Source: CIA - The World Factbook

World Factbook - Languages [ID 18677]

"Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages"

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

Country report of October 2003 ("Country Report - October 2003") [#49232],  [ID 3544]

"2.5. The main official language, Modern Standard Chinese, is based on the main dialect of Chinese, Mandarin Chinese. Known as Putonghua - "the common tongue, i.e. used by everyone", also known as Hanyu - "the language of the Han people", it is spoken by 890 million people worldwide and understood by the majority of the population.

2.6. The official written language is Modern Standard Chinese, with dictionaries listing as many as 40,000 separate characters. Standard core characters number about 10,000. Knowledge of about 2,000 characters is needed to be functionally literate. The literacy rate was estimated to be 82.2 per cent in 1996, according to an official sample survey. The transcription of Chinese ideographs into the Roman alphabet leads to significant variances in spelling, although China does have a standard system, pinyin, which is used both in China and internationally.

2.7. Local dialects are spoken in the south and south-east. The Tibetans, Uighurs, Mongols and other groups have their own languages. Putonghua is taught in the schools throughout China, but local dialects are commonly spoken."

Document(s): Open document

01.08.2003 - Source: Ethnologue

Languages of China ("Languages of China") [ID 3545]

Very detailed overview about the 236 spoken languages in China, each with information on population, region, dialects, alternate names, etc. The number of languages listed for China is 236. Of those, 235 are living languages and 1 is extinct.

Document(s): Languages of China

04.06.2002 - Source: Frankfurter Rundschau

Kein Studium in Muttersprache ("Kein Studium in Muttersprache") [#7423],  [ID 3547]

"China hat der Xinjiang-Universität in Ürümqi verboten, Kurse in uigurischer Sprache abzuhalten. Ab September werden Lehrveranstaltungen ausschließlich in chinesischer Sprache durchgeführt. Uigurische Studenten werden danach nicht mehr in ihrer Muttersprache ausgebildet.
Die 1949 eingerichtete Universität in der Hauptstadt der "Autonomen Region Xinjiang-Uigur" war bisher zweisprachig. (...) Der Dekan der Universität begründete die Abschaffung der uigurischen Lehrveranstaltungen jetzt mit der Notwendigkeit, das Bildungsniveau der uigurischen Studenten zu heben, weil sie "oft hinter ihren han-chinesischen Klassenkameraden zurückblieben", wie die BBC berichtet. Zudem fehle es an uigurischen Lehrbüchern, und die Berufsaussichten für Absolventen, welche Putonghua (die chinesische Hochsprache) beherrschen, seien wesentlich besser.
Auf das Problem, dass nach 54 Jahren noch nicht genügend Lehrmaterialien in der Landessprache der Autonomen Region vorliegen, ging der Dekan nicht ein."

Document(s): Open document