<blockquote>
  <p>Are non-Mandarin Chinese speakers offended by referring to Mandarin Chinese as simply "Chinese"? Is that a politically-fraught term?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As a native Cantonese speaker, I do not object people referring to Mandarin as 'Chinese' because it is the official language of Mainland China, and Most Chinese do live in Mainland China </p>

<p>On the other hand, Cantonese and other Chinese dialects are Chinese too. Canadian Government treat Mandarin and Cantonese as equal. When Canadian ask you "do you speak Chinese" and get an answer "yes", they do not automatically presume you are a Mandarin speaker, they would also ask " Mandarin or Cantonese?"  because the population of Mandarin and Cantonese speakers are roughly the same here.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>How do I differentiate between the dialects when speaking/writing in Chinese? </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Dialect is a spoken language, there are hundreds of different <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_Chinese" rel="noreferrer">dialects</a> in China, most of them are not mutually intelligible. It is hard to differentiate between minor sub-dialects even for Chinese, I can only tell the difference between Major dialects like Mandarin and Cantonese and some Cantonese sub-dialects</p>

<p>All Chinese write in one standard language system. (Standard Written Chinese - SWC) </p>

<p>People who speak different dialects in China are expected to communicate with each others using the official dialect Mandarin in speech and the standard written Chinese (SWC) in writing.</p>

<p>Base on this practice, foreigners should be able to presume someone who speak "Chinese" can speak Mandarin, therefore, referring Mandarin as Chinese should not offend non-native Mandarin speaking Chinese.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T02:16:42.563Z
This is a great answer (I wish I could upvote it, but I don't have the experience).  Could you tell me, what is the best what to refer to the Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese dialects in 中文字? And would those characters be recognized as the same by most speakers of those dialects?
taciteloquence
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-05T02:32:32.373Z
If you agree with my answer, you can accept it by clicking the check mark
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-04T06:49:38.313Z
2019-04-04T07:15:46.353Z
2019-04-04T07:15:46.353Z
Tang Ho
<p>I am living in Taiwan learning Mandarin Chinese (with traditional characters). When speaking in English I try to refer to the language as Mandarin both for clarity, and because I imagine people who speak other dialects of Chinese might not like the idea that Mandarin would be considered the 'default' dialect. I'm unsure how to make this distinction in Mandarin. </p>

<p>My question is two parts:</p>

<ol>
<li>Are non-Mandarin Chinese speakers offended by referring to Mandarin Chinese as simply "Chinese"? Is that a politically-fraught term?  </li>
<li>How do I differentiate between the dialects when speaking/writing in Chinese? </li>
</ol>

<p>P.S. This is my first question in this group, so I apologize if I have broken a rule. </p>

<translation><mandarin>
Is referring to Mandarin as just "Chinese" problematic?
# Is referring to Mandarin as just "Chinese" problematic?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-04)

I am living in Taiwan learning Mandarin Chinese (with traditional characters). When speaking in English I try to refer to the language as Mandarin both for clarity, and because I imagine people who speak other dialects of Chinese might not like the idea that Mandarin would be considered the 'default' dialect. I'm unsure how to make this distinction in Mandarin.

My question is two parts:

1. Are non-Mandarin Chinese speakers offended by referring to Mandarin Chinese as simply "Chinese"? Is that a politically-fraught term?
2. How do I differentiate between the dialects when speaking/writing in Chinese?

P.S. This is my first question in this group, so I apologize if I have broken a rule.

**Tags:** translation, mandarin


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-04-04. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

> Are non-Mandarin Chinese speakers offended by referring to Mandarin Chinese as simply "Chinese"? Is that a politically-fraught term?

As a native Cantonese speaker, I do not object people referring to Mandarin as 'Chinese' because it is the official language of Mainland China, and Most Chinese do live in Mainland China

On the other hand, Cantonese and other Chinese dialects are Chinese too. Canadian Government treat Mandarin and Cantonese as equal. When Canadian ask you "do you speak Chinese" and get an answer "yes", they do not automatically presume you are a Mandarin speaker, they would also ask " Mandarin or Cantonese?" because the population of Mandarin and Cantonese speakers are roughly the same here.

> How do I differentiate between the dialects when speaking/writing in Chinese?

Dialect is a spoken language, there are hundreds of different [dialects](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_Chinese) in China, most of them are not mutually intelligible. It is hard to differentiate between minor sub-dialects even for Chinese, I can only tell the difference between Major dialects like Mandarin and Cantonese and some Cantonese sub-dialects

All Chinese write in one standard language system. (Standard Written Chinese - SWC)

People who speak different dialects in China are expected to communicate with each others using the official dialect Mandarin in speech and the standard written Chinese (SWC) in writing.

Base on this practice, foreigners should be able to presume someone who speak "Chinese" can speak Mandarin, therefore, referring Mandarin as Chinese should not offend non-native Mandarin speaking Chinese.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: This is a great answer (I wish I could upvote it, but I don't have the experience).  Could you tell me, what is the best what to refer to the Mandarin, Cantonese and Taiwanese dialects in 中文字? And would those characters be recognized as the same by most speakers of those dialects?  
> **username_1**: If you agree with my answer, you can accept it by clicking the check mark  

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