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.

How does Cantonese sound to Mandarin speakers?

While both Mandarin and Cantonese are tonal, when it comes to the spoken word, Cantonese sounds completely different to Mandarin. The number of tones in both Cantonese and Mandarin significantly marks the two, with Mandarin speakers using four different tones, and Cantonese speakers generally using six.

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 Cantonese read simplified Chinese?

The table below solves the riddle: In mainland China and Singapore, Mandarin is the spoken language and people resort to Simplified Chinese when they write….

What is the difference between Cantonese and Toishanese?

Toishanese has 8 tones while Putonghua is only 4, and Cantonese only 6. The complexity level of the language itself can reflect the the culture it associated with to some extent.

Why is Taishanese the official language of China Town?

Taishanese was the dialect of the Chinese diaspora in the 19th century so it became the standard for China Towns around the world, but especially in the US and Australia. For example in China Town Sydney we eat Dim Sim, not dim sum as standard Cantonese would have it.

What is the difference between Yue speech and Cantonese?

However, “Cantonese” may also refer to the primary branch of Chinese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang; this broader usage may be specified as ” Yue speech ” ( 粵語; 粤语; Yuhtyúh ). In this article, “Cantonese” is used for Cantonese proper.

Where does the Cantonese language come from?

‘Standard Cantonese’) is a language within the Chinese (or Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (also known as Canton) and its surrounding area in Southeastern China. It is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has over 80 million native speakers.