Mandarin

Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken Chinese language and has the highest number of native speakers of any language worldwide. Mandarin is one of the Sinitic languages widely spoken across Southwestern and Northern China. It is also the basis of Standard Chinese, which is also known as Modern Standard Mandarin.

Mandarin was one of the seven variations of Chinese that evolved from Middle Chinese. The first form of Mandarin appeared during the twelfth century in the North China Plain. Mandarin became the language of the ruling class during the Ming Dynasty and eventually became the national language of China in 1909.

Mandarin has eight subgroups dividing up the dialects of different regions. This includes Southwestern Mandarin which has 260 million speakers, Central Plains Mandarin which has 186 million speakers and Northeastern Mandarin which has 98 million speakers. The Jilu and Lower Yangtze dialects both have over 85 million speakers and the Jiaoliao, Beijing and Lanyin dialects all have over 17 million speakers. There is also Standard Mandarin which is a formalised standard of the language.

Standard Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect and is the official language of China. Standard Mandarin is used in television, radio, education and public services and it is also used as a lingua franca across the country.

Fluency levels of Standard Mandarin vary across China, with an estimated 70% of the country speaking the language. This varies both between urban and rural areas, as well as between the North and South of China. In the North, Mandarin is more widely spoken, while other Chinese languages have more popularity in the South.