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Why is Cantonese being called Baihua by people from other provinces?
In Shenzhen, I met some people from Hunan and Sichuan whom said that they were trying to learn "Baihua".
I scratched my head and later understood that they meant they tried to learn some Cantonese.
Baihua
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#3
- 香港分舵舵主
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Posted 09 January 2004 - 07:58 AM
In Yunnan too.
#4
Posted 09 January 2004 - 10:57 AM
How do you write this Baihua? The same as normal Baihua (modern written Chinese), and the language of the Bai minority? All seems very confusing!
#5
Posted 09 January 2004 - 10:58 AM
That wasn't clear. I mean what are the characters "bai" and "hua"?
#7
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Posted 09 January 2004 - 11:40 AM
baihua = 白話 (plain language)
Both my local guides in Yunnan and Guilin who spoke Cantonese said they spoke "白話".
Both my local guides in Yunnan and Guilin who spoke Cantonese said they spoke "白話".
#8
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Posted 09 January 2004 - 11:41 AM
Quest, but why? I want to know too.
#10
Posted 09 January 2004 - 11:44 AM
I dont know why, some say 广州话 some say 白话。It is 白话 to the locals. I dont know why people from other provinces call it 白话 too.
#11
Posted 09 January 2004 - 11:46 AM
白話 means 口頭語 (colloquial language) and it suits quite well for the position of Cantonese. And indeed almost all CHinese I met in mainland called Cantonese as Bai Hua.
Hong Kong Chinese is an exception to this rule. Ian, so I think a better question should be, "why Hong Kong Cantonese don't called their language as Bai Hua?"
Hong Kong Chinese is an exception to this rule. Ian, so I think a better question should be, "why Hong Kong Cantonese don't called their language as Bai Hua?"
#13
Posted 09 January 2004 - 12:17 PM
So don't Chinese in China use BaiHua to mean the other two things I said?
btw what's YueHua or YueYu. Another term for Cantonese?
btw what's YueHua or YueYu. Another term for Cantonese?
#14
- 三俗齐全
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Posted 09 January 2004 - 12:21 PM
I've only ever heard 白话 used in the context of Lu Xun and so on. Yuehua is what the 月亮 uses when it makes speechs to 代表 your 心，
I assume . . .
I assume . . .
Monsieur le Gendarme, 粵 not 月
#16
Posted 09 January 2004 - 01:00 PM
Quest said:
I dont know why they call it 广东话, either.
is it a sarcastic statement rather than a question?
I think the reason is simple, it's the language of the richest city in Guangdong Province.
Guangdonghua isn't necessarily a language common to all Guangdongren, just like you wouldn't think Chinese language family includes Uyghur or Tibetan, though Xinjiang and Tibet are parts of China now.
#17
Posted 09 January 2004 - 01:03 PM
Every province (except Inner Mongolia) has a single Chinese character as abbreviation, e.g. 粵 for Guangdong, 桂 for Guangxi, 滇/雲 for Yunnan.
And so naturally Cantonese is called 粵語.
粵話 probably means Cantonese, but this combination just isn't common.
However, 粵方言 means all dialects in Guangdong Province, not only Cantonese, but including Teochew, Hakka, etc.
And so naturally Cantonese is called 粵語.
粵話 probably means Cantonese, but this combination just isn't common.
However, 粵方言 means all dialects in Guangdong Province, not only Cantonese, but including Teochew, Hakka, etc.
#18
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Posted 09 January 2004 - 01:28 PM
I've only never noticed 粤 in 粤菜 on Cantonese restaurants.
So who sang 粤亮代表我的心 then?
Roddy
So who sang 粤亮代表我的心 then?
Roddy
#19
Posted 09 January 2004 - 01:33 PM
'Baihua' in Beijing and the north refers to the language that forms the basis of modern Mandarin.
Until I came to the south I had never heard it used in the meaning 'Cantonese'. I think most northerners would be slightly confused upon first encountering this usage (I met one in Beihai who didn't know this usage).
Until I came to the south I had never heard it used in the meaning 'Cantonese'. I think most northerners would be slightly confused upon first encountering this usage (I met one in Beihai who didn't know this usage).
#20
Posted 09 January 2004 - 01:33 PM
Dunno. It might have been Confucius, but you'd have to check his CV.
