Taiwanese Mandarin

Taiwanese Mandarin
Native to	Taiwan
Speakers	L1: 4.6 million (2017)[1] L2: 15 million[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Mandarin Beijing Mandarin Beijingese Standard Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin
Writing system	Traditional Chinese characters
Official status
Official language in	Taiwan
Regulated by	Ministry of Education
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	goyu (Guoyu)
Glottolog	taib1240
IETF	cmn-TW
Percentage of Taiwanese aged 6 and above who spoke Mandarin at home in 2010; darker blue corresponds to a greater percentage of Mandarin speakers
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	臺灣國語
Simplified Chinese	台湾国语
Literal meaning	National language of Taiwan
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táiwān guóyǔ Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩˇ Wade–Giles Tʻai2-wan1 kuo2-yü3 Tongyong Pinyin Táiwan Guó-yǔ IPA [tʰǎɪ.wán kwǒ.ỳ]
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	中華民國國語
Simplified Chinese	中华民国国语
Literal meaning	National language of the Republic of China
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōnghuá mínguó gúoyǔ Bopomofo ㄓㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩˇ Wade–Giles Chung1-hua2 min2-kuo2 kuo2-yü3 Tongyong Pinyin Jhong-huá Mín-guó Gúo-yǔ IPA [ʈʂʊ́ŋ.xwǎ mǐn.kwǒ kwǒ.ỳ]
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Taiwanese Mandarin, frequently referred to as Guoyu (Chinese: 國語; pinyin: Guóyǔ; lit. 'national language') or Huayu (華語; Huáyǔ; 'Chinese language'; not to be confused with 漢語), is the variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan. A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese known as Taiwanese Hokkien,^{[note 1]} which has had a significant influence on the Mandarin spoken on the island.

Mandarin was not a prevalent spoken language in Taiwan before the mid-20th century. Early Chinese immigrants who settled in Taiwan before Japanese rule mainly spoke other varieties of Chinese languages, primarily Hakka and Hokkien. By contrast, Taiwanese indigenous peoples speak unrelated Austronesian languages. Japan annexed Taiwan in 1895 and governed the island as a colony for the next 50 years, introducing Japanese in education, government, and public life. With the defeat of Imperial Japan in World War II, Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China, ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT), which by 1950 had been expelled from the mainland by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The KMT promulgated Guoyu in Taiwan while suppressing non-Mandarin languages in the public sphere. At the same time, the People's Republic of China promoted the same national language as Putonghua (普通话; 普通話; Pǔtōnghuà; 'common speech') on the mainland.^{[note 2]}

Putonghua in mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan are highly similar and derive from the same standard based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese and the grammar of written vernacular Chinese in the early 20th century.^[3] Standard Guoyu pronunciations tend to be based on prescribed dictionaries of the period, whereas Standard Putonghua integrated colloquial Northern Mandarin pronunciations for some words. Notable characteristics of Guoyu as is commonly spoken in Taiwan include its somewhat different tonal qualities compared to Putonghua, the lack of the erhua phenomenon, and the lack of retroflex consonants (with zh-, ch-, sh- being pronounced like z-, c-, and s-) in most contexts. Guoyu also incorporates vocabulary from Hokkien and Japanese. Written Chinese in Taiwan generally uses traditional characters, in contrast to the simplified characters used on the mainland. Some grammatical differences also exist, often due to Hokkien influence. The two varieties of Mandarin have diverged in the decades since the political separation of Taiwan and the mainland.

Guoyu spoken in Taiwan exists on a spectrum, from the most formal, standardized variety to the least formal, with the heaviest Hokkien influence. On one end of the spectrum, there is Standard Guoyu (標準國語; Biāozhǔn guóyǔ), an official national language of Taiwan. This variety is taught as the standard in the education system and is employed in official communications and most news media. The core of this standard variety is described in the Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary. Very few people speak purely standard Guoyu, however. Mandarin, as colloquially spoken in Taiwan, can be broadly called "Taiwan Guoyu" (台灣國語; Táiwān guóyǔ). Taiwan Guoyu diverges in varying degrees from Standard Guoyu, with some speakers being closer to Standard Guoyu than others. These divergences are often the result of Taiwan Guoyu incorporating influences from other languages used in Taiwan, primarily Hokkien, but also Japanese. Like Standard Guoyu, Taiwan Guoyu is also mutually intelligible with Putonghua, but when compared with Standard Guoyu, Taiwan Guoyu exhibits greater differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

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