The use of northern dialects

Northern dialect, also known as Mandarin dialect, is a broad northern dialect, commonly known as "great north dialect". Among the main dialects of Chinese, Mandarin has a prominent position and influence. Many outstanding literary works in China, from Tang and Song vernacular to Yuan Qu to novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties, are all created on the basis of northern dialects, which have been the center of China's political, economic and cultural concentration since the Yuan Dynasty. They have always used northern dialects in officialdom, hence the name "Mandarin". In fact, it is a communicative language used by people in various dialect areas of Chinese. Putonghua, which is now popularized all over the country, is a modern Chinese language developed on the basis of "Putonghua".

According to its linguistic features, northern dialects can generally be divided into four branches, namely, four dialects (or four sub-dialects): North China Mandarin, Northwest Mandarin, Southwest Mandarin and Jianghuai Mandarin.

North China Mandarin

That is, the narrow northern dialect is popular in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and parts of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Among them, the dialects of the three northeastern provinces and Hebei Province are closest to the national dialect-Putonghua. Shandong and Henan Mandarin have their own characteristics. Recently, some linguists believe that Jiaoliao Mandarin and Zhongyuan Mandarin can be established separately. Among them, the Central Plains Mandarin includes parts of Lu Yu, and areas north of the Yangtze River such as Xuzhou, Fuyang, Xi 'an and Yuncheng in Shanxi.

the mandarin of northwest

Popular in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces and parts of Qinghai, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The language used by the Han people in Xinjiang also belongs to the Northwest Mandarin. Shanxi, its neighboring northern Shaanxi and the area north of the Yellow River in Henan Province have retained the ancient Rusheng characters, forming their own tone, which is different from the general Northwest Mandarin and North China Mandarin. Recently, some scholars believe that according to the characteristics of entering tone, Jin dialect can be independent from Mandarin. At the same time, some scholars suggest that the Northwest Mandarin, as a branch of Mandarin dialect, should be narrowed down to include only the dialects in Lanzhou, Gansu and Yinchuan, Ningxia, and renamed as Lanyin Mandarin.

Southwest mandarin

It is widely used in most areas of Hubei Province (except southeast and east), Han areas in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and the northern edge of Hunan and Guangxi provinces. Southwest Mandarin has a vast territory, but its interior is relatively consistent.

mandarin of jianghuai

Commonly known as Xiajiang Mandarin, it is used on both sides of the Yangtze River in Anhui Province, most areas north of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province (except Xuzhou), areas above Zhenjiang in the south bank of the Yangtze River and below Nanjing, and areas along the Yangtze River in Jiangxi Province. Jianghuai Mandarin is a branch of Mandarin dialect, with great internal differences and complicated language phenomena. Among them, Huizhou dialect in southern Anhui has many distinctive features, and many linguists have always thought that it can be separated from Mandarin and become Southern Anhui dialect or Huizhou dialect independently. ?