Editing Mandarin Chinese (section)

==Geographic distribution==

Mandarin is spoken across northern and southwestern China, with some pockets in neighbouring countries.
Unlike their compatriots on the southeast coast, few Mandarin speakers engaged in [[Overseas Chinese|overseas emigration]] until the late 20th century, but there are now significant communities of them in cities across the world.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=191}}

===Mainland China===
Most Han Chinese living in northern and southwestern China are native speakers of a dialect of Mandarin. The [[North China Plain]] provided few barriers to migration, leading to relative linguistic homogeneity over a wide area in northern China. In contrast, the mountains and rivers of southern China have spawned the other six major groups of Chinese varieties, with great internal diversity, particularly in [[Fujian]].{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=183–190}}{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=22}}

However, the varieties of Mandarin cover a huge area containing nearly a billion people. As a result, there are pronounced regional variations in [[pronunciation]], [[vocabulary]], and [[grammar]],{{sfnp|Szeto|Ansaldo|Matthews|2018}} and many Mandarin varieties are not mutually intelligible.{{efn|For example:
* In the early 1950s, only 54% of people in the Mandarin-speaking area could understand Standard Chinese, which was based on the Beijing dialect.{{sfnp|Chen|1999|p=27}}
* "Hence we see that even Mandarin includes within it an unspecified number of languages, very few of which have ever been reduced to writing, that are mutually unintelligible."{{sfnp|Mair|1991|p=18}}
* "the common term assigned by linguists to this group of languages implies a certain homogeneity which is more likely to be related to the sociopolitical context than to linguistic reality, since most of those varieties are not mutually intelligible."{{sfnp|Escure|1997|p=144}}
* "A speaker of only standard Mandarin might take a week or two to comprehend even simple Kunminghua with ease—and then only if willing to learn it."{{sfnp|Blum|2001|p=27}}
* "without prior exposure, speakers of different Mandarin dialects often have considerable difficulty understanding each other's local vernacular even if they come from the same province, provided that two or more distinct groups of Mandarin are spoken therein. In some cases, mutual intelligibility is not guaranteed even if the Mandarin dialects concerned belong to the same group and are spoken within the same province. As reported by a native speaker of the Zhenjiang dialect (a Jianghuai (Lower Yangtze) Mandarin dialect spoken in the Jiangsu province), it is impossible for her to understand the Nantong dialect (another Jianghuai Mandarin dialect spoken around 140 kilometers away in the same province)."{{sfnp|Szeto|Ansaldo|Matthews|2018|pp=241–242}}}}

Most of [[northeast China]], except for [[Liaoning]], did not receive significant settlements by Han Chinese until the 18th century,{{sfnp|Richards|2003|pp=138–139}} and as a result the [[Northeastern Mandarin]] dialects spoken there differ little from the [[Beijing dialect]].{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=21}} The [[Manchu people]] of the area now speak these dialects exclusively; their native language is only maintained in northwestern [[Xinjiang]], where [[Xibe language|Xibe]], a modern dialect, is spoken.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|pp=215–216}}

The frontier areas of [[northwest China]] were colonized by speakers of Mandarin dialects at the same time, and the dialects in those areas similarly closely resemble their relatives in the core Mandarin area.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=21}} The Southwest was settled early, but the population fell dramatically for obscure reasons in the 13th century, and did not recover until the 17th century.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=21}} The dialects in this area are now relatively uniform.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=191}} However, long-established cities even very close to [[Beijing]], such as [[Tianjin]], [[Baoding]], [[Shenyang]], and [[Dalian]], have markedly different dialects.

===Taiwan===
{{main|Taiwanese Mandarin}}
Standard Mandarin is one of the official languages of [[Taiwan]]. The Taiwanese standard of Mandarin differs very little from that of mainland China, with differences largely in some technical vocabulary developed from the 1950s onwards.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yao |first1=Qian |title=Analysis of Computer Terminology Translation Differences between Taiwan and Mainland China |journal=Advanced Materials Research |date=September 2014 |volume=1030-1032 |pages=1650–1652 |doi=10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1030-1032.1650|s2cid=136508776 }}</ref>

While the spoken standard of Taiwanese Mandarin is nearly identical to that of mainland China, the colloquial form has been heavily influenced by other local languages, especially [[Taiwanese Hokkien]]. Notable differences include: the merger of [[retroflex]] sounds (zh, ch, sh, r) with the [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]] series (z, c, s), frequent mergers of the "neutral tone" with a word's original tone, and absence of [[erhua]].{{sfnp|Chen|1999|p=47}} [[Code-switching]] between Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien is common, as the majority of the population continues to also speak the latter as a native language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chiu |first1=Miao-chin |title=Code-switching and Identity Constructions in Taiwan TV Commercials |journal=Monumenta Taiwanica |date=April 2012 |volume=5 |url=http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/bitstream/20.500.12235/12992/1/ntnulib_ja_B0601_0005_027.pdf |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807182654/http://rportal.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/bitstream/20.500.12235/12992/1/ntnulib_ja_B0601_0005_027.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Southeast Asia===
====Singapore====
{{main|Singaporean Mandarin}}
Mandarin is one of the four official languages of [[Singapore]] along with [[English language|English]], [[Malay language|Malay]], and [[Tamil language|Tamil]]. Historically, it was seldom used by the [[Chinese Singaporeans|Chinese Singaporean community]], which primarily spoke the Southern Chinese languages of [[Hokkien]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], [[Cantonese]], or [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mixedracestudies.org/wordpress/?p=20025|title=Envisioning Chinese Identity and Multiracialism in Singapore|author=Leong Koon Chan|access-date=14 February 2011|archive-date=21 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521215819/http://www.mixedracestudies.org/wordpress/?p=20025|url-status=dead}}</ref> The launch of the [[Speak Mandarin Campaign]] in 1979 by the government prioritized the language over traditional vernaculars in an attempt to create a common ethnic language and foster closer connections to China.<ref>Lee Kuan Yew, "From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965–2000", HarperCollins, 2000 ({{ISBN|0-06-019776-5}})</ref> This has led to a significant increase and presence of Mandarin usage in the country, coupled with a strong decline in usage of other Chinese variants.

[[Standard Singaporean Mandarin]] is nearly identical to the standards of China and Taiwan, with minor vocabulary differences. It is the Mandarin variant used in education, media, and official settings. Meanwhile, a colloquial form called Singdarin is used in informal daily life and is heavily influenced in terms of both grammar and vocabulary by local languages such as Cantonese, Hokkien, and Malay. Instances of code-switching with English, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay, or a combination of any of these is also common.

====Malaysia====
{{main|Malaysian Mandarin}}
In [[Malaysia]], Mandarin has been adopted by local Chinese-language schools as the medium of instruction with the standard based on that of Singapore. However, it is not as widespread in daily life among the [[Malaysian Chinese]] community, as [[Hokkien]] speakers continue to form a plurality among the ethnic Chinese population and [[Cantonese]] serves as the common language (especially in commerce and local media).{{sfn|Wurm|Mühlhäusler|Tryon|2011|p=698}} An exception is in the state of [[Johor]], where Mandarin is increasingly used alongside Cantonese as a lingua franca in part due to Singaporean influence.{{sfn|Wang|2012|p=80}} As in Singapore, the local colloquial variant of Mandarin exhibits influences from Cantonese and Malay.

====Myanmar====
{{See also|Chinese people in Myanmar}}
In northern [[Myanmar]], a [[Southwestern Mandarin]] variant close to the Yunnanese dialect is spoken by local Chinese and other ethnic groups. In some [[List of insurgent groups in Myanmar|rebel group]]-controlled regions, Mandarin also serves as the lingua franca.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/in-myanmars-remote-mongla-region-09172019141648.html|title=In Myanmar's Remote Mongla Region, Mandarin Supplants The Burmese Language|date=17 September 2019|access-date=31 May 2020|last1=Aung Thein Kha|last2=Gerin|first2=Roseanne|website=[[Radio Free Asia]]|archive-date=5 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505202706/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/in-myanmars-remote-mongla-region-09172019141648.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Central Asia ===
{{main|Dungan language}}
The [[Dungan people]] of [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]] are descendants of [[Hui people]] who fled to the [[Russian Empire]] from [[Dzungaria]] in 1877 after the fall of [[Kashgaria]] to Qing forces and from the [[Ili (river)|Ili]] valley after it was ceded to China in the [[Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881)|Treaty of Saint Petersburg]] in 1881.{{sfnp|Rimsky-Korsakoff Dyer|1977–1978|p=349}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Maria |last=Vdovkina |title=The Lost Hui: How a People from China Mastered the Cyrillic Alphabet and Found Themselves on the Other Side of the Celestial Mountains |year=2023 |website=Вокруг Света |language=ru |url=https://www.vokrugsveta.ru/articles/zateryannyi-khuei-kak-narod-iz-kitaya-osvoil-kirillicu-i-okazalsya-po-druguyu-storonu-nebesnykh-gor-id904799/ |access-date=8 September 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Sam |last= Breazeale |title= Dispatch from the Chüy Valley Since ethnic violence in 2020, Dungans on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border have straddled two different worlds |year=2023 |website= meduza.io |url= https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/01/12/dispatch-from-the-chuy-valley |access-date=9 September 2024 }}</ref> About 500 speakers live in a compact area in [[Rovensky District, Saratov Oblast]] in Russia.<ref name="minlang.iling-ran">{{cite web |title=Dungan |website=Minor Languages of Russia |publisher=[[Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences]] |language=ru |url=https://minlang.iling-ran.ru/lang/dunganskiy |access-date=8 September 2024 }}</ref> The Dungan speak two dialects, descended from [[Central Plains Mandarin]] dialects of southeast Gansu and southwest Shaanxi, and write their language in the [[Cyrillic script]].<ref name="minlang.iling-ran"/>{{sfnp|Rimsky-Korsakoff Dyer|1977–1978|p=355}}