Early in the 20th century the missionary couple Dr Harry and Winifred Lechmere Clift spent time initially in Pakhoi, Guangdong Province, then a number of years in Nanning, Guangxi Province, and their latter years in Hong Kong, which made me wonder what version of Chinese they spoke. Surprisingly the answer is both Cantonese and Mandarin! From reading Winifred Clift’s book Far Far East, I find that when they first went out to China (Pakhoi), they took lessons and spoke in Cantonese, and they learned Mandarin later when serving in Nanning, which seems an admirable achievement. So I asked myself how great a task was this, and what are the differences and similarities between the two. On looking online I find the following:
Mandarin is one of the five official languages of the United Nations. It is the official language in Mainland China and Taiwan, and it is widely spoken in Thailand and Singapore. After English, Mandarin Chinese is the second most spoken language worldwide.
Cantonese is the second most spoken language in China (with about 100 million speakers) and is largely used in the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in Southern China. In Hong Kong itself, prior to 1997 and the hand-over to China, Cantonese was the primary language. It’s common for many people who speak Cantonese to also speak fluent Mandarin – but not vice versa.
Outside of China, Cantonese is the most spoken Chinese language, particularly in Australia, Europe, and North America, but in recent years, the number of Mandarin-speaking Chinese people living abroad has rapidly increased.
So both of these languages are spoken in China and they share the same base alphabet. But what is the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin?
Although the two languages look very similar on paper and speakers of either language can read the other language without much trouble, spoken Mandarin and Cantonese remain mutually unintelligible. It is the tone of colloquial Cantonese that makes it difficult for Mandarin speakers to understand. The pronunciation of shared words in Cantonese and Mandarin is totally different.
Mandarin uses four tones, whereas Cantonese has at least six and sometimes as many as nine. And different tones have different meanings, even when used for the same word. Cantonese is the more challenging of the two languages, particularly for anyone beginning to learn Chinese. Getting the tone right is vital in ensuring that the word has the meaning you intend.
So a knowledge of both languages does seem possible and by acquiring both languages, the Clifts were able to make their moves from Pakhoi to Nanning to Hong Kong without too much difficulty. Considering their other skills and achievements, I think they must have been two very gifted and motivated individuals.