Compare and Contrast Modern Standard Chinese in Taiwan and Mainland China

Modern Standard Chinese is a mandarin dialect that emerged among various mandarin speakers and other Chinese varieties. The language was designated to be be a major language in the Mainland China and Taiwan. Beijing was used to form the basis for what is now referred to as Modern Standard Chinese, or Guoyu. Guoyu means national language (Chen, 1999). However, it is also frequently termed as Putonghua, to denote a phrase translating to common language by the Chinese in the Mainland China. In Taiwan, Modern Standard Chinese is also used as the official language. About 10% of mainlanders in Taiwan speak Guoyu, mainly made up of immigrants from the Chinese Mainland who arrived in Taiwan in the mid-20th century (Class Notes). Even in Taiwan, Guoyu (Mandarin) is the official language. The official spoken language of the People’s Republic of China is Modern Standard Mandarin Chinese, which is a dialect of the Chinese language. Taiwan also has it as its official language, and it is a dialect of Mandarin.

Modern Standard Chinese, from the official point of view, serves the role of a lingua franca, allowing speakers of the several mutually unintelligible varieties of Chinese, as well as members of China’s ethnic minorities, to communicate and engage with one another (Kubler n.d.). The mere phrase Pinghuà, which literally translates as “common speech,” helps to emphasize this idea further. Due to the fact that Standard Chinese is believed to be a “public” or “universal” lingua franca, different Chinese dialects and even non-Sinitic languages have suffered as a consequence of the standard’s rise to prominence (Chen, 1999). The use of Mandarin as a language of instruction in the educational system and in the media on both the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan has contributed to the spread of the language in both countries. Mandarin is now spoken by an overwhelming majority of people on the Chinese mainland and in Taiwan, but with considerable regional or individual variances from the standard in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary (Zhang, 2013). Taiwan has a diverse range of languages and sub-dialects, which contrasts with the variety of languages and dialects that exist in China. As a consequence, there are significant disparities between the two nations’ cultures.

Modern Standard Chinese is a tonal language which features topic-prominence in its subject and verb order and organization. The language also features more initial consonants with notably fewer vowels. Other varieties have final consonants and tones. One must distinguish between both the sound structure in a range and the real pronunciation in that variation. Some of the speech sounds of terms selected for use in the standardized language do not always correspond to those used in the Beijing dialect entirely. There are few instances when standardized discrepancies (not accents) occur across different dialects, like as between Putonghua and Guoyu, however they are seldom. The vocabulary of Mandarin dialects in general, as opposed to specific dialects. This implies that any slang and other features considered to be “regionalisms” are barred from participation (Chen, 1999). On the one hand, the vocabulary of all Chinese variations is highly similar, particularly in more technical domains such as science, law, and government. On the other hand, the vocabulary of all Chinese varieties is very different. It is possible to distinguish in Modern Standard Chinese between the grammar and idiom of exemplary modern Chinese literature, such as the work of Lu Xun, and the grammar and idiom of “vernacular” literature (báihuà), which is a term that refers to literature that is written in a more informal style (báihuà) (Zhang, 2013). Classical Chinese grammar and use, on the other hand, is the most prominent in modern written vernacular Chinese, which is based on a loose combination of northern (predominant), southern, and classical grammar and usage. The official Standard Chinese structure differs from the street Beijing dialect structure in this way as a result of these considerations.

References

Chen (1999). Modern Spoken Chinese: Establishment and Promotion of Modern Spoken Chinese

Class Notes. Promotion of Modern Standard Chinese after 1945.

Kubler, C. C. (Some Differences Between Taiwan Mandarin and Textbook Mandarin.

Zhang, Q. (2013). Language Policy and Ideology: Greater China.