Chinese language and varieties in the United States

Chinese language and its various dialects are spoken throughout the United States, many of the Chinese live in Chinatowns, like this one in downtown Manhattan.

Chinese language, mostly Yue varieties including Taishanese and Cantonese, are collectively the third most-spoken language in the United States, and are mostly spoken within Chinese American populations and by immigrants or the descendants of immigrants, especially in California and New York.^[6] Over 2 million Americans speak varieties of Chinese, with Standard Chinese becoming increasingly common due to immigration from mainland China and to some extent Taiwan.^[6] Despite being called dialects or varieties, Cantonese, Taishanese, and Mandarin etc. are not mutually intellegibile. When asked census forms and surveys, respondents will only answer with "Chinese".^[7]

According to data reported on the 2000 US Census long-form, 259,750 people spoke "Cantonese", with 58.62% percent residing in California and the next most with 16.19% in New York.^[8] The actual number of Cantonese speakers was probably higher. In the 1982-83 school year, 29,908 students in California were reported to be using Cantonese as their primary home language. Approximately 16,000 of these students were identified as limited English proficient (LEP).^[9]

According to data reported on the 2000 US Census long-form, 84,590 people spoke "Formosan" (Taiwanese Hokkien).^[10] The county with the most Formosan speakers was Los Angeles County with 21,990 (0.250% of County population) followed by Orange County with Orange County, California with 5,855 (0.222% of County population). The county with the highest percentage of Formosan speakers was Calhoun County, Texas at 0.845% (160) followed by Fort Bend County, Texas at 0.286% (935) and Los Angeles County, California. According to data collected from 2005-2009 by the American Community Survey, 76,822 people spoke Formosan.^[11]

In New York City, although Standard Mandarin Chinese is spoken as a native language among only ten percent of Chinese speakers, it is used as a secondary dialect and is replacing Cantonese as their lingua franca.^[12] In addition, immigration from Fujian, particularly Fuzhou is bringing an increasingly large number of Eastern Min speakers. Wu varieties like Shanghainese and Suzhounese, and the mutually unintellegible Wenzhounese are now spoken by a minority of recent Chinese immigrants hailing from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Although Chinese Americans grow up learning English, some teach their children Chinese for a variety of reasons including preservation of an ancient civilization, preservation of a unique identity, pride in their cultural ancestry, desire for easy communication with them and other relatives, and the perception that Chinese will be a very useful language as China's economic strength increases. Cantonese, historically the language of most Chinese immigrants, was the third most widely spoken non-English language in the United States in 2004.^[13] Many Chinese schools have been established to accomplish these goals. Most of them have classes only once a week on the weekends, however especially in the past there have been schools that met every day after normal school.

A 2006 survey by the Modern Language Association found that Chinese accounted for 3% of foreign language class enrollment in the United States, making it the seventh most commonly learned foreign languages in the United States. Most Chinese as foreign language classes teach simplified characters and Standard Mandarin Chinese.^[14]

About 40% of all Chinese-speakers in the United States live in California.

See also

• Chinese American

References

Languages of the United States
Languages in italics are extinct.
English	Dialects of American English African American Vernacular English Appalachian English Baltimore English Boston English Cajun English California English Chicano English Eastern New England English General American English High Tider English Inland Northern American English Miami English Mid-Atlantic American / Delaware Valley English Maine English Midland American English New England Englishes New Mexican Englishes New Orleans English New York City English New York Latino English Northern American English North-Central American English Ozark English Pacific Northwest English Pennsylvania Dutch English Philadelphia English Pittsburgh English Puerto Rican English Southern American English Texan English Tidewater English Transatlantic English Upper Michigan English Western American English Western New England English Yeshiva English
Oral Indigenous Languages	Families A–C Algonquian Abenaki Anishinnabemowin Arapaho Blackfoot Cheyenne Cree Fox Gros Ventre Mahican Massachusett Menominee Mi'kmaq Mohegan-Pequot Munsee Myaamia Nanticoke Narragansett Pamlico Potawatomi Powhatan Quiripi Shawnee Unami Etchemin Loup Nawathinehena Austronesian Chamorro Hawaiian Refaluwasch Samoan Tokelauan Caddoan Arikara Caddo Wichita Kitsai Chinookan Kathlamet Tsinúk Upper Chinook Chumashan Barbareño Cruzeño Obispeño Purisimeño Ventureño Families C–K Dené– Yeniseian Ahtna Deg Xinag Dena'ina Gwich’in Hän Hupa Jicarilla Koyukon Lower Tanana Mescalero-Chiricahua Navajo Tanacross Tolowa Upper Kuskokwim Upper Tanana Western Apache Cahto Eyak Holikachuk Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie Lipan Mattole Plains Apache Tsetsaut Tututni Upper Umpqua Wailaki Eskaleut Inuit Inupiat Aleut Alutiiq Central Alaskan Yup'ik Central Siberian Yupik Chevak Cup’ik Iroquoian Cayuga Cherokee Mohawk Oneida Onondaga Osage Seneca Tuscarora Wyandot Erie Neutral Huron Nottoway Susquehannock Wenrohronon Kalapuyan Central Kalapuya Northern Kalapuya Yoncalla Keresan Cochiti Pueblo San Felipe–Santo Domingo Zia–Santa Ana Pueblos Western Keres Acoma Pueblo Laguna Pueblo Families M–S Maiduan Konkow Maidu Nisenan Chico Muskogean Alabama Chickasaw Choctaw Koasati Mikasuki Muscogee Apalachee Palaihnihan Achumawi Atsugewi Pomoan Central Pomo Eastern Pomo Kashaya Southeastern Pomo Southern Pomo Northeastern Pomo Northern Pomo Salishan Coeur d'Alene Columbia-Moses Halkomelem Klallam Lushootseed Nooksack North Straits Salish Okanagan Salish Thompson Twana Cowlitz Lower Chehalis Quinault Tillamook Upper Chehalis Siouan Assiniboine Crow Dakota Hidatsa Kansa Lakota Mandan Omaha–Ponca Quapaw Stoney Winnebago Biloxi Catawba Chiwere Mitchigamea Moneton Ofo Tutelo-Saponi Woccon Families T–Z Tanoan Jemez Kiowa Picuris Southern Tiwa Taos Tewa Piro Pueblo Tsimshianic Coast Tsimshian Uto-Aztecan Comanche Hopi Ivilyuat Kawaiisu Kitanemuk Luiseño Mono Northern Paiute O'odham Serrano Shoshoni Timbisha Tübatulabal Ute-Chemehuevi Yaqui Cupeño Tongva Wakashan Makah Wintuan Nomlaki Patwin Wintu Yuk-Utian Central Sierra Miwok Southern Sierra Miwok Tule-Kaweah Yokuts Valley Yokuts Bay Miwok Buena Vista Yokuts Coast Miwok Gashowu Yokuts Kings River Yokuts Lake Miwok Northern Sierra Miwok Palewyami Plains Miwok Yuman– Cochimí Cocopah Havasupai–Hualapai Ipai Kumeyaay Maricopa Mojave Quechan Tiipai Yavapai Others Isolates Haida Karuk Kutenai Siuslaw Washo Yuchi Zuni Chitimacha Tonkawa Mixed or Trade Languages Chinook Jargon Michif Mohawk Dutch
Manual Indigenous languages	Hand Talk Anishinaabe Sign Language Blackfoot Sign Language Cheyenne Sign Language Cree Sign Language Navajo Sign Language Plateau Sign Language Isolates Hawai'i Sign Language Keresan Pueblo Navajo Family Sign Language
Oral settler languages	French Louisiana Cajun Colonial Métis Missouri Muskrat New England German Pennsylvania Dutch Hutterite Plautdietsch Bernese Alsatian Texas Spanish Caló (Chicano) New Mexican Puerto Rican Isleño
Manual settler languages	Francosign American Sign Language Black American Sign Language Pro-Tactile American Sign Language Puerto Rican Sign Language BANZSL Samoan Sign Language Kentish Martha's Vineyard Sign Language Isolates Sandy River Valley Sign Language Henniker Sign Language
Immigrant languages (number of speakers in 2000 in millions)	Spanish (28) Varieties of Chinese (2) French (2) German (1.4) Tagalog (1.2) Arabic (1.1) Vietnamese (1) Italian (1) Korean (0.9) Russian (0.7) Polish (0.7) Portuguese (0.6) Greek (0.4) Persian (0.3) Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (0.2) Armenian (0.2) Yiddish (0.2)