Chinese Government plan to ban Cantonese from any media broadcast after 3/1/2011

[mayfair]

There purpose of this move is to promote Mandarin, not to exterminate Cantonese.

It does seem however that Putonghua is being promoted at the cost of Cantonese. Else why the need to seek clearance specifically for Cantose language programs?

Why not increase Mandarin broadcasts without any restrictions on Cantonese? Why 'limit' Cantonese?

 

[nimo_cn]

It does seem however that Putonghua is being promoted at the cost of Cantonese. Else why the need to seek clearance specifically for Cantose language programs?

Why not increase Mandarin broadcasts without any restrictions on Cantonese? Why 'limit' Cantonese?

First, not only Cantonese is limited or regulated, so are many other dialects. Take the dialect I speak for example, it was never spoken on TV or radio. So it is not a policy targeting Cantonese only.

Second, without restrictions on other dialects, how could you promote official language more effeciently?

I want to emphasis what other Chinese members have been reiterating, it is not a ban. I believe Cantonese won't disappear just because of this move, the move is simple to give the status Mandarin deserves as an official language.

 

[mayfair]

Second, without restrictions on other dialects, how could you promote official language more effeciently

That's where you are wrong my friend. It will have an OPPOSITE effect, create resenment and sow seeds of discontent and alienation. History is replete with instances

- Soviets learned it
- We learned from our mistakes in the 1960s
- Pakis learned nothing from the Bangladesh disaster
- Sri Lankans know what it can lead to.

Ironically your estranged brothers in the KMT attempted to do the same in Taiwan. Common folks were forbidden from speaking Taiwanese (or as you mainlanders call it Min-nan) and other local languages. Children were punished (corporal punishment) in schools for speaking anything but Putonghua. They gave up the policy in the 80s, after realising the futility of it all.

Wonder how long before you folks come to the same realisation.

 

[johnee]

Maybe China should learn something from India, promote a foreign language as a national language, then everyone will be happy.

he he...quite a good comeback. Infact, your retort is quite valid, IMHO.

But, dissing and cussing India wont change a simple fact that PRC is intolerant of diversity of culture/language. Many ancient cultures/languages are getting extinct thanks to PRC.

 

[hbogyt]

People who are not informed of the situation should refrain from making impromptu and dubious comments. Cantonese is more Han than Mandarin. In mainland China, everyone is supposed to be educated in Mandarin bar several ethnic minorities who can choose their first language (this is perhaps an inappropriate comparison, as Cantonese is but a dialect not a totally different language.) Beyond that, people living around the Canton region may learn Cantonese. Now, why prevent a major proportion of the country from accessing the media content by making it in Cantonese as opposed to Mandarin? Besides the government has left open the option for Cantonese media contents with approval. Programs with intention in the line of the preserving Cantonese cultural heritage would probably fit the bill.

 

[Armand2REP]

I wonder what would happen if the US banned Spanish language broadcasting.

 

[niharjhatn]

I wonder what would happen if the US banned Spanish language broadcasting.

Bloody riots... but the US still have to make sure their new "slaves" are kept happy... the fate of the illegal immigrant latinos in California was one of the most awakening parts of my trip to the US :shocked:

I dare say its more akin to a ban on French media in Canada (and I can guess what your response would be to that! )

 

[amoy]

dont read too much into that 'banning' thing. u'd probably find everything stays the same - each (language) having its own place (check the original text of the so-called ban)

 

[Known_Unknown]

Does this "limiting of Cantonese" apply to private radio stations & TV too, or only to state owned TV and radio stations? And does this now mean that all media in Hong Kong will now be in Mandarin? What if the Hong Kong natives do not understand Mandarin?

Another insight I gained from this thread is how China and India are polar opposites of each other in many more aspects than I had known before. Not only in terms of government policy, but also in terms of how people think.

 

[mylegend]

That's where you are wrong my friend. It will have an OPPOSITE effect, create resenment and sow seeds of discontent and alienation. History is replete with instances

- Soviets learned it
- We learned from our mistakes in the 1960s
- Pakis learned nothing from the Bangladesh disaster
- Sri Lankans know what it can lead to.

Ironically your estranged brothers in the KMT attempted to do the same in Taiwan. Common folks were forbidden from speaking Taiwanese (or as you mainlanders call it Min-nan) and local languages. Children were punished (corporal punishment) in schools for speaking anything but Putonghua. They gave up the policy in the 80s, after realising the futility of it all.

Wonder how long before you folks come to the same realisation.

Actually, what you call Taiwanese is indeed Min-Nan... I speak Teochew(a variant of Min-Nan) myself, and I found that understand most part of what you called Taiwanese with exception of local slang and other sometime find trouble understand the accent. Min-Nan is orginated in Fujian Province, people there can speak Min-Nan with ease(same status as Cantonese), they can speak with their """Taiwanese""" with ease... Even Taiwanese media call what you call "Taiwanese" Min-Nan many times, 閩南語 - Yahoo!奇摩新聞 搜尋結果lso, Taiwan call Putonghua as Guoyu(meant national language). Putonghua is what mainland call Mandarin.

 

[mayfair]

Actually, what you call Taiwanese is indeed Min-Nan... I speak Teochew(a variant of Min-Nan) myself, and I found that understand most part of what you called Taiwanese with exception of local slang and other sometime find trouble understand the accent. Min-Nan is orginated in Fujian Province, people there can speak Min-Nan with ease(same status as Cantonese), they can speak with their """Taiwanese""" with ease... Even Taiwanese media call what you call "Taiwanese" Min-Nan many times, 閩南語 - Yahoo!奇摩新聞 搜尋結果lso, Taiwan call Putonghua as Guoyu(meant national language). Putonghua is what mainland call Mandarin.

I am aware of those facrs my friend. Many in Taiwanese media indeed call it Min-nan. But most ordinary Taiwanese (atleast the ones I have met and what I gather from them) DO NOT call it Min-Nan. They prefer Taiwanese.

Either way, the point is that a laguage grows by promoting itself and reaching out to others, not by imposing itself at the cost of other languages..

 

[ice berg]

I am aware of those facrs my friend. Many in Taiwanese media indeed call it Min-nan. But most ordinary Taiwanese (atleast the ones I have met and what I gather from them) DO NOT call it Min-Nan. They prefer Taiwanese.

Either way, the point is that a laguage grows by promoting itself and reaching out to others, not by imposing itself at the cost of other languages..

Actually a language can grow by either ways. Latin and english?

 

[mayfair]

Actually a language can grow by either ways. Latin and english?

Not if it has very strong cultural roots. The reasons for the disappearance of Latin as a spoken language are far more complex than that.

 

[amoy]

I happen to be a Fujian native (Hokkienese). The word Min-nan actually means Southern Fujian while Taiwanese mostly originated from S. Fujian speaking the same vernacular.

It's understandable some prefer to call their dialect as Taiwanese rather than Min-nan. By so doing they assert a 'new' identification, different from their 'roots'. All about politics - when pro-independence force came into power they tried to erase traces related to "China" such as textbooks, names of museums, roads, squares. When the opposition regained power they reversed all that...

Motives in essence quite like your Mumbai vs. Bombay, Kolkatta vs Calcutta, or Tamil Nadu vs. Madras (correct me if wrong)

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Another insight I gained from this thread is how China and India are polar opposites of each other in many more aspects than I had known before. Not only in terms of government policy, but also in terms of how people think.

Not really. U have English (that's why Indians across the country can interact on DFI) that basically functions as Mandarin.

And a common language/script was enforced in China probably dated back to Before Christ (Qin Dynasty). In fact many Mandrain-speakers find Cantonese easier to learn than many other dialets with similar linguistic roots.

By the way Hong Kong or Macau irrelevant to the 'banning' or 'regulating' as SAR (Autonomous Regions)

 

[mylegend]

老广为何要死守着自己的方言 转自《其实你不懂广东人》 – 【人人分享-人人网】ther Chinese member should really read this... This is also my defending position. Although this article is not all formal, at least the Cantonese Language part I consider it to be correct.