Oct 8, 2001 00:48
23 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term

taiwanese

Non-PRO English Other
does this language exist? what do they speak in taiwan anyway

Responses

2 days 12 hrs
Selected

an interesting question

In Taiwan they speak

1) Taiwanese mandarin (not exactly the same as in PRC, quite similar though).
… Chiang Kai-shek's army moved into Taiwan … those soldiers and refugees were from all provinces of China where they spoke different languages such as Cantonese, Shanghai, or Santong. Owing to the linguistic diversity and national language policy, most of mainlanders have switched from their first languages to Mandarin Chinese. Therefore, the Mandarin language is generally regarded as the lingua franca among the Mainlanders.

2) Taiwanese dialects: Hakka, Minnan (=Holo) and others
… generally speaking, there are four primary ethnic groups: aborigines (1.7%), Holo (73.3%), Hakka (12%), and Mainlanders (13%). … they have different ethnic languages, … Holooe, Hakfa, and Taiwan Mandarin, not mutually intelligible.

The language policy in Taiwan … reflects the mono-lingualism of the colonial governments. … only a particular language was chosen as the official or national language. Other languages were denounced as "fang-yen (=dialects)".
http://www.geocities.com/taigibun/taibun/ch2/ch2.htm

However:
Mainlanders are those who came to Taiwan after 1945. Those Fukkien and Hakka who settled in Taiwan before the Japanese occupation are usually called Taiwanese or native Taiwanese. Fukkien are the biggest group among them. Exactly speaking, these Fukkien were mostly from the south of Fujian province which is called Min-nan. So it often happens that the term "Taiwanese" simply means Fukkien descendants and the Taiwanese language means the Min-nan language. http://www.tufs.ac.jp/ts/personal/ogasawara/paper/epaper1.ht...

I prefer to use “Taiwanese language” to refer to Taiwanese Mandarin Chinese, and “Taiwanese dialects” for the ethnic languages.

Cheers,
Paolo
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
12 mins

Mandarin chinese

"The official language of Taiwan is the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language. Other Chinese dialects are also used, and the indigenous people speak dialects that are in the Malay-Polynesian language group. The official romanization system used in Taiwan for Chinese words follows the Wade-Giles system rather than the Pinyin system used on the mainland."

For more info, click below:
Peer comment(s):

agree Fernando Muela Sopeña
1 hr
agree Jon Zuber (X) : However, there is no such thing as "the Chinese language"; Mandarin is one of the Chinese languages, not a dialect.
4 hrs
this was taken directly from the Microsoft "Encarta" encyclopaedia!!!
agree Yuri Geifman : a friend of mine who used to live in Taiwan says many people actually speak Cantonese
1 day 7 hrs
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