Which is the most significant dialect group in china and is there a ranking?

[Jah_rastafar_I]

All southerners were strictly speaking not Hans to begin with. That's why southerners call ourselves 唐人 not 汉人.

yes that's correct.

Btw you mentioned the chinese ppl from a region bounded by 2 rivers are considered pure han or something like that?

 

[Ramseth]

yes that's correct.

Btw you mentioned the chinese ppl from a region bounded by 2 rivers are considered pure han or something like that?

Yes, that's the foundation boundary of Qin Dynasty but it lasted too shortly to establish a race, then Han took over over for some 400 years established the race.

 

[Jah_rastafar_I]

Yes, that's the foundation boundary of Qin Dynasty but it lasted too shortly to establish a race, then Han took over over for some 400 years established the race.

Can you tell me again what region is it? Which 2 rivers?

Is chao shan within the region? Oh wait isn't teochew area near to the sea.

 

[Ramseth]

Can you tell me again what region is it? Which 2 rivers?

Is chao shan within the region? Oh wait isn't teochew area near to the sea.

Teochew, Hokkien and Canton were definitely not in the Qin/Han boundaries which by south ended at Suzhou/Hangzhou area. Teochew, Hokkien and Canton were subordinate states something like colonies. It was until Tang Dynasty that these were officially integrated as provinces.

Yes, Teochews and Hokkiens were fishermen and seafarers. The sea restriction 海禁 from Ming to Qing dynasties affected them the worst. That's why they migrated in masses.

 

[Alamaking]

We hainanese are prisoners!!, we are tough!!!!

none of the Emperors dares to come to Hainan Island!!!, LOL

 

[Ramseth]

We hainanese are prisoners!!, we are tough!!!!

none of the Emperors dares to come to Hainan Island!!!, LOL

No emperors want to tour that shit island.

 

[chonburifc]

My impression is Cantonese is the most significant dialect in most countries. For SG, Hokkien or Min-nan dialect is more prominent than any other dialect even thought the government tried to killed the various dialects in the early 80s. You have Hokkien Peng but not other Peng. Almost all other dialect groups can speak some Hokkien just like in KL, almost everyone can speak some Cantonese. Sadly, now it is different, the PRC assistant probably don't understand anything more than kopi-o or kopi-c.

My curiosity is "Is hokkien easier to speak or scold?" How did it became the prominent language in SG?

 

[Alamaking]

No emperors want to tour that shit island.

Cox they scared!!!

 

[eatshitndie]

Cox they scared!!!

going to an island from an emperor's perspective was akin to an imperial exile. no emperor with a land mass as huge as china would even think about setting foot on an island, much less going on a seafaring ship. it was not in the imperial culture. only in times of great distress and entire empire was invaded or conquered by outsiders that the imperial court and entourage would venture on a boat. and they would still gang boats and ships together to simulate the feeling of being on land, or "floating land". instead of landing the whole flotilla on hainan or taiwan, imperial survivors would rather stay on the floating pontoon of ships offshore from the mainland. attachment to the mainland and their sense of rule and power were too strong.

 

[Ramseth]

My curiosity is "Is hokkien easier to speak or scold?" How did it became the prominent language in SG?

It's a curiosity in linguistics peculiar to Singapore. Fujian, Taiwan, Malaysian and even Indonesian Hokkien are very soft and mild toned. Only in Singapre Hokkien became as crude and harsh as it is now, champion of vulgarities, swearings and curses. If you don't master Singlish Hokkien, don't bother to quarrel, you'll lose.

 

[Cruxx]

My impression is Cantonese is the most significant dialect in most countries. For SG, Hokkien or Min-nan dialect is more prominent than any other dialect even thought the government tried to killed the various dialects in the early 80s. You have Hokkien Peng but not other Peng. Almost all other dialect groups can speak some Hokkien just like in KL, almost everyone can speak some Cantonese. Sadly, now it is different, the PRC assistant probably don't understand anything more than kopi-o or kopi-c.

My curiosity is "Is hokkien easier to speak or scold?" How did it became the prominent language in SG?

"The Hokkiens (福建人) constitute around 41% of the Chinese Singaporean population. They are the largest Chinese dialect group in Singapore."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Singaporean#Min-Nan_.28Hokkien.29

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Cantonese is the lingua franca of almost every Chinatown.....

My impression is Cantonese is the most significant dialect in most countries. For SG, Hokkien or Min-nan dialect is more prominent than any other dialect even thought the government tried to killed the various dialects in the early 80s. You have Hokkien Peng but not other Peng. Almost all other dialect groups can speak some Hokkien just like in KL, almost everyone can speak some Cantonese. Sadly, now it is different, the PRC assistant probably don't understand anything more than kopi-o or kopi-c.

My curiosity is "Is hokkien easier to speak or scold?" How did it became the prominent language in SG?

 

[eatshitndie]

Cantonese is the lingua franca of almost every Chinatown.....

because they are first quitters and opportunists. money and material wealth for them are more important than national pride or love of country. and good for them for taking the plunge and showing chinese that there is a world out there besides china. sam the samsui admin will hate this as he wishes chinese stay put in shitty china.

 

[Ramseth]

Cantonese is the lingua franca of almost every Chinatown.....

Hokkien is the lingua franca in Singapore for quareling, fighting and rioting.

 

[eatshitndie]

Hokkien is the lingua franca in Singapore for quareling, fighting and rioting.

and teochew is the lingam franca for sweet talking and getting women to open their legs.

 

[Narong Wongwan]

Hokkien is the lingua franca in Singapore for quareling, fighting and rioting.

The young street corner gangsters nowadays can hardly speak hokkien, speak mandarin campaign really successful

 

[Ramseth]

and teochew is the lingam franca for sweet talking and getting women to open their legs.

No. As a Teochew myself, I'd say Teochew is not a good language for guys to tackle girls. It's too soft-pitched. More suitable for girls to lead guys on. I'd simply use English with British accent since any girl worth tackling can understand English nowadays. I can do it with American accent but I feel more comfortable and dignified with British accent. American accent somehow projects an image of wild and care less. Singlish accent is a no-no unless preparing for a fight.

 

[Spiky]

My impression is Cantonese is the most significant dialect in most countries. For SG, Hokkien or Min-nan dialect is more prominent than any other dialect even thought the government tried to killed the various dialects in the early 80s. You have Hokkien Peng but not other Peng. Almost all other dialect groups can speak some Hokkien just like in KL, almost everyone can speak some Cantonese. Sadly, now it is different, the PRC assistant probably don't understand anything more than kopi-o or kopi-c.

My curiosity is "Is hokkien easier to speak or scold?" How did it became the prominent language in SG?

It became the prominent dialect amongst the chinese in Singapore simply because there are more hokkiens than teochews, cantonese, hakkas, hainans .....
Most hokkiens are Tan's and Lim's. Just check how many pages in the phone directory under these 2 sir-names category.

Well, the hokkiens and teochews were the first few majority to arrive here in Singapore.

In the olden days, where you are all migrants in a new country, people from the same province/villages/speak the same dialect, tend to take care of each other.
Even more so for businesses - it became very territorial. Clans and gangster-connections became barrier of entry to newcomers of established businesses.

Which is why the hokkiens and teochews dominated the banking business. UOB - hokkien. OUB - teochew. Commodities businesses too. Trading of rubber, timber and food commodities were
dominated by hokkiens and teowchews.

The rest of the dialect groups came later, e.g Hakkas, Hainanese etc. Hakkas ended up doing spectacle shops, goldsmith shops, pawnshops etc.
Hainanese were late and since all the bigger businesses were territories of hokkiens and teochews, ended up doing food businesses. Kopi shops, chicken rice, restaurants etc.
Of course all these dialect-dominated businesses were things of the past.

So everybody ended up learning and speaking the dialect of the majority.

Moreover, hokkien curse words are the crudest. So when you want to curse or quarrel, using hokkien curse words will achieve the best effect.

 

[Ramseth]

The young street corner gangsters nowadays can hardly speak hokkien, speak mandarin campaign really successful

Swearing and cursing in Hokkien to raise fighting morale can never be matched by Mandarin or any other language/dialect.

 

[sleaguepunter]

Can you tell me again what region is it? Which 2 rivers?

Is chao shan within the region? Oh wait isn't teochew area near to the sea.

u play koei romance of three kngdoms? the region should around Loyang and Xuchang, in present day henan province. the old shang dynasty capital of shangqiu was nearby. During the spring and autmun period, shangqiu was also the capital for the state of song, occupying a strategic area, a place where great conqueror must have to rule supreme over the central plain.