HC2053 Varieties of Chinese

This course introduces you to the varieties of Mandarin Chinese as surfaced in Chinese speaking communities such as Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. We will illustrate with rich examples the differences in the writing system, sound, lexicon, grammar, and pragmatics found in Chinese varieties, and discuss the linguistic, historical, cultural, and social factors that have led to the differences. The course will help you get a deeper and wider understanding of language variation and change, and facilitate more effective communication with Mandarin speakers from different regions. The course is useful for future careers relevant to Chinese including language teaching, editing, translation, etc.