Chinese speaking and writing system have been altered countless times during the 6000 years since they appeared. Historians have concluded that the earliest form of Chinese was partly from the Sino-Tibetan language family, a group of languages all descended from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. The Sino-Tibetan language family consisted of a few hundred different languages spoken in the parts of Asia. Proto-Sino-Tibetan is a mix of the different tongues. The relationship between Chinese and the rest of the languages of the Sino-Tibetan family and the reconstruction of the ancient language of Proto-Sino-Tibetan is currently a chasm in research.
Researchers and scientists found excellent documents recording the sounds and pronunciation of Proto-Sino-Tibetan, however there is no written proof of when modern Chinese separated from the group. To solve this problem, scientists could study the development of Chinese by using the comparison of languages. However, due to many languages of the Sino-Tibetan family being poorly understood, the method didn’t give satisfying results.
The evolution of Chinese can be split into few periods. The people of the first period spoke the ancient version–the branch of Proto-Sino-Tibetan. The next period used Old Chinese. Sometimes called Archaic Chinese, it is related to all the dialects spoken in China today. It was during the Shang (1600—1042 B.C.) and Zhou (1046—771 B.C.) dynasties that the first writing system appeared. In the Shang dynasty, inscriptions of predictions are recorded on tortoise shells and animal bones. In early and middle Zhou dynasty, writing which descended from the Shang is found carved on bronze artifacts: Shijing, the Book of Odes, a book full of peoms, ballads, and songs, Shujing, the Classic of History, also known as Shangshu, a book that records the history of China, and parts of Yijing, the Book of Changes, a book that describes natural patterns.
Middle Chinese was popular in the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. It can be divided into two periods. The first consisted of the Qieyun rime table, charts with the pronunciation of a Chinese character, and its edited version, Guangyun. Its later period was reflected by the Yunjing and many others. The pronunciation was confirmed through many sources such as modern dialects and rime dictionaries.
The reason Chinese have so many variations is because throughout history, China was not exactly united. Under a dynasty, there are many smaller states ruled by seigneurs. Some were near the capital, and many were far away. The states close to the capital spoke the standard tongue, but faraway states adopted their own versions.
In the early Qing dynasty, the Nanjing dialect became so popular that the emperor made it standard. The people in the court communicated using this tongue. During the last few decades of the Qing dynasty, the Beijing version of Mandarin took over. Because that many dialects existed, and the people not from China continued the tongue they learned Mandarin in, the Beijing Mandarin court standard was very limited.
During the 20th century, China created an education system teaching the Modern Standard Chinese, or mandarin. Mandarin is now spoken in mainland China and Taiwan. Since Hong Kong was a British colony when the system was created, Mandarin was never spoken there. As a result, Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong all adopted Cantonese.
If Hong Kong was colonized, why do the people of Macau and Guangdong speak Cantonese too? Guangdong and Macau are the places right next to Hong Kong. All three are far away from the capital, where the regular dialect is spoken. So, when Hong Kong created Cantonese, Guangdong, and Macau both adopted it as the place’s official language.
The name of Chinese started as Guanhua (“official’s speech”), changed to Guoyu (“national language”), and finally settled down as Putonghua (“common speech”).
From the earliest mother language of Proto-Sino-Tibetan, Chinese speaking and writing systems have been changed throughout time. After the mother tongue came old Chinese in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Following was Middle Chinese is the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Then, after several more modifications, Chinese finally came out to what’s it is like today. With thousands of years of history, the Chinese language is truly and art!
Resources: History of the Chinese language – Wikipedia
Researchers and scientists found excellent documents recording the sounds and pronunciation of Proto-Sino-Tibetan, however there is no written proof of when modern Chinese separated from the group. To solve this problem, scientists could study the development of Chinese by using the comparison of languages. However, due to many languages of the Sino-Tibetan family being poorly understood, the method didn’t give satisfying results.
The evolution of Chinese can be split into few periods. The people of the first period spoke the ancient version–the branch of Proto-Sino-Tibetan. The next period used Old Chinese. Sometimes called Archaic Chinese, it is related to all the dialects spoken in China today. It was during the Shang (1600—1042 B.C.) and Zhou (1046—771 B.C.) dynasties that the first writing system appeared. In the Shang dynasty, inscriptions of predictions are recorded on tortoise shells and animal bones. In early and middle Zhou dynasty, writing which descended from the Shang is found carved on bronze artifacts: Shijing, the Book of Odes, a book full of peoms, ballads, and songs, Shujing, the Classic of History, also known as Shangshu, a book that records the history of China, and parts of Yijing, the Book of Changes, a book that describes natural patterns.
Middle Chinese was popular in the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. It can be divided into two periods. The first consisted of the Qieyun rime table, charts with the pronunciation of a Chinese character, and its edited version, Guangyun. Its later period was reflected by the Yunjing and many others. The pronunciation was confirmed through many sources such as modern dialects and rime dictionaries.
The reason Chinese have so many variations is because throughout history, China was not exactly united. Under a dynasty, there are many smaller states ruled by seigneurs. Some were near the capital, and many were far away. The states close to the capital spoke the standard tongue, but faraway states adopted their own versions.
In the early Qing dynasty, the Nanjing dialect became so popular that the emperor made it standard. The people in the court communicated using this tongue. During the last few decades of the Qing dynasty, the Beijing version of Mandarin took over. Because that many dialects existed, and the people not from China continued the tongue they learned Mandarin in, the Beijing Mandarin court standard was very limited.
During the 20th century, China created an education system teaching the Modern Standard Chinese, or mandarin. Mandarin is now spoken in mainland China and Taiwan. Since Hong Kong was a British colony when the system was created, Mandarin was never spoken there. As a result, Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangdong all adopted Cantonese.
If Hong Kong was colonized, why do the people of Macau and Guangdong speak Cantonese too? Guangdong and Macau are the places right next to Hong Kong. All three are far away from the capital, where the regular dialect is spoken. So, when Hong Kong created Cantonese, Guangdong, and Macau both adopted it as the place’s official language.
The name of Chinese started as Guanhua (“official’s speech”), changed to Guoyu (“national language”), and finally settled down as Putonghua (“common speech”).
From the earliest mother language of Proto-Sino-Tibetan, Chinese speaking and writing systems have been changed throughout time. After the mother tongue came old Chinese in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Following was Middle Chinese is the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Then, after several more modifications, Chinese finally came out to what’s it is like today. With thousands of years of history, the Chinese language is truly and art!
Resources: History of the Chinese language – Wikipedia
