Ncao Posted October 23, 2005 at 11:30 PM Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 at 11:30 PM Does anybody know if the Hunan dialect is a Mandarin dialect ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugi Posted October 24, 2005 at 12:12 AM Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 at 12:12 AM Most people in Hunan speak a dialect belonging to the Xiang (湘) dialect group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ala Posted October 24, 2005 at 06:39 PM Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 at 06:39 PM Xiang is divided into Old and New. New Xiang is pretty much just a Mandarin dialect, and is spoken in the capital Changsha and surrounding areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ncao Posted October 24, 2005 at 07:19 PM Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 at 07:19 PM Thank you, so the Hunan dialect is related to Mandarin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liuzhou Posted October 25, 2005 at 06:19 AM Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 at 06:19 AM 10 years ago, I taught in a university in Western Hunan. New students (all Hunanese) would routinely have to communicate by passing each other notes. It usually took then a month or so to work each other's tongues out! They often accompanied me to the local market where they were totally unable to understand the locals. I ended up translating for them! And every one of them struggled with the Changsha dialect. So, please don't think there is just one Hunan dialect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted October 27, 2005 at 03:42 AM Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 at 03:42 AM Absolutely. I have a couple of close friends from Hunan, and I remember witnessing a family gathering once in which some of their relatives could hardly understand each other... and they were all from different areas of Changsha! That was a valuable lesson in 'intercultural communication' for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted October 27, 2005 at 08:15 AM Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 at 08:15 AM Much like how 广东话 is a misnomer for Cantonese(广州话), many 广东 话s are unintelligible to speakers of Cantonese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferno Posted October 30, 2005 at 08:48 PM Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 at 08:48 PM wow China has some serious language problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuchi Posted October 30, 2005 at 11:28 PM Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 at 11:28 PM It won't be an issue as long as one of the language groups doesn't invent its own script. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugi Posted October 31, 2005 at 03:14 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 at 03:14 AM It won't be an issue as long as one of the language groups doesn't invent another script. The other language groups already have their own common script (i.e. hanzi), they just don't have the same tradition of expressing their oral language in characters as Mandarin does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuchi Posted October 31, 2005 at 03:27 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 at 03:27 AM That's what I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted November 1, 2005 at 06:02 PM Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 at 06:02 PM Makes one wonder how Mao Zedong made himself understood... (Yeah, he had this one sectretary who could understand him, but that can hardly have been sufficient.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.