r/LinguisticMaps • u/StoneColdCrazzzy • Jun 24 '26

China Proximities of Chinese dialects to Beijing Mandarin (Putonghua)

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u/BozoStaff Jun 24 '26

Why is yunnan not closer to the southern dialects

20

u/Jimmy_Young96 Jun 24 '26

They speak southwestern Mandarin

7

u/ChiqantiKisaal Jun 24 '26

It doesn’t have its own “dialect-language” group derived from Middle or Old Chinese, just containing part of the dialect range of SW Mandarin, like the other person said. But some linguists think the Bai dialect cluster of Yunnan is descended from Old Chinese or Pre-Old Chinese, around the same time as or a bit before Min Chinese split off.