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China's Dialects: Business Implications
Overview
The most commonly spoken language in the world is not English, but Chinese - twenty percent of the world's population speaks some variation of this language. In spite of China's rapid rise to global prominence, many foreign visitors often know little about the Chinese language. An important factor that contributes to the complex and challenging business environment in China the country today is the language itself. Even if people working with Chinese counterparts are not yet ready to tackle the process of learning the language, it is important to learn some key facts about China's various dialects and their implications.
Although all Chinese now learn the national language, called "putonghua" and known in the west as "standard Mandarin," most Chinese grow up speaking a local dialect, of which there are more than two hundred. Unlike most English dialects, where one's accent may be strong but there is little difficulty in comprehension, the dialects in China diverge in pronunciation and vocabulary to the point that they are often not mutually intelligible.
Indeed, China's dialects are sometimes described as distinct languages in their own right, with the differences between them being analogous to the contrasts between the various Romance languages of Europe. A citizen of Beijing, for example, will not be able to comprehend the Cantonese dialect spoken by someone from Guangzhou, and a citizen of Shanghai will not understand the Minnan dialect of his compatriots in Fujian province. The following table depicts China's major dialect groups, where they are spoken, and a rough estimate of the number of people who speak them.
| Major Dialect Groups |
Locations |
Estimated Number of Speakers |
| Mandarin |
This is the official language of the People's Republic of China; and the spoken language is called "Putonghua". It is known as "Guoyu" in Taiwan and also spoken in Singapore. This is the mother dialect of the Chinese living in Beijing and the three provinces north of there.
|
More than 1030 Million |
| Wu |
Spoken in the lower Yangtze River area; Shanghaiese is one variant of this dialect |
100 Million |
| Yue / Cantonese |
Spoken in Guangdong province, Hong Kong, Macau, and by many overseas Chinese |
70 Million |
| Hakka |
Spoken by scattered groups in southeastern China, particularly Guangxi province |
50 Million |
| Min |
Spoken in southeastern China, especially Fujian province, as well as by many immigrants from this area to other parts of China and abroad |
60 Million |
|
Xiang |
Spoken in Hunan province
|
65 Million |
| Gan |
Spoken in Jiangxi province |
30 Million |
Used with permission from
La Vida International.
Dialects & Negotiations
One factor that makes the dialectical variations of spoken Chinese so fascinating is that the Chinese will deliberately use dialects as a way of regulating whom they choose to include in a conversation. For example, in a negotiation involving a business from Beijing in the north selling to a customer in Guangzhou down south, the two parties would naturally begin their discussions in Mandarin. But should the southerners wish to begin a side discussion in private, perhaps to respond to a sticky point in the negotiations, they would probably switch into their local Cantonese dialect. At this point, the Beijing team would be left in the dark, unless of course one of them spoke Cantonese, which is unlikely. The Guangzhou team would thus have a convenient tool by which to continue the conversation in private, without having to leave the room.
The ability to shift into a local dialect thus represents a powerful communication method and a regulator of social interaction. The Beijing team would not feel insulted by this behavior, but would certainly feel excluded, and, in the case of a negotiation, they would fully understand why.
Thus, a Chinese team that can speak both Mandarin and a local dialect will have a slight advantage over an opposing team that can only speak Mandarin. Because the first team can easily switch to their local dialect and exclude their Mandarin-speaking counterparts, this tends to throw the opposing team members somewhat off balance, as they realize that the multi-dialect team is in fact in control of the conversation.
Dialects & Sales
A related and extremely important result of dialectic variation is connected to sales efforts. Although it is perfectly possible for a sales team to market and sell its product or service anywhere in China using Mandarin, it is much more effective if the team can speak to its prospects and customers in their local dialect. This is because speaking the local dialect brings a sense of closeness, community, and linguistic kinship that helps build trust and confidence in the product or service. All other things being equal, it is thus considerably harder for a Shanghainese salesman to sell in Guangzhou than a local salesman who speaks Cantonese.
Suggestions for Non-Chinese Firms
- It is a good idea for any foreign business in China to have a clear linguistic "map" of its operations in China, and to ensure that key Chinese managers in each region are able to speak the local dialect. This will confer a huge advantage in everything from motivation and development of local staff to negotiations with local officials.
- The easiest way to ensure this linguistic match is, of course, to hire locally. Sending employees from Shanghai or Beijing to manage an operation in the interior of China, for example, may be necessary from a technical or leadership standpoint. But even experienced operators will benefit from having trusted colleagues who speak the local language and can use it to build strong ties - the level of spoken Mandarin in many rural areas with their own unique linguistic and cultural heritage may be limited.
- During the candidate interview process, ask where a candidate is from and what dialects he or she speaks in order to ensure the best possible match of talent, business need, and geography. With increased mobility in China today, qualified candidates for a job - for instance, people from Chengdu who speak the Sichuanese Chengdu dialect - might be found in cities as far away as Harbin in the north or Kunming in the south.
- Ensure that overseas Chinese who are sent to China are familiar with the dialects spoken in their destination. Many Western firms naively assume that because a person is ethnically Chinese, he or she will be able to handle both Mandarin and local dialects. Those who learned the language at home and were educated in English may only speak Cantonese, for example, and not Mandarin, and would therefore find an assignment in Tianjin in the northeastern part of China to be based on impossible expectations.
- Non-Chinese learners of the language should take the time to learn at least a few expressions characteristic of the local dialect in order to demonstrate their interest and commitment in the region.
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