The following is a list of

Sinitic languages The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a language group, group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family. ...

and their dialects. For a traditional dialectological overview, see also

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of mai ...

Classification

'Chinese' is a blanket term covering the many different varieties spoken across China.

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

is the most popular dialect, and is used as a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

across China. Linguists classify these varieties as the

Sinitic The Sinitic languages (漢語族/汉语族), often synonymous with "Chinese languages", are a group of East Asian analytic languages that constitute the major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is frequently proposed that there is ...

branch of the

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in h ...

. Within this broad classification, there are between seven and fourteen dialect groups, depending on the classification. The conventionally accepted set of seven dialect groups first appeared in the second edition of the dialectology handbook edited by

Yuan Jiahua Yuan Jiahua (, ; January 19034 September 1980) was a Chinese linguist and dialectologist from Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province. He graduated from the English Department of Peking University in 1932, worked as an editor in the North Shanghai New Boo ...

(1961). In order of decreasing number of speakers, they are: #

Guan Guan may refer to: * Guan (surname), several similar Chinese surnames ** Guān, Chinese surname * Guan (state), ancient Chinese city-state * Guan (bird), any of a number of bird species of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America * Gu ...

(including

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

variants) # Wu (including the

Shanghainese The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the City of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan langua ...

and

Suzhounese Suzhounese (; Suzhounese: ''sou1 tseu1 ghe2 gho6'' [] ), also known as the Suzhou dialect, is the Varieties of Chinese, variety of Chinese traditionally spoken in the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu, Jiangsu Province, China. Suzhounese is a varie ...

variants) # Yue (including the

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

and

Taishanese Taishanese (), alternatively romanized in Cantonese as Toishanese or Toisanese, in local dialect as Hoisanese or Hoisan-wa, is a dialect of Yue Chinese native to Taishan, Guangdong. Although it is related to Cantonese, Taishanese has littl ...

variants) #

Min Min or MIN may refer to: Places * Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China ** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian * Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China * Min River (Fujian) * Min River (Sichuan) * Mineola (Amtr ...

(including the

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

and Fuzhounese variants) #

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

(Kejia) # Xiang (Hunanese) # Gan (Jiangxinese) The revised classification of Li Rong, used in the '' Language Atlas of China'' (1987) added three further groups split from these: # Mandarin → Jin # Wu →

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...

# Yue →

Pinghua Pinghua (; Yale: ''Pìhng Wá''; sometimes disambiguated as /) is a pair of Sinitic languages spoken mainly in parts of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with some speakers in Hunan province. Pinghua is a trade language in some areas of Gu ...

# Hakka (Kejia) # Xiang # Gan

Summary

The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded:

List of languages and dialects

In addition to the varieties listed below, it is customary to speak informally of dialects of each province (such as Sichuan dialect and

Hainan dialect Hainanese ( Hainan Romanised: ', Hainanese Pinyin: ',), also known as Qióngwén, Heng2 vun2 () or Qióngyǔ, Heng2 yi2 (), is a group of Min Chinese varieties spoken in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan and Overseas Chinese suc ...

). These designations do not generally correspond to classifications used by linguists, but each nevertheless has characteristics of its own.

Gan

*赣语/贛語

Mandarin

* 官话/官話

The number of speakers derived from statistics or estimates (2019) and were rounded:

Hui

*徽语/徽語 Sometimes subcategory of Wu.

Jin

*晋语/晉語

Sometimes a subcategory of Mandarin.

Hakka

*客家话/客家話

Min

* 闽语/閩語

Wu

*吴语/吳語

Xiang

*湘语/湘語

Yue

*粤语/粵語

Pinghua

* 平话/平話

Ba-Shu

* 巴蜀语/巴蜀語

Other

The non-Min dialects of Hainan were once considered Yue, but are now left unclassified:

Mixed languages

In addition to the varieties within the Sinitic branch of Sino-Tibetan, a number of

mixed language A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creoles/pidgin ...

s also exist that comprise elements of one or more Chinese varieties with other languages.

List in the ''Atlas''

The extensive 1987 '' Language Atlas of China'' groups Chinese local varieties into the following units: * Supergroup (大区 ''dàqū''), of which there are but two: Mandarin and Min * Group (区 ''qū''), corresponding to the

of the ISO standard * Subgroup (片 ''piàn''), which may be mutually unintelligible with other subgroups * Cluster (小片 ''xiǎopiàn''), which may be mutually unintelligible with other clusters * Local dialect (点 ''diǎn''), which are the dialects sampled by the ''Atlas'' In the list below,Kurpaska (2010), pp. 64–73. local dialects are not listed. Groups are in bold, subgroups are numbered, and clusters are bulleted. ;

Northeastern Mandarin Northeastern Mandarin ( or / ''Dōngběiguānhuà'' "Northeast Mandarin") is the subgroup of Mandarin varieties spoken in Northeast China with the exception of the Liaodong Peninsula and few enclaves along Amur and Ussuri rivers. The classifica ...

# Jishen #* Jiaoning #* Tongxi #* Yanji # Hafu #* Zhaofu #* Changjin # Heisong #* Nenke #* Jiafu #* Zhanhua ;

Jilu Mandarin Jilu or Ji–Lu Mandarin, formerly known as Beifang Mandarin "Northern Mandarin", is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the Chinese provinces of Hebei (Jì) and the western part of Shandong (Lǔ) and Xunke, Tangwang & Jiayin counties ...

# Baotang #* Laifu #* Dingba #* Tianjin #* Jizun #* Luanchang #* Fulong # Shiji #* Zhaoshen #* Xingheng #* Liaotai # Canghui #* Huangle #* Yangshou #* Juzhao #* Zhanghuan ; Beijing Mandarin # Jingshi # Huaicheng # Chaofeng # Shike ;

Jiaoliao Mandarin Jiaoliao or Jiao–Liao Mandarin () is a primary dialect of Mandarin Chinese, spoken on the Jiaodong Peninsula, from Yantai to Qingdao, Ganyu District in northeastern Jiangsu and the Liaodong Peninsula, from Dalian to Dandong, and in Misha ...

# Qingzhou # Denglian # Gaihuan ;

Central Plains Mandarin Central Plains Mandarin, or ''Zhongyuan'' Mandarin (), is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the central and southern parts of Shaanxi, Henan, southwestern part of Shanxi, southern part of Gansu, far southern part of Hebei, northern Anhui, n ...

# Zhengcao # Cailu # Luoxu # Xinbeng # Fenhe #* Pingyang #* Jiangzhou #* Xiezhou # Guanzhong # Qinlong # Longzhong # Nanjiang ;

Lanyin Mandarin Lan–Yin Mandarin (Lanyin) () is a branch of Mandarin Chinese traditionally spoken throughout Gansu province and in the northern part of Ningxia. In recent decades it has expanded into northern Xinjiang. It forms part of Northwestern Manda ...

# Jincheng # Yinwu # Hexi # Tami ;

Southwestern Mandarin Southwestern Mandarin (), also known as Upper Yangtze Mandarin (), is a Mandarin Chinese language spoken in much of Southwest China, including in Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou, most parts of Hubei, the northwestern part of Hunan, the nort ...

#Chengyu #Dianxi #*Yaoli #*Baolu #Qianbei #Kungui #Guanchi #*Minjiang #*Renfu #*Yamian #*Lichuan #Ebei #Wutian #Cenjiang #Qiannan #Xiangnan #Guiliu #Changhe ;

Jianghuai Mandarin Lower Yangtze Mandarin () is one of the most divergent and least mutually-intelligible of the Mandarin languages, as it neighbours the Wu, Hui, and Gan groups of Sinitic languages. It is also known as Jiang–Huai Mandarin (), named after th ...

#Hongchao #Tairu #Huangxiao ; (unclassified Mandarin) #'' Hubeihua'' #'' Henanhua'' #

Nanping dialect The Nanping dialect (), or Nanping Mandarin (), is a dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Yanping District, in Nanping, Fujian. Locally, it is known as ''Tuguanhua'' (). It is one of three Mandarin dialect islands in Fujian. History and distr ...

# Yangyu dialect #'' Junhua'' # Longmen dialect ; Jin #Bingzhou #Lüliang #*Fenzhou #*Xingxi #Shangdang #Wutai #Dabao #Zhanghu #Hanxin #*Cizhang #*Huoji #Zhiyan ; Wu #Taihu #*Piling #*Suhujia #*Tiaoxi #*Hangzhou #*Linshao #*Yongjiang #Taizhou #Oujiang #Wuzhou #Chuqu #*Chuzhou #*Longqu #Xuanzhou #*Tongjin #*Taigao #*Shiling ; Hui #Jishe #Xiuyi #Qide #Yanzhou #Jingzhan ; Gan #Changjing #Yiliu #Jicha #Fuguang #Yingyi #Datong #Leizi #Dongsui #Huaiyue ; Xiang #Changyi #Loushao #Jixu ; Yue #Guangfu #Yongxun #Gaoyang #Siyi #Goulou #Wuhua #Qinlian ;

# Guibei # Guinan ;

# Yuetai #* Jiaying #* Xinghua #* Xinhui #* Shaonan # Yuezhong #Huizhou #Yuebei #Tingzhou #Ninglong #Yugui #Tonggu ;

Southern Min Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwa ...

#Zaytonese (Quanzhang / Hokkien / Taiwanese / Minnan) #Hinghua (Puxian / Putianese) #Beitou (Quanpu / Zuanpo) #Liong-na (Longyan) #Datian (Duacan / Qianluhua) #Taoyuan #Teochew (Chaoshan / Chaozhou) #Sanxiang (Zhongshan Minnan) #Luichow (Leizhou) #Hainanese (Qiongwen) ; Eastern Min #Fuqing (S. Houguan) #Foochow (C. Houguan) #Kutien (Gutian / N. Houguan) #Songkou (Yangzhong / W. Houguan / S. Minqing / W. Yongtai) #Ningde (S. Funing) #Fu'an (C. Funing) #Xiapu (E. Funing) #Fuding (N. Funing) #Taishun (Manjiang) #Cangnan (Manhua) #Longtu (Longdu) #Nanlang ; Western Min # Jianzhou (Jianou / Nanping / Minbei) # Shaojiang # Yongan (Minzhong) # Xinqiao (Chitian / Houluhua / Wenjiang) ;

Central Min Central Min, or Min Zhong (), is a part of the Min group of varieties of Chinese. It is spoken in the valley of the Sha River in Sanming prefecture in the central mountain areas of Fujian, consisting of Yong'an, the urban area of Sanming ( Sany ...

# Youxi (Chengguan) # Xibin # Zhongxian (Jihua) ; Unclassified topolects *

Shehua Shehua (, ''Shēhuà'', meaning 'She speech') is an unclassified Sinitic language spoken by the She people of Southeastern China. It is also called Shanha, San-hak () or Shanhahua (). Shehua speakers are located mainly in Fujian and Zhejiang pro ...

(the Chinese variety now spoken by the

She people The She people (; Shehua: ; Cantonese: , Fuzhou: ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. The She are the largest ethnic minority in Fujian, Zhejiang, and J ...

) *

Danzhou dialect The Danzhou dialect (), locally known as Xianghua (), is a Chinese variety of uncertain affiliation spoken in the area of Danzhou in northwestern Hainan, China. It was classified as Yue in the ''Language Atlas of China'', but in more recent work ...

* Xianghua * Shaoguan Tuhua * Southern Hunan Tuhua

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Chinese Dialects * Chinese Chinese