Yue Chinese

Lore & Background

The area of China south of the Nanling Mountains, known as the Lingnan (roughly modern Guangxi and Guangdong), was originally home to peoples known to the Chinese as the Hundred Yue (or Baiyue). Large-scale Han Chinese migration to the area began after the Qin conquest of the region in 214 BC. Successive waves of immigration followed at times of upheaval in Northern and Central China, such as the collapse of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties. The most popular route was via the Xiang River, which the Qin had connected to the Li River by the Lingqu Canal, and then into the valley of the Xi Jiang. A secondary route followed the Gan River and then the Bei Jiang into eastern Guangdong. Yue-speakers were later joined by Hakka speakers following the North River route, and Min speakers arriving by sea. After the fall of Qin, the Lingnan area was part of the independent state of Nanyue for about a century, before being incorporated into the Han empire in 111 BC. After the Tang dynasty collapsed, much of the area became part of the state of Southern Han, one of the longest-lived states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, between 917 and 971. Large waves of Chinese migration throughout succeeding Chinese dynasties assimilated huge numbers of Yue aborigines, with the result that today's Southern Han Chinese Yue-speaking population is descended from both groups. The colloquial layers of Yue varieties contain elements influenced by the Tai languages formerly spoken widely in the area and still spoken by people such as the Zhuang and Dong.

Reader's Guide

The port city of Guangzhou lies in the middle of Pearl River Delta, with access to the interior via the Xi, Bei, and Dong rivers, which all converge at the delta. It has been the economic centre of the Lingnan region since Qin times, when it was an important shipbuilding centre. By 660, it was the largest port in China, part of a trade network stretching as far as Arabia. During the Southern Song, it also became the cultural centre of the region. The Guangzhou dialect (Cantonese) was used in the popular Yuè'ōu, Mùyú and Nányīn folksong genres, as well as Cantonese opera. The ancestors of most of the Han Chinese population of Hong Kong came from Guangzhou after the territory was ceded to Britain in 1842. As a result, Hong Kong Cantonese is an offshoot of the Guangzhou dialect. Taishanese, from the coastal area of Jiangmen (Kongmoon) located southwest of Guangzhou, was the language of most of the 19th-century emigrants from Guangdong to Southeast Asia and North America. Most later migrants have been speakers of Cantonese. The popularity of Cantonese-language media, Cantopop and the cinema of Hong Kong has since led to substantial exposure of Cantonese to China and the rest of Asia. On the mainland, the national policy is to promote Standard Chinese, which is also the medium of instruction in schools. In 2010, a controversial proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou local television from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following widespread backlash accompanied by public protests.

Did You Know?

• Yue languages are not mutually intelligible with each other or with other Chinese languages outside the branch.
• Taishanese, from the coastal area of Jiangmen, was the language of most 19th-century emigrants from Guangdong to Southeast Asia and North America.
• The Lingqu Canal, built by the Qin dynasty, connected the Xiang River to the Li River and was a key route for Han migration into the Lingnan area.
• In 2010, a proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou local television from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following widespread backlash and public protests.
• Cantonese has absorbed English loanwords like 巴士 (baa1 si6) for 'bus' and 的士 (dik1 si6) for 'taxi', typically as phonetic transliterations.

Naming and Classification

Cantonese is prototypically used in English to refer to the variety of Yue in Guangzhou, but it is also used to refer to Yue as a whole. To avoid confusion, academic texts may refer to the larger branch as 'Yue', following the pinyin system based on Standard Chinese, and either restrict 'Cantonese' to the Guangzhou variety, or avoid the term altogether, distinguishing Yue from its Guangzhou dialect. Some linguists such as Anne Yue and Norbert Francis designate Yue Chinese itself as a language. People from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Cantonese immigrants abroad, generally refer to their language as 廣東話; Gwóngdūngwá; 'Guangdong speech' [kʷɔ̌ːŋ tʊ́ŋ wǎː]. In Guangdong and Guangxi, people also use the terms 粵語; Yuhtyúh; 'Yue language' [jỳt jy̬ː] and 白話; baahkwá (plain/colloquial speech) [pàːk wǎː]; for example, the expression 南寧白話; Nàahmnìhng baahkwá means 'Nanning colloquial speech'.

Ancient Roots and Dynastic Migrations

The area of China south of the Nanling Mountains, known as the Lingnan (roughly modern Guangxi and Guangdong), was originally home to peoples known to the Chinese as the Hundred Yue (or Baiyue). Large-scale Han Chinese migration to the area began after the Qin conquest of the region in 214 BC. Successive waves of immigration followed at times of upheaval in Northern and Central China, such as the collapse of the Han, Tang and Song dynasties. The most popular route was via the Xiang River, which the Qin had connected to the Li River by the Lingqu Canal, and then into the valley of the Xi Jiang. A secondary route followed the Gan River and then the Bei Jiang into eastern Guangdong. Yue-speakers were later joined by Hakka speakers following the North River route, and Min speakers arriving by sea. After the fall of Qin, the Lingnan area was part of the independent state of Nanyue for about a century, before being incorporated into the Han empire in 111 BC. After the Tang dynasty collapsed, much of the area became part of the state of Southern Han, one of the longest-lived states of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, between 917 and 971. Large waves of Chinese migration throughout succeeding Chinese dynasties assimilated huge numbers of Yue aborigines, with the result that today's Southern Han Chinese Yue-speaking population is descended from both groups. The colloquial layers of Yue varieties contain elements influenced by the Tai languages formerly spoken widely in the area and still spoken by people such as the Zhuang and Dong.

From Pearl River Delta to the World

The port city of Guangzhou lies in the middle of Pearl River Delta, with access to the interior via the Xi, Bei, and Dong rivers, which all converge at the delta. It has been the economic centre of the Lingnan region since Qin times, when it was an important shipbuilding centre. By 660, it was the largest port in China, part of a trade network stretching as far as Arabia. During the Southern Song, it also became the cultural centre of the region. Guangzhou became the centre of rapidly expanding foreign trade after the maritime ban was lifted, with the British East India Company establishing a chamber of commerce in the city in 1715. The ancestors of most of the Han Chinese population of Hong Kong came from Guangzhou after the territory was ceded to Britain in 1842. As a result, Hong Kong Cantonese, the most widely spoken language in Hong Kong and Macau, is an offshoot of the Guangzhou dialect. Other migrations of Yue speakers during the nineteenth century, including west along the Guangdong and Guangxi coasts, brought Cantonese and other Yue varieties to southeast Asia. Many went across the Pacific Ocean to North and South America, leading to the historic domination exerted by Yue Chinese varieties in many Chinatowns across the American continent. The popularity of Cantonese-language media, Cantopop and the cinema of Hong Kong has since led to substantial exposure of Cantonese to China and the rest of Asia.

Linguistic Fossil and Living Contact

Yue varieties are among the most conservative varieties with regard to the final consonants and tonal categories of Middle Chinese, but have lost several distinctions in the initial consonants and medial glides that other Chinese varieties have retained. Cantonese has absorbed a substantial number of English loanwords, particularly in Hong Kong, where over a century of British colonial rule created sustained linguistic contact. These borrowings are typically phonetic transliterations: Chinese characters are chosen for their approximate sound rather than meaning. Well-known examples include 巴士 (baa1 si6) for 'bus', 的士 (dik1 si6) for 'taxi', and 芝士 (zi1 si6) for 'cheese'. In contemporary Hong Kong Cantonese, code-mixing with English is extremely common. Japanese influence on Cantonese includes modern slang and pop-culture terms such as 放題 (fong3 tai4) for 'all-you-can-eat' from Japanese 食べ放題 (tabehōdai), and wasei-kango coined in Japan such as 革命 (gaak3ming6) for 'revolution' from Japanese 革命 (Kakumei). Cantonese has also impacted English through direct loanwords including 鑊 (wok6), 叉燒 (caa1 siu1), and 點心 (dim2 sam1).