Which Chinese Variant Should I Use?

Chinese is one of the world’s most widely used languages, with over 1.3 billion speakers worldwide. The language is divided into several dialects and written variants. Mandarin and Cantonese are the two main spoken dialects of Chinese, and Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are the two most commonly used written variants. There is not a clear correlation between the spoken and written variants.

Mandarin

Mandarin, also known as Standard Chinese or Putonghua, is the official language of the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, and Singapore. It is the most widely spoken Chinese dialect, with over 900 million speakers worldwide. Mandarin is also used as the lingua franca for communication between speakers of different dialects. In addition, it is the language taught in schools and used in government and media.

Cantonese

Cantonese, on the other hand, is spoken primarily in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Guangdong province in southern China. It is also used by Chinese communities in other parts of the world, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Canada.

Simplified Chinese 

Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are the two main written variants of Chinese. Simplified Chinese was developed in the 1950s as part of an effort to increase literacy rates in China. It uses fewer strokes and simpler characters than Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese is written in mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Traditional Chinese

Traditional Chinese is still used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and by overseas Chinese communities. It is also used in literature, art, and calligraphy. Traditional Chinese characters are more complex than Simplified Chinese characters, and there are more strokes to form each character. As a result, Traditional Chinese can be more difficult to learn and read.

Chinese Characters

There are approximately 50,000 Chinese characters. However, the number of commonly used characters is much smaller. The Chinese government has standardized a list of 3,500 Simplified Chinese characters, while the Traditional character set includes about 13,000 frequently used characters.

Here are a few examples of words/characters that differ between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese:

• 開/开 - This character means “open” and is written as 開 in Traditional Chinese, but as 开 in Simplified Chinese.
• 萬/万 - This character means “ten thousand” and is written as 萬 in Traditional Chinese, but as 万 in Simplified Chinese.
• 體/体 - This character means “body” and is written as 體 in Traditional Chinese, but as 体 in Simplified Chinese.

Some of the differences are due to the simplification process itself, while others are due to historical and regional variations in the use of characters.

While Mandarin is the official language of China, and Simplified Chinese is used in mainland China, there are still many regional variations of both spoken and written Chinese. For example, in the Guangdong province, Cantonese is the primary spoken language, while in some regions of Taiwan, the Hokkien dialect is also widely spoken.

In addition, there are many other dialects of Chinese, such as Shanghainese and Hakka, each with their own unique characteristics and variations. These dialects are primarily spoken in their respective regions and may use different written variants of Chinese, depending on the context.

Chinese Variants

The list below summarizes the key variants and where they are used:

• Mandarin (Simplified Chinese):
  • Mainland China
  • Singapore
  • Malaysia
• Mandarin (Traditional Chinese):
  • Taiwan
  • Hong Kong (sometimes Cantonese is used)
• Cantonese (Traditional Chinese):
  • Hong Kong
  • Macau
  • Guangdong province in Southern China
  • Chinatowns in Western countries (e.g., the US, Canada, Australia)

To request the correct language for written translation or for video voice-overs, you need to know the end-users' specific geographic location and expectations. Using this information, SimulTrans can help you identify the variant(s) you need and provide quality Chinese translation services.

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