Category:Chinese: Difference between revisions

The '''{{Wp|Chinese language}}''' ({{Wp|ISO 639-1}}: <tt>zh</tt>; {{Wp|ISO 639-2}}: <tt>chi</tt> [B], <tt>zho</tt> [T]; {{ISO 639-3|zho}}) is the official national language of the huge [[:Category:Asia|Asian]] country of {{tag|China}}.  Specifically, 'Chinese' (中文; ''Zhōngwén'') is an umbrella term for a group of many (several hundred) different {{Wp|Languages of China|languages}} and dialects of China.

{{Wp|Standard Chinese}}, also known as Standard Mandarin, which is based on the {{Wp|Beijing dialect}} ({{Wp|ISO 639-6}}: <tt>bjjg</tt>, also known as Pekingese or Beijingese; the official language of the {{tag|China|People's Republic of China}} (PRC) and {{tag|Taiwan}} (Republic of China), along with one of the official languages in {{tag|Singapore}}), is the predominant language of China.  However, there are hundreds of related {{Wp|Languages of China|Chinese languages}}, known collectively as ''Hanyu'' ([[:Category:Simplified Chinese|simplified Chinese]]: 汉语; [[:Category:Traditional Chinese|traditional Chinese]]: 漢語; pinyin: ''Hànyǔ'', or 'Han language'), which are spoken by 92% of the population.  The Chinese languages, or {{Wp|Sinitic languages|'Sinitic' languages}}, are typically divided into {{Wp|Varieties of Chinese|seven major language groups}} ({{Wp|ISO 639-5}}: <tt>zhx</tt>), and their study is a distinct [[:Category:Academic|academic]] discipline.