China the Beautiful

[chinapage]

Protect Shanghai Dialect

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2005/Jul/135537.htm

[sllee]

I think all dialects should be preserved. It is hard, but it is the only way to preserve some of the original flavor of some literature. We can't imagine singing Cantonese opera in Putonghua, or any regional opera in a standardized dialect.

A clear example is the interpretation of the older version GuoDian Daodejing in view of the ancient Chu dialect to give a whole new perspective. If no one knew the Chu dialect any more, the meaning would have been lost and the significance of the link between Daoism and Confucianism would be obscure.

The major southern dialects Minnan, Hakka, Cantonese and Shanghaiese are particularly important because they are so much different from the other dialects. I can only speak for the ones I know. I heard that Wenzhou, Fuzhou dialects are also very different and they may have their own significance. Once I was on a plane from Hangzhou to Beijing. The people around me spoke a Zhejiang dialect that I had absolutely no clue.
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SL Lee
http://www.asiawind.com

[chinapage]

Sixty years ago, I travelled through many States in the South of
the U.S., where people spoke English with Southern dialect of
English. I could not understand them, and they had a hard time
understanding me.

With the advent of Interstate Highway, radio and television, Americans
have gradually given up on the thousands of the dialect, and now
speak with a common dialect of English. International visitors
coming to the U.S. no longer need to worry about 'dialects' and
'accents' no matter where they go within the U.S.

Historically, dialects came about because people rarely travel far
from his home town. With the ease of travelling, one can expect
all dialects to gradually disappear over time.

If one is a student of modern American Literature, the fading of
American Southern dialect is regrettable. For the general public,
speaking one unified, standard English is a far better way.

Ming

[sllee]

Dear Ming,

The american southern dialect is very close to American English. This is vastly different from the case of Chinese dialects of Minnan, Hakka, Shanghaiese etc, which are equivalent to German, French, Cech, etc. to English. I don't know if EU will eventually unify on one language and give up all the others. I very much doubt it. It think it would be a grave mistake to let German and French die out and save English. There got to be a common language, but the regional languages should be preserved.
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SL Lee
http://www.asiawind.com

[honggerui90]

This is indeed a very sad article. Coming from an Armenian family, the Armenian language has two main dialects, and both are competing for predominance. In China, of course, it has also historic implications, as well as nationalistic ones. Each province does have its own dialect, culture, and way of life.

To ensure Chinese unity, I could see why the Chinese government is making Putonghua a "official" dialect of sorts, but it should be promoted next to the native dialects, not instead of them.

That's just my opinion.
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[center]Hong Gerui[/center]