Mandarin en · PROPN
Pronunciation
- audio Queensland
- /ˈmæn.d(ə).ɹɪn/ (Singapore)
- /ˈmæn.də.ɹɪn/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /mæn.dəˈɹɪn/ (Australia, UK)
Etymology
Calque from Chinese 官話/官话 (Guānhuà, “spoken language of the mandarins”). An extension of mandarin (“bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire”) to the language used by the imperial court and sometimes by imperial officials elsewhere. As such, it was adopted as a synonym for Modern Standard Chinese in the 20th century. The term became ambiguous, however, as its use was extended to the various Northern dialects of Chinese.
Meanings
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Standard Mandarin, an official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu.
Far fewer people understood Mandarin in Hotan than anywhere else I'd been in Xinjiang. It made getting around difficult, as not only did the taxi drivers fail to understand what I was saying, but they couldn't read an address either. Most ignored or didn't know the Chinese names given to the streets anyway.
2014, David Eimer, The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China, Bloomsbury USA, →ISBN, page 75:Owner David Yeh says his Little-One bar -- a homophone to Lithuania's Mandarin name "Litaowan" -- started getting more attention last year after Vilnius became the first EU government to donate vaccines.
2022 March 9, “'Lithuania mania' sweeps Taiwan as China spat sizzles”, in France 24, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2022:[...]and though the ſame word hath one ſignification in the Mandorines Language, and a contrary in Japan and other places, yet knowing one Speech and their Character, you may Travel not only through the Empire of China, but the adjacent Kingdoms.
[1669, John Nievhoff, “Athanasius Kircher Description of China”, in John Ogilby, transl., An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, →OCLC, page 106:
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A branch of the Chinese languages, consisting of many dialects; Guanhua or Beifanghua.
"Two, three, four, five, south! Six, seven, eight, nine, north!" Strange as it may sound, this is the way the people on the Chinese mainland complain about the lack of clothes, food and other necessities. Absent from the phrases are "one" and "ten"—"i" and "shih" in Chinese Mandarin. The words for "clothes" and "food" sound alike. Also missing are "east" and "west." Their Chinese equivalents when put together as "tung-hsi," stand for "things," "objects" or "matters."
1978 January 8, L. Chen, “What they say of Peiping rule”, in Free China Weekly, volume XIX, number 2, Taipei, page 3:
Deriveds
Standard Mandarin · Mandopop · Mandapop · Mandarinize · Mandarinic · Standarin
Relateds
Hanyu · Wiktionary’s coverage of Mandarin terms · Zhongwen
Synonyms
Standard Chinese · Standard Mandarin · Beifanghua · Putonghua · Huayu · Standard Spoken Chinese · Mandarin Chinese · Guanhua · Guoyu
Translations (108)
de Mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 北方話 /北方话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · pt mandarim (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · no mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ko 보통화 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · eo Mandarena (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · vi tiếng Bắc Kinh (a branch of the Chinese languages) · sl mandarinščina (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 國語 /国语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · hak 北方話 /北方话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · es mandarín (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 撈話 /捞话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · de Hochchinesisch (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 国語 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · vi Bắc phương thoại (a branch of the Chinese languages) · cmn 北方話 /北方话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · nl Mandarijn (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · th ภาษาจีนกลาง (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nv Mééndawin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · gl mandarín (a branch of the Chinese languages) · nan-hbl 北方話 /北方话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · bg мандари́н (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · et mandariini (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · it mandarino (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ko 중국어 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nan-hbl 國語 /国语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sk mandarínčina (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · gd Mandairinis (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sh мандарински (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · km កុកងឺ (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ru мандари́н (a branch of the Chinese languages) · ko 관화 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · hak 普通話 /普通话 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · fi mandariinikiina (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · pl mandaryński (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · he מַנְדָּרִינִית (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ar اَللُّغَة اَلصِّينِيَّة اَلشَّمَالِيَّة (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · cmn 官話 /官话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · ru мандари́н (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · vi tiếng Quan thoại chuẩn (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 標準中国語 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · wuu 普通閒話 /普通闲话 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · da mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · as মান্য চীনা ভাষা (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ta மாண்டரின் (a branch of the Chinese languages) · id Putonghua (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 北京語 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 普通話 /普通话 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · es chino mandarín (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ga Mandairínis (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · vi tiếng Quan thoại (a branch of the Chinese languages) · vi tiếng phổ thông Trung Quốc (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ta மாண்டரின் (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nan-hbl 普通話 /普通话 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sv mandarinkinesiska (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ms bahasa Mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ko 중국보통어 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 華語 /华语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ar مَنْدَرِينِيَّة (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nan-hbl 官話 /官话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · ko 북경어 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 普通話 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sv mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · mk мандари́нски (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ru гуаньхуа́ (a branch of the Chinese languages) · hak 華語 /华语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sh mandarinski (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · wuu 官話 /官话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · id bahasa Mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ms bahasa Mandarin Baku (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · cs mandarínština (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · sw Kimandarini (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ca mandarí (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · pl mandaryński (a branch of the Chinese languages) · hi मंदारिन भाषा (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · hu mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 北京官話 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · tl Mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nan-hbl 華語 /华语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ta சீனம் (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · hak 國語 /国语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · fr mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · scn mandarinu (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ko 북방어 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · nn mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · co mandarinu (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · wuu 北方閒話 /北方闲话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · ru путунхуа́ (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ru литерату́рный кита́йский (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · gl mandarín (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · cmn 國語 /国语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · hak 官話 /官话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · wuu 國語 /国语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ug خەنزۇچە (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · la lingua Sinensis Mandarinica (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ja 華語 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nl Mandarijnenchinees (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · za Vahbujdungh (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · nb mandarin (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · fa ماندارین (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · tr Çince (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · cmn 華語 /华语 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · yue 官話 /官话 (a branch of the Chinese languages) · cmn 普通話 /普通话 (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · vi tiếng phổ thông (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · hy մանդարին (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · af Mandaryns (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese) · ms bahasa Cina (Standard Mandarin — see also Chinese)