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Originally Posted by Gwen_Goth
in the spirit of not derailing; i have a friend from china; she says she is from southern china; and she doesnt understand northern chinese too well; is there a difference in accent?
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Yes, there is a difference in accent..Although they both speak Mandarin (the official Chinese language), people from Beijing or in the northern part of China usually add an 'r' sound at the end of many words...So instead of just saying 'na' which means 'where' (on 3rd tone), a Beijing local will say it as 'nar'...
Or from where i am now (central east China, near Shanghai), the chinese locals would usually say ni(2) ha(3) (which means how are u? are u good? or simply hello) instead of 'ni(2) hao(3) without the 'o'.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gwen_Goth
also i know there are different chinese languages (cantonese and manderin right?) whats in use now? i never get it the right way round...
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As far as i know, the official Chinese language in China mainland is Mandarin or Putonghoua which is mainly based from the Beijing dialect...but just like any other languages, there are slight variations in each province or localities...Btw, Cantonese is mainly spoken in Hongkong...
