Things about Languages (1)

It's so lucky for us that we have numerous materials and opportunities to learn languages in this century. I was born and raised in a small city in Guangdong Province, and I naturally speak the local mainstream dialect, which belongs to the broader Cantonese dialect family. Here, "Cantonese" refers to the broader sense of the term, including many branches. In the narrower sense, Cantonese refers to the standard Cantonese accent (commonly used in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and other places)—yet even within that, there are many subtle differences.

The mainstream dialect in my hometown, along with other dialects in western Guangdong, is quite different from the standard Cantonese accent in terms of pronunciation. Back in the days when everyone loved watching TV, I learned the standard Cantonese accent from TV dramas, and I used it when traveling to Guangzhou for the first time as a university student. Those pronunciations, like a precious gift, have been stored in my mind for years.

Sometimes people online discuss whether Cantonese is a language or a dialect. In academia, it seems to be a language rather than a dialect, since it differs from Putonghua in many aspects. However, in a general sense, it is a dialect of Chinese, or rather a variety of Chinese. Some may think this kind of problem is troublesome or annoying—are these people from Guangdong showing off their culture or intentionally differentiating themselves from others?

Just the other day, a lady expressed her confusion about today's children's attitude towards Cantonese in her post, because children are not willing to learn or use Cantonese, or even watch Cantonese TV dramas anymore. The phenomenon extends beyond standard Cantonese—other dialects of Cantonese, and even other dialects of Chinese, are facing the fact that the younger generation tends to use Putonghua only, lacking the motivation to know their own dialects. As a result, parents and grandparents start to talk with their kids in Putonghua rather than dialects.

This is one of the influences of the popularization of Putonghua. Years ago, when I was a primary school student, we were encouraged to speak Putonghua, and there was a sign promoting it on the wall at school. Now, young people from Guangdong no longer speak Putonghua as badly as their parents did; many of us are able to speak it fluently. Some people from other provinces praised my Putonghua, saying, "You don't have an accent." I'm proud of myself, but at the same time, I'm aware of the importance of preserving our own dialects.

In recent years, Sichuan dialect and Shanghai dialect have become more common in movies. I'm glad that people are trying to express themselves in their own dialects. By understanding people through their own dialects, we can actually learn and feel more parts of our national culture. The use of dialects and languages should be flexible, diverse, and tolerant, depending on the specific situation, so that we can all enjoy communication. It's necessary that we all learn a universal language to make things smoother, but maintaining our dialects is also meaningful and significant.