Editing Written Chinese (section)

== Function ==
[[Image:Tomb Fu Hao YinXu.jpg|thumb|upright=1|right|The [[tomb of Fu Hao]] ({{circa|1200 BCE}}), containing 200 bronze vessels with 109 inscriptions of [[Fu Hao]]'s name.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thorp |first=Robert L. |year=1981 |title=The Date of Tomb 5 at Yinxu, Anyang: A Review Article |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=239–246|doi=10.2307/3249839 |jstor=3249839 }}</ref>]]
Chinese characters have always been used to represent individual spoken syllables. While writing was being invented in the Yellow River valley, words in spoken Chinese were largely monosyllabic, and each written character corresponded to a monosyllabic word.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=84}} Spoken Chinese varieties have since acquired much more polysyllabic vocabulary,{{sfnp|DeFrancis|1984|pp=177–188}} usually compound words composed of morphemes corresponding to older monosyllabic words.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=75}}

For over two thousand years, the predominant form of written Chinese was [[Literary Chinese]], which had vocabulary and syntax rooted in the language of the [[Chinese classics]], as spoken around the time of [[Confucius]] ({{circa|500 BCE}}). Over time, Literary Chinese acquired some elements of grammar and vocabulary from various varieties of vernacular Chinese that had since diverged. By the 20th century, Literary Chinese was distinctly different from any spoken vernacular, and had to be learned separately.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=83}}{{sfnp|DeFrancis|1984|p=154}} Once learned, it was a common medium for communication between people speaking different dialects, many of which were mutually unintelligible by the end of the first millennium CE.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|pp=24–25}}{{sfnp|DeFrancis|1984|pp=155–156}}

Varieties of Chinese vary in pronunciation, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and grammar.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=88}} Modern written Chinese, which replaced Classical Chinese as the written standard as an indirect result of the 1919 [[May Fourth Movement]], is not technically bound to any single variety; however, it most nearly represents the vocabulary and syntax of Mandarin, by far the most widespread Chinese dialectal family in terms of both geographical area and number of speakers.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=87}} This form is known as [[written vernacular Chinese]].{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=109}} While some written vernacular Chinese expressions are often ungrammatical or unidiomatic outside of Mandarin, its use permits some communication between speakers of different dialects. This function may be considered analogous to that of [[linguae francae]], such as [[Latin]]. For literate speakers, it serves as a common medium; however, the forms of individual characters generally provide little insight to their meaning if not already known.{{sfnp|DeFrancis|1984|p=150}} Ghil'ad Zuckermann's exploration of [[phono-semantic matching]] in [[Standard Chinese]] concludes that the Chinese writing system is multifunctional, conveying both semantic and phonetic content.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zuckermann |first=Ghil'ad |year=2003 |title=Language Contact and Globalisation: The camouflaged influence of English on the world's languages with special attention to Israeli and Mandarin |journal=Cambridge Review of International Affairs |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=298–307 |doi=10.1080/09557570302045 |issn=0955-7571}}</ref>

The variation in vocabulary among varieties has also led to informal use of "dialectal characters", which may include characters previously used in Literary Chinese that are considered archaic in written Standard Chinese.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=76}} Cantonese is unique among non-Mandarin regional languages in having a written colloquial standard, used in Hong Kong and overseas, with a large number of unofficial characters for words particular to this language.{{sfnp|Ramsey|1987|p=99}} [[Written Cantonese]] has become quite popular on the Internet, while Standard Chinese is still normally used in formal written communications.<ref name="Lam2004">{{Cite journal |last=Lam |first=Wan Shun Eva |year=2004 |title=Second Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat Room: Global and Local Considerations |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/8d234b29-6c33-42d6-addf-45c01e899d8d/content |journal=Learning, Language, and Technology |volume=8 |issue=3}}</ref> To a lesser degree, [[Hokkien]] is used similarly in Taiwan and elsewhere, though it lacks the level of standardization seen in Cantonese. However, Taiwan's Ministry of Education has promulgated a standard character set for Hokkien, which is taught in schools and encouraged for use by the general population.<ref name="MOE2009">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=User's Manual of the Romanization of Minnanyu/Hokkien Spoken in Taiwan Region |url=http://english.education.edu.tw/ct.asp?xItem=7473&ctNode=1873&mp=12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815174116/http://english.education.edu.tw/ct.asp?xItem=7473&ctNode=1873&mp=12 |archive-date=2011-08-15 |access-date=2009-08-24 |publisher=Taiwan Ministry of Education}}</ref>