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Revision as of 17:03, 9 September 2006 editInstantnood (talk | contribs)32,683 edits Shanghai for Wu. Some considers each of the subgroup of Min to be separate language. There's no one single Min language. No source showing Hakka is a regional language at the province-level.← Previous edit Revision as of 17:16, 9 September 2006 edit undoHuaiwei (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users44,504 edits Still no evidence concerning the SARS. Min is one "language" according to some. Hakka is clearly a regional language spoken in and outside ChinaNext edit →
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==Influence of number of speakers== ==Influence of number of speakers==


There are many cases when a regional language can claim greater numbers of speakers than certain languages which happen to be ]s of sovereign states. For example, ] (a regional language of ] and ], albeit official in ]) has more speakers than ] or ]. In China, ], spoken in southern ] and northern ] by more than 90 million speakers, can claim more native speakers than ], and ], a regional language of ] and nearby areas in ] with more than 60 million local and overseas speakers (North America, parts of ]), outnumbers ] in number of speakers. Subgroups and dialects of the ] group have over 70 million speakers, mainly in ] and in nearby ], but also in the ] countries of ] and ]. There are many cases when a regional language can claim greater numbers of speakers than certain languages which happen to be ]s of sovereign states. For example, ] (a regional language of ] and ], albeit official in ]) has more speakers than ] or ]. In China, ], spoken in southern ] and northern ] by more than 90 million speakers, can claim more native speakers than ], and ], a regional language of ] and nearby areas in ] with more than 60 million local and overseas speakers (North America, parts of ]), outnumbers ] in number of speakers. The ] dialects have over 70 million speakers in and outside China, mainly in ], in nearby ], and in ] such as ] and ].


==Relationship with official languages== ==Relationship with official languages==
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*], a regional language of ] and ], belongs to the same language family as ] and ] *], a regional language of ] and ], belongs to the same language family as ] and ]
*], a regional language of ], belongs to the same family of ] as ]. *], a regional language of ], belongs to the same family of ] as ].
*All of the following ] belong to the same family as ] (Putonghua) - the national official language of the PRC. Mandarin and each of them are mutually unintelligible, but all use the same ], although this written language is largely based on the ]. *All of the following ] belong to the same family as ] (Putonghua in the People's Republic of China; Guoyu in the Republic of China (Taiwan); Huayu in Singapore). Each of them are often mutually unintelligible, but all use the same ], although this written language is largely based on the ].
**], a regional language of Shanghai, southern ] and northern ] **], a regional language of Shanghai, southern ] and northern ]
**], a regional language of ]<!-- **], a group of regional languages in ] and ]
**], a regional language in southern China, including Guangdong and Fujian. --> **], a regional language of ]
**], a regional language in southern China, including Guangdong, Fujian, and Taiwan.
*] in ]. *] in ].


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*], the official language of ], ], ], ], ] and ], is a regional language of ] and ]. *], the official language of ], ], ], ], ] and ], is a regional language of ] and ].
*], a ] and official in ], is a regional language of ] whose official language, ] is a Romance language. *], a ] and official in ], is a regional language of ] whose official language, ] is a Romance language.
*], one of the official spoken languages of ] and ] (both ]s of the ]), is used as a regional language of the province of ], ].
==See also== ==See also==
*] *]

Revision as of 17:16, 9 September 2006

A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country - it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. It is often mistaken for a dialect.

Definition in international law

For the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages:

"regional or minority languages" means languages that are:
  1. traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population; and
  2. different from the official language(s) of that State

Influence of number of speakers

There are many cases when a regional language can claim greater numbers of speakers than certain languages which happen to be official languages of sovereign states. For example, Catalan (a regional language of Spain and France, albeit official in Andorra) has more speakers than Finnish or Danish. In China, Wu, spoken in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang by more than 90 million speakers, can claim more native speakers than French, and Cantonese, a regional language of Guangdong and nearby areas in China with more than 60 million local and overseas speakers (North America, parts of Malaysia), outnumbers Italian in number of speakers. The Min dialects have over 70 million speakers in and outside China, mainly in Fujian, in nearby Taiwan, and in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia and Singapore.

Relationship with official languages

In some cases, a regional language may be closely related to the state's main language or official language. For example:

In other cases, a regional language may be very different from the state's main language or official language. For example:

Official languages as regional languages

An official language of a country may also be spoken as a regional language in a region of a neighbouring country. For example:

See also

Category: