
Simplified (简体) and Traditional (繁体) Characters Traditional Chinese characters carved in stone. This is because “traditional” and “simplified” refer to the written language, not the spoken one. This means speakers of any of China's hundreds of often mutually unintelligible dialects can write what they say in either simplified or traditional characters. In fact, people in Mainland China today write Chinese characters the same way no matter what dialect of Chinese they speak.

Modern China has many spoken dialects, but the Chinese language isn't phonetic the way most other modern languages are. They aren't referring to the spoken, or “vernacular,” language.

Traditional and Simplified Chinese: What’s the Difference?įirst of all, when people talk about “traditional” and “simplified” Chinese, they're talking about the written language. The 100 Most Common Traditional Characters and Their Simplified Equivalents.Is Traditional Chinese the Same as Classical Chinese?.

Which Script Should I Learn, Traditional or Simplified?.Simplified (简体) and Traditional (繁体) Characters.Do Taiwan and Hong Kong use Traditional Characters?.Traditional and Simplified Chinese: What’s the Difference?.
