Chapter 10 Summary and conclusions (p. 203-204)

The linguistic situation in China is much more complex than might seem at first to a viewer from the outside. The innumerable languages of national minorities, the many varieties of Chinese form a complicated pattern. Right now, the dialects are going through changes due to the economic, social and political transformations. In this light the study of dialects is a real challenge and the responsibility of Chinese dialectologists is great. The Great Dictionary... is an example of the work which scholars are trying to perform in order to record the current linguistic state of affairs.

1. Dialects or languages?

Although many of the speakers of Chinese cannot communicate with each other in their mother tongues, the varieties of language used by the Han nationality are still persistently called fangyán, or‘dialects’. The question whether or not the lack of mutual intelligibility does determine the linguistic borders goes beyond the domain of linguistics and enters the area of politics, anthropology and history. The question touches also upon the feeling of ethnic identity and linguistic ideology, which may, as in many cases in for example Europe, dominate the controversies around linguistic diversification. This is why it is probably best to leave this question aside and concentrate on scientific research of the tongues spoken by the inhabitants of China.

The dictionary confirms that differences between Chinese dialects are enormous and that the various groups are in a great part mutually unintelligible. Even dialect localities which are geographically close can be very different, such as some of the example localities of the Wu dialect or Mandarin dialects neighbouring with Wu, etc. However, they are all treated as dialects of one language, a problem which is not questioned by The Great Dictionary.... There is obviously a need for a thorough study of the issue of mutual intelligibility between dialects of Chinese, a study which could reflect the extent of this problem.

2. The language of the majority

The language of the Han people dominates the numerous languages of ethnic minorities in China. The influence of Chinese on minority languages is overwhelming. Yet, the minority languages also do change the Chinese. This is highlighted in some of the volumes of The Great Dictionary... referring to regions, where the percentage of minorities is significant (e.g. Harbin, Liuzhou, Xining, Yinchuan,Ürümqi, Nanning; see Chapter 8.4.43).

Some of the ethnic minorities do not have their own language and speak only the local variety of Chinese. This is the case of Hui and Manchu nationalities. The She people also use a kind of language similar to the Hakka Chinese. However, these problems deserve a thorough investigation and they are not the object of this book.