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Cantonese language facts for kids

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Yue
Cantonese
粵語/粤语
廣東話/广东话
Yueyu.png
Yuht Yúh/Jyut6 jyu5 (Yue) written in traditional Chinese (left) and simplified Chinese (right) characters
Native to China, Vietnam, Malaysia
Region Pearl River Delta (Central Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau); Eastern-Southern Guangxi
Ethnicity Han Chinese
Native speakers 62 million  (2013)
Language family
Dialects
Guangfu (incl. Cantonese)
Siyi (incl. Taishan)
Gao–Yang
Yong–Xun
Gou–Lou
Qin–Lian
Wu–Hua
Writing system Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
(Written Cantonese)
Cantonese Braille
Official status
Official language in Hong Kong and Macau (de facto, though officially referred to as "Chinese"; Cantonese and occasionally Mandarin are used in government). Recognised regional language in Suriname.
Idioma cantonés.png

Cantonese is an East Asian language which comes from Canton, southern China. Often, people use the word 'Cantonese' to refer to the Guangzhou dialect, Hong Kong dialect, Xiguan dialect, Wuzhou dialect and Tanka dialect of Yue. However, linguists prefer to keep the name 'Cantonese' for the Yue dialect of Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. Using this classification, Cantonese is the prestige dialect of Yue.

Cantonese is spoken by people in Southern China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as places with many overseas Chinese who came from Cantonese-speaking parts of China, such as Melbourne. It is also the most common language of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and North America. It is said that over 100,000,000 people speak Cantonese. It is a tonal language with 6 kinds of tones. While Cantonese is only the third most spoken dialect of Chinese, only behind Mandarin and Wu, its official status in Hong Kong and Macau make it widely known among other Chinese dialects.

Even though Cantonese is called a dialect of Chinese, Cantonese is so different from Mandarin, the most spoken dialect of Chinese, that they are mutually unintelligible, meaning that speakers of one language cannot understand the other language without learning it beforehand. It is said that Cantonese is more closely related to Classical Chinese than Mandarin.

Cantonese is from the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.

Hong Kong and Macau

In Hong Kong, the official languages are English and Chinese, according to the Basic Law of Hong Kong. The vagueness of listing Chinese as the official language allows for the wide use of Cantonese, as it is called a dialect of Chinese. In Hong Kong, many people speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin, and some may even get offended if you speak Mandarin. Most schools in Hong Kong teach in Cantonese, rather than the language that they speak in Mainland China

In Macau, the majority speak Cantonese and it is also the official language with the other being Portuguese. But here the people speak lots of other languages as it is popular with tourists because of its casinos.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cantonés estándar para niños

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