春节快乐！恭喜发财！ Here’s wishing you a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! More than half the world will be celebrating the Chinese New Year next week, so this week’s translation tip will help you with some of the basics you need to know about several different languages.
When you request a Chinese translation or a Chinese interpreter, do you really know what language you are requesting? When someone requests written Chinese translation, he or she is usually referring to either Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese, the two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. When someone requests spoken Chinese, he or she is usually referring to Mandarin or Cantonese, the two most common spoken Chinese languages.
Written Chinese: Traditional and Simplified
Traditional Chinese is currently used in Taiwan and Hong Kong. However, one should be aware that there are differences between the written language used in Taiwan and the language used in Hong Kong. Traditional Chinese was formerly the written language of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), or mainland China, until the PRC simplified its characters 50 years ago in an effort to boost literacy. As emigration from the PRC was limited before the 1990s, most Chinese speakers in English-speaking countries and other overseas Chinese communities also use Traditional Chinese.
Simplified Chinese is used in the PRC and Singapore. Since the opening of China in the 1990s increased Emigration from the PRC has likewise increased use of Simplified Chinese in English-speaking countries and other overseas Chinese communities.
Spoken Chinese: Mandarin, Cantonese, and Others
Mandarin is generally spoken in Taiwan, the PRC, Singapore, and various other overseas Chinese communities.
Cantonese is generally spoken in Hong Kong and various other overseas Chinese communities.
Other Chinese languages and dialects include the following (which contain some overlapping groups and alternate names): Wu, Min, Taiwanese, Jin, Xiang, Hakka, Gan, Hui, Ping, Huizhou, Hokkien, Fuzhou, Chaozhou, Dungan, and dozens more.
Make quick contact with GGI or email china (at) globalization-group (dot) com for Chinese translation, interpretation, website localization, software localization, voice-over/dubbing, and additional Chinese language services.
