Is 中文 understood by all literate Chinese people?

Is 中文 understood by all literate Chinese people?
May 14, 2013 02:22
JOHNYORK Points: Join Date: May 14, 2013 Status: offline	中文 (Zhōngwén/written Chinese) is supposedly common to all Chinese people regardless of the variety of Chinese language they speak. So, a Mandarin or Min speaker can both read a newspaper written in 中文. This Is what I understand. What I don't understand is why some written material specifies the variety of spoken language. Example you see a website and it specifically list 潮州话 (Teochew, a variety of Southern Min). If all Chinese can read 中文, then why would they need to list the written material as 潮州话? I understand Chinese people pronounce the same words differently based on the variety they speak. This makes makes total sense to me. However, if it is written, why not just call it 中文? Why would you even need to mention 普通话 (Pǔtōnghuà/Mandarin) or 潮州话(Teochew), etc.? Are there words that are written differently between the varieties of Chinese languages? I totally get that the words are pronounced differently based on the variety you speak. I would just like to know if there are words that are written differently. Maybe this would explain the need to specify a specific variety when displaying written material for a Chinese person to read. Note: My question is not asking about Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Please don't copy and paste information about Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Also, please don't copy and paste information about the meaning of 中文. Please answer the question in your own words using your own knowledge.

May 14, 2013 02:22

JOHNYORK
Points:
Join Date: May 14, 2013
Status: offline

中文 (Zhōngwén/written Chinese) is supposedly common to all Chinese people regardless of the variety of Chinese language they speak. So, a Mandarin or Min speaker can both read a newspaper written in 中文. This Is what I understand.

What I don't understand is why some written material specifies the variety of spoken language. Example you see a website and it specifically list 潮州话 (Teochew, a variety of Southern Min). If all Chinese can read 中文, then why would they need to list the written material as 潮州话? I understand Chinese people pronounce the same words differently based on the variety they speak. This makes makes total sense to me. However, if it is written, why not just call it 中文? Why would you even need to mention 普通话 (Pǔtōnghuà/Mandarin) or 潮州话(Teochew), etc.? Are there words that are written differently between the varieties of Chinese languages? I totally get that the words are pronounced differently based on the variety you speak. I would just like to know if there are words that are written differently. Maybe this would explain the need to specify a specific variety when displaying written material for a Chinese person to read.

Note: My question is not asking about Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Please don't copy and paste information about Simplified or Traditional Chinese. Also, please don't copy and paste information about the meaning of 中文. Please answer the question in your own words using your own knowledge.

May 15, 2013 23:54	#1
DAVID_LIAO Points: Join Date: May 8, 2013 Status: Offline	It is an interesting question and I hope I can help you why we always mention Mandarin or other local Chinese. Firstly, it does mean the pronunciation itself when we write or speak Mandarin or something else, rather than what are the characters are writing or speaking. Secondly, when we say, for example 潮州话(Teochew), it means we take the local culture into account, maybe chaozhou people can understand it easily but not the northeastern one, because chaozhou people really know what you are talking about, such as a special food or lifestyle in Guangdong province with which northeastern are not familiar with, or they maybe have no idea about it at all. Thirdly, I believe pronunciation is a kind of art itself. Some of wordsmiths speak different pronunciation of the same sentence on special performances to show different culture background. This type of performance is welcome to Chinese audience because there are funny for subtle meaning. I am not good at English but I hope you can understand what I said.
DAVID_LIAO Points: Join Date: May 8, 2013 Status: Offline	Last edited by DAVID_LIAO: May 16, 2013 00:05

May 19, 2013 20:55	#2
GUEST42242	why not use software learn Chinese?

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