Sinitic is a major branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, comprising the Chinese languages spoken across East Asia, Southeast Asia and among overseas Chinese communities, with more than 1.5 billion speakers combined. Mandarin is by far the largest branch, with roughly 1.1 billion speakers, followed by Yue, Wu and Min; the family divides into several other mutually unintelligible branches including Jin, Hakka, Xiang and Gan. Sinitic languages are spoken predominantly by the Han Chinese, along with the Hui and Bai peoples, and the exact number of distinct Sinitic languages remains disputed depending on how mutual intelligibility is drawn between varieties.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusDebated: no separately named Proto-Sinitic reconstruction is in general use; branches such as Min are commonly held to descend directly from the attested Old Chinese stage 1 No separately named Proto-Sinitic reconstruction is in general use; Sinitic branches are commonly described as descending directly from the attested Old Chinese stage rather than from a distinct reconstructed proto-language. RegionPrimarily mainland China and Taiwan, spoken natively by over 91 percent of the Chinese population, plus overseas communities across Southeast Asia and beyond 1 Speaker Count Sources
1. Wikipedia: Sinitic languages
WikipediaDemographics section: population percentage sentence
Over 91% of the Chinese population speaks a Sinitic language, of whom about three-quarters speak a Mandarin variety.
Classification section: Old Chinese descent sentence (Min branch)
Like Bai, the Min languages are commonly thought to have split off directly from Old Chinese.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Sino-Tibetan Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, paragraph 1: Sinitic native-speaker total within the Sino-Tibetan family overviewQuote, Lead section, paragraph 1: Sinitic native-speaker total within the Sino-Tibetan family overview
The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Sinitic languages.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.