Fascinating Facts About Our Most Common Tongues

Native speakers: 1.1 billion Mandarin holds the top spot as the language with the most native speakers worldwide. Its logographic writing originates from 4,000 year old oracle bone script.

However, Mandarin features over 400 dialects. While mutually intelligible, dialects like Manchu and Cantonese feature pronounced differences.

In 1958, the People’s Republic of China simplified the Chinese writing system to boost literacy. Complex traditional characters were replaced with pared down forms.

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