Introduction

Shanghai is the world's largest city in 2004 in terms of population. In a population count, the official registered population was 13.5 million; however, 6 million more people work and live in Shanghai undocumented, and of the 6 million, 3 million belong to a "floating population" of temporary migrant workers. Shanghai is the financial and trade center of China and is rivalries with Honk Kong over the top overall economic center of China . In the streets of Shanghai , it is the local dialect, Shanghainese, that is spoken and makes the metropolis run, not Mandarin.

As English is the lingua franca of the world, Mandarin is the lingua franca of China , the world's most populated country. While Shanghainese takes a backseat to Mandarin, the official spoken language of China , its importance is not to be underestimated at all. Shanghainese is spoken by almost everyone in the city of Shanghai , arguably the most important city in China asides from the country's capital, Beijing . Accordingly, this local dialect offers a major contribution to the China 's economy.

Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese are indisputably the three most important languages to China . However, the language is very different in terms of pronunciation from these two languages. There are several sounds in the Shanghainese dialect that are not found in any other Chinese dialect.

The following is an excerpt of a little speech recorded by my father, Jian Wang. He recites the speech in both Mandarin and Shanghainese.

Transcription

Chinese Text

English translation : Mandarin is a common language in China. Besides Mandarin, the Shanghainese speak a dialect. How do Shanghainese use two languages? They speak their dialect in their daily activities, such as chatting with neighbors or shopping in a convenience store. They use Mandarin when they are in formal or official situation such as in a government meeting or schools. It is very common for Shanghainese to speak Mandarin in airports or train stations because many tourists cannot understand Shanghainese. All books, newspapers or documents are written based on Mandarin. You still can read them with Shanghainese with very funny pronunciations. Shanghainese love their local language not only because it can describe Shanghainese custom and tradition, but it can also make two strangers feel familiar and amiable especially at foreign lands.

Analysis

From the translation, one can tell that my father has broken English. He moved here October of 1990 and his only knowledge of English was self-taught. Back in his teenage years, China was going through the Cultural Revolution and all teenagers were sent to farms to work. The few who educated themselves went on to college once the revolution was over. Because my father never went to high school, most of his oral and written Chinese skills were developed in his elementary and middle school years or they were self-taught.

As the speech states, Mandarin, in Shanghainese speaking areas, is only used in government areas, formal business areas, places with a vast amount of tourists, and large complexes. By latter, I mean that Shanghainese would be spoken in a small, local market whereas Mandarin would be spoken at a large shopping mall with thousands of people.

In the audio clip, the general sound between Shanghainese and Mandarin are obvious, even to foreigners. In urban areas, my father estimated that about 70% of non-Shanghainese speakers would be able to point out Shanghainese if they heard it. Shanghainese has a very distinct, quick sound that almost sounds angry when used in friendly conversation, even to myself. This local dialect is most comparable to the New York accent in the United States in that outsiders tend to believe Shanghainese are rude. Presumably so, since Shanghai is known as the New York City of China. Both are great tourist attractions and both are great economic trading centers.

Most written text, even in Shanghai , is meant to be read in Mandarin. This said, Shanghainese is not simply translated word for word from Mandarin. There are differences involved so a translation from Mandarin to Shanghainese can only be translated thought for thought, not word for word. For instance, the Mandarin word for "Shanghainese" is written in three characters whereas the Shanghainese word for "Shanghainese" is written in four characters. In an English translation, "Shanghainese" is translated to "Shanghai Language". Mandarin and Shanghainese share the same two characters for " Shanghai " but Mandarin uses one character to indicate "Language" whereas Shanghainese uses two entirely different characters to indicate "Language". The two characters used in Shanghainese exist in Mandarin but do not form the same word. Another example of this is the word for "play". In Mandarin, this word is written and said in one character whereas Shanghainese uses two characters. Generally, every separate syllable is denoted by its own character.

My father transcripted the above speech in Mandarin simply because that is the way things are written in Shanghai . It is very rare to find a text written in Shanghainese nowadays and the Shanghainese have become very accustomed to translate the text into Shanghainese without having to write it first. The process is not difficult once the language is learned. However, orally and literary, Shanghainese and Mandarin are two very different languages.

Sources:

http://geography.about.com/cs/worldpopulation/a/mostpopulous.htm

http://www.earnshaw.com/shanghainese/content.cfm?id=28

http://www.shanghai-ed.com/culture/shanghainese.php

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762524.html

About the Author

My name is Herbert Wang and I was born in Shanghai , China in 1986 and moved to the States in December of 1990, three months after my dad first came. When I first moved here, I spoke about fifty percent Mandarin, fifty percent Shanghainese, and I knew no English. After about two years, I started speaking less and less Mandarin, to the point where I never spoke it fluently again. After I hit seven years old, I began to speak only English to my brother and an English-Shanghainese pidgin between my parents.

Mandarin, hardly ever spoken in the family, became forgotten. I remain fluent in Shanghainese but speaking it with my brother leads to me becoming embarrassed for some unknown reason. The same phenomenon happens when I speak Mandarin, even to myself. The embarrassment does not have to do with my lack of ability, for I become embarrassed when I listen to my parents speak Mandarin to each other in the presence of guests. Chinese language has come close to dying on me, but as long as I continue to speak it with my parents, it will remain.