Speak Dialects, you feel tribal ! Speak mandarin, it will break unity!

[lancheowman]

Are you quoting the right fellow? "Lancheow" in "Lancheowman" is more lke Hokkien to me and his sentences are full of hokkien. How can he be Cantonese Supremcist when he is a Hokkien?

not say i want to say, other people oso say...real cannot bluff, bluff cannot be real.... chow si kah is the demagogue trying to tote the party line and will oso shamelessly go to the extent of inflaming racial tensions and hatred between dialect groups to achieve his based ends..e.,g. call uncle a cantonese supremacist...lancheow understand and tiu lei sifa too two headed snake.... in hainanese, praet lo mai

 

[annexa]

So what about speak Malay speak Tamil, speak Sinhalese, speak Hindi?

 

[yansen84]

What dialect to use when doing puclic speech? Hokkien? teochew? or cantonese? My neighbours are speaking all kind of dialects... If english is used to communicate with other races (exterior), then Mandarin is a 'natural choice' to communicate among chineses (interior).

My children are already 'sweating' learning 2 languages in school plus X number of subjects to study.. adding 'dialect' to the mix only causing more burden and stress to the young minds.

Are you the old fart writing in pseudonym? It reflects on your ignorance as much when you make statements as such, basing conclusions upon your or your offspring's ability, or lack thereof. I am a product of the y-generation education system here, and I have no problems speaking at least 2 dialects in addition to the 'mainstream' languages.

I should probably just wake you up from your convenient misconception that dialect needs to be learnt. Well at least I did not have to. You pick it up speaking to your parents and the previous generations in everyday conversation. And if your children can't speak any of it, it probably reflects on you adopting a policy of not speaking it in your family.

No one is asking for Mandarin learning to be discontinued in Singapore; you are right that it facilitates communication among the Chinese. What is wrong, however, is wiping out dialects to achieve that, which need not be the case.

 

[denzuko1]

Just read up on "Mandarin" from wikipedia.org. Mandarin is a dialect in Northern China. The Chinese here are predominantly from Southern China. So our Garment is asking us to forego our roots and embrace Northern Chinese culture? Who's up for Chong Qing Steamboat?

No wonder more and more Northern Chinese coming over, especially in Geylang area, garment is trying subtle ethnic cleansing. We will all be Michael Jackson of the east soon.

History
The present divisions of the Chinese language developed out of the different ways in which dialects of Old Chinese and Middle Chinese evolved.

Most Chinese living in northern and south-western China are native speakers of a dialect of Mandarin. The prevalence of this linguistic homogeneity in northern China is largely the result of geography: much of northern China is covered by plains and is flat. In contrast to this, the mountains and rivers of southern China have promoted linguistic diversity.

Chronologically, there is no clear line to mark where Middle Chinese ends and Mandarin begins; however, the Zhōngyuán Yīnyùn (中原音韵), a rhyme book from the Yuan Dynasty, is widely regarded as a milestone in the history of Mandarin. In this rhyme book we see many characteristic features of Mandarin, such as the reduction and disappearance of final stop consonants and the reorganization of the Middle Chinese tones.

Until the mid-20th century, most Chinese people living in southern China spoke only their local language. Beijing Mandarin became dominant during the Manchu-ruling Qing Dynasty, and from the 17th century onward, the empire established orthoepy academies (simplified Chinese: 正音书院; traditional Chinese: 正音書院; pinyin: Zhèngyīn Shūyuàn) in an attempt to make local pronunciations conform to the Beijing standard. These attempts, however, had little success.

This situation changed with the widespread introduction of Standard Mandarin as the national language, to be used in education, the media, and formal situations in both the PRC and the ROC (but not in Hong Kong). As a result, Standard Mandarin can now be spoken intelligibly as a second language by most younger people in Mainland China and Taiwan, with various regional accents. In Hong Kong and Macau, because of their colonial and linguistic history, the language of education, the media, formal speech and everyday life remains the local Cantonese, although Standard Mandarin is becoming increasingly influential.

 

[denzuko1]

not say i want to say, other people oso say...real cannot bluff, bluff cannot be real.... chow si kah is the demagogue trying to tote the party line and will oso shamelessly go to the extent of inflaming racial tensions and hatred between dialect groups to achieve his based ends..e.,g. call uncle a cantonese supremacist...lancheow understand and tiu lei sifa too two headed snake.... in hainanese, praet lo mai

Actually I am trying to understand where both of you started the marathon and I was tracing back what both of you have written. It seems to have started with Chinese being official language?

I doubt that Char_Jig_Kar intended to raise racial tension here base on what he has written. It is true that the Chinese Government has place Mandarin as the official language. It is because the Chinese Government is formed by the Northerners. Should it has been the South to form the Government, we would likely to have Cantonese, Hokkien or Teochew as the official language.

The point of the argument is that we should not discard our own dialect as the price for learning Mandarin. I believe both of you have agreed. Am I right?

 

[TeeKee]

wow one word from lky, all of you divided so much on this issue, besides generating so many comments and read.

why can we be inclusive, but must be exclusive?

he won the day again. divide and conquer!

 

[unicando]

hi, i m not versed in china history....but mandarin is useful as most ppl in china and taiwan use mandarin so good to learn it. also, anyone know what china mean and what it refer to? google it and wiki suggests china may come from the word sina or sinae (roman/greek), so ancient roman and greek refer to ancient china as sinae (probably thru the silk trade route). does it mean sinae mean silk ppl since silk trade route begin during han dynasty and reached it peak during the tang dynasty? it's a crazy tot...but what if si nae really mean silk ppl then which chinese dialect sound similar?

 

[Hakka Tiow]

two points, watch how uncle expose a pap mole....dun have to use f words, these are for uncultured and defested people
first of all, suggesting that speaking mandarin will break unity is not an attack on the language...it is an attack on the issue of unity and that is a political issue i.e. something pap will be concerned. if you speak dialects, you are likely to vote for dialect speaking candidates like yourselves and that likely would be someone from the opposition.

you cant find any other "attacks" on mandarin? of course because it aint there.

second of all, dun pretend to divert attention...do you admit that you started the name-calling to protect pap policy in the manner i have set out earlier? now that you have concocted a cantonese supremacist, who is supposed to be my hokkien supremacist?

Very profound pronouncement for one who chose "lancheowman" for a nick!

 

[lancheowman]

hi, i m not versed in china history....but mandarin is useful as most ppl in china and taiwan use mandarin so good to learn it. also, anyone know what china mean and what it refer to? google it and wiki suggests china may come from the word sina or sinae (roman/greek), so ancient roman and greek refer to ancient china as sinae (probably thru the silk trade route). does it mean sinae mean silk ppl since silk trade route begin during han dynasty and reached it peak during the tang dynasty? it's a crazy tot...but what if si nae really mean silk ppl then which chinese dialect sound similar?

i dun see why a greco-roman word should have anything to do with chinese dialects. this is what the ang mos call china not what the chinese call themselves. the han chinese oso called Rome "Da Qin"...are you going to say that it is supposed to sound like a latin word?

 

[lancheowman]

Very profound pronouncement for one who chose "lancheowman" for a nick!

of course, you think uncle is like you meh

 

[Hakka Tiow]

Base on the way you protray, LKY does not have great foresight. He is only an opportunist who got lucky.



You don't know that Hong Kong originate from Guang Dong province and many are a Cantonese in origin? Teow Chews and Hokkiens are immigrants from Fujian and Chao Zhou and you expect the majority there to learn the dialects just to communicate with the minorities? Why not you ask people from Chao Zhou and Fujian to learn Cantonese just to communicate with the minority Cantonese there? Similar, why not you go to Shanghai and get around speaking only Hokkien, see if anyone there can understand you at all.

Teochew people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the Teochew dialect of Min Nan Chinese, see Teochew dialect.
Teochew people
潮州人
Total population
estimated 25-30 million worldwide

Regions with significant populations
Greater China (Guangdong, Hong Kong), Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia), North America (US, Canada), Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), France
Languages
Teochew + language(s) of their country of residence
Religion
Predominantly Buddhism (Theravada and Mahayana), Taoism, Confucianism and Traditional Chinese religions. Small Christianity.
Related ethnic groups
Hoklo people (Hokkien)
Teochew people
Chinese: 潮州人
Literal meaning: tide people
[show]Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin: Cháo-zhōu-rén
Min
- Hokkien POJ: Tiô-chiu-lâng
Cantonese
- Jyutping: Ciu4-zau1-jan4

The Teochew are a subgroup of the Han Chinese people who primarily live in coastal eastern Guangdong in China, and represent one of the three major ethnic groups in the province. The Teochew diaspora can be found almost anywhere in the world, especially Southeast Asia, North America, Australasia and France. The diaspora, at least estimated, contains over 10 million people, which is as much as the population of Chaoshan itself. They speak a language closely related to Hokkien, and their Teochew cuisine is distinctive. The ancestors of the Teochew people moved to present-day Chaoshan from the Central Plains of China in order to escape from a series of civil wars during the Jin Dynasty.

Contents [hide]
1 Terms
2 Culture
3 Prominent Teochew people
3.1 Entrepreneurs
3.2 Film directors
3.3 Literary figures
3.4 Politicians
3.5 Sportspeople
3.6 Entertainers
3.7 Other
4 See also
4.1 External links



[edit] Terms
Teochew can be romanised in a variety of schemes, and are known in Mandarin as Chaozhou ren and Cantonese as Chiuchao yan. In referring to themselves as ethnic Chinese, Teochew people generally use Tang nang (唐人; Mandarin: Tangren), literally Tang Dynasty people, as opposed to Han nang (漢人/汉人; Mandarin: Hanren), which means 'Han Dynasty people'. Teochew people of the diaspora would generally use Hua nang (華人/华人; Mandarin: Huaren) to indicate Chinese heritage in a cultural sense.

Teochew people also commonly refer to each other as ga gi nang (自己人; Mandarin: zijiren) which means 'our own people'[1].

To situate the term into a contemporary sociocultural context, Teochew people in Chaoshan of today refer to themselves as Chaoshan people, rather than Teochew people.


[edit] Culture
Teochew culture is indispensable in constructing the single cultural entity in Guangdong Province, and is known worldwide as a unique part of world heritage. Throughout the lengthy history of over 1000 years, the region of Chaoshan, anciently named Teochew Prefecture, has bred and evolved a prestigious culture, which manifests its unique characteristics in language, opera, cuisine, tea practice, music and embroidery.

Chaozhou Dialect (潮州話), in/through which Teochew culture is conveyed, is considered one of the oldest Chinese dialects for it preserves many elegant and refined features from ancient Chinese that have been lost in some counterparts. It is spoken by roughly 10 million people in Chaoshan and more than 5 million outside the Chinese mainland.


Chaozhou OperaTeochew opera (潮劇) is a traditional art form which has a history of more than 500 years and is now loved by 20 million Teochew people in over 20 countries and regions. Based on the local folk dances and ballads, Teochew opera has formed its own style under the influence of Nanxi Opera. Nanxi is one of the oldest Chinese operas that originated in the Song Dynasty. Its tunes are graceful and pleasant, full of local colour. The old form of choral accompaniment still preserves its special features. Clowns and females are the most distinctive characters in a Teochew opera, and fan-playing and acrobatic skills are more prominent than in other types of performances.

Gongfu tea (工夫茶), the 'espresso' of Chinese teas with a formidable kick, which was first sipped back in the Song Dynasty, is still flourishing and standing as an important part of social etiquette in Chaoshan. It is not uncommon that the tea ritual is practised in an ordinary Teochew household on a day-to-day basis. Although it tastes bitter when it first reaches the mouth, it is the lingering aftertaste that makes Ganghu tea probably the most charming tea culture in China. Drinking Ganghu tea, in this sense, is a form of art rather than an antidote to thirst.

Teochew music (潮州音樂) is popularly played in Chaoshan's teahouse scene. The Teochew string instrument, gong, drum and traditional Chinese flute, are typically involved in the form of ensemble. The current Chaozhou drum music is said to be similar to the form of the Drum and Wind Music of the Han and Tang Dynasties

 

[skiscubaten]

pls do not look down on dialects and pls dun think that mandarin is the mother tongue of all chinese.

mandarin as a language only took shape during the time of the Qing Dynasty between 1600 to 1700s. before that, nobody spoke mandarin because it did not exist. And it is a simplified, coarse and rudimentary dialect or version of spoken chinese adapted for the use of northern barbarians esp. the manchu rulers and mandarins. manchus spoke an altaic language and hence mandarin was meant to make it easier for them to communicate and assimilate with their chinese subjects.

Absolutely. Cantonese on the other hand has a 3000 years history.

 

[Hakka Tiow]

of course, you think uncle is like you meh

Mine is a clear cut statement. Why do you choose to make yours ambiguous?

 

[skiscubaten]

Are you the old fart writing in pseudonym? It reflects on your ignorance as much when you make statements as such, basing conclusions upon your or your offspring's ability, or lack thereof. I am a product of the y-generation education system here, and I have no problems speaking at least 2 dialects in addition to the 'mainstream' languages.

I should probably just wake you up from your convenient misconception that dialect needs to be learnt. Well at least I did not have to. You pick it up speaking to your parents and the previous generations in everyday conversation. And if your children can't speak any of it, it probably reflects on you adopting a policy of not speaking it in your family.

No one is asking for Mandarin learning to be discontinued in Singapore; you are right that it facilitates communication among the Chinese. What is wrong, however, is wiping out dialects to achieve that, which need not be the case.

Absolutely, we grew up speaking dialects with our grandparents, parents. uncles, aunties and cousin. Cantonese is and important element of my identiy. People whose IQ are too stupid to learn more than one or two langugaes should not interefere with the dialects speaking community.

Extermination of dialects is tantamount to nazi fascism. It must be resisted at all cost.

 

[Frankiestine]

Cantonese is and important element of my identiy..

Our dialect is the link to our root and culture...those scums has been trying to cleanse all the chinese here of their roots and has succeeded cos chinese singaporeans now lacks a identity..

 

[lancheowman]

Absolutely. Cantonese on the other hand has a 3000 years history.

not really, cantonese can only be abt 1500 years old at most from the time of the tang dynasty

 

[lancheowman]

Mine is a clear cut statement. Why do you choose to make yours ambiguous?

if it is ambiguous to you, that's becasue you are trying too hard

 

[skiscubaten]

Our dialect is the link to our root and culture...those scums has been trying to cleanse all the chinese here of their roots and has succeeded cos chinese singaporeans now lacks a identity..

Yup. Nazi fascist scums they are with IQs too low to handle more than two languages.

UNICEF is promoting the preservation of native tongues around the world and here in Singapore, the gov is trying exterminate dialects. Absolute disgrace!!

 

[lancheowman]

Yup. Nazi fascist scums they are with IQs too low to handle more than two languages.

UNICEF is promoting the preservation of native tongues around the world and here in Singapore, the gov is trying exterminate dialects. Absolute disgrace!!

you mean UNESCO issit...UNICEF is protect children only

 

[Hakka Tiow]

Like an apparition forming in the mist, I'm seeing a reptilian form, one usually found in mudflats! The same obnoxious conceit!.........Hmmmmm................