Differences between spoken Chinese varieties and written Chinese systems
Index
On one of our previous articles, we focused on explaining which written variety of Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) should be used for each country.
However, spoken and written Chinese are not the same. Now we would like to tackle a more difficult topic: the differences between spoken Chinese varieties Mandarin, Cantonese and other dialects) and the writing systems (Simplified and Traditional Chinese).
Introduction: “Chinese” isn’t one language
“Chinese” refers to a group of Sinitic languages and dialects (Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese, Hakka, etc.) and Simplified Chinese characters form a common writing system across these dialects.
On the map below (Wikipedia, updated with AI) you can see in different tones of green the Chinese-speaking World: Chinese-speaking majority (Coastal and central areas of China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Kokang in Myanmar), Significant Chinese-speaking minority (Peripheral China, Malaysia, and Wa State in Myanmar) and Small Chinese-speaking minority (Brunei).
Spoken dialects vs. writing systems
Mandarin is the most widely spoken Chinese dialect and considered the official language of the People’s Republic of China (Mainland China), Taiwan, and Singapore. However, for writing, Simplified Chinese is used on the Mainland whereas Traditional Chinese is used in Taiwan.
People in China speak other dialects but most of them will know Mandarin.
Cantonese, one of dozens of Chinese dialects, is the official language in Hong Kong and Macao. The writing system in Hong Kong and Macao is Traditional Chinese. However, any dialect can be written using Simplified or Traditional characters. Note that Chinese is a character-based language; the written form does not directly indicate pronunciation.
The table below shows the different spoken and written languages depending on the country. You can find further information here:
Even if a region speaks Cantonese (like Hong Kong), they still write in Traditional Chinese when producing formal documents.
The three major dialects are:
- Mandarin is also known by different names: Putonghua (Mainland China), Guoyu (Taiwan) and Huayu (Singapore and Malaysia), spoken by 900 people.
- Cantonese (Guangdong province -formerly Canton-, Hong Kong, and Macao).
- Min Nan: includes the Hokkien, Taiwanese, Teochew and Hainanese (the latter 2 are debatable), spoken by more than 80 million people.
Mandarin is the official language in mainland China (Putonghua), Taiwan (Guoyu) and Singapore (Huayu). However, the script varies by region: Simplified in mainland China and Singapore, Traditional in Taiwan.
In Chinese, characters are ideographic; the written form does not tell you how to pronounce the word. Consequently, speakers of different dialects can read the same newspaper but may not understand each other’s speech.
A Cantonese speaker in Hong Kong and a Mandarin speaker in Beijing write the same characters even though they pronounce them differently. Thus, one who speaks Mandarin and one who speaks Cantonese may not understand each other when speaking, but once they write things down, they will know what the other says immediately.
Regional example: Mainland China
In the People’s Republic of China Mandarin is the national language and Simplified characters have been the official standard since the reforms of the 1950s. Note that numerous dialects (Cantonese in Guangdong, Shanghainese in Shanghai, etc.) are spoken, but all educated people use Simplified characters.
Mandarin is the most common spoken Chinese dialect and considered the official language of China. People in China speak other dialects but most of them will know
Regional example: Taiwan
In Taiwan Mandarin (Guoyu) is the official language but other languages (Taiwanese/Hokkien, Hakka) are widely spoken; the official script is Traditional Chinese, which differs from the Simplified script used in China.
Regional example: Hong Kong and Macau
Cantonese is the dominant spoken language in Hong Kong and Macau, but the official written form is Standard Chinese in Traditional characters. There is also a written Cantonese used in informal contexts. Hong Kong prescribes a set of Traditional characters for official use.
Regional example: Singapore
Singapore has four official languages (English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil). The government promotes Mandarin among the Chinese population. Since 1969 the country has adopted and taught only Simplified characters. Traditional characters still appear in signage and cultural contexts.
Conclusions
The crucial takeaway is that spoken language and writing system are independent choices. Selecting between Simplified and Traditional characters depends entirely on your target region.
For localization projects:
- Identify the destination region for your content.
- Choose the appropriate writing system based on that region.
- Consider the spoken dialect only when providing audio services (voice‑over, dubbing, spoken subtitling); written translations always use the standard Chinese of the target region.
- Collaborate with native linguists who understand local terminology and conventions. At LocalizationLab we have professional native linguists who collaborate with us on different projects depending on their expertise (technological, video games, veterinary, legal, etc.).
We would like to thank Peng, one of our Chinese collaborators, for reviewing and proofreading this article before it was published.
