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Mandarin and the Many Varieties of Chinese
How Mandarin relates to Cantonese, Wu, Min, Hakka and other varieties, and why they are often called dialects even though many differ as much as separate languages.
Language and Writing
Spoken and Written Chinese
Dialects, tones, scripts and how Chinese is written.
Cantonese: History and Character
A look at Cantonese as a major variety of Chinese: where it is spoken, how it differs from Mandarin, and its lasting role in song, film and overseas communities.
Classical Chinese and Modern Written Chinese
How the old literary language of Chinese texts differs from everyday written Chinese today, how the change came about, and why Classical Chinese is still read.
Measure Words in Chinese Grammar
Why Chinese uses measure words between numbers and nouns, how common ones like ge, ben and tiao work, and what they suggest about the way things are grouped.
Oracle Bone Script: Early Chinese Writing
An introduction to oracle bone script, the earliest well-known Chinese writing, carved on animal bone and turtle shell for divination in the late Shang period.
Pinyin: Writing Chinese Sounds in Letters
What pinyin is, how this romanization system came into use in the twentieth century, and how learners, readers and typists rely on it today.
Radicals: Building Blocks of Characters
How radicals group Chinese characters, help readers guess meaning and look up words in dictionaries, and where the clues they give can mislead.
Shanghainese, Hokkien and Hakka
An introduction to three widely spoken regional languages of China, Shanghainese, Hokkien and Hakka, and how each is tied to local identity and migration.
Simplified and Traditional Characters
A plain explanation of simplified and traditional Chinese characters: how they differ, where each is mostly used, and why people hold different views on them.
Tones in Chinese: Why Pitch Changes Meaning
A plain-language explanation of tonal languages using Mandarin's four tones, with examples, common tone changes, and notes on how other Chinese varieties differ.
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