Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional customs - The oldest Guangzhou dialect culture-Cantonese

The oldest Guangzhou dialect culture-Cantonese

China has many local languages, such as Minnan dialect, Wenzhou dialect, Shanghainese dialect and Cantonese ... among which Cantonese is the most familiar. Hong Kong movies and Cantonese songs have deeply influenced China people from generation to generation. As an important carrier of Guangzhou culture, how much do you know about Cantonese?

Cantonese, also known as Cantonese and Guangfu dialect, is commonly known as vernacular Chinese, and is called Tang dialect overseas. It is a kind of tonal language of Sino-Tibetan Chinese language family, and it is also the mother tongue of Guangfu people of Han nationality.

Cantonese, an elegant word originating from the ancient Central Plains, has a complete set of nine tones and six tones, which perfectly retains the characteristics of ancient Chinese and is also the most complete language to retain Middle Chinese. In academic circles, apart from Mandarin, it is the only China language that has independent research in foreign universities. Today, Wu Tong dialect and other Chinese dialects still retain many ancient Chinese pronunciations of Chinese characters in Cantonese. Since ancient times, many primitive tribes living in Lingnan area have been called Na Man by China people living in the Central Plains. After Qin Shihuang made a hundred expeditions to the south, Chinese people came to Lingnan area, while Naman people fled to mountainous areas or more southern areas. At this time, Huaxia language began to be introduced into Lingnan area. After the demise of the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Tuo, the commander-in-chief of Nanhai County, annexed Guilin County and Xiang County to become the king, and established a short-lived Nanyue State. In the heyday of the Han Dynasty, the Huaxia nationality merged with many neighboring nationalities and evolved into the Han nationality. This period is the embryonic period of Cantonese.

Cantonese is an important carrier of Guangfu culture in Cantonese, an important bridge to maintain Guangfu people in the world, and an important guarantee for Guangfu people's prosperity.