Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and it comes in several distinct varieties.
Among them, Mandarin and Cantonese are the two most spoken and well-known languages.
Both have deep historical roots and are spoken by millions of people across different regions.
But when it comes to hiring the right voice artists for Mandarin vs. Cantonese projects, how much do you really know about the Mandarin and Cantonese languages?
Where are they spoken and what sets these two spoken languages apart?
Why is it important for you to know and understand the differences?
These are all essential questions that we shall seek to address in this article, given that at Voice Crafters, our aim is to help you find the voice talent your audience will genuinely appreciate.
Likewise, suitable localization is the key to ensuring your message or narrative will be clearly understood.
Exploring the differences between languages and dialects can be complicated, but we aim to make this both simple and informative.
We will also provide some useful and intriguing insights from experienced voice over professionals, who are the true experts of conveying your words into Mandarin or Cantonese.
Language Regions
According to the most recent estimates via Babbel, there are 302 individual living languages in China itself, spoken among 56 different ethnic groups.
However, linguistic experts have narrowed these down to around 10 main groups, of which Mandarin and Cantonese are two of the most widely spoken.
Despite the shared historical roots and usage of the Chinese writing system, neither are mutually intelligible when spoken.
Mandarin is often referred to as Standard Chinese and Pǔtōnghuà, which means ‘common speech’ in mainland China.
The language itself is based on the Beijing Mandarin dialect, albeit with some influence from other Mandarin dialects across the country.
Mandarin is the official spoken language of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, one of the four official languages of Singapore, and is an important minority language in Malaysia.
Cantonese is predominantly spoken in the southern regions of China, particularly around the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province and the city of Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton.
Cantonese is regarded as the prestige dialect of the Yue group of Chinese languages, it is also spoken in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and is widely spoken by Chinese diaspora communities around the world.
But how many people speak Mandarin and Cantonese?
Well, based on statistics published in the 2023 edition of Ethnologue, 939 million people speak Mandarin as their native first language, with another 199 million as their second language.
Meanwhile, 86 million people speak Cantonese as their primary mother tongue, with around another million as their second language.
Pronunciation and Tones
When comparing the speech patterns of pronunciation, one of the most noticeable differences between Mandarin and Cantonese is the number of tones.
Mandarin has five audibly notable tones: High, Rising, Low, Falling, and Neutral.
These tones can significantly change the meaning of a word, so it is important to use them correctly in speech.
Cantonese has even more tones and there are nine in total!
Six are used with open syllables and three with checked syllables.
The open syllable tones are known as Dark Flat, Dark Rising, Dark Departing, Light Flat, Light Rising, and Light Departing.
The checked syllable tones are Upper Dark Entering, Lower Dark Entering, and Light Entering.
This difference inevitably makes Cantonese more complex than Mandarin, certainly in terms of pronunciation and intonation, due to the important role that tones play in differentiating the meaning of spoken words.
But in either case, tonal precision is always something that experienced voice professionals will pride themselves on getting right.
Chinese Writing System
You may recall that earlier, we mentioned shared usage of the Chinese writing system in both Mandarin and Cantonese.
This would imply mutual intelligibility when it comes to written texts and communications, which is largely true.
Both Mandarin and Cantonese use the same writing system based on Chinese characters.
However, there are differences in the vocabulary and usage of characters.
Mandarin typically uses simplified Chinese characters, especially in mainland China and Singapore, while Cantonese uses traditional Chinese characters, particularly in Hong Kong and Macau.
Nevertheless, it’s often the case that when writing, Cantonese speakers in mainland China will use simplified characters, whereas Mandarin speakers in Taiwan will use traditional characters.
So, it’s impossible to assume that the use of traditional characters implies Cantonese, and vice-versa, that simplified characters imply Mandarin.
But how does written Chinese, whether simplified or traditional, affect speech?
It’s worth noting that while Cantonese follows many of the same written grammar rules as Mandarin, there are numerous Cantonese characters that don’t exist in Mandarin.
This is important to know, as experienced Mandarin VO talent Guidong Z. explains, adding to the notable differences between speech between the two languages.
Guidong Z. – Professional Mandarin Voice Actor
When a native Cantonese VO takes a Mandarin job, the most difficult part for them is usually how to pronounce characters with j, q, x, zh, ch, sh, and r as initial sounds.
If a character has i as the final sound, it’s almost impossible for them to do.
There’s also another interesting aspect to consider: While a Cantonese VO can sometimes take on a job in Mandarin, it often depends on how heavy their accent is.
However, for a Mandarin voice actor it’s almost impossible to take on a job in Cantonese, as they rarely know how to use the correct pronunciation and intonation unless they have taken a proper course to thoroughly learn the nuances of the language.
Due to the shared linguistic roots, Mandarin and Cantonese also share many common words and grammatical structures, although there are also many notable differences in vocabulary and expressions.
As we highlighted previously when discussing the Chinese writing system, depending on the usage of simplified or traditional, there are words in Mandarin and Cantonese that don’t have direct equivalents to one another.
Likewise, there are many grammatical nuances including verb tenses and word order, which can vary between the two dialects.
When it comes to basic sentence structure, both Mandarin and Cantonese typically work in the order of Subject + Verb + Object, therefore mostly following the same pattern for both writing and speech.
But there are also subtle and not-so-subtle differences in grammar.
In Mandarin, adverbs are normally placed before the verb, although this is the other way around in Cantonese.
Also, the indirect object always comes before the direct object in Mandarin, but again, it’s the other way around in Cantonese.
Such grammatical nuances also influence the complexities of mutual understanding between either.
Providing important context to understand the nuances involved in recording projects, experienced VO talent and events MC YingB K. explains her approach to working with the Cantonese language.
Growing up in Hong Kong, we are able to learn two grammar and vocabulary systems, using colloquial Cantonese and written Chinese.
YingB K – Professional Cantonese voice talent.
There are written Chinese words that we can read in Cantonese pronunciation, but we don’t use them in daily conversations.
Then there are Cantonese words that we speak all the time, but many people don’t even know how to write them correctly because they don’t exist in written Chinese.
Actually, there’s an interesting phenomenon within Cantonese VO/Dubbing practices.
We use a different mixture between the two grammar systems for different materials. That serves different purposes and can provide different impressions to the audience.
For example, with children’s publications, we might mix in more written Chinese for learning purposes.
For TV Commercials, most of them are in colloquial Cantonese.
For any TV series with an ancient background, we use written Chinese. But if it’s a comedy, the intention is usually to mix in colloquial Cantonese and even modern slang, for a fun twist.
When it comes to more functional use such as IVR (Interactive Voice Response), while both systems are acceptable, colloquial Cantonese tends to be preferred locally in Hong Kong as it feels more natural to the listening audience.
Insofar as pronunciations and tones, the meaning of a Chinese word may change completely when used in a different context or when paired with different words.
Like all ancient languages, Cantonese has also gone through a long process of evolution.
With the same meaning, under the same context, there may be more than one pronunciation and tone for a single word.
One of those combinations would be considered the “right” version and the other would be considered the “common” version.
Editors for children’s publications and marketing experts might give me contrasting directions in a script or on set.
It all depends on the purpose of the materials and the brand image.
Sometimes, if the client is not entirely aware of the differences, then it’s my responsibility to explain, share my experience, and give them my suggestions regarding the best vocal options.
As you should hopefully now understand with more clarity, while there are similarities between Mandarin and Cantonese, the differences are hard to ignore when preparing to reach an audience that predominantly speaks either.
When seeking to produce audio content for such a diverse Chinese audience, simply reach out and we’ll be happy to help.
In the search box at the top of this page, you can filter voice actors by language, including Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese Chinese, then refine your search according to your own specific needs.
It’s really that simple, but if you’d like to go with a faster route, post a project and our system will find the most appropriate talent based on your specs.
Have questions? Just reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help out with any aspect of your project.
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