Chinese Language
中文
Global Prevalence Approximately 1.35 billion people, or 17% of the global population, speak a variety of Chinese as their first language.
Character Count The Chinese language comprises over 50,000 characters. However, proficiency in about 2,500 characters allows for understanding approximately 97% of daily written communication.
Tonal Nature Chinese is a tonal language, meaning the pitch or intonation used when pronouncing a word can change its meaning.
Linguistic Diversity China recognizes several major regional varieties of Chinese, often referred to as dialects, including Mandarin, Wu, Xiang, Yue (Cantonese), Gan, Min, and Hakka. Many of these are mutually unintelligible.