9.10 Vocabulary: Languages

Language names generally end with the following words:

We can usually use the rules below to form a language name from the place name, but note that there are sometimes exceptions.

If the place name has only two syllables, we usually take the first syllable of the place name and add the word 文 man2 (‘language’).

There are some exceptions in which we take the whole place name.

If the place name has more than two syllables, we usually take the whole place name and add the word 文 man2.

Some languages have more than one name.

For varieties of Chinese, we usually take the whole place name and add the word 話 (‘language’).

For some varieties, we use the word 語 (‘language’) and may take the first syllable of the place name or the whole place name.

Note that some language names don’t follow the rules mentioned above. Also, for some language names, people use the words 文 man2, 話 waa2, or 語 jyu5 interchangeably.