Hello,
I have a friend who is Chinese, born and raised in Saigon, and speaks Vietnamese (fluent), Cantonese (near-fluent), and *another* dialect of Chinese (barely). She did not know what the "other" Chinese dialect was called, but she did say that it was commonly spoken in Cambodia and Thailand, too. I have lost touch with my friend, but I always wondered what this "other" Chinese dialect may have been...
Any guesses?
Dialectal mystery
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Thomas
By the way...
I am sorry if I caused any identity confusion: I am *not* Mr. Thomas Chan who also posts on this board.
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Thomas Chan
Re: Dialectal mystery
: I have a friend who is Chinese, born and raised in Saigon, and speaks Vietnamese (fluent), Cantonese (near-fluent), and *another* dialect of Chinese (barely). She did not know what the "other" Chinese dialect was called, but she did say that it was commonly spoken in Cambodia and Thailand, too. I have lost touch with my friend, but I always wondered what this "other" Chinese dialect may have been...
: Any guesses?
It might be some kind of Minnan (aka Southern Min)
閩南, which is common in Southeast Asia.
According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics'
_Ethnologue_, 14th ed., Minnan Chinese makes up
18% of Chinese languages/dialects spoken in
Thailand[1].
[1] http://www.ethnologue.org/show_country. ... e=Thailand
Thomas Chan
tc31@cornell.edu
: Any guesses?
It might be some kind of Minnan (aka Southern Min)
閩南, which is common in Southeast Asia.
According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics'
_Ethnologue_, 14th ed., Minnan Chinese makes up
18% of Chinese languages/dialects spoken in
Thailand[1].
[1] http://www.ethnologue.org/show_country. ... e=Thailand
Thomas Chan
tc31@cornell.edu
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Lisa C
Re: By the way...
Just a guess, but there are a lot of people in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma that are Teochew (Chaozhou). My friend is from Vietnam and speaks Teochew, but she says that is a rarity because in the market place and in businesses among the Chinese, Cantonese is the universal language. If she went to Chinese school then Mandarin was learned.
Lots of other groups migrated there too.
Lots of other groups migrated there too.
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Thomas
Re: Dialectal mystery
Thomas & Lisa:
Thank you. While I know it would be virtually impossible to know what dialect it is for sure, I do appreciate the ideas!
Thomas
Thank you. While I know it would be virtually impossible to know what dialect it is for sure, I do appreciate the ideas!
Thomas
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Ben
Re: By the way...
I'm not an expert, but my guess would also be Teochew (in the Southern Min group, I think) since they were the biggest group in SE Asia. I read it was the "universal" dialect used in business during colonial times.
I think Vietnam is an exception because it's closest by land to southern Guangdong province, where Cantonese is spoken. I have several Cantonese relatives originally from Vietnam.
: Just a guess, but there are a lot of people in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma that are Teochew (Chaozhou). My friend is from Vietnam and speaks Teochew, but she says that is a rarity because in the market place and in businesses among the Chinese, Cantonese is the universal language. If she went to Chinese school then Mandarin was learned.
: Lots of other groups migrated there too.
I think Vietnam is an exception because it's closest by land to southern Guangdong province, where Cantonese is spoken. I have several Cantonese relatives originally from Vietnam.
: Just a guess, but there are a lot of people in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Burma that are Teochew (Chaozhou). My friend is from Vietnam and speaks Teochew, but she says that is a rarity because in the market place and in businesses among the Chinese, Cantonese is the universal language. If she went to Chinese school then Mandarin was learned.
: Lots of other groups migrated there too.
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michael wang
Re: Dialectal mystery
I'm not sure about Thailand, but aside from Cantonese, Chiujou is the most common Chinese "dialect" spoken in Cambodia. (I'm actually of Chinese-Cambodian descent, so I have some knowledge about this).
: Hello,
: I have a friend who is Chinese, born and raised in Saigon, and speaks Vietnamese (fluent), Cantonese (near-fluent), and *another* dialect of Chinese (barely). She did not know what the "other" Chinese dialect was called, but she did say that it was commonly spoken in Cambodia and Thailand, too. I have lost touch with my friend, but I always wondered what this "other" Chinese dialect may have been...
: Any guesses?
: Hello,
: I have a friend who is Chinese, born and raised in Saigon, and speaks Vietnamese (fluent), Cantonese (near-fluent), and *another* dialect of Chinese (barely). She did not know what the "other" Chinese dialect was called, but she did say that it was commonly spoken in Cambodia and Thailand, too. I have lost touch with my friend, but I always wondered what this "other" Chinese dialect may have been...
: Any guesses?