Language and overseas Chinese communities

The usage of Chinese by the Chinese diaspora and their descendants has been determined by a large number of factors, including their ancestry, their migrant ancestors' "regime of origin", assimilation through generational changes, and official policies of their country of residence. The general trend is that more established Chinese populations in the Western world and in many regions of Asia have Cantonese as either the dominant variety or as a common community vernacular, while Mandarin is much more prevalent among new arrivals, making it increasingly common in many Chinatowns, though still not dominant.^[1][2]

Southeast Asia[]

Within Southeast Asia, Hokkien and Cantonese has traditionally served as the lingua francas amongst ethnic Chinese across most of the region and within many of its nations. However, the language situation of these communities can vary greatly amongst neighboring nations or even within.^[1]

Myanmar[]

Although the Burmese Chinese (or Chinese Burmese) officially make up three percent of the population, the actual figure is believed to be much higher. Among the under-counted Chinese populations are: those of mixed background;^[3] those that have registered themselves as ethnic Bamar to escape discrimination; illegal Chinese immigrants that have flooded Upper Burma since the 1990s (up to 2 million by some estimates^[4]) but are not counted due to the lack of reliable census taking.^[5]

The Burmese Chinese dominate the Burmese economy today.^[6] They also have a very large presence in Burmese higher education, and make up a high percentage of the educated class in Burma. Most Burmese Chinese speak Burmese as their parent tongue. Those with higher education also speak Mandarin and/or English. The use of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties still prevails. Hokkien (a Southern Min dialect) is mostly used in Yangon as well as in Lower Burma, while Taishanese (a Yue language akin to Cantonese) and Yunnanese Mandarin are well preserved in Upper Burma.

Vietnam[]

Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam are categorized into three groups that are based on migrant history, location and level of integration. The largest group is the Hoa, numbering almost a million individuals and have historically been influential in Vietnamese society and economy. They are largely concentrated in major cities of the former South Vietnam (especially in Ho Chi Minh City) and largely speak Cantonese, with Teochew being found among a significant minority.^[7]

The two smaller Chinese-speaking groups consist of the San Diu and Ngái. The San Diu number over 100,000 and are concentrated in the mountains of northern Vietnam. They actually trace their origins to Yao people rather than Han Chinese, but nevertheless have been heavily influenced by Chinese culture and speak a variant of Cantonese. Meanwhile, the Ngái are concentrated in rural areas of Central Vietnam and number around 1,000. They speak Hakka natively and use Cantonese to communicate with Hoa communities.^[8]

Cambodia[]

A 2013 census estimated there to be 15,000 ethnic Chinese in Cambodia.^[9] However, Chinese community organizations have estimated that up to around 7% of the population may have Chinese ancestry.^[10] Chinese Cambodians have historically played important economic and political roles in the country and are still often overrepresented in Cambodian commerce.

As a vast majority of the group emigrated from Cambodia following the Khmer Rouge, the community has assimilated greatly into Cambodian society and many now speak Khmer as their main language. Over three-fourths of Chinese Cambodians belong to the Teochew group, which is also the most commonly spoken Chinese variety. The other two largest groups include Hokkien and Hainanese. Cantonese formed the largest group from the 17th to the mid-20th century, but form only a minority today and are concentrated in major urban centers, especially in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Nevertheless, Cantonese continues to serve as the common community language among most Chinese Cambodians.^[11] In Chinese-language schools, either Cantonese and Mandarin are taught, depending on which school.^[12]

Laos[]

Among the small ethnic Chinese community of Laos, Teochew and Cantonese are the two most spoken Chinese varieties. Ethnic Chinese living on the border with China speak Southwestern Mandarin.^[13]

Thailand[]

Although Thailand is home to the largest Overseas Chinese community in the world,^[14] the level of integration is also the highest and most Thai Chinese today speak Thai as their native or main language. Most ethnic Chinese live in major cities such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Chumphon, Ratchaburi, Chon Buri, Hat Yai and Nakhon Sawan, with Chinatowns in these cities still featuring signage in both Chinese and Thai. As of the 2000s, only a little over 2% (200,000) of Thai Chinese still speak a variant of Chinese at home. A little over half speak Teochew, the largest variant group, followed by Hakka, Hokkien, Hainanese, Cantonese and Shanghainese.^[15] In commerce, Teochew, Cantonese and Thai are used as common languages and Chinese-language schools often use Cantonese as the medium of instruction due to its lingua franca status among most ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia.^[16]

Singapore[]

Singapore has an ethnic Chinese majority population, with Mandarin recognized as one of its official languages. The Singaporean Chinese community do not consider themselves as 'overseas Chinese' but rather as 'Singaporean Chinese', with an emphasis on their national identification and distinct culture. Furthermore, simplified Chinese characters are used in contrast to other overseas Chinese communities, which almost exclusively use traditional Chinese characters. Although the majority of ethnic Chinese in Singapore are predominantly of Hokkien descent and Hokkien has historically been the most spoken Chinese variety, the government of Singapore discourages the usage of non-Mandarin Chinese varieties through the Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC).^[17] The Singaporean government also actively promotes English as the common language of the multiracial society of Singapore, with younger Chinese Singaporeans being mostly bilingual in Mandarin and English, while the older generations speak other Chinese varieties.

Under the SMC policy, all nationally produced non-Mandarin Chinese TV and radio programs were stopped after 1979.^[18] Additionally, Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Taiwanese (Hokkien) dramas are unavailable in their original languages on non-cable TV. Nevertheless, since the government restriction on non-Mandarin media was relaxed in the mid-1990s, these media have become available once on again on cable TV and sold in stores. However, only Cantonese seems to have benefited from this uplift, thanks to a large following of Hong Kong popular culture, such as television dramas, cinema and Cantopop.

Brunei[]

The Chinese community makes up approximately 12% of the country's total population, the fourth largest concentration of overseas Chinese (Simplified Chinese: 华人 Pinyin: hua2 ren2) in the world. Chinese immigrants who have settled here mostly come from the Southern parts of China, notably regions associated with the Min language group. A distinct culture has developed with many Chinese people speaking in a mix three languages - Malay as required in primary to secondary education, English as required in all educational and professional contexts and Chinese as an important part of identity. This spoken mix of Chinese, English and Malay is comparably similar to the Singlish spoken by Singaporeans and other forms of creolic English spoken by Malaysia.

In terms of dialects, a number of Chinese variants are spoken in Brunei such as Hokkien, Hakka, Mandarin, Foochow and Cantonese. Notably, the Chinese community in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan mostly speaks Hokkien and Mandarin. Chinese migrants who speak a dialect can also be found to have been clustered in early settlements.

The Chinese community has also set up Chinese schools where proper Mandarin is instructed. While many of the older generation may read and write Traditional Chinese, the modern generation reads and writes Simplified Chinese. Mandarin is the lingua franca in the Chinese community in Brunei. Arguably, English is also a common medium of communication but to a lesser extent.

Associations of Chinese people who speak the same dialect can be found such as the Hainan Association and Foochow Association among many others. However, these associations seem to be losing membership and many dialects are perceived to be dying as Mandarin becomes more common and English gains even more importance.

Malaysia[]

Malaysia is the only country besides Mainland China and Taiwan that has a complete Chinese education system, from primary schools to universities.^[19] Malaysian Chinese speak a wide variety of variants, which are concentrated around particular population centers. Hokkien, the largest Chinese group, is concentrated in Penang, Klang, Kelantan and Malacca, with Penang having its own Hokkien variety. Cantonese is centered on Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Kuantan and Ipoh, with Hakka minorities also scattered in some states. Meanwhile, in East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo), Southern Min (Hokkien and Teochew), Hakka, Cantonese, and Mandarin are found except in Sibu, where Fuzhounese (a language of Eastern Min) is predominant, and in Sabah's Sandakan town, where Cantonese and Hakka are both widely spoken.^[20]

Regardless of location, however, younger generations are educated in the Malaysian standard of Mandarin at Chinese-language schools. Also, most Chinese Malaysians can speak both Malaysian (the national language) and English, which is widely used in business and at tertiary level. Furthermore, Cantonese is understood by most Malaysian Chinese as it is the prevalent language used in local Chinese-language media, although many are unable to speak it fluently.^[21]

Indonesia[]

Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia had been subjected for decades to official, and at times discriminatory, assimilation policies. As a result, a large number are no longer proficient in Chinese. Originally, the majority of the population emigrated from Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in Southern China, with the first wave of arrivals preceding the Dutch colonial period in the 1700s. The four recognized varieties of Chinese spoken by the Chinese Indonesian community are, ordered by number of speakers: Hokkien, Hakka, Mandarin and Cantonese. Additionally, Teochew and Puxian Min are also found. ^[22]Indonesia's 2010 census reported more than 2.8 million self-identified ethnic Chinese: 1.20 percent of the country's population.[1] However other source stated that there are about 10 to 12 million Chinese living in the nation, making up 5-6% of Indonesia population. Most of the Chinese resided in big cities and towns around east coast of Sumatra, north coast of Java and west coast of Kalimantan.

The distribution of Chinese varieties are scattered throughout the archipelago. On North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands and Jambi, two varieties of Hokkien exist, Medan Hokkien and Riau Hokkien, which incorporate local and Indonesian vocabulary. Hakka is concentrated in Bangka-Belitung, South Sumatra, Jakarta and West Kalimantan where they form a significant part of the local population. Meanwhile, Pontianak to Ketapang, Kendawangan on the southern tip of West Kalimantan is populated by Teochew speakers. Cantonese and, more recently, Mandarin have been used in Chinese-language schools and both variants are found in major cities such as Jakarta, Medan, Batam and Surabaya, with Mandarin usage increasing with recent arrivals from China (especially in the north) and Taiwan, as well as Cantonese speakers originating from Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong and Macau.^[23] Younger generations of Indonesian Chinese are generally fluent in Standard Indonesian, with some being fluent in English, local Chinese languages and even local native Austronesian languages (Javanese, Sundanese, etc.). Meanwhile, the older generations are only fluent in their native Chinese languages and Indonesian.

Philippines[]

Chinese Filipinos officially comprise 1.5% of the country's population, although demographic surveys from third parties find that 18-27% of the Philippine population have at least some Chinese ancestry, totalling up to 27 million people.^[24]

Most Chinese Filipinos are trilingual, speaking a native Chinese variant, English, and a Philippine language, which is most often Tagalog or any Visayan language (e.g. Cebuano, Hiligaynon, etc.), but also Ilocano, Pangasinan and/or Kapampangan. Older Chinese Filipinos generally prefer to use a Chinese variant, whereas younger generations prefer to use either English or any native Philippine language, a result of the strong prohibition of Chinese-language education enacted during the martial law dictatorship of President Marcos (1972–1986).

The most widely-spoken Chinese variety is Hokkien, specifically a branched-off local variant of it called Lan-nang-oe. Other Chinese varieties such as Teochew, Cantonese and Shanghainese are also spoken, albeit by a very tiny percentage. In contrast to much of Southeast Asia, the Chinese community of the Philippines does not use Cantonese as its preferred community language or as a principal lingua franca, but rather Philippine Hokkien, which is also spoken informally at schools and in business amongst Chinese Filipinos.^[25]

In Chinese-language schools, a Philippine standard of Mandarin is taught, although most Chinese Filipinos do not speak it at home and do not attain the same level of fluency as those of Chinese peoples in China, Taiwan, Singapore and other overseas communities.

Due to extensive albeit informal contacts with the Ministry of Education of the Taiwan (ROC) during 1950–1990, the traditional Chinese script as well as the bopomofo are still used, although these are gradually being eased out in favor of simplified Chinese characters and pinyin starting 2005, with Chinese-language textbooks increasingly imported from both mainland China and Singapore.

As part of a recent trend, partly due to increased contacts with other overseas Chinese in Hong Kong and Singapore, more Chinese Filipino families are now opting to use English as their first language at home. There is also a trend among some young Chinese-Filipinos to re-learn Hokkien, a result of increasing pride in being "ethnic Chinese" and the popularity of Taiwanese films and shows, which is associated with the rise of China in the 21st century.

Despite the perceived widespread assimilation of the Chinese Filipinos into the general Philippine population, most still form part of a "Tsinoy" community where Chinese culture is celebrated and practiced. Despite the fact that not all Chinese Filipinos can fluently speak Hokkien or any other Chinese variant, most can still understand at least some degree of Hokkien.

On the other hand, most Chinese Mestizos (called chhut-si-ia in Hokkien), or those who are of mixed Chinese and Filipino, Spanish, and/or American ancestry, tend to downplay their Chinese roots and invariably consider themselves Filipino. Most Chinese Mestizos speak any local Philippine language (i.e. Tagalog or Visayan) and/or English.

North America[]

Typical grocery store on 8th Avenue in one of the Brooklyn Chinatowns (布鲁克林華埠) on Long Island, New York, US. Multiple Chinatowns in Manhattan (紐約華埠), Queens (法拉盛華埠), and Brooklyn are thriving as traditionally urban enclaves, as large-scale Chinese immigration continues into New York,^{[26][27][28][29]} with the largest metropolitan Chinese population outside Asia.^[30]

Many overseas Chinese populations in North America speak some variety of Chinese. In the United States and Canada, Chinese is the third most spoken language.^[31][32][33] Yue dialects have historically been the most prevalent forms of Chinese due to immigrants being mostly from southern China from the 19th century up through the 1980s.^[32][34] However, Mandarin is becoming increasingly more prevalent due to the opening up of the PRC.^[34]

In New York City in 2002, Mandarin was spoken as a native language by only 10% of Chinese speakers, but was used as an auxiliary language among the greatest number of them and was predicted to replace Cantonese as their lingua franca.^[35] Although Min Chinese or Fuzhounese, the majority of Min Chinese, is spoken natively by a third of the Chinese population there, it is not used as a lingua franca because speakers of other dialect groups do not learn Min.^[35]

In Richmond (part of the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area in Canada), 55% of the population is Chinese.^[36] Chinese words can be seen everywhere from local banks to grocery stores. In the broader Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area, 18% of the population is Chinese. Similarly in Toronto, which is the largest city in Canada, Chinese people make up 11.4% of the local population with the higher percentages of between 20 and 50% in the suburbs of Markham, Richmond Hill and within the city's east end, Scarborough.^[37] Cantonese and Mandarin are the most popular forms of Chinese spoken in the area.

Economic growth in the People's Republic of China has given mainland Chinese more opportunities to emigrate. A 2011 survey showed that 60% of Chinese millionaires plan to emigrate,^[38] mostly to the United States or Canada. The EB-5 Investment Visa allows many powerful Chinese to seek U.S. citizenship, and recent reports show that 75% of applicants for this visa in 2011 were Chinese.^[39] Chinese multimillionaires benefited most from the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program in the U.S. Now, as long as one has at least US$500,000 to invest in projects listed by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where it is possible to get an EB-5 green card that comes with permanent U.S. residency rights, but only in states specified by the pilot project.^[40]

References[]