<p><em><strong>When reading a book or a newspaper, what language do Cantonese people read in? Do they read in mandarin or Cantonese?</strong></em></p>
<p>In Cantonese, of course.</p>
<p>Cantonese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible, mainly due to a difference in their phonology. They share the same written language but each has its own set of pronunciation of the characters.</p>
<p><em><strong>Or do they subconsciously translate it into colloquial Cantonese since most words have a direct facsimile from mandarin?</strong></em></p>
<p>Cantonese can be written verbatim, but many of the characters are not regularly used. Instead, a non-verbatim formalized written form (same as Mandarin written form) is adopted. When a Cantonese speaker reads aloud a piece of writing, s/he uses Cantonese pronunciation. You, as the listener, will be able to tell that s/he is reading from a text, and not speaking colloquially.</p>
<p><em><strong>Also how do less literate people handle understanding Cantonese songs, which is sung in standard Chinese using Cantonese words?</strong></em></p>
<p>It is actually not that difficult, since most of the content words are the same, whether spoken or written. The words that are different from the spoken form are mostly function words.</p>
<p><em><strong>Finally, how do Cantonese school children learn in school?</strong></em></p>
<p>Cantonese school children learn in Cantonese. When they learn to read and write, they learn the standard Cantonese pronunciation of the written characters.</p>
<p>I have included a link here if you are interested in reading more about the Cantonese language. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese</a></p>
<p>You can also google &quot;History of the Cantonese language&quot; for more information.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T02:49:53.913Z
I think the answers to the last two questions are objectionable.  I am a well-educated non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese, who has great difficulty understanding Cantonese conservation or singing.  Does China allow teaching using a language other than Mandarin?
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T03:01:00.793Z
@r13  Please define "objectionable" Do you mean "wrong"?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T03:31:36.290Z
@WayneCheah Objectionable 1) Causing disapproval or protest. 2) Liable to objection or debate; used of something one might take exception to. Whichever definition you feel fits my line of writing. Please correct me if I was wrong.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T03:44:54.317Z
@r13 Answer to the last question is drawn from my own, and the experience of millions of Cantonese speaking school children in Hong Kong, Macau, and possibly in other places, over decades. The OP isn't asking about the school system of the PRC per se.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T03:48:15.357Z
@r13 And the question about less literate people and Cantonese songs, well, my understanding is that the OP wants to know how Cantonese speakers who are not literate  handle song lyrics which is often is more formal, written style language. I don't think it has anything to do with non-Cantonese speakers at all.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T03:52:43.637Z
@r13 You said, "I am a well-educated non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese, who has great difficulty understanding Cantonese conservation or singing." I think my answer touched on that. You have problems understanding Cantonese because Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible. You aren't supposed to be able to understand without learning it.
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T04:07:57.147Z
In the answers above, you have proved why they are objectionable because there are exceptions readily available. I don't quite understand the "less literate...", as there are/were many Chinese without formal education, but I don't think they have a problem listening to contemporary music/songs and fully understand the lyrics in Chinese, which is the language they speak daily. Writing is another story though.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T04:36:23.763Z
How does having exceptions have anything to do with being objectionable?? I don't really know what you are trying to get at. What exceptions are you talking about?
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-21T04:36:36.127Z
And about the "less literate" people, well, you said, and I quote: ... I don't think they have a problem listening to contemporary music/songs and fully understand the lyrics in Chinese. If semi-literate Mandarin speakers can understand Mandarin song lyrics, and (I said) semi-literate Cantonese speakers can understand Cantonese song lyrics, what is the problem here? What exactly do you not agree with?
monalisa
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-04-20T23:49:05.393Z
2022-04-20T23:49:05.393Z
monalisa
<p>When you say Cantonese/Madarin, it's more about the verbal spoken languages</p>
<p>When you say Traditional/Simplified Chinese, it's definitely about the writing system.</p>
<p>Written Traditional/Simplified Chinese can be read out in Cantonese, Mandarin, Hakka or other forms of verbal Chinese languages. The regime called them 'dialect' which is debatable.</p>
<p>'Chinese' is essentially a family of languages, plural. Madarin speakers is the majority and probably Cantonese speakers comes to the second largest group.</p>
<p>Cantonese can be written in 漢字 in a way that Mandarin speakers find very difficult or inconvenient to understand, colloquially. But typical educated Cantonese speakers can also write formal Traditional/Simplified Chinese that Mandarin speakers understand with no problem.</p>
<p>So, as a Cantonese speaker, I pronounce written Chinese in Cantonese. Many Cantonese pop music has lyrics written in formal Chinese, Mandarin speakers will find reading them easily but may not be able to listen the words being sung. Older form of Cantonese drama are spelled in Cantonese which Mandarin speakers will have difficulty in reading the script. In the schools in Hong Kong, actually we are taught in Cantonese as a medium of instructions, but the Chinese language lesson teaches Traditional Chinese writing, using Cantonese.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-31T06:09:35.200Z
2024-05-31T06:19:47.737Z
2024-05-31T06:19:47.737Z
Calvin Lee
<p>When reading a book or a newspaper, what language do Cantonese people read in? Do they read in mandarin or Cantonese? Or do they subconsciously translate it into colloquial Cantonese since most words have a direct facsimile from mandarin? Also how do less literate people handle understanding Cantonese songs, which is sung in standard Chinese using Cantonese words? Finally, how do Cantonese schoolchildren learn in school?</p>

<cantonese><reading>
What language do Cantonese people use when reading Chinese?
# What language do Cantonese people use when reading Chinese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-04-16)

When reading a book or a newspaper, what language do Cantonese people read in? Do they read in mandarin or Cantonese? Or do they subconsciously translate it into colloquial Cantonese since most words have a direct facsimile from mandarin? Also how do less literate people handle understanding Cantonese songs, which is sung in standard Chinese using Cantonese words? Finally, how do Cantonese schoolchildren learn in school?

**Tags:** cantonese, reading

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-04-20. Score: 3

***When reading a book or a newspaper, what language do Cantonese people read in? Do they read in mandarin or Cantonese?***

In Cantonese, of course.

Cantonese and Mandarin are not mutually intelligible, mainly due to a difference in their phonology. They share the same written language but each has its own set of pronunciation of the characters.

***Or do they subconsciously translate it into colloquial Cantonese since most words have a direct facsimile from mandarin?***

Cantonese can be written verbatim, but many of the characters are not regularly used. Instead, a non-verbatim formalized written form (same as Mandarin written form) is adopted. When a Cantonese speaker reads aloud a piece of writing, s/he uses Cantonese pronunciation. You, as the listener, will be able to tell that s/he is reading from a text, and not speaking colloquially.

***Also how do less literate people handle understanding Cantonese songs, which is sung in standard Chinese using Cantonese words?***

It is actually not that difficult, since most of the content words are the same, whether spoken or written. The words that are different from the spoken form are mostly function words.

***Finally, how do Cantonese school children learn in school?***

Cantonese school children learn in Cantonese. When they learn to read and write, they learn the standard Cantonese pronunciation of the written characters.

I have included a link here if you are interested in reading more about the Cantonese language. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese>

You can also google "History of the Cantonese language" for more information.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think the answers to the last two questions are objectionable.  I am a well-educated non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese, who has great difficulty understanding Cantonese conservation or singing.  Does China allow teaching using a language other than Mandarin?  
> **username_3**: @r13  Please define "objectionable" Do you mean "wrong"?  
> **username_2**: @WayneCheah Objectionable 1) Causing disapproval or protest. 2) Liable to objection or debate; used of something one might take exception to. Whichever definition you feel fits my line of writing. Please correct me if I was wrong.  
> **username_1**: @r13 Answer to the last question is drawn from my own, and the experience of millions of Cantonese speaking school children in Hong Kong, Macau, and possibly in other places, over decades. The OP isn't asking about the school system of the PRC per se.  
> **username_1**: @r13 And the question about less literate people and Cantonese songs, well, my understanding is that the OP wants to know how Cantonese speakers who are not literate  handle song lyrics which is often is more formal, written style language. I don't think it has anything to do with non-Cantonese speakers at all.  
> **username_1**: @r13 You said, "I am a well-educated non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese, who has great difficulty understanding Cantonese conservation or singing." I think my answer touched on that. You have problems understanding Cantonese because Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible. You aren't supposed to be able to understand without learning it.  
> **username_2**: In the answers above, you have proved why they are objectionable because there are exceptions readily available. I don't quite understand the "less literate...", as there are/were many Chinese without formal education, but I don't think they have a problem listening to contemporary music/songs and fully understand the lyrics in Chinese, which is the language they speak daily. Writing is another story though.  
> **username_1**: How does having exceptions have anything to do with being objectionable?? I don't really know what you are trying to get at. What exceptions are you talking about?  
> **username_1**: And about the "less literate" people, well, you said, and I quote: ... I don't think they have a problem listening to contemporary music/songs and fully understand the lyrics in Chinese. If semi-literate Mandarin speakers can understand Mandarin song lyrics, and (I said) semi-literate Cantonese speakers can understand Cantonese song lyrics, what is the problem here? What exactly do you not agree with?  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-05-31. Score: 0

When you say Cantonese/Madarin, it's more about the verbal spoken languages

When you say Traditional/Simplified Chinese, it's definitely about the writing system.

Written Traditional/Simplified Chinese can be read out in Cantonese, Mandarin, Hakka or other forms of verbal Chinese languages. The regime called them 'dialect' which is debatable.

'Chinese' is essentially a family of languages, plural. Madarin speakers is the majority and probably Cantonese speakers comes to the second largest group.

Cantonese can be written in 漢字 in a way that Mandarin speakers find very difficult or inconvenient to understand, colloquially. But typical educated Cantonese speakers can also write formal Traditional/Simplified Chinese that Mandarin speakers understand with no problem.

So, as a Cantonese speaker, I pronounce written Chinese in Cantonese. Many Cantonese pop music has lyrics written in formal Chinese, Mandarin speakers will find reading them easily but may not be able to listen the words being sung. Older form of Cantonese drama are spelled in Cantonese which Mandarin speakers will have difficulty in reading the script. In the schools in Hong Kong, actually we are taught in Cantonese as a medium of instructions, but the Chinese language lesson teaches Traditional Chinese writing, using Cantonese.


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