In our yesterday’s Quiz, a guy on the subway was yelling at someone over the phone. We can only guess what made him angry, coz he was speaking a local dialect – 方言 fāngyán 🗣
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📍方 fāng – place (地方 dìfāng)
🗣言 yán – language (语言 yǔyán)
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方言 fāngyán – local dialect
讲方言 jiǎng fāngyán – to speak a local dialect
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Dialects can be really different from each other, in the same way that languages are different. People who don’t speak the same dialect might never understand each other, just like the people who don’t speak the same language – but because dialects exist within one country, they can’t be called ‘languages’. They’re still ‘dialects’👺
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For example, Shanghainese has a very different pronunciation and grammar system from Mandarin, but it still belongs to the Chinese language group. (Yet I can’t understand a single word my neighbors say when they argue😂)
Same story with that subway guy – the video was taken in Shenzhen, so he was probably speaking Cantonese ( #ym粤语) – but we can’t understand him, as it’s basically another language!
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For more on this topic, check out a post on accents.
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How would you say “I don’t understand (a word) when people speak a local dialect?”
@gallardocristina: 阿拉不懂 it’s a classic hahaha
@hjlim1: @yourmandarin 我的方言是潮州话，客家话和广东话！❤
@l00m4ever: 人讲他们的方言，我一个字听不懂。
@mercedesgallo53: 那 位 人说。我 听不 懂!
@hola_katarina: 你说方言的时候，什么词我都听不懂
@amandaswampler: Renmen shuo fangyan shi, wo bu mingbai tamen de shuohua.
@nini_laoshi: 你说啥？🤣🤣🤣
@yourmandarin: @nini_laoshi 我听不清😄
@lapetitelinguiste: 阿拉不懂😂
@anthonychristi: 别人说方言的时候，我一句也听不懂。
@yourmandarin: @anthonychristi 非常好👍🏅
@congility: 🙌thanks for the shout out! … Could also be a 土话 I’m pretty sure he isn’t speaking Cantonese, unless it’s some unlike any I’ve heard before..😂
@yourmandarin: @congility Haha yes you’re probably right! Cantonese sounds softer, somehow makes me remember Jackie Chan’s old movies☺️
@bahrizaissa: 当人们说方言时，我听不懂一个字
@leoeloi:人讲方言的时候，我听不懂。
