Taiwanese Mandarin, called Guoyu, meaning national language, and also Huayu, meaning Chinese language, by its own speakers, is the form of Standard Mandarin spoken in Taiwan. It is native to the island, with about 14 million first language speakers and 6.6 million second language speakers as of 2020, roughly 21 million speakers in total. It differs from mainland Putonghua in several ways, generally lacking the erhua rhotacization common on the mainland, avoiding retroflex consonants in most contexts, and carrying vocabulary drawn from Hokkien and Japanese that reflects Taiwan's own history. Guoyu holds official status as Taiwan's national language and is regulated by the island's Ministry of Education, and it ranges from a highly formal Standard Guoyu used in news broadcasting to a more colloquial everyday Taiwan Guoyu shaped more heavily by Hokkien. Despite these differences, Taiwanese Mandarin remains mutually intelligible with mainland Putonghua, even though the colloquial form diverges further in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
Facts
RegionThe variety of Standard Chinese spoken in Taiwan, natively called Guoyu or Huayu. 1 Speaker CommunityA large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak Taiwanese Hokkien, which has significantly influenced Taiwanese Mandarin. 1 Distinguishing FeaturesNotable characteristics of Guoyu as commonly spoken in Taiwan include somewhat different tonal qualities compared to Putonghua, the lack of the erhua phenomenon, and the lack of retroflex consonants, with zh-, ch-, sh- pronounced like z-, c- and s- in most contexts. 1 Classification
Variety Kind Taiwanese Mandarin
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Source Wikipedia: Taiwanese Mandarin
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1. Wikipedia: Taiwanese Mandarin
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Notable characteristics of Guoyu as is commonly spoken in Taiwan include its somewhat different tonal qualities compared to Putonghua, the lack of the erhua phenomenon, and the lack of retroflex consonants (with zh-, ch-, sh- being pronounced like z-, c-, and s-) in most contexts.
Lead section
Taiwanese Mandarin, natively referred to as Guoyu (Chinese: 國語; pinyin: Guóyǔ; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄩˇ; lit. 'national language') or Huayu (Chinese: 華語; pinyin: Huáyǔ; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄏㄨㄚˊ ㄩˇ; lit. 'Chinese language'), is the variety of Standard Chinese spoken in Taiwan.
Descends From: Mandarin Chinese, Lead
is the variety of Standard Chinese spoken in Taiwan
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