Mandarin
The term Mandarin is generally believed to be a translation of Chinese guanhua—literally "official talk," which originated as a form of common language among speakers of different Chinese dialects. In linguistic terms, there are four different views of Mandarin: as a Chinese lingua franca, as Modern Standard Chinese, as a branch of the northern Chinese dialect family, and as Premodern Chinese. Each of these senses of the term Mandarin will be examined in detail.
Mandarin as a Chinese Lingua Franca
Mandarin is believed to have originated as a form of common language among speakers of different Chinese dialects, loosely based on some form of northern Chinese. The precise locale of this prestige northern dialect is not clear, but Beijing, Nanjing, and Luoyang are likely candidates. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), for instance, wrote in his travel journals (1583–1610) of a spoken language called "Quonhoa," which was used throughout the empire for civil and forensic purposes. In a way, the status of guanhua is similar to that of the "cultivated pronunciation" of the American Atlantic states existing alongside the local vernacular, with each state having its own version—its best approximation of the prestige dialect.
Mandarin as Modern Standard Chinese
The second meaning of Mandarin focuses on the area around Beijing—the Chinese capital for the past 500 years—whose local speech presumably had a prestige that conflicted with the prestige status of the guanhua.
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