Dialect Preserving

Dialect is a specific form of language that is very important for nationality [1]. According to UN statistics, there are 56 ethnic groups in China, more than 100 dialects are in danger of extinction [2]. This compelling statistic shows the importance of preserving Chinese dialects. In this article I will explain about the annihilation of dialect and outline the solution to try to preserve dialects through accurate evaluation. Dialect is one of the characteristics of Chinese culture and has many features.

In fact, it is important to save the local language and dialect for the following reasons. Preserving the cultural and historical background of the country and expressing the identity. Firstly, we need to maintain our own local language and dialects as we need to maintain the culture and historical background of our country. Indeed, our own local language and dialects are part of our culture, and they provide us with details on the development of our own country. For example, Mandarin is the mother tongue of most Chinese, but there are also Chinese that can speak several dialects such as Cantonese, Fujian, Hakka language.

Most Burmese Chinese speak Burmese in everyday life. People who received higher education also speak Mandarin or English. The use of Chinese dialect is still dominant. Fujian (Min Nan dialect) and Taishanese (similar to Cantonese) are mainly used in Yangon and Lower Myanmar, Yunnanese Mandarin is saved in Upper Myanmar. During the reign of Ne Win (1962-1988), the ban on Chinese schools led to a decrease in the number of Mandarin words. Due to the importance of Mandarin, the number of Chinese schools is increasing again today. (Note: Standard Mandarin refers to the national languages ​​of China and Taiwan, unlike the dialects of South and West in Myanmar, Goudin, Pansey.) At the end of 2012, Mizzima News reported that increasingly young Burmese Chinese expressed interest in Chinese even though parents do not understand Chinese.

Mandarin is based on the Beijing dialect, the national languages ​​of the People's Republic of China and mainland China. Beijing dialect was formerly known as an official speech. As a common language of Chinese politics and business, in particular in the north there was a history of about 1,000 years. The unification of many different dialect groups in China and the relationship between ancient people and classical Chinese people was always a system written with tens of thousands of ideograms. Speakers in different dialects can assign different pronunciations to given letters, but in most cases the meaningful meaning of that character is the same for everyone. This explains the reason why the speaker of one dialect can not understand what the speaker of another dialect said, yet he may understand what he wrote.