All Chinese languages are tonal, which means that the way words are pronounced varies their meanings. Mandarin History and Culture.


Mandarin is part of the Chinese family of languages, which in turn is part of the Sino-Tibetan language group. Mandarin has four tones. Find out how history and culture influence the development of the Mandarin language, and how speakers from all over the world use Mandarin today. Other Chinese languages have up to ten distinct tones.
History of Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese, also known as Huayu (華語“language of the Chinese”), Guoyu (國語 “national language”), or Putonghua (普通話”common language”), is the official language of the People's Republic of China (since 1982) and the Republic of China (since 1932).