it was han-chinese invented Mandarin?

shaolin01Nov 25 2007, 02:55 PM
Where did mandarin originate from and who spoke it?

I heard the Liaodong Han people and Jurchen were the ones who spoke it.
TitaniumNov 25 2007, 03:01 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(linguistics)

The present divisions of the Chinese language developed out of the different ways in which dialects of Old Chinese and Middle Chinese evolved.

Most Chinese living in northern and south-western China are native speakers of a dialect of Mandarin. The prevalence of this linguistic homogeneity in northern China is largely the result of geography: much of northern China is covered by plains and is flat. In contrast to this, the mountains and rivers of southern China have promoted linguistic diversity.

Chronologically, there is no clear line to mark where Middle Chinese ends and Mandarin begins; however, the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn (中原音韵), a rhyme book from the Yuan Dynasty, is widely regarded as a milestone in the history of Mandarin. In this rhyme book we see many characteristic features of Mandarin, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stop consonants and the reorganization of the Middle Chinese tones.

Until the mid-20th century, most Chinese people living in southern China spoke only their local language. Beijing Mandarin became dominant during the officially Manchu-speaking Qing period, and from the 17th century onward, the empire established orthoepy academies (simplified Chinese: 正音书院; traditional Chinese: 正音書院; pinyin: Zhèngyīn Shūyuàn) in an attempt to make local pronunciations conform to the Beijing standard. These attempts, however, had little success.

This situation changed with the widespread introduction of Standard Mandarin as the national language, to be used in education, the media, and formal situations in both the PRC and the ROC (but not in Hong Kong). As a result, Standard Mandarin can now be spoken intelligibly as a second language by most younger people in Mainland China and Taiwan, with various regional accents. In Hong Kong and Macau, because of their colonial and linguistic history, the language of education, the media, formal speech and everyday life remains the local Cantonese, although Standard Mandarin is becoming increasingly influential.

Today, Mandarin is spoken throughout the Chinese Diaspora. It is mostly spoken by Overseas Chinese populations in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and parts of Europe, South America, Africa and Middle East where significant Overseas Chinese populations exist. The huge usage of Mandarin in Malaysia and Singapore is helped by the existence of Chinese vernacular education systems and huge Chinese population proportions. These days, young non-ethnic Chinese are beginning to pick up Mandarin as an effort to take advantage of rising economic power in China.

shaolin01Nov 25 2007, 03:06 PM
^That doesn't even answer my question. I know that it was from the north , but what groups spoke it originally?
SnoSlick56Nov 25 2007, 04:26 PM
Manderine is the pre-CHing Standard Chinese with the Manchu accent.

Before entering into the great wall, the Manchu ruling class were fluent with Chinese, but with that kind of the accent.

The standard pre-CHing Chinese can still be heard from PING opera or Yu Opera.

Even in the modern Peking Opera, the standard modern Manderine is only used by the Clown characters.
bangarooNov 25 2007, 05:40 PM
QUOTE(SnoSlick56 @ Nov 25 2007, 04:26 PM) [snapback]3330588[/snapback]
Manderine is the pre-CHing Standard Chinese with the Manchu accent.

Before entering into the great wall, the Manchu ruling class were fluent with Chinese, but with that kind of the accent.

The standard pre-CHing Chinese can still be heard from PING opera or Yu Opera.

Even in the modern Peking Opera, the standard modern Manderine is only used by the Clown characters.

Your right, Mandarin is actually spoken by Han-Chinese, actual Manchus spoken dialect is different from Mandarin, I guess Manchus were eventually assimilated into heart of han-chinese. It's pointless to find who spoke the first Mandarin because it was han-chinese invented Mandarin.
riversouthNov 25 2007, 11:51 PM
funny, i never know the origin of the language that i speak the most

i guess it's from north, and south got influence. then during qing dynasty, the dialect becomes heavily influence and become the national language.

personally i speak with a taiwan dialect.

anybody know the origin of cantonese too? lol
bangarooNov 25 2007, 11:55 PM
QUOTE(riversouth @ Nov 25 2007, 11:51 PM) [snapback]3331208[/snapback]
funny, i never know the origin of the language that i speak the most

i guess it's from north, and south got influence. then during qing dynasty, the dialect becomes heavily influence and become the national language.

personally i speak with a taiwan dialect.

anybody know the origin of cantonese too? lol

Yeah, Canton
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