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class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>History</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-History-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle History subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-History-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Simplification_and_standardization" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Simplification_and_standardization"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Simplification and standardization</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Simplification_and_standardization-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Function" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 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<span>Toggle Literacy subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Literacy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Dictionaries" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Dictionaries"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.1</span> <span>Dictionaries</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Dictionaries-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Transliteration" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Transliteration"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5.2</span> <span>Transliteration</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Transliteration-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-References-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle References subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Citations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Citations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.1</span> <span>Citations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Citations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Works_cited" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Works_cited"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7.2</span> <span>Works cited</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Works_cited-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Written Chinese</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 17 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-17" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">17 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A9" title="صينية مكتوبة – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="صينية مكتوبة" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ast mw-list-item"><a href="https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escritura_china" title="Escritura china – Asturian" lang="ast" hreflang="ast" data-title="Escritura china" data-language-autonym="Asturianu" data-language-local-name="Asturian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Asturianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%9A%E0%A7%80%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%96%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A7%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF" title="চীনা লিখন পদ্ধতি – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="চীনা লিখন পদ্ধতি" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9A%CE%B9%CE%BD%CE%AD%CE%B6%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF_%CF%83%CF%8D%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B1_%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AE%CF%82" title="Κινέζικο σύστημα γραφής – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Κινέζικο σύστημα γραφής" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chino_escrito" title="Chino escrito – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Chino escrito" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%86%DB%8C%D9%86%DB%8C_%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C" title="چینی نوشتاری – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="چینی نوشتاری" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinois_%C3%A9crit" title="Chinois écrit – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Chinois écrit" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%9A%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%80_%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BF" title="चीनी लिपि – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="चीनी लिपि" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Tionghoa_tertulis" title="Bahasa Tionghoa tertulis – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Bahasa Tionghoa tertulis" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_cinese_scritta" title="Lingua cinese scritta – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Lingua cinese scritta" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lv mw-list-item"><a href="https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha%C5%86dzi" title="Haņdzi – Latvian" lang="lv" hreflang="lv" data-title="Haņdzi" data-language-autonym="Latviešu" data-language-local-name="Latvian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latviešu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lfn mw-list-item"><a href="https://lfn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrive_xines" title="Scrive xines – Lingua Franca Nova" lang="lfn" hreflang="lfn" data-title="Scrive xines" data-language-autonym="Lingua Franca Nova" data-language-local-name="Lingua Franca Nova" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lingua Franca Nova</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sd mw-list-item"><a href="https://sd.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%8A_%DA%86%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A" title="تحريري چيني – Sindhi" lang="sd" hreflang="sd" data-title="تحريري چيني" data-language-autonym="سنڌي" data-language-local-name="Sindhi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>سنڌي</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesiskt_skriftspr%C3%A5k" title="Kinesiskt skriftspråk – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Kinesiskt skriftspråk" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%A9_%E0%AE%8E%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D" title="சீன எழுத்துக்கள் – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="சீன எழுத்துக்கள்" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E6%9B%B8%E9%9D%A2%E8%AA%9E" title="中文書面語 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="中文書面語" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E6%9B%B8%E9%9D%A2%E8%AA%9E" title="中文書面語 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="中文書面語" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" 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.infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="color: #202122;background-color:#b0c4de">Written Chinese</th></tr><tr style="display:none;"><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hani" style="font-size: 1rem;"><span lang="zh"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87#Chinese" class="extiw" title="wikt:中文">中文</a></span></span></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal"><a href="/wiki/Hanyu_Pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Hanyu Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data">Zhōngwén</td></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2"> </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;">Literal meaning</th><td class="infobox-data">Chinese writing</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><table class="infobox-subbox mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="display:inline-table; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: left;color: #202122; background-color: #f9ffbc;">Transcriptions</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Mandarin</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Hanyu_Pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Hanyu Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Zhōngwén</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">Bopomofo</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">ㄓㄨㄥㄨㄣˊ</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Spelling_in_Gwoyeu_Romatzyh" title="Spelling in Gwoyeu Romatzyh">Gwoyeu Romatzyh</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Jongwen</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Giles" title="Wade–Giles">Wade–Giles</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn"><span>Chung<sup>1</sup>-wen<sup>2</sup></span></span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin" title="Tongyong Pinyin">Tongyong Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Jhong-wún</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Mandarin" title="Yale romanization of Mandarin">Yale Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Jūng-wén</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin" title="Help:IPA/Mandarin">IPA</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn"><span class="IPA" lang="cmn-Latn-fonipa" style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin" title="Help:IPA/Mandarin">[ʈʂʊ́ŋ.wə̌n]</a></span></span></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Wu_Chinese" title="Wu Chinese">Wu</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Romanization_of_Wu_Chinese" title="Romanization of Wu Chinese">Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Wu Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="wuu-Latn">tson1 ven1</span></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Hakka_Chinese" title="Hakka Chinese">Hakka</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Guangdong_Romanization#Hakka" title="Guangdong Romanization">Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Hakka-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="hak-Latn">Chung-Vun</span></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Yue: Cantonese</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Cantonese" title="Yale romanization of Cantonese">Yale Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Yue Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="yue-Latn">Jūng mán</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Jyutping" title="Jyutping">Jyutping</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Yue Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="yue-Latn">zung1 man4*2</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Guangdong_Romanization" title="Guangdong Romanization">Canton Romanization</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Yue Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="yue-Latn">Zung<sup>1</sup> men<sup>4</sup>*<sup>2</sup></span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Cantonese" title="Help:IPA/Cantonese">IPA</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Yue Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="yue-Latn"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="IPA" lang="yue-Latn-fonipa" style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Cantonese" title="Help:IPA/Cantonese">[tsɔŋ˥ mɐn˩]</a></span></li><li><span class="IPA" lang="yue-Latn-fonipa" style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Cantonese" title="Help:IPA/Cantonese">[tsɔŋ˥ mɐn˧˥]</a></span></li></ul></div></span></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Southern_Min" title="Southern Min">Southern Min</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a> <a href="/wiki/Pe%CC%8Dh-%C5%8De-j%C4%AB" title="Pe̍h-ōe-jī">POJ</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="nan-Latn">Tiong-bûn</span></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Min" title="Eastern Min">Eastern Min</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Fuzhou_dialect" title="Fuzhou dialect">Fuzhou</a> <a href="/wiki/Foochow_Romanized" class="mw-redirect" title="Foochow Romanized">BUC</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Min Dong Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="cdo-Latn">Dṳng-ùng</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #b0c4de;">Han writing<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Simplified Chinese characters">Simplified Chinese</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hans" style="font-size: 1rem;"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B1%89%E6%96%87" class="extiw" title="wikt:汉文">汉文</a></span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters" title="Traditional Chinese characters">Traditional Chinese</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language text"><span lang="zh-Hant" style="font-size: 1rem;"><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%96%87" class="extiw" title="wikt:漢文">漢文</a></span></span></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal"><a href="/wiki/Hanyu_Pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Hanyu Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data">Hànwén</td></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2"> </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;">Literal meaning</th><td class="infobox-data">Han writing</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><table class="infobox-subbox mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="display:inline-table; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: left;color: #202122; background-color: #f9ffbc;">Transcriptions</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: #202122;background-color: #dcffc9;"><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Mandarin</a></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Hanyu_Pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Hanyu Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Hànwén</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">Bopomofo</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">ㄏㄢˋ ㄨㄣˊ</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Spelling_in_Gwoyeu_Romatzyh" title="Spelling in Gwoyeu Romatzyh">Gwoyeu Romatzyh</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Hannwen</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Giles" title="Wade–Giles">Wade–Giles</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn"><span>Han<sup>4</sup>-wen<sup>2</sup></span></span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin" title="Tongyong Pinyin">Tongyong Pinyin</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn">Hàn-wún</span></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin" title="Help:IPA/Mandarin">IPA</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="Chinese-language romanization"><span style="font-style: normal" lang="zh-Latn"><span class="IPA" lang="cmn-Latn-fonipa" style="white-space:nowrap"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin" title="Help:IPA/Mandarin">[xân.wə̌n]</a></span></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></td><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2"> 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.sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1233430381">.mw-parser-output .characters-body{max-width:22em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-content{padding:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{background-color:inherit}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{background-color:lightpink;white-space:nowrap;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .blist ol li,.mw-parser-output .blist ul li{display:list-item;text-align:left;text-indent:hanging 1em;margin-left:1em}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886047488">.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal}</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks noprint characters-body"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters" title="Chinese characters">Chinese characters</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span class="notpageimage" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Chinese_characters_logo.svg" class="mw-file-description" title="Chinese characters"><img alt="Chinese characters" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Chinese_characters_logo.svg/220px-Chinese_characters_logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="76" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Chinese_characters_logo.svg/330px-Chinese_characters_logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Chinese_characters_logo.svg/440px-Chinese_characters_logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="177" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-above hlist"> <ul><li><span class="nobold"><i><a href="/wiki/Chinese_family_of_scripts" title="Chinese family of scripts">Chinese family of scripts</a></i></span></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Written Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kanji" title="Kanji">Kanji</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hanja" title="Hanja">Hanja</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ch%E1%BB%AF_H%C3%A1n" title="Chữ Hán">Chữ Hán</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Evolution of <a href="/wiki/Chinese_script_styles" title="Chinese script styles">script styles</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Neolithic_symbols_in_China" title="Neolithic symbols in China">Neolithic symbols in China</a></i></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" title="Oracle bone script">Oracle bone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" title="Chinese bronze inscriptions">Bronze</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Seal_script" title="Seal script">Seal</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Large_seal_script" title="Large seal script">Large</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Small_seal_script" title="Small seal script">Small</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bird-worm_seal_script" title="Bird-worm seal script">Bird-worm</a></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Clerical_script" title="Clerical script">Clerical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)" title="Cursive script (East Asia)">Cursive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semi-cursive_script" title="Semi-cursive script">Semi-cursive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Regular_script" title="Regular script">Regular</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Flat_brush_script" title="Flat brush script">Flat brush</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/East_Asian_typography" title="East Asian typography">Modern typefaces</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fangsong" title="Fangsong">Fangsong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ming_typefaces" title="Ming typefaces">Ming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/East_Asian_Gothic_typeface" title="East Asian Gothic typeface">Hei</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Properties and <a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_classification" title="Chinese character classification">classification</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_components" title="Chinese character components">Components</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_strokes" title="Chinese character strokes">Strokes</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Stroke_order" title="Stroke order">order</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_radicals" title="Chinese character radicals">Radicals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters#Printing_and_typefaces" title="Chinese characters">Orthography</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jiu_zixing" title="Jiu zixing"><i>jiu zixing</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xin_zixing" title="Xin zixing"><i>xin zixing</i></a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/CJK_characters" title="CJK characters">Digital encoding</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed blist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Collation and standards</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kangxi_Dictionary_form" class="mw-redirect" title="Kangxi Dictionary form"><i>Kangxi Dictionary</i> forms</a> (1716)</li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/List_of_Commonly_Used_Standard_Chinese_Characters" title="List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters">Commonly Used Characters</a></i> (PRC, 2013)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/List_of_Graphemes_of_Commonly-Used_Chinese_Characters" title="List of Graphemes of Commonly-Used Chinese Characters">Commonly-Used Characters</a></i> (Hong Kong, 2007)</li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Southern_Min_Recommended_Characters" title="Taiwanese Southern Min Recommended Characters">Nan Min Recommended Characters</a></i> (Taiwan, 2009)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Standard_Form_of_National_Characters" title="Standard Form of National Characters">Standard Form of National Characters</a></i> (Taiwan, 1982)</li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/J%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji" title="Jōyō kanji"><i>Jōyō</i> kanji</a> (Japan, 2010)</li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Reforms</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Simplified_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Simplified characters">Simplified characters</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Second_round_of_simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Second round of simplified Chinese characters">second round</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Traditional_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditional characters">Traditional characters</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters">debate</a></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Japanese_script_reform" title="Japanese script reform">Japanese script reform</a> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Ky%C5%ABjitai" title="Kyūjitai">kyūjitai</a></i></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Homograph#In_Chinese" title="Homograph">Homographs</a> and readings</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Literary_and_colloquial_readings" title="Literary and colloquial readings">Literary and colloquial readings</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Kanbun" title="Kanbun">Kanbun</a></i></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Idu_script" title="Idu script">Idu</a></i></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Variant_Chinese_characters" title="Variant Chinese characters">Variants</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters_of_Empress_Wu" title="Chinese characters of Empress Wu">Zetian characters</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Derived systems</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Kana" title="Kana">Kana</a></i> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Man%27y%C5%8Dgana" title="Man'yōgana">man'yōgana</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Hiragana" title="Hiragana">hiragana</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Katakana" title="Katakana">katakana</a></i></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jurchen_script" title="Jurchen script">Jurchen script</a></li> <li>Khitan <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Khitan_large_script" title="Khitan large script">large</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khitan_small_script" title="Khitan small script">small</a></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/N%C3%BCshu" title="Nüshu">Nüshu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">Bopomofo</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters_for_transcribing_Slavonic" title="Chinese characters for transcribing Slavonic">Slavonic transcription</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below hlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Transliteration_of_Chinese" title="Transliteration of Chinese">Transliteration of Chinese</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Chinese_characters_sidebar" title="Template:Chinese characters sidebar"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Chinese_characters_sidebar" title="Template talk:Chinese characters sidebar"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese_characters_sidebar" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese characters sidebar"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Written Chinese</b> is a <a href="/wiki/Writing_system" title="Writing system">writing system</a> that uses <a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters" title="Chinese characters">Chinese characters</a> and other symbols to represent the <a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese languages</a>. Chinese characters do not directly represent pronunciation, unlike letters in an <a href="/wiki/Alphabet" title="Alphabet">alphabet</a> or syllabograms in a <a href="/wiki/Syllabary" title="Syllabary">syllabary</a>. Rather, the writing system is <i><a href="/wiki/Morphosyllabic" class="mw-redirect" title="Morphosyllabic">morphosyllabic</a></i>: characters are one spoken <a href="/wiki/Syllable" title="Syllable">syllable</a> in length, but generally correspond to <a href="/wiki/Morpheme" title="Morpheme">morphemes</a> in the language, which may either be independent words, or part of a polysyllabic word. Most characters are constructed from smaller components that may reflect the character's meaning or pronunciation.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Literacy requires the memorization of thousands of characters; college-educated Chinese speakers know approximately 4,000.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198873_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198873-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This has led in part to the adoption of complementary transliteration systems (generally <a href="/wiki/Pinyin" title="Pinyin">Pinyin</a>)<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> as a means of representing the pronunciation of Chinese.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987143_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987143-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Chinese writing is first attested during the late <a href="/wiki/Shang_dynasty" title="Shang dynasty">Shang dynasty</a> (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1250</span> – c.<span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1050 BCE</span>),<sup id="cite_ref-William_G._Boltz_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-William_G._Boltz-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-David_N._Keightley_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-David_N._Keightley-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-John_DeFrancis_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-John_DeFrancis-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun centuries earlier during the Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 2500–2000 BCE</span>).<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198864–65Demattè2022_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198864–65Demattè2022-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> After a period of variation and evolution, Chinese characters were standardized under the <a href="/wiki/Qin_dynasty" title="Qin dynasty">Qin dynasty</a> (221–206 BCE).<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198863_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198863-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Over the millennia, these characters have evolved into well-developed styles of <a href="/wiki/Chinese_calligraphy" title="Chinese calligraphy">Chinese calligraphy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198865–70_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198865–70-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As the <a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">varieties of Chinese</a> diverged, a situation of <a href="/wiki/Diglossia" title="Diglossia">diglossia</a> developed, with speakers of mutually unintelligible varieties able to communicate through writing using <a href="/wiki/Literary_Chinese" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary Chinese">Literary Chinese</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984155–156_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984155–156-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the early 20th century, Literary Chinese was replaced in large part with <a href="/wiki/Written_vernacular_Chinese" title="Written vernacular Chinese">written vernacular Chinese</a>, largely corresponding to <a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Chinese</a>, a form based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. Although most other <a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">varieties of Chinese</a> are not written, there are traditions of <a href="/wiki/Written_Cantonese" title="Written Cantonese">written Cantonese</a>, <a href="/wiki/Written_Shanghainese" class="mw-redirect" title="Written Shanghainese">written Shanghainese</a> and <a href="/wiki/Written_Hokkien" title="Written Hokkien">written Hokkien</a>, among others. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Structure">Structure</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Structure"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Shuowen.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Shuowen.jpg/220px-Shuowen.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="354" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Shuowen.jpg/330px-Shuowen.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Shuowen.jpg 2x" data-file-width="342" data-file-height="550" /></a><figcaption>A 12th-century <a href="/wiki/Song_dynasty" title="Song dynasty">Song dynasty</a> redaction of the <i><a href="/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi" title="Shuowen Jiezi">Shuowen Jiezi</a></i></figcaption></figure> <p>Written Chinese is not based on an alphabet or syllabary.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger1915_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger1915-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most characters can be analyzed as compounds of smaller components, which may be assembled according to several different principles. Characters and components may reflect aspects of meaning or pronunciation. The best known exposition of Chinese character composition is the <i><a href="/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi" title="Shuowen Jiezi">Shuowen Jiezi</a></i>, compiled by <a href="/wiki/Xu_Shen" title="Xu Shen">Xu Shen</a> <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 100 CE</span>. Xu did not have access to the earliest forms of Chinese characters, and his analysis is not considered to fully capture the nature of the writing system.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTESchuessler20079_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTESchuessler20079-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nevertheless, no later work has supplanted the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i> in terms of breadth, and it is still relevant to etymological research today.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198867_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198867-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Derivation_of_characters">Derivation of characters</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Derivation of characters"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_classification" title="Chinese character classification">Chinese character classification</a></div> <p>According to the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i>, Chinese characters are developed on six basic principles.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> (These principles, though popularized by the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i>, were developed earlier; the oldest known mention of them is in the <i><a href="/wiki/Rites_of_Zhou" title="Rites of Zhou">Rites of Zhou</a></i>, a text from <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 150 BCE</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-LuXun1934_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-LuXun1934-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>) The first two principles produce simple characters, known as <span lang="zh">文</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">wén</span></i>):<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11_17-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ol> <li><b>Pictographs</b> (<span lang="zh">象形</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">xiàngxíng</span></i>): in which the character is a graphical depiction of the object it denotes. <dl><dd><i>Examples</i>: <span lang="zh">人</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">rén</span></i>; 'person'), <span lang="zh">日</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">rì</span></i>; 'sun'), <span lang="zh">木</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">mù</span></i>; 'tree').</dd></dl></li> <li><b>Indicatives</b> (<span lang="zh">指事</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">zhǐshì</span></i>): in which the character represents an abstract notion. <dl><dd><i>Examples</i>: <span lang="zh">上</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">shàng</span></i>; 'up'), <span lang="zh">下</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">xià</span></i>; 'down'), <span lang="zh">三</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">sān</span></i>; 'three').</dd></dl></li> </ol> <p>The remaining four principles produce complex characters historically called <span lang="zh">字</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">zì</span></i>), though this term is now generally used to refer to all characters, whether simple or complex. Of these four, two construct characters from simpler parts:<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11_17-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ol start="3"> <li><b>Ideographic compounds</b> (<span lang="zh-Hans">会意</span>; <span lang="zh-Hant">會意</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">huìyì</span></i>): in which two or more parts are used for their meaning. This yields a composite meaning, which is then applied to the new character. <dl><dd><i>Example</i>: <span lang="zh-Hans">东</span>; <span lang="zh-Hant">東</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">dōng</span></i>; 'east'), which represents a sun rising in the trees.</dd></dl></li> <li><b>Phono-semantic compounds</b> (<span lang="zh-Hans">形声</span>; <span lang="zh-Hant">形聲</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">xíngshēng</span></i>): in which one part—often called the <a href="/wiki/Radical_(Chinese_character)" class="mw-redirect" title="Radical (Chinese character)">radical</a>—indicates the general semantic category of the character, such as being related to <i>water</i> or <i>eyes', with the other part being another character used for its phonetic value.</i> <dl><dd><i>Example</i>: <span lang="zh">晴</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">qíng</span></i>; 'clear weather'), which is composed of <span lang="zh">日</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">rì</span></i>; 'sun'), and <span lang="zh">青</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">qīng</span></i>; '<a href="/wiki/Blue%E2%80%93green_distinction_in_language" title="Blue–green distinction in language">grue</a>'), which is used for its pronunciation.</dd></dl></li> </ol> <p>The last two principles do not produce new written forms; they instead transfer new meanings to existing forms:<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11_17-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191510–11-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ol start="5"> <li><b>Transference</b> (<span lang="zh-Hans">转注</span>; <span lang="zh-Hant">轉注</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">zhuǎnzhù</span></i>): in which a character, often with a simple, concrete meaning takes on an extended, more abstract meaning. <dl><dd><i>Example</i>: <span lang="zh">网</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">wǎng</span></i>, which was originally a pictograph depicting a fishing net. Over time, it has taken on an extended meaning, covering any kind of <a href="/wiki/Latticework" title="Latticework">lattice</a>: for instance, it is the word used to refer to computer networks.</dd></dl></li> <li><b>Loangraphs</b> (<span lang="zh">假借</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">jiǎjiè</span></i>): in which a character is used, either intentionally or accidentally, for some entirely different purpose. <dl><dd><i>Example</i>: <span lang="zh">哥</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">gē</span></i>; 'elder brother') is not attested in formal writing prior to the Tang dynasty, and was created from the leftmost component of the more ancient character <span lang="zh">歌</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">gē</span></i>; 'to sing'). The ancient character <span lang="zh">兄</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">xiōng</span></i>) meaning 'elder brother' continues to be used in idioms and formal writing, whereas <span lang="zh">哥</span> is used in daily conversation in most Chinese dialects. Some dialects such as Minnan which retain features of spoken Old Chinese continue to use <span lang="zh">兄</span> exclusively for 'elder brother' in daily conversation.</dd></dl></li> </ol> <p>In contrast to the popular conception of written Chinese as <a href="/wiki/Ideographic" class="mw-redirect" title="Ideographic">ideographic</a>, the vast majority of characters—about 95% of those in the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i>—either reflect elements of pronunciation, or are logical aggregates.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In fact, some phonetic complexes were originally simple pictographs that were later augmented by the addition of a semantic root. An example is <span lang="zh">炷</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">zhù</span></i>; 'lampwick', now archaic, which was originally a pictograph of a lamp stand <span lang="zh">主</span>, a character that is now pronounced <i><span lang="zh-Latn">zhǔ</span></i> and means 'host', or the character <span lang="zh">火</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">huǒ</span></i>; 'fire') was added to indicate that the meaning is fire related.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191530_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191530-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Chinese characters are written to fit into a square, even when composed of two simpler forms written side-by-side or top-to-bottom. In such cases, each form is compressed to fit the entire character into a square.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199452_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199452-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Strokes">Strokes</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Strokes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_strokes" title="Chinese character strokes">Chinese character strokes</a></div> <p>Character components can be further subdivided into individual written strokes. The strokes of Chinese characters fall into eight main categories: "horizontal" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">一</span>⟩</span>, "vertical" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">丨</span>⟩</span>, "left-falling" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">丿</span>⟩</span>, "right-falling" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">丶</span>⟩</span>, "rising", "dot" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">、</span>⟩</span>, "hook" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">亅</span>⟩</span>, and "turning" <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">乛</span>⟩</span>, <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">乚</span>⟩</span>, <span class="nowrap">⟨<span lang="und-Hani">乙</span>⟩</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199431–43_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199431–43-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>There are eight basic rules of stroke order in writing a Chinese character, which apply only generally and are sometimes violated:<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199446–49_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199446–49-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <ol><li>Horizontal strokes are written before vertical ones.</li> <li>Left-falling strokes are written before right-falling ones.</li> <li>Characters are written from top to bottom.</li> <li>Characters are written from left to right.</li> <li>If a character is framed from above, the frame is written first.</li> <li>If a character is framed from below, the frame is written last.</li> <li>Frames are closed last.</li> <li>In a symmetrical character, the middle is drawn first, then the sides.</li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Layout">Layout</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Layout"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Horizontal_and_vertical_writing_in_East_Asian_scripts" title="Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts">Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts</a> and <a href="/wiki/Chinese_punctuation" title="Chinese punctuation">Chinese punctuation</a></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG/220px-HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG/330px-HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG/440px-HK_Hung_Hom_%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%A4%A7%E9%85%92%E6%A8%93_Capital_Restaurant_Ma_Tau_Wai_Road_35_Fat_Kwong_Street_KMBus_Stop.JPG 2x" data-file-width="1600" data-file-height="1200" /></a><figcaption>Chinese written from top-to-bottom on restaurant and bus stop signs in Hong Kong</figcaption></figure> <p>As characters are essentially rectilinear and are not joined with one another, written Chinese does not require a set orientation. Chinese texts were traditionally written in columns from top to bottom, which were laid out from right to left. Prior to the 20th century, Literary Chinese used little to no punctuation, with the breaks between sentences and phrases determined largely by context and the rhythms implied by patterns of syllables.<sup id="cite_ref-HuangEtAl2002_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-HuangEtAl2002-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the 20th century, the layout used in Western scripts—where text is written in rows from left to right, which are laid out from top to bottom—became predominant in mainland China, where it was mandated by the Chinese government in 1955. Vertical layouts are still used for aesthetic effect, or when space limitations require it, such as on signage or book spines.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198880_24-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198880-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The government of <a href="/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a> followed suit in 2004 for official documents, but vertical layouts have persisted in some books and newspapers.<sup id="cite_ref-BBC2004_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-BBC2004-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Less frequently, Chinese is written in rows from right to left, usually on signage or banners, though a left to right orientation remains more common.<sup id="cite_ref-Go1995.P_26-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Go1995.P-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The use of punctuation has also become more common. In general, punctuation occupies the width of a full character, such that text remains visually well-aligned in a grid. Punctuation used in simplified Chinese shows clear influence from that used in Western scripts, though some marks are particular to Asian languages. For example, there are double and single quotation marks (『』 and 「」), and a hollow full stop (。), which is used to separate sentences in an identical manner to a Western full stop. A special mark called an <i><a href="/wiki/Enumeration_comma" class="mw-redirect" title="Enumeration comma">enumeration comma</a></i> (、) is used to separate items in a list, as opposed to the clauses in a sentence. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg/150px-Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="247" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg/225px-Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg/300px-Shang_dynasty_inscribed_tortoise_plastron.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1186" data-file-height="1954" /></a><figcaption>A turtle plastron bearing <a href="/wiki/Oracle_bone_inscriptions" class="mw-redirect" title="Oracle bone inscriptions">oracle bone inscriptions</a></figcaption></figure> <p>Written Chinese is one of the oldest continuously used writing systems.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman1988ix_27-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman1988ix-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The earliest examples universally accepted as Chinese writing are the <a href="/wiki/Oracle_bone_inscriptions" class="mw-redirect" title="Oracle bone inscriptions">oracle bone inscriptions</a> made during the reign of the <a href="/wiki/Shang" class="mw-redirect" title="Shang">Shang</a> king <a href="/wiki/Wu_Ding" title="Wu Ding">Wu Ding</a> (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1250</span> – c.<span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1192 BCE</span>). These inscriptions were made primarily on ox scapulae and turtle shells in order to record the results of divinations conducted by the Shang royal family. Characters posing a question were first carved into the bones. The question's answer was then divined by heating the bones over a fire and interpreting the resulting cracks that formed. The interpretation was then carved into the same <a href="/wiki/Oracle_bone" title="Oracle bone">oracle bone</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198864–65_28-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198864–65-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright" style=""><div class="thumbinner" style="width:185px"><div class="center noresize" style="width:185px;"> <div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 187px;"> <div class="thumbimage" style="width: 185px; height: 260px; overflow: hidden;"> <div style="position: relative; top: -2px; left: -2px; width: 520px"><div class="noresize"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="樽; Fāngzūn wine container – inscription commemorates a gift of cowrie shells." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/520px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" decoding="async" width="520" height="333" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/780px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/1040px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1965" data-file-height="1260" /></a></span></div></div> </div> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" title="File:Western Zhou Ritual Containers3.jpg"> </a></div><span lang="zh">樽</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">Fāngzūn</span></i> wine container – inscription commemorates a gift of cowrie shells. </div> </div> </div><div class="thumb tright"> <div class="thumbinner" style="width: 187px;"> <div class="thumbimage" style="width: 185px; height: 260px; overflow: hidden;"> <div style="position: relative; top: -2px; left: -328px; width: 520px"><div class="noresize"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="彝; Fāngyí ritual container – inscription appearing twice on the vessel, comments on rituals accompanying court ceremonies." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/520px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" decoding="async" width="520" height="333" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/780px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg/1040px-Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1965" data-file-height="1260" /></a></span></div></div> </div> <div class="thumbcaption"> <div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Western_Zhou_Ritual_Containers3.jpg" title="File:Western Zhou Ritual Containers3.jpg"> </a></div><span lang="zh">彝</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">Fāngyí</span></i> ritual container – inscription appearing twice on the vessel, comments on rituals accompanying court ceremonies. </div> </div> </div></div><div class="thumbcaption">Inscribed <a href="/wiki/Chinese_ritual_bronzes" title="Chinese ritual bronzes">Chinese ritual bronzes</a> dated <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1000 BCE</span></div></div></div> <p>In 2003, 11 isolated symbols carved on tortoise shells were found at the <a href="/wiki/Jiahu" title="Jiahu">Jiahu</a> archaeological site in <a href="/wiki/Henan" title="Henan">Henan</a>—with some bearing a striking resemblance to certain modern characters, such as <span lang="zh">目</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">mù</span></i>; 'eye'). The Jiahu site dates from <abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 6600 BCE</span>, predating the earliest attested Chinese writing by more than 5,000 years. Garman Harbottle, who had headed a team of archaeologists at the <a href="/wiki/University_of_Science_and_Technology_of_China" title="University of Science and Technology of China">University of Science and Technology of China</a> in Anhui—has suggested that these symbols were precursors to Chinese writing. However, the palaeographer <a href="/wiki/David_Keightley" title="David Keightley">David Keightley</a> argues instead that the time gap is too great to establish any connection.<sup id="cite_ref-Rincon2003_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Rincon2003-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> From the <a href="/wiki/Late_Shang" title="Late Shang">Late Shang</a> period (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1250</span> – c.<span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1050 BCE</span>), Chinese writing evolved into the form found in <a href="/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" title="Chinese bronze inscriptions">cast inscriptions</a> on ritual bronzes made during the <a href="/wiki/Western_Zhou" title="Western Zhou">Western Zhou</a> dynasty (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1046</span> – 771 BCE) and the <a href="/wiki/Spring_and_Autumn_period" title="Spring and Autumn period">Spring and Autumn period</a> (771–476 BCE), a form of writing called bronze script (<span lang="zh">金文</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">jīnwén</span></i>). Bronze script characters are less angular than their oracle bone script counterparts. The script became increasingly regularized during the <a href="/wiki/Warring_States_period" title="Warring States period">Warring States period</a> (475–221 BCE), settling into what is called 'script of the six states' (<span lang="zh">六国文字</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">liùguó wénzì</span></i>), that Xu Shen used as source material in the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i>. These characters were later embellished and stylized to yield the <a href="/wiki/Seal_script" title="Seal script">seal script</a>, which represents the oldest form of Chinese characters still in modern use. They are used principally for <a href="/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Seal (East Asia)">signature seals</a>, or chops, which are often used in place of a signature for Chinese documents and artwork. <a href="/wiki/Li_Si" title="Li Si">Li Si</a> promulgated the seal script as the standard throughout China, which had been recently united under the imperial <a href="/wiki/Qin_dynasty" title="Qin dynasty">Qin dynasty</a> (221–206 BCE).<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198863_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198863-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The initial adaptation of seal into <a href="/wiki/Clerical_script" title="Clerical script">clerical script</a> can be attributed to scribes in the <a href="/wiki/State_of_Qin" class="mw-redirect" title="State of Qin">state of Qin</a> working prior to the wars of unification. Clerical script forms generally have a "flat" appearance, being wider than their seal script equivalents.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198864–67_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198864–67-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In the <a href="/wiki/Semi-cursive_script" title="Semi-cursive script">semi-cursive script</a> that evolved from clerical script, character elements begin to run into each other, though the characters themselves generally remain discrete. This is contrasted with fully <a href="/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)" title="Cursive script (East Asia)">cursive script</a>, where characters are often rendered unrecognizable by their canonical forms.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198869–70_31-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198869–70-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Regular_script" title="Regular script">Regular script</a> is the most widely recognized script, and was considerably influenced by semi-cursive. In regular script, each stroke of each character is clearly drawn out from the others.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198870_32-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198870-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div style="clear:both;" class=""></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1248256098">@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery{width:100%!important}}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery{display:table}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-default{background:transparent;margin-top:4px}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-center{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-left{float:left}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-right{float:right}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-none{float:none}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery-collapsible{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .main,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer{display:table-row}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title>div{display:table-cell;padding:0 4px 4px;text-align:center;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .main>div{display:table-cell}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .gallery{line-height:1.35em}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer>div{display:table-cell;padding:4px;text-align:right;font-size:85%;line-height:1em}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .title>div *,.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .footer>div *{overflow:visible}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .gallerybox img{background:none!important}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .bordered-images .thumb img{border:solid var(--background-color-neutral,#eaecf0)1px}.mw-parser-output .mod-gallery .whitebg .thumb{background:var(--background-color-base,#fff)!important}</style><div class="mod-gallery mod-gallery-default mod-gallery-center"><div class="title"><div>Chinese script styles</div></div><div class="main"><div><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-packed nochecker bordered-images whitebg"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 242px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 240px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:XiaozhuanQinquan_sized.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Seal script"><img alt="Seal script" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/XiaozhuanQinquan_sized.jpg" decoding="async" width="240" height="240" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="270" data-file-height="270" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Seal script</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 149.33333333333px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 147.33333333333px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:LishuHuashanmiao.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Clerical script"><img alt="Clerical script" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/LishuHuashanmiao.jpg/221px-LishuHuashanmiao.jpg" decoding="async" width="148" height="240" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/LishuHuashanmiao.jpg/331px-LishuHuashanmiao.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/LishuHuashanmiao.jpg 2x" data-file-width="332" data-file-height="541" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Clerical script</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 166px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 164px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:XingshuLantingxv.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Semi-cursive script"><img alt="Semi-cursive script" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/XingshuLantingxv.jpg/246px-XingshuLantingxv.jpg" decoding="async" width="164" height="240" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/XingshuLantingxv.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="363" data-file-height="531" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Semi-cursive script</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 146.66666666667px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 144.66666666667px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Cursive script"><img alt="Cursive script" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg/217px-Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg" decoding="async" width="145" height="240" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg/326px-Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg/435px-Treatise_On_Calligraphy.jpg 2x" data-file-width="602" data-file-height="997" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Cursive script</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 165.33333333333px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 163.33333333333px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:KaishuOuyangxun.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Regular script"><img alt="Regular script" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/KaishuOuyangxun.jpg/245px-KaishuOuyangxun.jpg" decoding="async" width="164" height="240" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/KaishuOuyangxun.jpg/368px-KaishuOuyangxun.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/KaishuOuyangxun.jpg/491px-KaishuOuyangxun.jpg 2x" data-file-width="899" data-file-height="1319" /></a></span></div> <div class="gallerytext">Regular script</div> </li> </ul></div></div></div> <p>Regular script is considered the archetypal Chinese writing and forms the basis for most printed forms. In addition, regular script <a href="/wiki/Stroke_order#General_guidelines" title="Stroke order">imposes a stroke order</a>, which must be followed in order for the characters to be written correctly.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199924_33-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199924-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Strictly speaking, this stroke order applies to the clerical, running, and grass scripts as well, but especially in the running and grass scripts, this order is occasionally deviated from. Thus, for instance, the character <span lang="zh">木</span> (<i><span lang="zh-Latn">mù</span></i>; 'wood') must be written starting with the horizontal stroke, drawn from left to right; next, the vertical stroke, from top to bottom; next, the left diagonal stroke, from top to bottom; and lastly the right diagonal stroke, from top to bottom.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199943_34-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199943-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Simplification_and_standardization">Simplification and standardization</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Simplification and standardization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main articles: <a href="/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Simplified Chinese characters">Simplified Chinese characters</a> and <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters" title="Traditional Chinese characters">Traditional Chinese characters</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters">Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters</a></div> <p>Beginning in the mid-20th century, Chinese has primarily been written using either <a href="/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Simplified Chinese characters">simplified</a> or <a href="/wiki/Traditional_character" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditional character">traditional character</a> forms. Simplified characters, which merge some character forms and reduce the average stroke count per character, were developed by the Chinese government with the stated goal of increasing literacy among the population. During this time, literacy rates did increase rapidly, but some observers instead attribute this to other education reforms and a general increase in the standard of living. Little systematic research has been conducted to support the conclusion that the use of simplified characters has affected literacy rates; studies conducted in China have instead focused on arbitrary statistics, such as quantifying the number of strokes saved on average in a given text sample.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987151_35-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987151-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Simplified characters are standard in mainland China, <a href="/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a> and <a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a>, while traditional characters are standard in <a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong" title="Hong Kong">Hong Kong</a>, <a href="/wiki/Macau" title="Macau">Macau</a>, <a href="/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a> and some <a href="/wiki/Overseas_Chinese" title="Overseas Chinese">overseas Chinese</a> communities.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBruggeman2006_36-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBruggeman2006-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources"><span title="This citation requires a reference to the specific page or range of pages in which the material appears. (July 2023)">page needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Simplified forms have also been characterized as being inconsistent. For instance, the traditional <span lang="zh">讓</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">ràn</span></i>; 'allow' is simplified to <span lang="zh">让</span>, in which the phonetic on the right side is reduced from 17 strokes to 3, and the <span lang="und-Hani">⾔</span> <span style="text-transform: lowercase;">'SPEECH'</span> radical on the left also being simplified. However, the same phonetic component is not reduced in simplified characters such as <span lang="zh">壤</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">rǎng</span></i>; 'soil' and <span lang="zh">齉</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">nàng</span></i>; 'snuffle'—these characters are relatively uncommon, and would therefore represent a negligible stroke reduction.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987152_37-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987152-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Other simplified forms derive from long-standing calligraphic abbreviations, as with <span lang="zh">万</span>; <i><span lang="zh-Latn">wàn</span></i>; 'ten thousand', which has the traditional form of <span lang="zh">萬</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987147_38-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987147-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Function">Function</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Function"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg/220px-Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="165" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg/330px-Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg/440px-Tomb_Fu_Hao_YinXu.jpg 2x" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="480" /></a><figcaption>The <a href="/wiki/Tomb_of_Fu_Hao" title="Tomb of Fu Hao">tomb of Fu Hao</a> (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 1200 BCE</span>), containing 200 bronze vessels with 109 inscriptions of <a href="/wiki/Fu_Hao" title="Fu Hao">Fu Hao</a>'s name.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></figcaption></figure> <p>Chinese characters have always been used to represent individual spoken syllables. While writing was being invented in the Yellow River valley, words in spoken Chinese were largely monosyllabic, and each written character corresponded to a monosyllabic word.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198884_40-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198884-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Spoken Chinese varieties have since acquired much more polysyllabic vocabulary,<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984177–188_41-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984177–188-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> usually compound words composed of morphemes corresponding to older monosyllabic words <sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198875_42-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198875-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>For over two thousand years, the predominant form of written Chinese was <a href="/wiki/Literary_Chinese" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary Chinese">Literary Chinese</a>, which had vocabulary and syntax rooted in the language of the <a href="/wiki/Chinese_classics" title="Chinese classics">Chinese classics</a>, as spoken around the time of <a href="/wiki/Confucius" title="Confucius">Confucius</a> (<abbr title="circa">c.</abbr><span style="white-space:nowrap;"> 500 BCE</span>). Over time, Literary Chinese acquired some elements of grammar and vocabulary from various varieties of vernacular Chinese that had since diverged. By the 20th century, Literary Chinese was distinctly different from any spoken vernacular, and had to be learned separately.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198883_43-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198883-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984154_44-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984154-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Once learned, it was a common medium for communication between people speaking different dialects, many of which were mutually unintelligible by the end of the first millennium CE.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198724–25_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198724–25-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984155–156_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984155–156-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Varieties of Chinese vary in pronunciation, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and grammar.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198788_46-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198788-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Modern written Chinese, which replaced Classical Chinese as the written standard as an indirect result of the 1919 <a href="/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement" title="May Fourth Movement">May Fourth Movement</a>, is not technically bound to any single variety; however, it most nearly represents the vocabulary and syntax of Mandarin, by far the most widespread Chinese dialectal family in terms of both geographical area and number of speakers.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198787_47-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198787-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This form is known as <a href="/wiki/Written_vernacular_Chinese" title="Written vernacular Chinese">written vernacular Chinese</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman1988109_48-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman1988109-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> While some written vernacular Chinese expressions are often ungrammatical or unidiomatic outside of Mandarin, its use permits some communication between speakers of different dialects. This function may be considered analogous to that of <a href="/wiki/Linguae_francae" class="mw-redirect" title="Linguae francae">linguae francae</a>, such as <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a>. For literate speakers, it serves as a common medium; however, the forms of individual characters generally provide little insight to their meaning if not already known.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984150_49-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984150-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Ghil'ad Zuckermann's exploration of <a href="/wiki/Phono-semantic_matching" title="Phono-semantic matching">phono-semantic matching</a> in <a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Chinese</a> concludes that the Chinese writing system is multifunctional, conveying both semantic and phonetic content.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The variation in vocabulary among varieties has also led to informal use of "dialectal characters", which may include characters previously used in Literary Chinese that are considered archaic in written Standard Chinese.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198876_51-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198876-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Cantonese is unique among non-Mandarin regional languages in having a written colloquial standard, used in Hong Kong and overseas, with a large number of unofficial characters for words particular to this language.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198799_52-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198799-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Written_Cantonese" title="Written Cantonese">Written Cantonese</a> has become quite popular on the Internet, while Standard Chinese is still normally used in formal written communications.<sup id="cite_ref-Lam2004_53-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Lam2004-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> To a lesser degree, <a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a> is used similarly in Taiwan and elsewhere, though it lacks the level of standardization seen in Cantonese. However, Taiwan's Ministry of Education has promulgated a standard character set for Hokkien, which is taught in schools and encouraged for use by the general population.<sup id="cite_ref-MOE2009_54-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-MOE2009-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Media">Media</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Media"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Over the history of written Chinese, a variety of media have been used for writing. They include: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" title="Bamboo and wooden slips">Bamboo and wooden slips</a>, from at least the 13th century BCE</li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_paper" title="History of paper">Paper</a>, invented no later than the 2nd century BCE</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silk" title="Silk">Silk</a>, since at least the Han dynasty</li> <li>Stone, metal, wood, bamboo, plastic and ivory on <a href="/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Seal (East Asia)">seals</a>.</li></ul> <p>Since at least the Han dynasty, such media have been used to create <a href="/wiki/Hanging_scroll" title="Hanging scroll">hanging scrolls</a> and <a href="/wiki/Handscroll" title="Handscroll">handscrolls</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Literacy">Literacy</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Literacy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Because the majority of modern Chinese words contain more than one character, there are at least two measuring sticks for Chinese literacy: the number of characters known, and the number of words known. <a href="/wiki/John_DeFrancis" title="John DeFrancis">John DeFrancis</a>, in the introduction to his <i>Advanced Chinese Reader</i>, estimates that a typical Chinese college graduate recognizes 4,000 to 5,000 characters, and 40,000 to 60,000 words.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Jerry_Norman_(sinologist)" title="Jerry Norman (sinologist)">Jerry Norman</a>, in <i>Chinese</i>, places the number of characters somewhat lower, at 3,000 to 4,000.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198873_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198873-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These counts are complicated by the tangled development of Chinese characters. In many cases, a single character came to have multiple <a href="/wiki/Variant_Chinese_characters" title="Variant Chinese characters">variants</a>. This development was restrained to an extent by the standardization of the seal script during the Qin dynasty, but soon started again. Although the <i>Shuowen Jiezi</i> lists 10,516 characters—9,353 of them unique (some of which may already have been out of use by the time it was compiled) plus 1,163 graphic variants—the <i><a href="/wiki/Jiyun" title="Jiyun">Jiyun</a></i> of the Northern <a href="/wiki/Song_dynasty" title="Song dynasty">Song dynasty</a>, compiled less than a thousand years later in 1039, contains 53,525 characters, most of them graphic variants.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198872_55-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198872-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Dictionaries">Dictionaries</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Dictionaries"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Chinese_dictionary" title="Chinese dictionary">Chinese dictionary</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Chinese_character_orders" title="Chinese character orders">Chinese character orders</a></div> <p>Written Chinese is not based on an alphabet or syllabary, so Chinese dictionaries, as well as dictionaries that define Chinese characters in other languages, cannot easily be alphabetized or otherwise lexically ordered, as English dictionaries are. The need to arrange Chinese characters in order to permit efficient lookup has given rise to a considerable variety of ways to organize and index the characters.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A traditional mechanism is the method of radicals, which uses a set of character roots. These roots, or radicals, generally but imperfectly align with the parts used to compose characters by means of logical aggregation and phonetic complex. A <a href="/wiki/Canonical_form" title="Canonical form">canonical</a> set of 214 radicals was developed during the rule of the <a href="/wiki/Kangxi_Emperor" title="Kangxi Emperor">Kangxi Emperor</a> (around the year 1700); these are sometimes called the Kangxi radicals. The radicals are ordered first by stroke count (that is, the number of strokes required to write the radical); within a given stroke count, the radicals also have a prescribed order.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191519_57-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191519-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Every Chinese character falls (sometimes arbitrarily or incorrectly) under the heading of exactly one of these 214 radicals.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In many cases, the radicals are themselves characters, which naturally come first under their own heading. All other characters under a given radical are ordered by the stroke count of the character. Usually, however, there are still many characters with a given stroke count under a given radical. At this point, characters are not given in any recognizable order; the user must locate the character by going through all the characters with that stroke count, typically listed for convenience at the top of the page on which they occur.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199417–18_58-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199417–18-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Because the method of radicals is applied only to the written character, one need not know how to pronounce a character before looking it up; the entry, once located, usually gives the pronunciation. However, it is not always easy to identify which of the various roots of a character is the proper radical. Accordingly, dictionaries often include a list of hard to locate characters, indexed by total stroke count, near the beginning of the dictionary. Some dictionaries include almost one-seventh of all characters in this list.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Alternatively, some dictionaries list "difficult" characters under more than one radical, with all but one of those entries redirecting the reader to the "canonical" location of the character according to Kangxi. </p><p>Other methods of organization exist, often in an attempt to address the shortcomings of the radical method, but are less common. For instance, it is common for a dictionary ordered principally by the Kangxi radicals to have an auxiliary index by pronunciation, expressed typically in either <a href="/wiki/Pinyin" title="Pinyin">pinyin</a> or <a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">bopomofo</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199920_59-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199920-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This index points to the page in the main dictionary where the desired character can be found. Other methods use only the structure of the characters, such as the <a href="/wiki/Four-corner_method" title="Four-corner method">four-corner method</a>, in which characters are indexed according to the kinds of strokes located nearest the four corners (hence the name of the method),<sup id="cite_ref-WangWang1994_60-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-WangWang1994-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or the <a href="/wiki/Cangjie_method" class="mw-redirect" title="Cangjie method">Cangjie method</a>, in which characters are broken down into a set of 24 basic components.<sup id="cite_ref-Su2005_61-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Su2005-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Neither the four-corner method nor the Cangjie method requires the user to identify the proper radical, although many strokes or components have alternate forms, which must be memorized in order to use these methods effectively. </p><p>The availability of computerized Chinese dictionaries now makes it possible to look characters up by any of the indexing schemes described, thereby shortening the search process. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Transliteration">Transliteration</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Transliteration"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Transliteration_of_Chinese" title="Transliteration of Chinese">Transliteration of Chinese</a></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Romanization_of_Chinese" title="Romanization of Chinese">Romanization of Chinese</a></div> <p>Chinese characters do not reliably indicate their pronunciation. Therefore, many transliteration systems have been developed to write the sounds of different varieties of Chinese. While many use the <a href="/wiki/Latin_alphabet" title="Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a>, systems using the <a href="/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Cyrillic alphabet">Cyrillic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Perso-Arabic_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Perso-Arabic alphabet">Perso-Arabic alphabets</a> have also been designed. Among other purposes, these systems are used by students learning the corresponding varieties. The replacement of Chinese characters with a phonetic writing system was first prominently proposed during the May Fourth Movement, partly motivated by a desire to increase the country's literacy rate. The idea gained further support following the victory of the Communists in 1949, who immediately began two parallel programs regarding written Chinese. The first was the development of an alphabet to write the sounds of Mandarin, the variety spoken by around two-thirds of the Chinese population.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198788_46-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198788-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The other program investigated the simplification of the standard character forms. Initially, character simplification was not competing with the idea of a phonetic script; rather, simplification was intended to make the transition to a fully phonetic writing system easier.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987143_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987143-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>By 1958, official priorities had shifted towards character simplification. The <a href="/wiki/Hanyu_Pinyin" class="mw-redirect" title="Hanyu Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a> (or simply 'pinyin') alphabet had been developed, but plans to replace Chinese characters with it were deferred, and the idea is no longer actively pursued. This change in priorities may have been due in part to pinyin's design being specific to Mandarin, to the exclusion of other dialects.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987144–154_62-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987144–154-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Pinyin uses the Latin alphabet with <a href="/wiki/Diacritics" class="mw-redirect" title="Diacritics">diacritics</a> to represent the phonology of Standard Chinese. For the most part, pinyin uses phonetic values for letters that reflect their existing pronunciations in Romance languages and the <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> (IPA). However, pairs of letters such as <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn">b</i></span> and <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn">p</i></span> that correspond to a <a href="/wiki/Voice_(phonetics)" title="Voice (phonetics)">voicing</a> distinction in languages such as French instead represent the <a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (phonetics)">aspiration</a> distinction that is more abundant in Mandarin.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey198788_46-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey198788-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Pinyin also uses several consonantal letters to represent markedly different sounds from their assignments in other languages. For example, pinyin <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn">q</i></span> and <span title="Chinese-language romanization"><i lang="zh-Latn">x</i></span> correspond to sounds similar to English <i>ch</i> and <i>sh</i>, respectively. While pinyin has become the predominant transliteration system for Mandarin, others include <a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">bopomofo</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Giles" title="Wade–Giles">Wade–Giles</a>, <a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Mandarin" title="Yale romanization of Mandarin">Yale</a>, <a href="/wiki/EFEO_Chinese_transcription" title="EFEO Chinese transcription">EFEO</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh" title="Gwoyeu Romatzyh">Gwoyeu Romatzyh</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984265_63-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984265-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>62<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Especially when distinguished from other <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_China" title="Languages of China">languages of China</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Citations">Citations</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Citations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 20em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198484_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDeFrancis1984">DeFrancis (1984)</a>, p. 84.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1968_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDeFrancis1968">DeFrancis (1968)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198873-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198873_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198873_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNorman1988">Norman (1988)</a>, p. 73.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output 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Taiwan Ministry of Education. 2009. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://english.education.edu.tw/ct.asp?xItem=7473&ctNode=1873&mp=12">the original</a> on 2011-08-15<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2009-08-24</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=User%27s+Manual+of+the+Romanization+of+Minnanyu%2FHokkien+Spoken+in+Taiwan+Region&rft.pub=Taiwan+Ministry+of+Education&rft.date=2009&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fenglish.education.edu.tw%2Fct.asp%3FxItem%3D7473%26ctNode%3D1873%26mp%3D12&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTENorman198872-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENorman198872_55-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNorman1988">Norman (1988)</a>, p. 72.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis198492_56-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDeFrancis1984">DeFrancis (1984)</a>, p. 92.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEWieger191519-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWieger191519_57-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFWieger1915">Wieger (1915)</a>, p. 19.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199417–18-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBjörkstén199417–18_58-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFBjörkstén1994">Björkstén (1994)</a>, pp. 17–18.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199920-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEMcNaughtonYing199920_59-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFMcNaughtonYing1999">McNaughton & Ying (1999)</a>, p. 20.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-WangWang1994-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-WangWang1994_60-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWangWang1994" class="citation journal cs1">Wang, Gwo-En; Wang, Jhing-Fa (1994). "A New Hierarchical Approach for Recognition of Unconstrained Handwritten Numerals". <i>IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics</i>. <b>40</b> (3): 428–436. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1109%2F30.320824">10.1109/30.320824</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:40291502">40291502</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=IEEE+Transactions+on+Consumer+Electronics&rft.atitle=A+New+Hierarchical+Approach+for+Recognition+of+Unconstrained+Handwritten+Numerals&rft.volume=40&rft.issue=3&rft.pages=428-436&rft.date=1994&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1109%2F30.320824&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A40291502%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Wang&rft.aufirst=Gwo-En&rft.au=Wang%2C+Jhing-Fa&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Su2005-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Su2005_61-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSu2005" class="citation thesis cs1">Su, Hsi-Yao (2005). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/1800"><i>Language Styling and Switching in Speech and Online Contexts: Identity and Language Ideologies in Taiwan</i></a> (Ph.D. thesis). Austin: University of Texas.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adissertation&rft.title=Language+Styling+and+Switching+in+Speech+and+Online+Contexts%3A+Identity+and+Language+Ideologies+in+Taiwan&rft.degree=Ph.D.&rft.inst=University+of+Texas&rft.date=2005&rft.aulast=Su&rft.aufirst=Hsi-Yao&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Frepositories.lib.utexas.edu%2Fhandle%2F2152%2F1800&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTERamsey1987144–154-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERamsey1987144–154_62-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFRamsey1987">Ramsey (1987)</a>, pp. 144–154.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984265-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEDeFrancis1984265_63-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFDeFrancis1984">DeFrancis (1984)</a>, p. 265.</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Works_cited">Works cited</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Works cited"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBjörkstén1994" class="citation book cs1">Björkstén, J. (1994). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/learntowritechin00bjor"><i>Learn to Write Chinese Characters</i></a>. Yale University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-05771-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-05771-7"><bdi>0-300-05771-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Learn+to+Write+Chinese+Characters&rft.pub=Yale+University+Press&rft.date=1994&rft.isbn=0-300-05771-7&rft.aulast=Bj%C3%B6rkst%C3%A9n&rft.aufirst=J.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Flearntowritechin00bjor&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFBruggeman2006" class="citation thesis cs1">Bruggeman, Sebastien (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060505070047/http://seba.ulyssis.org/thesis/thesis/clpc.pdf"><i>Chinese language processing and computing</i></a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> (Thesis). Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://seba.ulyssis.org/thesis/thesis/clpc.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 5 May 2006.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adissertation&rft.title=Chinese+language+processing+and+computing&rft.date=2006&rft.aulast=Bruggeman&rft.aufirst=Sebastien&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fseba.ulyssis.org%2Fthesis%2Fthesis%2Fclpc.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDeFrancis1968" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/John_DeFrancis" title="John DeFrancis">DeFrancis, John</a> (1968). <i>Advanced Chinese Reader</i>. Murray. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-01083-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-01083-4"><bdi>0-300-01083-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Advanced+Chinese+Reader&rft.pub=Murray&rft.date=1968&rft.isbn=0-300-01083-4&rft.aulast=DeFrancis&rft.aufirst=John&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDeFrancis1984" class="citation book cs1">——— (1984). <i>The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy</i>. University of Hawaiʻi Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-824-80866-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-824-80866-5"><bdi>0-824-80866-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Chinese+Language%3A+Fact+and+Fantasy&rft.pub=University+of+Hawai%CA%BBi+Press&rft.date=1984&rft.isbn=0-824-80866-5&rft.aulast=DeFrancis&rft.aufirst=John&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHannas1997" class="citation book cs1">Hannas, William C. (1997). <i>Asia's Orthographic Dilemma</i>. University of Hawaiʻi Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-824-81892-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-824-81892-0"><bdi>978-0-824-81892-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Asia%27s+Orthographic+Dilemma&rft.pub=University+of+Hawai%CA%BBi+Press&rft.date=1997&rft.isbn=978-0-824-81892-0&rft.aulast=Hannas&rft.aufirst=William+C.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMcNaughtonYing1999" class="citation book cs1">McNaughton, William; Ying, Li (1999). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/readingwritingch0000mcna"><i>Reading and Writing Chinese</i></a>. Tuttle. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-804-83206-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-804-83206-4"><bdi>0-804-83206-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Reading+and+Writing+Chinese&rft.pub=Tuttle&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=0-804-83206-4&rft.aulast=McNaughton&rft.aufirst=William&rft.au=Ying%2C+Li&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Freadingwritingch0000mcna&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNorman1988" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Norman_(sinologist)" title="Jerry Norman (sinologist)">Norman, Jerry</a> (1988). <i>Chinese</i>. Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-29653-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-521-29653-6"><bdi>0-521-29653-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1988&rft.isbn=0-521-29653-6&rft.aulast=Norman&rft.aufirst=Jerry&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDemattè2022" class="citation book cs1">Demattè, Paola (2022). <i>The origins of Chinese writing</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-197-63576-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-197-63576-6"><bdi>978-0-197-63576-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+origins+of+Chinese+writing&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2022&rft.isbn=978-0-197-63576-6&rft.aulast=Dematt%C3%A8&rft.aufirst=Paola&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRamsey1987" class="citation book cs1">Ramsey, S. Robert (1987). <i>The Languages of China</i>. Princeton University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-691-01468-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-691-01468-X"><bdi>0-691-01468-X</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Languages+of+China&rft.pub=Princeton+University+Press&rft.date=1987&rft.isbn=0-691-01468-X&rft.aulast=Ramsey&rft.aufirst=S.+Robert&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSchuessler2007" class="citation book cs1">Schuessler, Axel (2007). <i>ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese</i>. University of Hawaiʻi Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-824-82975-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-824-82975-9"><bdi>978-0-824-82975-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=ABC+Etymological+Dictionary+of+Old+Chinese&rft.pub=University+of+Hawai%CA%BBi+Press&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-824-82975-9&rft.aulast=Schuessler&rft.aufirst=Axel&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWieger1915" class="citation book cs1">Wieger, L. (1965) [1915]. <i>Chinese Characters</i>. Dover. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-486-21321-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-486-21321-8"><bdi>0-486-21321-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese+Characters&rft.pub=Dover&rft.date=1965&rft.isbn=0-486-21321-8&rft.aulast=Wieger&rft.aufirst=L.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239549316"><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFChen1999" class="citation book cs1">Chen, Ping (1999). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/modernchinesehis00chen"><i>Modern Chinese: History and Sociolinguistics</i></a>. Cambridge University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-64572-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-64572-0"><bdi>978-0-521-64572-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Modern+Chinese%3A+History+and+Sociolinguistics&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1999&rft.isbn=978-0-521-64572-0&rft.aulast=Chen&rft.aufirst=Ping&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fmodernchinesehis00chen&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFQiu2000" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Qiu_Xigui" title="Qiu Xigui">Qiu, Xigui</a> (2000) [1988]. <i>Chinese Writing</i>. Translated by Mattos, Gilbert L.; Norman, Jerry. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-557-29071-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-557-29071-7"><bdi>978-1-557-29071-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese+Writing&rft.place=Berkeley&rft.pub=Society+for+the+Study+of+Early+China+and+The+Institute+of+East+Asian+Studies%2C+University+of+California&rft.date=2000&rft.isbn=978-1-557-29071-7&rft.aulast=Qiu&rft.aufirst=Xigui&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSnow2004" class="citation book cs1">Snow, Don (2004). <i>Cantonese as Written Language: The Growth of a Written Chinese Vernacular</i>. Hong Kong University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-9-622-09709-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-9-622-09709-4"><bdi>978-9-622-09709-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Cantonese+as+Written+Language%3A+The+Growth+of+a+Written+Chinese+Vernacular&rft.pub=Hong+Kong+University+Press&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=978-9-622-09709-4&rft.aulast=Snow&rft.aufirst=Don&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AWritten+Chinese" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Written_Chinese&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j13/chinese.php">Yue E Li and Christopher Upward. "Review of the process of reform in the simplification of Chinese Characters".</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070102181740/http://www.spellingsociety.org/journals/j13/chinese.php">Archived</a> 2007-01-02 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> (Journal of Simplified Spelling Society, 1992/2 pp. 14–16, later designated J13)</li></ul> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output 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.navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Chinese_language" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="3" style="background: #e0e0b0;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Chinese_language" title="Template:Chinese language"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Chinese_language" title="Template talk:Chinese language"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese_language" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Chinese language"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Chinese_language" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese language</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="3" style="background: #e0e0b0;"><div><b><a href="/wiki/Sinitic_languages" title="Sinitic languages">Sinitic languages</a></b></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">Major groups</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese" title="Mandarin Chinese">Mandarin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Northeastern_Mandarin" title="Northeastern Mandarin">Northeastern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changchun_dialect" title="Changchun dialect">Changchun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Harbin_dialect" title="Harbin dialect">Harbin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shenyang_Mandarin" title="Shenyang Mandarin">Shenyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taz_dialect" title="Taz dialect">Taz</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Beijing_Mandarin_(division_of_Mandarin)" title="Beijing Mandarin (division of Mandarin)">Beijing</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beijing_dialect" title="Beijing dialect">Beijing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Mandarin" title="Taiwanese Mandarin">Taiwan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Jilu_Mandarin" title="Jilu Mandarin">Jilu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tianjin_dialect" title="Tianjin dialect">Tianjin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jinan_dialect" title="Jinan dialect">Jinan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Jiaoliao_Mandarin" title="Jiaoliao Mandarin">Jiaoliao</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dalian_dialect" title="Dalian dialect">Dalian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qingdao_dialect" title="Qingdao dialect">Qingdao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Weihai_dialect" title="Weihai dialect">Weihai</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Central_Plains_Mandarin" title="Central Plains Mandarin">Central Plains</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dongping_dialect" title="Dongping dialect">Dongping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gangou_language" title="Gangou language">Gangou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guanzhong_dialect" title="Guanzhong dialect">Guanzhong</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Xi%27an_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Xi'an dialect">Xi'an</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luoyang_dialect" title="Luoyang dialect">Luoyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xuzhou_dialect" title="Xuzhou dialect">Xuzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dungan_language" title="Dungan language">Dungan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xinjiang_Mandarin" title="Xinjiang Mandarin">Xinjiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Southwestern_Mandarin" title="Southwestern Mandarin">Southwestern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sichuanese_dialects" title="Sichuanese dialects">Sichuanese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chengdu-Chongqing_dialect" title="Chengdu-Chongqing dialect">Chengdu–Chongqing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Minjiang_dialect" title="Minjiang dialect">Minjiang</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Leshan_dialect" title="Leshan dialect">Leshan</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Renshou%E2%80%93Fushun_Mandarin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Renshou–Fushun Mandarin (page does not exist)">Renshou–Fushun</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zigong_dialect" title="Zigong dialect">Zigong</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kunming_dialect" title="Kunming dialect">Kunming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanping_dialect" title="Nanping dialect">Nanping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuhan_dialect" title="Wuhan dialect">Wuhan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Gui%E2%80%93Liu_Mandarin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Gui–Liu Mandarin (page does not exist)">Gui–Liu</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wuming_Mandarin" title="Wuming Mandarin">Wuming</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Lower_Yangtze_Mandarin" title="Lower Yangtze Mandarin">Jianghuai</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nanjing_dialect" title="Nanjing dialect">Nanjing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nantong_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Nantong dialect">Nantong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanping_dialect" title="Nanping dialect">Nanping</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Lanyin_Mandarin" title="Lanyin Mandarin">Lanyin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Lanzhou_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Lanzhou dialect (page does not exist)">Lanzhou dialect</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%B0%E5%B7%9E%E8%AF%9D" class="extiw" title="zh:兰州话">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Urumqi_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Urumqi dialect (page does not exist)">Urumqi dialect</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B9%8C%E9%B2%81%E6%9C%A8%E9%BD%90%E8%AF%9D" class="extiw" title="zh:乌鲁木齐话">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xinjiang_Mandarin" title="Xinjiang Mandarin">Xinjiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Junjiahua" title="Junjiahua">Junjiahua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qinjiang_Mandarin" title="Qinjiang Mandarin">Qinjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gyami_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Gyami language">Gyami</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Jin_Chinese" title="Jin Chinese">Jin</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhangjiakou%E2%80%93Hohhot_dialect" title="Zhangjiakou–Hohhot dialect">Zhangjiakou–Hohhot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhi-Yan_dialect" title="Zhi-Yan dialect">Zhi–Yan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Wu_Chinese" title="Wu Chinese">Wu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Taihu_Wu" title="Taihu Wu">Taihu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shanghainese" title="Shanghainese">Shanghai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suzhou_dialect" title="Suzhou dialect">Suzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuxi_dialect" title="Wuxi dialect">Wuxi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Changzhou_dialect" title="Changzhou dialect">Changzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hangzhou_dialect" title="Hangzhou dialect">Hangzhou</a> (?)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shaoxing_dialect" title="Shaoxing dialect">Shaoxing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ningbo_dialect" title="Ningbo dialect">Ningbo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jinxiang_dialect" title="Jinxiang dialect">Jinxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiangyin_dialect" title="Jiangyin dialect">Jiangyin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shadi_dialect" title="Shadi dialect">Shadi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Taizhou_Wu" title="Taizhou Wu">Taizhou Wu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taizhou_dialect" title="Taizhou dialect">Taizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tiantai_dialect" title="Tiantai dialect">Tiantai</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Oujiang</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wenzhounese" title="Wenzhounese">Wenzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rui%27an_dialect" title="Rui'an dialect">Rui'an</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wencheng_dialect" title="Wencheng dialect">Wencheng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Wuzhou_Wu" title="Wuzhou Wu">Wuzhou</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jinhua_dialect" title="Jinhua dialect">Jinhua</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Chu%E2%80%93Qu_Wu" title="Chu–Qu Wu">Chu–Qu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quzhou_dialect" title="Quzhou dialect">Quzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiangshan_dialect" title="Jiangshan dialect">Jiangshan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qingtian_dialect" title="Qingtian dialect">Qingtian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Xuanzhou_Wu_dialects" class="mw-redirect" title="Xuanzhou Wu dialects">Xuanzhou</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Xuancheng_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Xuancheng dialect">Xuancheng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_Chinese" title="Huizhou Chinese">Hui</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Ji-She&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ji-She (page does not exist)">Ji-She</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%BB%A9%E6%AD%99%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:绩歙片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Xiu-Yi&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Xiu-Yi (page does not exist)">Xiu-Yi</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BC%91%E9%BB%9F%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:休黟片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Qi-De&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Qi-De (page does not exist)">Qi-De</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%81%E5%A9%BA%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:祁婺片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Yanzhou_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Yanzhou dialect (page does not exist)">Yanzhou</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%8C%E5%8D%A0%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:旌占片">zh</a>]</span></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Jing-Zhan&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jing-Zhan (page does not exist)">Jing-Zhan</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%A5%E5%B7%9E%E7%89%87" class="extiw" title="zh:严州片">zh</a>]</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Gan_Chinese" title="Gan Chinese">Gan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chang%E2%80%93Du_Gan" title="Chang–Du Gan">Chang–Du</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nanchang_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Nanchang dialect">Nanchang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yi%E2%80%93Liu_Gan" title="Yi–Liu Gan">Yi–Liu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ying%E2%80%93Yi_Gan" title="Ying–Yi Gan">Ying–Yi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Da%E2%80%93Tong_Gan" title="Da–Tong Gan">Da–Tong</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Xiang_Chinese" title="Xiang Chinese">Xiang</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/New_Xiang" title="New Xiang">Changyi</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changsha_dialect" title="Changsha dialect">Changsha</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Xiang" title="Old Xiang">Loushao</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shuangfeng_dialect" title="Shuangfeng dialect">Shuangfeng</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiangxiang_dialect" title="Xiangxiang dialect">Xiangxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wugang_dialect" title="Wugang dialect">Wugang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ji%E2%80%93Xu_Xiang" title="Ji–Xu Xiang">Ji–Xu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yong%E2%80%93Quan_Xiang" title="Yong–Quan Xiang">Yong–Quan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Qiyang_dialect" title="Qiyang dialect">Qiyang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Min_Chinese" title="Min Chinese">Min</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Min" title="Eastern Min">Eastern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Houguan_language_group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Houguan language group (page does not exist)">Houguan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fuzhou_dialect" title="Fuzhou dialect">Fuzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fuqing_dialect" title="Fuqing dialect">Fuqing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Changle_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Changle dialect">Changle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gutian_dialect" title="Gutian dialect">Gutian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Matsu_dialect" title="Matsu dialect">Matsu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Fu%E2%80%93Ning_language_group&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Fu–Ning language group (page does not exist)">Fu–Ning</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ningde_dialect" title="Ningde dialect">Ningde</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fu%27an_dialect" title="Fu'an dialect">Fu'an</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Manjiang_dialect" title="Manjiang dialect">Manjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhongshan_Min" title="Zhongshan Min">Zhongshan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Longdu_dialect" title="Longdu dialect">Longdu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nanlang_dialect" title="Nanlang dialect">Nanlang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Southern_Min" title="Southern Min">Southern</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Quanzhou_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Quanzhou dialect">Quanzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhangzhou_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Zhangzhou dialect">Zhangzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Amoy_dialect" title="Amoy dialect">Amoy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chawan_dialect" title="Chawan dialect">Chawan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Hokkien" title="Taiwanese Hokkien">Taiwan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippine_Hokkien" title="Philippine Hokkien">Philippine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medan_Hokkien" title="Medan Hokkien">Pedan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Penang_Hokkien" title="Penang Hokkien">Penang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singaporean_Hokkien" title="Singaporean Hokkien">Singapore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Peninsular_Malaysian_Hokkien" title="Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien">Malaysian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Teochew_Min" title="Teochew Min">Teochew</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Swatow_dialect" title="Swatow dialect">Swatow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Haklau_Min" title="Haklau Min">Haklau</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Zhongshan_Min" title="Zhongshan Min">Zhongshan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sanxiang_dialect" title="Sanxiang dialect">Sanxiang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhenan_Min" title="Zhenan Min">Zhenan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Longyan_Min" class="mw-redirect" title="Longyan Min">Longyan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Min" title="Northern Min">Northern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jian%27ou_dialect" title="Jian'ou dialect">Jian'ou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jianyang_dialect" title="Jianyang dialect">Jianyang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Central_Min" title="Central Min">Central</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pu%E2%80%93Xian_Min" title="Pu–Xian Min">Pu–Xian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shao%E2%80%93Jiang_Min" title="Shao–Jiang Min">Shao–Jiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Leizhou_Min" title="Leizhou Min">Leizhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhanjiang_dialect" title="Zhanjiang dialect">Zhanjiang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hainanese" title="Hainanese">Hainan</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wenchang_dialect" title="Wenchang dialect">Wenchang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Haikou_dialect" title="Haikou dialect">Haikou</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Banqiao_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Banqiao dialect (page does not exist)">Banqiao</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Hakka_Chinese" title="Hakka Chinese">Hakka</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Meixian_dialect" title="Meixian dialect">Meixian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuhua_dialect" title="Wuhua dialect">Wuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_dialect" title="Huizhou dialect">Huizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tingzhou_dialect" title="Tingzhou dialect">Tingzhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Changting_dialect" title="Changting dialect">Changting</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Hakka" title="Taiwanese Hakka">Taiwanese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sixian_dialect" title="Sixian dialect">Sixian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hailu_dialect" title="Hailu dialect">Hailu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Raoping_Hakka" title="Raoping Hakka">Raoping</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Yue_Chinese" title="Yue Chinese">Yue</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Yuehai_dialects" class="mw-redirect" title="Yuehai dialects">Yuehai</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Guangzhou</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hong_Kong_Cantonese" title="Hong Kong Cantonese">Hong Kong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malaysian_Cantonese" title="Malaysian Cantonese">Malaysia</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiguan_dialect" title="Xiguan dialect">Xiguan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jiujiang_dialect" title="Jiujiang dialect">Jiujiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shiqi_dialect" title="Shiqi dialect">Shiqi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Weitou_dialect" title="Weitou dialect">Weitou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dapeng_dialect" title="Dapeng dialect">Dapeng</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Siyi_Yue" title="Siyi Yue">Siyi</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taishanese" title="Taishanese">Taishan</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Xinhui_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Xinhui dialect (page does not exist)">Xinhui</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gao%E2%80%93Yang_Yue" title="Gao–Yang Yue">Gao–Yang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Goulou_Yue" title="Goulou Yue">Goulou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wu%E2%80%93Hua_Yue" title="Wu–Hua Yue">Wu–Hua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yong%E2%80%93Xun_Yue" title="Yong–Xun Yue">Yong–Xun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luo%E2%80%93Guang_Yue" title="Luo–Guang Yue">Luo–Guang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qin%E2%80%93Lian_Yue" title="Qin–Lian Yue">Qin–Lian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Pinghua" title="Pinghua">Pinghua</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pinghua#Dialects" title="Pinghua">Northern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tongdao_Pinghua" title="Tongdao Pinghua">Tongdao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Younian_dialect" title="Younian dialect">Younian</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pinghua#Dialects" title="Pinghua">Southern</a> <ul><li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Yongjiang_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Yongjiang dialect (page does not exist)">Yongjiang</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Guandao_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Guandao dialect (page does not exist)">Guandao</a></li> <li><a href="/w/index.php?title=Rongjiang_dialect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Rongjiang dialect (page does not exist)">Rongjiang</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%">Unclassified</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shaozhou_Tuhua" title="Shaozhou Tuhua">Shaozhou Tuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiangnan_Tuhua" title="Xiangnan Tuhua">Xiangnan Tuhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Badong_Yao_language" title="Badong Yao language">Badong Yao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Danzhou_dialect" title="Danzhou dialect">Danzhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mai_Chinese" title="Mai Chinese">Mai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/She_Chinese" title="She Chinese">Shehua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Waxiang_Chinese" title="Waxiang Chinese">Waxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yeheni_language" title="Yeheni language">Yeheni</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Huizhou_dialect" title="Huizhou dialect">Huizhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bai_language" title="Bai language">Bai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cai%E2%80%93Long_languages" title="Cai–Long languages">Cai-Long</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Caijia_language" title="Caijia language">Caijia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Longjia_language" title="Longjia language">Longjia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luren_language" title="Luren language">Luren</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chuanqing_people#Language" title="Chuanqing people">Laobeizi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td><td class="noviewer navbox-image" rowspan="9" style="width:1px;padding:0 0 0 2px"><div><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/350px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png" decoding="async" width="350" height="785" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/525px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg/700px-Map_of_sinitic_languages-en.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="410" data-file-height="920" /></a></span></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Comparison_of_national_standards_of_Chinese" title="Comparison of national standards of Chinese">Standard<br />forms</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese" title="Standard Chinese">Standard Chinese</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sichuanese_Standard_Chinese" title="Sichuanese Standard Chinese">Sichuanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Mandarin" title="Taiwanese Mandarin">Taiwanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippine_Mandarin" class="mw-redirect" title="Philippine Mandarin">Philippine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malaysian_Mandarin" title="Malaysian Mandarin">Malaysian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singaporean_Mandarin" title="Singaporean Mandarin">Singaporean</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Singaporean_Mandarin" title="Standard Singaporean Mandarin">Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Singdarin" title="Singdarin">Singdarin</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hokkien" title="Hokkien">Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hakka" class="mw-redirect" title="Hakka">Hakka</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%">Phonology</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Historical_Chinese_phonology" title="Historical Chinese phonology">Historical</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Old_Chinese_phonology" title="Old Chinese phonology">Old</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_National_Pronunciation" title="Old National Pronunciation">Old National</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_phonology" title="Cantonese phonology">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hokkien_phonology" title="Hokkien phonology">Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Wu_phonology" title="Northern Wu phonology">Northern Wu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology" title="Standard Chinese phonology">Mandarin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literary_and_colloquial_readings_of_Chinese_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters">Literary and colloquial readings</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_grammar" title="Chinese grammar">Grammar</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_numerals" title="Chinese numerals">Numerals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_classifier" title="Chinese classifier">Classifiers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_honorifics" title="Chinese honorifics">Honorifics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_grammar" title="Cantonese grammar">Cantonese grammar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Classical_Chinese_grammar" title="Classical Chinese grammar">Classical grammar</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%">Idioms</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Chengyu" title="Chengyu">Chengyu</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Xiehouyu" title="Xiehouyu">Xiehouyu</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Chinese_input_methods_for_computers" class="mw-redirect" title="Chinese input methods for computers">Input</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Biaoxingma_method" title="Biaoxingma method">Biaoxingma</a></li> <li>Boshiamy</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cangjie_input_method" title="Cangjie input method">Cangjie</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Simplified_Cangjie" title="Simplified Cangjie">Simplified</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/CKC_Chinese_Input_System" title="CKC Chinese Input System">CKC</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dayi_method" title="Dayi method">Dayi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pinyin_method" class="mw-redirect" title="Pinyin method">Pinyin</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Google_Pinyin" title="Google Pinyin">Google</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Microsoft_Pinyin_IME" title="Microsoft Pinyin IME">Microsoft</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sogou_Pinyin" title="Sogou Pinyin">Sogou</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stroke_count_method" title="Stroke count method">Stroke count</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wubi_method" title="Wubi method">Wubi (Wang Ma)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhengma_method" title="Zhengma method">ZhengMa</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Chinese_language" title="History of the Chinese language">History</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Old_Chinese" title="Old Chinese">Old Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Han_Chinese" title="Eastern Han Chinese">Eastern Han</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Middle_Chinese" title="Middle Chinese">Middle Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Old_Mandarin" title="Old Mandarin">Old Mandarin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mandarin_(late_imperial_lingua_franca)" title="Mandarin (late imperial lingua franca)">Middle Mandarin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-Min" title="Proto-Min">Proto-Min</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proto-Hakka" title="Proto-Hakka">Proto-Hakka</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ba%E2%80%93Shu_Chinese" title="Ba–Shu Chinese">Ba–Shu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Gan_Chinese" title="History of Gan Chinese">Gan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%">Literary<br /> forms</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="Official" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Official</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Classical_Chinese" title="Classical Chinese">Classical</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Adoption_of_Chinese_literary_culture" title="Adoption of Chinese literary culture">Adoption</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kanbun" title="Kanbun">in Japan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Literary_Chinese_in_Vietnam" title="Literary Chinese in Vietnam">in Vietnam</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Written_vernacular_Chinese" title="Written vernacular Chinese">Vernacular</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Written_Cantonese" title="Written Cantonese">Written Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dungan_alphabets" title="Dungan alphabets">Written Dungan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Written_Hokkien" title="Written Hokkien">Written Hokkien</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sichuanese_characters" title="Sichuanese characters">Written Sichuanese</a></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background: #e0e0b0;;width:1%"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Scripts</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="Logographic" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Logographic" class="mw-redirect" title="Logographic">Logographic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="Script_styles" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Script_styles" class="mw-redirect" title="Script styles">Script styles</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <li><a href="/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" title="Oracle bone script">Oracle bone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" title="Chinese bronze inscriptions">Bronze</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seal_script" title="Seal script">Seal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clerical_script" title="Clerical script">Clerical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Semi-cursive_script" title="Semi-cursive script">Semi-cursive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)" title="Cursive script (East Asia)">Cursive</a></li> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_characters" title="Chinese characters">Chinese characters</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Simplified_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Simplified characters">Simplified</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Traditional_characters" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditional characters">Traditional</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_punctuation" title="Chinese punctuation">Punctuation</a></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;"><a href="/wiki/Braille" title="Braille">Braille</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_Braille" title="Cantonese Braille">Cantonese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mainland_Chinese_Braille" title="Mainland Chinese Braille">Mainland Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Braille" title="Taiwanese Braille">Taiwanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Two-cell_Chinese_Braille" title="Two-cell Chinese Braille">Two-cell</a></li> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:#f0eaea;;width:1%;font-weight:normal;">Phonetic</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cyrillization_of_Chinese" title="Cyrillization of Chinese">Cyrillization</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dungan_language#Writing_system" title="Dungan language">Dungan Cyrillic</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romanization_of_Chinese" title="Romanization of Chinese">Romanization</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gwoyeu_Romatzyh" title="Gwoyeu Romatzyh">Gwoyeu Romatzyh</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pinyin" title="Pinyin">Hanyu Pinyin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mandarin_Phonetic_Symbols_II" title="Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II">MPS II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_postal_romanization" title="Chinese postal romanization">Postal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin" title="Tongyong Pinyin">Tongyong Pinyin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wade%E2%80%93Giles" title="Wade–Giles">Wade–Giles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/EFEO_Chinese_transcription" title="EFEO Chinese transcription">EFEO</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lessing-Othmer" title="Lessing-Othmer">Lessing-Othmer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Mandarin" title="Yale romanization of Mandarin">Yale</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bopomofo" title="Bopomofo">Bopomofo</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cantonese_Bopomofo" class="mw-redirect" title="Cantonese Bopomofo">Cantonese Bopomofo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Phonetic_Symbols" title="Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols">Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_kana" title="Taiwanese kana">Taiwanese kana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taiwanese_Hangul" title="Taiwanese Hangul">Taiwanese Hangul</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xiao%27erjing" title="Xiao'erjing">Xiao'erjing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/N%C3%BCshu" title="Nüshu">Nüshu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="3" style="background: #e0e0b0;"><div><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="List-Class article"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Symbol_list_class.svg/16px-Symbol_list_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Symbol_list_class.svg/23px-Symbol_list_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/db/Symbol_list_class.svg/31px-Symbol_list_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_Chinese" title="List of varieties of Chinese">List of varieties of Chinese</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Orthographies_of_the_world&#039;s_languages" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_orthographies" title="Template:Language orthographies"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Language_orthographies" title="Template talk:Language orthographies"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Language_orthographies" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Language orthographies"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Orthographies_of_the_world&#039;s_languages" class="wraplinks" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Orthography" title="Orthography">Orthographies</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Lists_of_languages" title="Lists of languages">world's languages</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_phonologies" title="Template:Language phonologies">Phonologies</a></li> <li><b>Orthographies</b></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_grammars" title="Template:Language grammars">Grammars</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_adjectives" title="Template:Language adjectives">Adjectives</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_determiners" title="Template:Language determiners">Determiners</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_nouns" title="Template:Language nouns">Nouns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_prepositions" class="mw-redirect" title="Template:Language prepositions">Prepositions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_pronouns" title="Template:Language pronouns">Pronouns</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Template:Language_verbs" title="Template:Language verbs">Verbs</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Indo-European_languages" title="Indo-European languages">Indo-European</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Germanic_languages" title="Germanic languages">Germanic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Afrikaans_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Afrikaans alphabet">Afrikaans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Danish_orthography" title="Danish orthography">Danish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dutch_orthography" title="Dutch orthography">Dutch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/English_orthography" title="English orthography">English</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faroese_orthography" title="Faroese orthography">Faroese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/German_orthography" title="German orthography">German</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Icelandic_orthography" title="Icelandic orthography">Icelandic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Norwegian_orthography" title="Norwegian orthography">Norwegian</a></li> <li>Swedish <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Swedish_alphabet" title="Swedish alphabet">alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swedish_orthography" title="Swedish orthography">orthography</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/West_Frisian_alphabet" title="West Frisian alphabet">West Frisian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yiddish_orthography" title="Yiddish orthography">Yiddish</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Celtic_languages" title="Celtic languages">Celtic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Breton_language#Orthography" title="Breton language">Breton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cornish_language#Orthography" title="Cornish language">Cornish</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kernewek_Kemmyn" title="Kernewek Kemmyn">Kernewek Kemmyn</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Standard_Written_Form" title="Standard Written Form">Standard Written Form</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kernowek_Standard" title="Kernowek Standard">Kernowek Standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modern_Cornish" title="Modern Cornish">Modern Cornish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unified_Cornish" title="Unified Cornish">Unified Cornish</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Irish_orthography" title="Irish orthography">Irish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Manx_language#Orthography" title="Manx language">Manx</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic_orthography" title="Scottish Gaelic orthography">Scottish Gaelic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Welsh_orthography" title="Welsh orthography">Welsh</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Romance_languages" title="Romance languages">Romance</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aromanian_alphabet" title="Aromanian alphabet">Aromanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catalan_orthography" title="Catalan orthography">Catalan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/French_orthography" title="French orthography">French</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Istro-Romanian_alphabet" title="Istro-Romanian alphabet">Istro-Romanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Italian_orthography" title="Italian orthography">Italian</a></li> <li>Latin <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Latin_phonology_and_orthography" title="Latin phonology and orthography">Phonology & ortography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Latin_alphabet" title="Latin alphabet">alphabet</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portuguese_orthography" title="Portuguese orthography">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romanian_alphabet" title="Romanian alphabet">Romanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sicilian_orthography" title="Sicilian orthography">Sicilian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spanish_orthography" title="Spanish orthography">Spanish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Walloon_orthography" title="Walloon orthography">Walloon</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Baltic_languages" title="Baltic languages">Baltic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Latvian_orthography" title="Latvian orthography">Latvian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lithuanian_orthography" title="Lithuanian orthography">Lithuanian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Slavic_languages" title="Slavic languages">Slavic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Belarusian_alphabet" title="Belarusian alphabet">Belarusian</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Belarusian_alphabet" title="Belarusian alphabet">Cyrillic alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Belarusian_Latin_alphabet" title="Belarusian Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tara%C5%A1kievica" title="Taraškievica">Classical orthography</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bulgarian_alphabet" title="Bulgarian alphabet">Bulgarian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Czech_orthography" title="Czech orthography">Czech</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Macedonian_alphabet" title="Macedonian alphabet">Macedonian</a></li> <li>Polish <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Polish_alphabet" title="Polish alphabet">alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polish_orthography" title="Polish orthography">orthography</a></li></ul></li> <li>Russian <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Russian_alphabet" title="Russian alphabet">alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Russian_orthography" title="Russian orthography">orthography</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Silesian_orthography" title="Silesian orthography">Silesian</a></li> <li>Serbo-Croatian <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Serbian_Cyrillic_alphabet" title="Serbian Cyrillic alphabet">Cyrillic alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gaj%27s_Latin_alphabet" title="Gaj's Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Montenegrin_alphabet" title="Montenegrin alphabet">Montenegrin alphabet</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slovak_orthography" title="Slovak orthography">Slovak</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Slovene_alphabet" title="Slovene alphabet">Slovene</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sorbian_alphabet" title="Sorbian alphabet">Sorbian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ukrainian_orthography" title="Ukrainian orthography">Ukrainian</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ukrainian_alphabet" title="Ukrainian alphabet">Cyrillic alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ukrainian_Latin_alphabet" title="Ukrainian Latin alphabet">Latin alphabet</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Iranian_languages" title="Iranian languages">Iranian</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Avestan_alphabet" title="Avestan alphabet">Avestan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kurdish_alphabets" title="Kurdish alphabets">Kurdish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pashto_alphabet" title="Pashto alphabet">Pashto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Persian_alphabet" title="Persian alphabet">Persian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tajik_alphabet" title="Tajik alphabet">Tajik</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Indo-Aryan_languages" title="Indo-Aryan languages">Indo-Aryan</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bengali_alphabet" title="Bengali alphabet">Bengali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chakma_script" title="Chakma script">Chakma</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gujarati_script" title="Gujarati script">Gujarati</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gurmukhi" title="Gurmukhi">Gurmukhi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindustani_orthography" title="Hindustani orthography">Hindustani</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Urdu_alphabet" title="Urdu alphabet">Urdu</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maldivian_writing_systems" title="Maldivian writing systems">Maldivian</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Thaana" title="Thaana">Thaana</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Balbodh" title="Balbodh">Marathi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Odia_script" title="Odia script">Odia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romani_alphabets" title="Romani alphabets">Romani</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Albanian_alphabet" title="Albanian alphabet">Albanian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armenian_alphabet" title="Armenian alphabet">Armenian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greek_orthography" title="Greek orthography">Greek</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Uralic_languages" title="Uralic languages">Uralic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Estonian_orthography" title="Estonian orthography">Estonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Finnish_orthography" title="Finnish orthography">Finnish</a></li> <li>Hungarian <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hungarian_alphabet" title="Hungarian alphabet">alphabet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hungarian_orthography" title="Hungarian orthography">orthography</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karelian_alphabet" title="Karelian alphabet">Karelian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Komi_alphabets" title="Komi alphabets">Komi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Livonian_language" title="Livonian language">Livonian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mansi_alphabets" title="Mansi alphabets">Mansi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mordvinic_alphabets" title="Mordvinic alphabets">Mordvinic</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Moksha_language" title="Moksha language">Moksha</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Erzya_language" title="Erzya language">Erzyan</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_orthography" title="Sámi orthography">Sámi</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kildin_S%C3%A1mi_orthography" title="Kildin Sámi orthography">Kildin Sámi</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Udmurt_alphabets" title="Udmurt alphabets">Udmurt</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Turkic_languages" title="Turkic languages">Turkic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Azerbaijani_alphabet" title="Azerbaijani alphabet">Azerbaijani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bashkir_alphabet" title="Bashkir alphabet">Bashkir</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Crimean_Tatar_alphabet" title="Crimean Tatar alphabet">Crimean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gagauz_alphabet" title="Gagauz alphabet">Gagauz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kazakh_alphabets" title="Kazakh alphabets">Kazakh</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khakas_alphabets" title="Khakas alphabets">Khakas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kyrgyz_alphabets" title="Kyrgyz alphabets">Kyrgyz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nogai_alphabets" title="Nogai alphabets">Nogai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tatar_alphabet" title="Tatar alphabet">Tatar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Turkish_alphabet" title="Turkish alphabet">Turkish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Turkmen_alphabet" title="Turkmen alphabet">Turkmen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uyghur_alphabets" title="Uyghur alphabets">Uyghur</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Uzbek_alphabet" title="Uzbek alphabet">Uzbek</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yakut_scripts" title="Yakut scripts">Yakut</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Tungusic_languages" title="Tungusic languages">Tungus—Manchu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Even_alphabets" title="Even alphabets">Even</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evenki_orthography" title="Evenki orthography">Evenki</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Manchu_alphabet" title="Manchu alphabet">Manchu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Udege_alphabets" title="Udege alphabets">Udege</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">other <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Europe" title="Languages of Europe">European</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abkhaz_alphabet" title="Abkhaz alphabet">Abkhaz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Basque_alphabet" title="Basque alphabet">Basque</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dargin_writing" title="Dargin writing">Dargwa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Georgian_scripts" title="Georgian scripts">Georgian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Afroasiatic_languages" title="Afroasiatic languages">Afroasiatic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arabic_alphabet" title="Arabic alphabet">Arabic</a></li> <li>Aramaic <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet" title="Aramaic alphabet">Aramaic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syriac_alphabet" title="Syriac alphabet">Syriac</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ge%CA%BDez_script" title="Geʽez script">Ethiopian Semitic languages</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hebrew_spelling" title="Hebrew spelling">Hebrew</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Biblical_Hebrew_orthography" title="Biblical Hebrew orthography">Biblical</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maltese_alphabet" title="Maltese alphabet">Maltese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Somali_alphabets" title="Somali alphabets">Somali</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Niger%E2%80%93Congo_languages" title="Niger–Congo languages">Niger–Congo</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fula_alphabets" title="Fula alphabets">Fula</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sesotho_orthography" title="Sesotho orthography">Sotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vai_syllabary" title="Vai syllabary">Vai</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Dravidian_languages" title="Dravidian languages">Dravidian</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_script" title="Tamil script">Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telugu_script" title="Telugu script">Telugu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kannada_script" title="Kannada script">Kannada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malayalam_script" title="Malayalam script">Malayalam</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Japonic_languages" title="Japonic languages">Japonic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Japanese_writing_system" title="Japanese writing system">Japanese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Okinawan_scripts" title="Okinawan scripts">Okinawan</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">other <a href="/wiki/East_Asia" title="East Asia">East Asian</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Chinese</a> (<a href="/wiki/Dungan_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Dungan alphabet">Dungan</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hangul" title="Hangul">Korean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mongolian_writing_systems" title="Mongolian writing systems">Mongolian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thai_script" title="Thai script">Thai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vietnamese_alphabet" title="Vietnamese alphabet">Vietnamese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nivkh_alphabets" title="Nivkh alphabets">Nivkh</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Austronesian_languages" title="Austronesian languages">Austronesian</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Filipino_orthography" title="Filipino orthography">Filipino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_alphabet" title="Hawaiian alphabet">Hawaiian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malay_orthography" title="Malay orthography">Malay</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Algic_languages" title="Algic languages">Algic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Massachusett_writing_systems" title="Massachusett writing systems">Massachusett</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ojibwe_writing_systems" title="Ojibwe writing systems">Ojibwe</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">other <a href="/wiki/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas" title="Indigenous languages of the Americas">Native American</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cherokee_syllabary" title="Cherokee syllabary">Cherokee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inuktitut_syllabics" title="Inuktitut syllabics">Inuktitut</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nahuatl_orthography" title="Nahuatl orthography">Nahuatl</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Osage_script" title="Osage script">Osage</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Creole_language" title="Creole language">Creole</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Haitian_Creole_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Haitian Creole alphabet">Haitian Creole</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Papiamento_orthography" title="Papiamento orthography">Papiamento</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Constructed_language" title="Constructed language">Constructed</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Esperanto_orthography" title="Esperanto orthography">Esperanto</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1130092004">.mw-parser-output .portal-bar{font-size:88%;font-weight:bold;display:flex;justify-content:center;align-items:baseline}.mw-parser-output .portal-bar-bordered{padding:0 2em;background-color:#fdfdfd;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;clear:both;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .portal-bar-related{font-size:100%;justify-content:flex-start}.mw-parser-output .portal-bar-unbordered{padding:0 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