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> (and the “speaking Russian” part is kind of difficult to transfer to China and Taiwan). Isn't the main language in Taiwan the same as in south-east mainland

> (and the “speaking Russian” part is kind of difficult to transfer to China and Taiwan). Isn't the main language in Taiwan the same as in south-east mainland China? (What used to be called Cantonese, but maybe it goes by another name nowadays?)

TwoFerMaggie 5y ago
There are at least two major languages (or dialects, depending on how you define it) in south-east mainland China. Cantonese and Hokkien. Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong (historically known as Canton), and Hokkien mainly Fujian. They are two very different languages. There are a lot of people in Taiwan speaking Hokkien. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien
- CRConrad 5y ago
  > Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong (historically known as Canton) Yeah, I thought I'd got that right: The region has been renamed (or, arguably, just had the spelling revised to be more in line with the native pronunciation?). So why isn't the language now called Guangdongese? This modern PC-induced language revisionism can get pretty darn confusing in its inconsistency. > There are a lot of people in Taiwan speaking Hokkien. Which still seems to imply that even more people, i.e. a majority, speak Cantonese, right? I just meant that, since language is often a (sometimes minor, sometimes major) part of how "ethnicity" is defined, China could use an analogous "They even speak the same language!" argument. Not that I'm saying it's a valid argument -- just not logically impossible, as I think was argued or at least implied in some comment(s) above.
littlestymaar 5y ago
In addition to what TwoFerMaggie said in the sibling comment, my point was that China isn't and as never been defined as being a group of people speaking the same language (because, well, they don't!)

TwoFerMaggie 5y ago

There are at least two major languages (or dialects, depending on how you define it) in south-east mainland China. Cantonese and Hokkien. Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong (historically known as Canton), and Hokkien mainly Fujian. They are two very different languages. There are a lot of people in Taiwan speaking Hokkien. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkien

CRConrad 5y ago
> Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong (historically known as Canton) Yeah, I thought I'd got that right: The region has been renamed (or, arguably, just had the spelling revised to be more in line with the native pronunciation?). So why isn't the language now called Guangdongese? This modern PC-induced language revisionism can get pretty darn confusing in its inconsistency. > There are a lot of people in Taiwan speaking Hokkien. Which still seems to imply that even more people, i.e. a majority, speak Cantonese, right? I just meant that, since language is often a (sometimes minor, sometimes major) part of how "ethnicity" is defined, China could use an analogous "They even speak the same language!" argument. Not that I'm saying it's a valid argument -- just not logically impossible, as I think was argued or at least implied in some comment(s) above.

littlestymaar 5y ago

In addition to what TwoFerMaggie said in the sibling comment, my point was that China isn't and as never been defined as being a group of people speaking the same language (because, well, they don't!)