Putonghua 普通話 (普通话)

pǔtōnghuà · from Chinese

What is Putonghua?

Putonghua (common speech) is the official standard Mandarin of the People's Republic of China, based on Beijing pronunciation and northern grammar.

It was defined in the mid-1950s as based on Beijing phonology, northern dialects and modern vernacular literature. It is promoted nationwide in schools and media and is the basis of HSK. Taiwan's standard, Guoyu, shares the same origins but has diverged in vocabulary and pronunciation.

Examples

普通話 pǔtōnghuà; 你說普通話嗎？ nǐ shuō pǔtōnghuà ma? (do you speak Mandarin?); 推廣普通話 tuīguǎng pǔtōnghuà (promote Putonghua)

Kungfucius says: Common speech: common to everyone except a few hundred million people who speak something else at home.