Mandarin Chinese
Spoken language
Mandarin is a group of Chinese language dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of China. Wikipedia
Spoken by: Uyghurs, Mongols, Manchu people, and more
Language families: Sino-Tibetan languages and Sinitic languages
Dialects: Northeastern; Beijing; Ji–Lu; Jiao–Liao; Lower Yangtze; Central Plains; Lan–Yin; Southwestern
Early forms: Proto-Sino-Tibetan: Old Chinese > Eastern Han Chinese > Middle Chinese > Old Mandarin > Middle Mandarin
Native speakers: L1: 940 million (2021); L2: 200 million (no date)
Region: Northern and southwestern China
Signed forms: Chinese Sign Language