<p>It should be 华语. May be it is a Singapore thing to use the term 华文. </p>

<p>华 or 华夏 is the origin of Chinese culture. While 汉 is one of the greatest and longest ruling dynasty in Chinese history. The words 华 and 汉 along with 唐 (another great dynasty) are commonly used as representative of "Chinese"</p>

<ul>
<li><p>华语, 汉语 and 唐話 (Cantonese) all mean "Chinese spoken language" (中国语)</p></li>
<li><p>Both 汉文/ 汉字 and 唐字 (Cantonese) mean "Chinese written language" (中文/中国字)</p></li>
<li><p>Both 华人 and 唐人(Cantonese) mean "Chinese people" (中国人)</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T08:56:09.913Z
I understand, thank you for your answer!
user9506231
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T15:36:50.037Z
汉文 = 中文 = 中国文体  written Chinese language, while 汉字 = 中国字 = Chinese characters.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T08:52:02.030Z
2019-03-18T09:16:07.617Z
2019-03-18T09:16:07.617Z
Tang Ho
<p>All of the following names mean the Chinese languages (including variants and dialects):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>汉语 (漢語)</p>
  
  <p>华语 (華語)</p>
  
  <p>华文 (華文)</p>
  
  <p>中文</p>
</blockquote>

<p>All these four names mean the same, except 语 (語) is more likely to refer to spoken languages, while 文 is more likely to refer to written languages.</p>

<p>The terms 汉语 and 中文 are more likely to be used in China, while the terms 华语 and 华文 are more likely to be used in South East Asia.</p>

<hr>

<p>The meaning of 中华 (中華), 华夏 (華夏), 华 (華), 汉 (漢) are similar, so they are often used interchangeablely.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T15:32:07.230Z
2019-03-19T15:32:07.230Z
Victor
<p>The character 夏 (Xia), which means <strong>summer</strong> in modern Chinese, is a dynasty name in early peroid of China's history, and the character 華/华 means <strong>splendid</strong>, <strong>grandeur</strong>, <strong>luxury</strong>, etc, in ancient China, so the Xia dynasty claimed to be 华夏/華夏 (Hua Xia), which means <strong>Splendid/Grandeur Xia</strong>.</p>

<p>There are also two far-reaching dynasties in Chinese history, 漢/汉 (Han) dynasty and 唐 (Tang) dynasty, the Han people is the largest ethnic group in China now. 漢語/汉语 became the official name of Chinese language, and 唐人 is also an alias of Chinese people since Tang dynasty.</p>

<p>There are many variant names for Chinese language and Chinese people nowadays, for example 中華/中华, and 華夏/华夏 also are used for <strong>China</strong> sometimes, 漢語/汉语 and 華語/华语 are used for <strong>Chinese</strong> (language) sometimes, and 唐人 and 華人/华人 are used for <strong>Chinese</strong> (people) sometimes. </p>

<p>These names are from different dynasties and are still in use today in different occasions.</p>

<p>漢語/汉语: Official name for <strong>Chinese language</strong>.<br/>
國語/国语: Mandarin, official spoken Chinese standard. The name is still used in Taiwan &amp; HK.<br/>
普通話/普通话: Mandarin, the name was introduced in mainland China, called 国语 formerly.<br/>
中文: A modern word, seems to replace 漢語/汉语.<br/>
唐人: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially Europe and America.<br/>
華人/华人: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially certain parts of southeast Asia.<br/>
華文/华文: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially certain parts of southeast Asia.<br/></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T14:11:26.787Z
華夏最初是指史前黃河流域中下游一带分佈的若干部落或政治共同體，这些部落被后世视为漢文化及中华文明的起源之一

《左傳》“裔不謀夏，夷不亂華”一語，華、夏同義反復， **華即是夏 (夏即是華)**
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-21T04:37:32.827Z
@TangHo 华夏这个词汇的来源，网上说法非常多，没有统一说法。华字的来源其中一种说法是与花有关。而夏这个字的来源，一说是夏族，一说是夏朝。那时华夏是一个词汇，华和夏不同义。华、夏单独使用且逐步具有相同的意义，是从周朝开始才有。
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T08:07:26.533Z
唐朝经学家孔颖达《春秋左传正义》：「中国有礼仪之大，故称夏；有服章之美，谓之华。」意即因中国是礼仪之邦，故称「夏」，「夏」有高雅的意思；中国人的服饰很美，故作「华」。华夏一词，不仅是地理层面的，更深一层的价值在文化沉积方面。
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T05:12:33.917Z
2019-03-20T11:32:29.103Z
2019-03-20T11:32:29.103Z
xenophōn
<p>A Singaporean friend of mine calls his Chinese: 华文. I didn't realise that this also meant Chinese.</p>

<p>What is the difference between 华文 and 汉语?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T08:19:16.397Z
Never heard of 华文 in mainland China. It might be region difference.
fefe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T08:37:26.693Z
It should be 华语, not 华文. May be it is a Singapore thing to use this term
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T09:40:07.637Z
华语/华文 is the _standard_ way to refer to Standard Mandarin Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. 中文 is also used, but much less so.
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T18:19:20.957Z
I grew up in Singapore, and I will agree with @Michaelyus that 华语 and 华文 were standard terms for the Chinese language. I do not recall if people made distinctions between spoken and written Chinese, or if you could say 华文 for either spoken or written Chinese.
Weiwen Ng
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-18T21:00:52.607Z
Cantonese has always been  一文兩語; 一文 is Standard Written Chinese, 兩語 are literary and colloquial Cantonese.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-19T15:39:02.190Z
@TangHo   Don't you know the typefaces in Microsoft Office? 华文彩云, 华文行楷, 华文细黑, 华文楷体, etc.
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T06:08:38.060Z
@Victor The "华文" in "华文彩云" sounds like some brand name to me. Never thought it refers to the Chinese language.
fefe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T06:49:38.957Z
@fefe Of course it is a brand name. But what do you this brand name means?
Victor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-20T13:47:34.013Z
@Weiwen Ng If you insist 华文 is a common term for "Chinese", then you must accept 中語,  华字 should also be too. It clearly is a  regional thing. The fact is, '华文' is not used in Mainland China, (or Hong Kong ). My Vietnam Chinese friends referring "driving" as "走車" instead of "駕車" (揸車 in Cantonese); and saying "俾炒' instead of "被炒"  (俾人炒 in Cantonese) for "being fired". I understand what they mean, but I don't have to accept those are common terms among majority of Chinese speakers
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T04:35:32.320Z
I can confirm that 华语/华文 are preferred terms for the Chinese language in Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei. When visiting local bookstores, you'll notice that many Chinese school textbooks have 华文 in their titles. In schools, 华文课 means Chinese class.
Flux
<difference><topolect>
Difference between 汉语 and 华文
# Difference between 汉语 and 华文

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-18)

A Singaporean friend of mine calls his Chinese: 华文. I didn't realise that this also meant Chinese.

What is the difference between 华文 and 汉语?

**Tags:** difference, topolect

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Never heard of 华文 in mainland China. It might be region difference.  
> **username_2**: It should be 华语, not 华文. May be it is a Singapore thing to use this term  
> **username_3**: 华语/华文 is the _standard_ way to refer to Standard Mandarin Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. 中文 is also used, but much less so.  
> **username_4**: I grew up in Singapore, and I will agree with @username_3 that 华语 and 华文 were standard terms for the Chinese language. I do not recall if people made distinctions between spoken and written Chinese, or if you could say 华文 for either spoken or written Chinese.  
> **username_2**: Cantonese has always been  一文兩語; 一文 is Standard Written Chinese, 兩語 are literary and colloquial Cantonese.  
> **username_5**: @username_2   Don't you know the typefaces in Microsoft Office? 华文彩云, 华文行楷, 华文细黑, 华文楷体, etc.  
> **username_1**: @username_5 The "华文" in "华文彩云" sounds like some brand name to me. Never thought it refers to the Chinese language.  
> **username_5**: @username_1 Of course it is a brand name. But what do you this brand name means?  
> **username_2**: @username_4 If you insist 华文 is a common term for "Chinese", then you must accept 中語,  华字 should also be too. It clearly is a  regional thing. The fact is, '华文' is not used in Mainland China, (or Hong Kong ). My Vietnam Chinese friends referring "driving" as "走車" instead of "駕車" (揸車 in Cantonese); and saying "俾炒' instead of "被炒"  (俾人炒 in Cantonese) for "being fired". I understand what they mean, but I don't have to accept those are common terms among majority of Chinese speakers  
> **username_6**: I can confirm that 华语/华文 are preferred terms for the Chinese language in Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei. When visiting local bookstores, you'll notice that many Chinese school textbooks have 华文 in their titles. In schools, 华文课 means Chinese class.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-18. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

It should be 华语. May be it is a Singapore thing to use the term 华文.

华 or 华夏 is the origin of Chinese culture. While 汉 is one of the greatest and longest ruling dynasty in Chinese history. The words 华 and 汉 along with 唐 (another great dynasty) are commonly used as representative of "Chinese"

* 华语, 汉语 and 唐話 (Cantonese) all mean "Chinese spoken language" (中国语)
* Both 汉文/ 汉字 and 唐字 (Cantonese) mean "Chinese written language" (中文/中国字)
* Both 华人 and 唐人(Cantonese) mean "Chinese people" (中国人)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I understand, thank you for your answer!  
> **username_5**: 汉文 = 中文 = 中国文体  written Chinese language, while 汉字 = 中国字 = Chinese characters.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-03-19. Score: 3

All of the following names mean the Chinese languages (including variants and dialects):

> 汉语 (漢語)
>
> 华语 (華語)
>
> 华文 (華文)
>
> 中文

All these four names mean the same, except 语 (語) is more likely to refer to spoken languages, while 文 is more likely to refer to written languages.

The terms 汉语 and 中文 are more likely to be used in China, while the terms 华语 and 华文 are more likely to be used in South East Asia.

---

The meaning of 中华 (中華), 华夏 (華夏), 华 (華), 汉 (漢) are similar, so they are often used interchangeablely.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-03-20. Score: 3

The character 夏 (Xia), which means **summer** in modern Chinese, is a dynasty name in early peroid of China's history, and the character 華/华 means **splendid**, **grandeur**, **luxury**, etc, in ancient China, so the Xia dynasty claimed to be 华夏/華夏 (Hua Xia), which means **Splendid/Grandeur Xia**.

There are also two far-reaching dynasties in Chinese history, 漢/汉 (Han) dynasty and 唐 (username_2) dynasty, the Han people is the largest ethnic group in China now. 漢語/汉语 became the official name of Chinese language, and 唐人 is also an alias of Chinese people since username_2 dynasty.

There are many variant names for Chinese language and Chinese people nowadays, for example 中華/中华, and 華夏/华夏 also are used for **China** sometimes, 漢語/汉语 and 華語/华语 are used for **Chinese** (language) sometimes, and 唐人 and 華人/华人 are used for **Chinese** (people) sometimes.

These names are from different dynasties and are still in use today in different occasions.

漢語/汉语: Official name for **Chinese language**.  
國語/国语: Mandarin, official spoken Chinese standard. The name is still used in Taiwan & HK.  
普通話/普通话: Mandarin, the name was introduced in mainland China, called 国语 formerly.  
中文: A modern word, seems to replace 漢語/汉语.  
唐人: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially Europe and America.  
華人/华人: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially certain parts of southeast Asia.  
華文/华文: Used outside of the Greater China area, especially certain parts of southeast Asia.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 華夏最初是指史前黃河流域中下游一带分佈的若干部落或政治共同體，这些部落被后世视为漢文化及中华文明的起源之一  《左傳》“裔不謀夏，夷不亂華”一語，華、夏同義反復， **華即是夏 (夏即是華)**  
> **username_7**: @username_2 华夏这个词汇的来源，网上说法非常多，没有统一说法。华字的来源其中一种说法是与花有关。而夏这个字的来源，一说是夏族，一说是夏朝。那时华夏是一个词汇，华和夏不同义。华、夏单独使用且逐步具有相同的意义，是从周朝开始才有。  
> **username_7**: 唐朝经学家孔颖达《春秋左传正义》：「中国有礼仪之大，故称夏；有服章之美，谓之华。」意即因中国是礼仪之邦，故称「夏」，「夏」有高雅的意思；中国人的服饰很美，故作「华」。华夏一词，不仅是地理层面的，更深一层的价值在文化沉积方面。  

---

