Coming to question 2, People speaking different dialects cannot understand each other. Sometimes, speakers of same dialects cannot understand each other. Chinese dialects are not mutually intelligible. Well, technically they are languages not dialects.
Can Cantonese speakers read simplified Chinese?
When there was a simplification in 1950 of the traditional Chinese, they simplified one small part of the traditional Chinese not whole! For Cantonese is easier to read simplified characters because they can guess the meaning.
Can Cantonese speakers understand Taishanese?
Taishanese is treated separately from "Cantonese". Despite the closeness of the two, they are hardly mutually intelligible.
Are Mandarin and Cantonese characters the same?
Cantonese and Mandarin are written in the same way, though Cantonese favors traditional Chinese characters rather than simplified. Mandarin has 4 tones. Cantonese has 9. Spoken Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible.19 abr 2018
Are Mandarin and Cantonese interchangeable?
They are both tonal languages, though the tones are different and they are not mutually intelligible. As such, they cannot really be referred to as dialects because a Cantonese speaker cannot understand a Mandarin speaker and vice versa. In fact, this is the case with many of China's “dialects”.
Is it easier to learn Cantonese or Mandarin first?
Go for Mandarin. It's simply easier. 4 tones instead of 6 (or 9, as some would argue), simplified characters that you can actually learn to read and write. It's vastly used in Mainland China (your chances of coming across people who don't understand it, are very small), Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau.
Which is more difficult to learn Mandarin or Cantonese?
Cantonese is known as a more difficult language to learn compared to Mandarin. Both languages have different tones, but the use of tones in Cantonese is even more challenging because it has between 6 and 9 different tones. Mandarin only has 4. ... The sounds of spoken Mandarin and Cantonese are very different.
Which is more useful Cantonese or Mandarin?
Definitely Mandarin. Cantonese is only really useful in Hong Kong and Macau, but you can get by in English and Mandarin in those two anyway. Mandarin gives you access to the mainland which is much harder to communicate in with English and Cantonese.
Do most Mandarin speakers understand Cantonese?
No, they are completely different languages. Although Cantonese and Mandarin have many similarities, they are not mutually intelligible. This means that, presuming one has no significant exposure or training, a speaker of Mandarin will understand little to nothing of Cantonese and vice-versa.
Is Cantonese going away?
Cantonese will not die out for the foreseeable future as some alarmists seem to purport, but the Cantonese speaking population may experience a decrease given the greater prominence of Mandarin in China and a decrease in the overseas Cantonese diaspora.
When did Cantonese replace Mandarin?
It maintained this status until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from Mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken.