# Languages

By [cora9981](https://paragraph.com/@cora9981) · 2021-10-29

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There are as many as 292 [living languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_language) in China.[\[506\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-525) The languages most commonly spoken belong to the [Sinitic branch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinitic_languages) of the [Sino-Tibetan language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_language) family, which contains [Mandarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese) (spoken by 70% of the population),[\[507\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-526) and [other varieties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese) of [Chinese language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language): [Yue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Chinese) (including [Cantonese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese) and [Taishanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taishanese)), [Wu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Chinese) (including [Shanghainese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghainese) and [Suzhounese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhounese)), [Min](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Min_Chinese) (including [Fuzhounese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzhounese), [Hokkien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien) and [Teochew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_dialect)), [Xiang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiang_Chinese), [Gan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Chinese) and [Hakka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_language). Languages of the [Tibeto-Burman branch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibeto-Burman_languages), including [Tibetan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Tibetan), [Qiang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiang_language), [Naxi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxi_language) and [Yi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_language), are spoken across the [Tibetan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Plateau) and [Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yunnan%E2%80%93Guizhou_Plateau). Other ethnic minority languages in [southwest China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_China) include [Zhuang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_language), [Thai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_language), [Dong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dong_language_\(China\)) and [Sui](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_language) of the [Tai-Kadai family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai%E2%80%93Kadai_languages), [Miao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmongic_language) and [Yao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mienic_languages) of the [Hmong–Mien family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong%E2%80%93Mien_languages), and [Wa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wa_language) of the [Austroasiatic family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austroasiatic_Languages). Across [northeastern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_China) and [northwestern China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_China), local ethnic groups speak [Altaic languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages) including [Manchu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_language), [Mongolian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_language) and several [Turkic languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_languages): [Uyghur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_language), [Kazakh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakh_language), [Kyrgyz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyrgyz_language), [Salar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_language) and [Western Yugur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Yugur_language). [Korean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_language) is spoken natively along the border with [North Korea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea). [Sarikoli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarikoli_language), the language of [Tajiks in western Xinjiang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajiks_of_Xinjiang), is an [Indo-European language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_language). [Taiwanese aborigines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_aborigines), including a small population on the mainland, speak [Austronesian languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian_languages).[\[508\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-language-527)

[Standard Mandarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Mandarin), a variety of Mandarin based on the [Beijing dialect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect), is the official national language of China and is used as a [lingua franca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca) in the country between people of different linguistic backgrounds.[\[509\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-langlaw-528)[\[510\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-529) Mongolian, Uyghur, Tibetan, Zhuang and various other languages are also regionally recognized throughout the country.[\[511\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#cite_note-530)

[Chinese characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters) have been used as the [written script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_system) for the Sinitic languages for thousands of years. They allow speakers of mutually unintelligible Chinese varieties to communicate with each other through writing. In 1956, the government introduced [simplified characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters), which have supplanted the older [traditional characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters) in mainland China. Chinese characters are [romanized](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization) using the [Pinyin system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin). Tibetan uses an [alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_alphabet) based on an [Indic script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmic_scripts). Uyghur is most commonly written in [Persian alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_alphabet)\-based [Uyghur Arabic alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghur_Arabic_alphabet). The [Mongolian script used in China](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_script) and the [Manchu script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_alphabet) are both derived from the [Old Uyghur alphabet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Uyghur_alphabet). [Zhuang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_languages) uses both an official [Latin alphabet script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Zhuang) and a traditional [Chinese character script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawndip).

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*Originally published on [cora9981](https://paragraph.com/@cora9981/languages)*