinbeitou | Xinbeitou |
The popularity of Chinese Pinyin among the people in Taiwan is still not as good as the phonetic symbols and the universal pinyin; Hong Kong and Macau use Cantonese pinyin, but no Chinese pinyin is introduced.
Tone and key signature
The tones of Mandarin are mainly divided into four tones, "Yinping" is one tones, "Yangping" is two tones (ˊ), "Shangsheng" is three tones (ˇ), and "Qusheng" is four tones (ˋ), and a small part uses " Softly" (˙). Tone is very important to Mandarin. If the tone is not correct, it may cause misunderstanding.
Three People's Principles | ㄙ ㄢ ㄧ ㄣ ㄓ ㄨ ㄧ ㄧ | sān mín zhǔ yì |
He comes to write | ㄊ ㄚ ㄌ ㄞ ㄒ ㄧ ㄝ ㄗ ㄗ | tā lái xiě zì |
News Advertising | ㄒ ㄧ ㄣ ㄨ ㄣ ㄍ ㄨ ㄤ ㄍ ㄠ | xīn wén guǎng gào |
OK | ㄏ ㄠˇ ㄉ ㄜ˙ | hǎo de |
Common pronunciation differences
Both mainland China and Taiwan promote their own standard language, but their standards are different. In addition, here are some common mispronunciations in dialect regions.
Chinese character | Mainland Mandarin | Taiwanese Mandarin | Common misreading | Note |
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Send/send | fà/ㄈㄚˋ | fǎ/ㄈㄚˇ | fā/ㄈㄚ | "发" is also a simplified word for "发", pronounced fā/ㄈㄚ. |
micro | wēi/ㄨㄟ | wéi/ㄨㄟˊ | | |
Knowledge/knowledge | shí/ㄕˊ | shì/ㄕˋ | | Polyphonic characters are also pronounced "志". |
Quality/Quality | zhì/ㄓˋ | zhí/ㄓˊ | zhǐ/ㄓˇ | In Mandarin, it is a polyphonic character and is pronounced as "to" when used as a "mortgage" (such as pledge, hostage). |
vocabulary
Obviously, the meaning of the word "computer" in the mainland and Taiwan is different. The "computer" in the mainland is a computer (a widely accepted form) everywhere, and the "computer" in Taiwan, Hong Kong (and even Guangdong) is the "calculator" used by the mainland to settle accounts. The difference between traditional and simplified vocabulary is reflected in every aspect of life, but the vocabulary of information technology (IT) is more different-from computer games to system software.
The following vocabulary is based on local writing, and there will be no conversion between traditional and simplified. To avoid misunderstandings, the corresponding English is listed for each vocabulary. Some words that are usually only used in a certain region or a certain dialect are marked with the region or dialect behind them.
Arrival and travel
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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Bicycle / Bicycle / Bicycle | bicycle | Bicycle / Bicycle / Bicycle / Iron Horse (Taiwanese) / Kongming Car (Taiwanese) | Bicycle / Bicycle | bicycle / bike |
motorcycle | Motorcycle | Locomotive / Motorcycle | Motorcycle/Motorcycle/Motorcycle | motorcycle |
Bus / bus / bus | Bus | Bus / Bus (Taiwanese) | Bus | bus |
Long-distance bus / long-distance bus | | Passenger transport | Intercity Bus | coach |
Boarding / boarding | Ride | Take a ride | Ride | ride |
Taxi / taxi / taxi | Take a taxi | Take a taxi | Taxi | |
Taxi / Taxi / Taxi | Taxi | Taxi / Little Yellow | Taxi | taxi |
subway | subway | MRT | subway | metro / underground / MTR / MRT |
Sightseeing and activities
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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pingpong | pingpong | Billiards | pingpong | table tennis |
billiards | Billiards | Billiards | Billiards | billiards |
Shopping
diet
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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Ice cream / ice cream / ice cream | ice cream | ice cream | ice cream | ice cream |
Popsicle / Popsicle | Snow strips | Popsicle | Popsicle | popsicle |
tuna | Tuna / Tuna | tuna | Tuna / Tuna | Tuna |
Salmon / salmon / salmon | Salmon / salmon | Salmon | salmon | salmon |
Tomato / Tomato / Persimmon | tomato | tomato | Tomato / red tomato | tomato |
Sweet potato / sweet potato / sweet potato | Sweet potato | Sweet potato / sweet potato | Sweet potato | sweet potato |
Potato / potato | Potatoes / Potatoes | potato | potato | potato |
Peanuts / Groundnut | peanut | Peanuts / Groundnuts / Potatoes | Peanuts / potatoes | peanut |
Pineapple / pineapple | Poirot | pineapple | Yellow pear | pineapple |
Instant noodles / instant noodles | Instant noodles / instant noodles / instant noodles / cup noodles | Instant noodles | Instant noodles / quick-cooking noodles / quick-cooking noodles | instant noodles |
Yangchun noodles / smooth noodles / clear soup noodles | Clean face | Yangchun noodles / clear soup noodles | Soup noodles | noodle soup |
Instant coffee | instant coffee | instant coffee | instant coffee | instant coffee |
Vegetable market / market | Market / Vegetable Market | Vegetable market / market | Market / Vegetable Market | market |
ketchup | Tomato sauce | ketchup | ketchup | ketchup |
Nightlife
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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nightclub | nightclub | Hotel / Nightclub | nightclub | nightclub |
stay
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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Hotel/Restaurant | hotel | Big Hotel / Hostel (Small) | hotel | hotel |
Youth Hostel / Youth Hostel | Youth Hostel | Youth Hostel | Backpacker Inn | youth hostel |
service
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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Lady / miss | Miss | Miss | Miss | miss |
waiter | Waiter | Waiter/waitress | Waiter | waiter(ess) |
Police / Public Security | Police / messenger / security police (Macau) / police officer (Macau) | Police / Police | police | police |
communication
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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Operator | Operator | Operator | Operator | operator |
smart phone | smart phone | Smart phone | smart phone | smart phone |
Short message | SMS | Newsletter | Newsletter | short message (SMS) |
Mailbox / mailbox | mailbox | mailbox | mailbox | mailbox |
Network / Internet | the Internet | Network / Internet | Internet/network/network | network / Internet |
other
Mainland Chinese | Hong Kong and Macau terms | Taiwanese | Ma Xin Glossary | English |
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new Zealand | New Zealand / New Zealand | New Zealand | New Zealand | New Zealand |
Italy | Italy | Italy | Italy | Italy |
North Korea / North Korea | North Korea / North Korea | North Korea | North Korea / North Korea | North Korea |
San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco | San Francisco |
Laser / Laser | Laser / Laser | Laser / Laser | Laser/Laser | laser |
Hard drive | Hard drive | Hard drive | Hard drive | hard disk |
software | software | software | software | software |
U Disk | USB finger | Flash drive | Flash drive | flash drive |
Run | implement | implement | Run/execute | run |
Mouse | mouse | mouse | mouse | mouse |
Laptop/laptop | Laptop | Laptop/notebook | Laptop/laptop | laptop |
Digital camera | Digital camera | Digital camera | Digital camera | digital camera |
refrigerator | Refrigerator | refrigerator | refrigerator | refrigerator |
Meter | Meter | Meters / meters | Meter | metre / meter |
inch | Inch / inch / inch | Inch / inch / inch | Inch | inch |
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