Is Shanghainese A Dying Language?

Shanghainese is a dying language

, and despite the recent efforts to bring it back, I don't think it will ever be the same again. Even in Shanghai, where the dialect originated, young people my age were never taught how to speak it. Starting in the 1990s, the government took initiative to standardize Mandarin.

Is Shanghainese still spoken?

Is Shanghainese dead?

Today, the next generation of Shanghainese speakers is faltering. “For those of us under the age of 40, none of our children can speak Shanghainese very well,” Zhu says. … If drastic changes aren't made soon,

Shanghainese will die out within 50 years

, according to Wu language preservationist Wu Wei, 22.

Will Cantonese die out?

Some 848 million people worldwide speak Putonghua, compared to 62.2 million Cantonese speakers. … So the number of Putonghua speakers will continue to grow, and

yes, Cantonese will die out eventually

.

Is Mandarin a dead language?

Sure, Mandarin has been used in nearly all the fields in China,especially in North China. But

the dialects haven't been died out

. In fact , Chinese people in different places have their own Mandarin,including their native accents.

How old is Shanghainese?

The western part of modern-day Shanghai was inhabited

6000 years ago

. During the Spring and Autumn period (approximately 771 to 476 BC), it belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, which was conquered by the Kingdom of Yue, which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu.

What does Hakka mean in Chinese?

The word ‘Hakka' in Chinese is “客家”, pronounced kejia in Mandarin and meaning “

guest people”

.

How do you say hello in Shanghainese?

Hello in Shanghainese is pronounced “

nong hoh”

.

Which language is the easiest to learn?

1. Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. …
2. Swedish. …
3. Spanish. …
4. Dutch. …
5. Portuguese. …
6. Indonesian. …
7. Italian. …
8. French.

What language is closest to English?

However, the closest major language to English, is

Dutch

. With 23 million native speakers, and an additional 5 million who speak it as a second language, Dutch is the 3rd most-widely spoken Germanic language in the world after English and German.

What is the oldest Chinese language?

The Chinese language

is the oldest written language in the world with at least six thousand years of history. Chinese character inscriptions have been found in turtle shells dating back to the Shang dynasty

¹

(1766-1123 BC) proving the written language has existed for more than 3,000 years.

Is Cantonese harder than Mandarin?

Mandarin is easier to learn

Cantonese is seen to be more difficult because it has

from 6 to 9 tones, each of which signify different things (while Mandarin only has 4 tones). In addition, because of its greater prevalence, it is easier to find Mandarin study materials than Cantonese study materials.

What is hello in Cantonese?

哈囉

is “hello” with a Cantonese pronunciation. … 哈囉,你好呀 (haa1 lo3,nei5 hou2 aa3), meaning “hello,” is usually used when you want to greet someone that you aren't close with in a friendly way. It's a more formal Cantonese greeting.

Which Chinese dialect is dying?

Shanghainese

is a dying language, and despite the recent efforts to bring it back, I don't think it will ever be the same again. Even in Shanghai, where the dialect originated, young people my age were never taught how to speak it. Starting in the 1990s, the government took initiative to standardize Mandarin.

How many languages will go extinct?

As many as

half of the world's 7,000 languages

are expected to be extinct by the end of this century; it is estimated that one language dies out every 14 days.

What is the rarest dialect in China?

Due to its long history and the isolation of the region in which it is spoken,

Wenzhounese

is so unusual in its phonology that it has the reputation of being the least comprehensible dialect for an average Mandarin speaker.