Editing Sichuan (section)

===Languages===
{{Main|Sichuanese dialects|l1=Sichuanese language|Ba–Shu Chinese}}
[[File:Sichuanese in China.png|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Extent of present-day Sichuanese language]]
The Sichuanese once spoke their variety of Spoken Chinese called Ba-Shu Chinese, or Old Sichuanese before it became extinct during the Ming dynasty. Now most of them speak Sichuanese Mandarin. The Minjiang dialects are thought by some linguists{{who|date=March 2019}} to be a bona fide descendant of Old Sichuanese, but there is no conclusive evidence whether Minjiang dialects are derived from Old Sichuanese or Southwestern Mandarin.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}

The languages of Sichuan are primarily members of three subfamilies of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]].

The most widely used variety of Chinese spoken in Sichuan is [[Sichuanese dialects|Sichuanese]], which is the [[lingua franca]] in Sichuan, [[Chongqing]], and parts of the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]. Although Sichuanese is generally classified as a dialect of [[Mandarin Chinese]], it is highly divergent in phonology, vocabulary, and even grammar from [[Standard Chinese]].<ref name="《四川方言与巴蜀文化》">{{cite book |language=zh-hans |last1=Cui |first1=Rongchang (崔荣昌) |script-title=zh:《四川方言与巴蜀文化》 |year=1996 |publisher=[[Sichuan University]] Press |script-chapter=zh:第三章：四川的官话 |isbn=7-5614-1296-7}}</ref> The [[Minjiang dialect]] is especially difficult for speakers of other Mandarin dialects to understand.<ref>{{cite book |language=zh-hans |last1=Li |first1=Bin (李彬) |last2=Tu |first2=Minghua (涂鸣华) |script-title=zh:《百年中国新闻人（上册）》 |year=2007 |publisher=Fujian People's Press |page=563 |isbn=978-7-211-05482-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:四川交通："窗口"飞来普通话 |last1=Wu |first1=Dan (吴丹) |last2=Liang |first2=Xiaoming (梁晓明) |script-work=zh:中国交通报 |date=23 November 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:大学生村官恶补四川方言 现在能用流利四川话和村民交流 |last1=Zhang |first1=Guosheng (张国盛) |last2=Yu |first2=Yong (余勇) |newspaper=[[:zh:北京晨报|Morning Post]] |date=1 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |language=zh-hans |script-title=zh:走进大山的志愿者 |script-work=zh:四川青年报 |trans-work=Sichuan Youth Paper |date=18 July 2009}}</ref>

[[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]] and [[Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture]] in western Sichuan are populated by [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]] and [[Qiang people]]. Tibetans speak the [[Khams Tibetan|Khams]] and [[Amdo Tibetan]], which are [[Tibetic languages]], as well as various [[Qiangic languages]]. The Qiang speak Qiangic languages and often Tibetic languages as well. The [[Yi people]] of [[Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture]] in southern Sichuan speak the [[Nuosu language]], which is one of the [[Lolo-Burmese languages]]; Yi is written using the [[Yi script]], a [[syllabary]] standardized in 1974. The [[Southwest University for Nationalities]] has one of China's most prominent [[Tibetology]] departments and the Southwest Minorities Publishing House prints literature in minority languages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/143#fn2 |title=The Wuhou District (武侯区), a Tibetan enclave in Chengdu |date=2009-03-24 |access-date=2013-01-04 |issn=1864-1407 |publisher=TibetInfoNet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105045511/http://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/143#fn2 |archive-date=5 January 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the minority-inhabited regions of Sichuan, there is bilingual signage and public school instruction in non-Mandarin minority languages.