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87-608: Miaoli County ( Mandarin Pinyin : miáo lì xiàn ; Hakka PFS : Mèu-li̍t-yen ; Hokkien POJ : Biâu-le̍k-koān or Miâu-le̍k-koān ) is a county in western Taiwan . Miaoli is bordered by Hsinchu County and Hsinchu City to the north, Taichung to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the west. Miaoli is classified as "central Taiwan" by the National Development Council and "northern Taiwan" by

174-531: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending

261-459: A county-administered city . Miaoli County is considered to be located in the central northern part of the island of Taiwan, contiguous with Hsinchu county, Hsinchu City, and Taichung City. The Xueshan Range is located on the border between Miaoli county and Taichung City. Miaoli county north to south averages about 50 kilometers and east to west averages about 64 kilometers. It is roughly diamond-shaped in appearance. The overall coastline of Miaoli

348-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in

435-483: A function of the speed of speech than of register, as it is more commonly used in casual conversations than in formal contexts. Like all varieties of Mandarin, Guoyu is a tonal language . Putonghua as spoken in the mainland has five tones, including the neutral tone. Tones in Guoyu differ somewhat in pitch and contour. Research suggests that speakers of Guoyu articulate the second and third tones differently from

522-735: A given side. The political separation of Taiwan and mainland China after the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 contributed to many differences in vocabulary. This is especially prominent in words and phrases which refer to things or concepts invented after the split; thus, modern scientific and technological terminology often differs greatly between Putonghua and Guoyu . In both Guoyu and Putonghua , for example, 通過 ( 通过 ) tōngguò means 'to pass (a bill or inspection)' or 'to pass through' and 透過 ( 透过 ) tòuguò means 'to penetrate,' but 透過 also means 'by means of' or 'via' only in Guoyu , while using 通过 to express such meanings

609-652: A large majority of their vocabulary, but significant differences do exist. The lexical divergence of Guoyu from Putonghua is the result of several factors, including the prolonged political separation of the mainland and Taiwan, the influence of Imperial Japanese rule on Taiwan until 1945, and the influence of Hokkien. The Cross Strait Common Usage Dictionary categorizes differences as "same word, different meaning" ( 同名異實 tóngmíng yìshí — homonyms ); "same meaning, different word" ( 同實異名 tóngshí yìmíng ); and "Taiwan terms" ( 臺灣用語 Táiwān yòngyǔ ) and "mainland terms" ( 大陸用語 dàlù yòngyǔ ) for words and phrases specific to

696-647: A major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan,

783-429: A nearly identical grammatical role. No is often used in advertising, where it evokes a sense of playfulness and fashionability, and handwriting, as it is easier to write. Taiwanese braille is similar to Mainland Chinese braille , though several sounds are represented by different patterns. Both systems represent the sounds of the language (as do Pinyin and Zhuyin), not Chinese characters themselves. While pinyin

870-584: Is NT$ 19.1 billion, while its annual expenditure is NT$ 18.9 billion. Monthly, Miaoli County Government spends NT$ 600 million on their staffs salaries and another NT$ 600 million for retirement obligation. As of July 2015, the county government has a debt of NT$ 64.8 billion. On revenue, the county government received NT$ 9,572,442,000 from tax revenue (49.92% of all of its total revenue), NT$ 8,845,859,000 from subsidy and financial assistance (46.13% of all of its total revenue) and NT$ 283,792,000 from fines and compensation (1.49% of all of its total revenue). On expenditure,

957-501: Is a table of relatively common characters pronounced differently in Guoyu and Putonghua in most or all contexts ( Guoyu / Putonghua ): Note that many of the above include tonal differences where a first tone in Putonghua is pronounced second tone in Guoyu . Some pronunciation differences may only appear in certain words. The following is a list of examples of such differences ( Guoyu / Putonghua ): Guoyu and Putonghua share

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1044-489: Is about 50 kilometers long. Miaoli has little flat lands (plateau) and very mountainous due to the Xueshan Range. Miaoli has rich rainfall along with abundant rivers. Miaoli County is divided into 2 cities , 5 urban townships , 10 rural townships and 1 mountain indigenous townships. Miaoli County has the second highest number of urban townships after Changhua County . Miaoli City is the county seat which houses

1131-409: Is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of

1218-422: Is not generally used as a day-to-day language. Language falling on the less standard side of the Guoyu spectrum may be stigmatized as uneducated. This article focuses on the features of both Standard Guoyu , particularly its relationship to Putonghua , as well as non-standard but widespread features of Mandarin in Taiwan, grouped under Taiwan Guoyu . Large-scale Han Chinese settlement of Taiwan began in

1305-500: Is only present in Putonghua . The differences may be prevalent enough to hinder communication between Guoyu and Putonghua speakers unfamiliar with each other's respective dialects. For instance, Zhang (2000) selected four hundred core nouns from computer science and found that while 58% are identical in Standard and Taiwanese Mandarin, 22% were "basically" or "entirely" different. As cross-strait relations began to improve in

1392-496: Is spoken fluently by the vast majority of the Taiwanese population, with the exception of some of the elderly population, who were educated under Japanese rule. In the capital of Taipei , where there is a high concentration of Mainlander descendants who do not natively speak Hokkien, Mandarin is used in greater frequency and fluency than in other parts of Taiwan. The 2010 Taiwanese census found that in addition to Mandarin, Hokkien

1479-516: Is the official standard. A competing system, Tongyong Pinyin , was formally revealed in 1998 with the support of the mayor of Taipei Chen Shuibian . In 1999, however, the Legislative Yuan endorsed a slightly modified version of Hanyu Pinyin, creating parallel romanization schemes along largely partisan lines, with Kuomintang-supporting areas using Hanyu Pinyin, and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) areas using Tongyong Pinyin. In 2002,

1566-759: Is the variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Taiwan . A large majority of the Taiwanese population is fluent in Mandarin, though many also speak a variety of Min Chinese known as Taiwanese Hokkien , which has had a significant influence on the Mandarin spoken on the island. Mandarin was not a prevalent spoken language in Taiwan before the mid-20th century. Early Chinese immigrants who settled in Taiwan before Japanese rule mainly spoke other varieties of Chinese languages, primarily Hakka and Hokkien. By contrast, Taiwanese indigenous peoples speak unrelated Austronesian languages . Japan annexed Taiwan in 1895 and governed

1653-472: Is used in applications such as in signage, most Guoyu users learn phonetics through the Zhuyin Fuhao ( 國語注音符號 ; Guóyǔ Zhùyīn Fúhào ; 'Guoyu Phonetic Symbols') system, popularly called Zhuyin or Bopomofo , after its first four glyphs. Taiwan is the only Chinese-speaking polity to use the system, which is taught in schools (often used as ruby characters to aid young learners) and represents

1740-751: The Atayal aboriginal group and the Nanzhuang Incident , the population of the Saisiat people has decreased to 5,000 people. It is the least populous Taiwanese aboriginal group after the Thao people . The traditions and culture of the Saisiat is greatly impacted by the Atayal aborigines and Hakka people in the region. During the Qing Dynasty , Miaoli was inhabited by Hokkiens in the coast and Hakka in

1827-602: The Miaoli County Government and Miaoli County Council . The incumbent Magistrate of Miaoli County is independent Chung Tung-chin . [REDACTED] Colors indicate the common language status of Hakka within each division. Note that Nanzhuang and Tai'an are also indigenous areas of Atayal people . The main population of Miaoli County is comprised by the Han Chinese and the Taiwanese aborigines. The Taiwanese aborigines constitute about 1.9% of

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1914-682: The National United University , Yu Da University and Jen-Teh Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management. Miaoli County houses the gas-fired Tunghsiao Power Plant in Tongxiao Township , the second largest gas-fired power plant in Taiwan with a capacity of 1,815 MW. The county also houses Taiwan's first offshore wind power plant named Formosa 1 Offshore Wind Farm . The Mingde Dam in Touwu Township supplies water for irrigation and water supply for

2001-576: The Netherlands , he placed Miaoli in Tian-Sing County ( 天興縣 ) and started an immigration plan to develop this area. After the last Tungning Ruler Zheng Keshuang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty , Tian-sing County was renamed Zhuluo County . In 1889, Miaoli Hsien ( 苗栗縣 ) was established as an independent county under Taiwan Prefecture . At the end of the 19th century, thousands of acres of high-quality fertile fields had been reclaimed in

2088-564: The Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of the United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government

2175-619: The Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan family , which includes varieties such as Mandarin, Cantonese , and Hakka . They share a common ancestry and script, Chinese characters , and among Chinese speakers, they are popularly considered dialects ( 方言 fāngyán ) of the same, overarching language. These dialects are often extremely divergent in the spoken form, however, and not mutually intelligible . Accordingly, Western linguists tend to treat them as separate languages rather than dialects of

2262-1104: The Taiwan High Speed Rail is located in Houlong Township . Miaoli County is also served by the Western Trunk Line and Taichung Line of the Taiwan Railways Administration . Stations on the Coastal Line include: Stations on the Taichung Line include: Both National freeway No 1 and National freeway No 3 pass through Miaoli County. Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin , frequently referred to as Guoyu ( Chinese : 國語 ; pinyin : Guóyǔ ; lit. 'national language') or Huayu ( 華語 ; Huáyǔ ; 'Chinese language'; not to be confused with 漢語 ),

2349-602: The simplified Chinese characters used in mainland China. Literate Taiwanese can generally understand a text in simplified characters. In practice, Taiwanese Mandarin users may write informal, shorthand characters ( 俗字 ; súzì ; 'customary/conventional characters'; also 俗體字 sútǐzì ) in place of the full traditional forms. These variant Chinese characters are generally easier to write by hand and consist of fewer strokes . Shorthand characters are often identical to their simplified counterparts, but they may also take after Japanese kanji , or differ from both, as shown in

2436-404: The simplified characters used on the mainland. Some grammatical differences also exist, often due to Hokkien influence. The two varieties of Mandarin have diverged in the decades since the political separation of Taiwan and the mainland. Guoyu spoken in Taiwan exists on a spectrum, from the most formal, standardized variety to the least formal, with the heaviest Hokkien influence. On one end of

2523-439: The "theoretical" retroflex (so called because it is a feature of Standard Guoyu but rarely realized in everyday speech, as zh- is usually pronounced z- ; see above section) is assimilated into the palatal glide [j] . Often the reduction involves the removal of initials in compound words, such as dropping the t in 今天 jīntiān 'today' or the ch in 非常 fēicháng 'extremely, very'. These reductions are not necessarily

2610-480: The 17th century by Hoklo immigrants from Fujian province who spoke Southern Min languages (predominantly Hokkien ), and to a lesser extent, Hakka immigrants who spoke their respective language. Taiwanese indigenous peoples already inhabited the island, speaking a variety of Austronesian languages unrelated to Chinese. In the centuries following Chinese settlement, the number of indigenous languages dropped significantly, with several going extinct, in part due to

2697-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Some examples of differences are given later in this section . These character-level differences notwithstanding, Standard Guoyu pronunciation is largely identical to Putonghua , but with two major systematic differences (also true of Taiwan Guoyu ): In addition, two other phenomena, while nonstandard, are extremely common across all Mandarin speakers in Taiwan, even

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2784-548: The 3,500 most commonly used characters. A 1992 study, however, found differences in 22.5% of the 3,500 most common characters. Much of the difference can be traced to the preferences of linguistic authorities on the two sides; the mainland standard prefers popular pronunciations in northern areas, whereas the Taiwanese standard prefers those documented in dictionaries in the 1930s and 1940s. The Taiwanese formal standards may not always reflect actual pronunciations commonly used by actual Taiwanese speakers of Guoyu . The following

2871-517: The Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it

2958-619: The KMT by the Communists also spoke non-standard varieties of Mandarin, which may have influenced later colloquial pronunciations. Wu Chinese dialects were also influential due to the relative power of KMT refugees from Wu-speaking Zhejiang , Chiang Kai-shek 's home province. The Mandarin Promotion Council (now called National Languages Committee ) was established in 1946 by Chief Executive Chen Yi to standardize and popularize

3045-474: The Park of Zhunan Township. In Taiwan National Athletic Games of 2011, Miaoli is ranked 21 out of 22 teams with 1 gold, 1 silver, and 8 bronze. Popular regional agriculture, food production and culture promoted by the government include strawberries from Dahu Township, Hakka zongzi, Sanwan Chinese pears, Touwu Daikons, Sanyi wood sculptures, Tai’an persimmons, and many more. In 2019, annual revenue of Miaoli County

3132-674: The Taiwan Central Weather Bureau . Miaoli City is the capital of the county, and is also known as "Mountain Town", owing to the number of mountains nearby, making it a destination for hiking. The name Miaoli was coined by matching Hakka Chinese sound for the characters 貓貍 to the phonetically approximate Pali ( Bari ) from the Taokas language . The resulting word ( 貓狸 ) is a widespread but non-orthodox variant referring to Viverridae . In 1889, during late Qing rule ,

3219-641: The Taiwanese government led by the DPP promulgated the use of Tongyong Pinyin as the country's preferred system, but this was formally abandoned in 2009 in favor of Hanyu Pinyin. In addition, various other historical romanization systems also exist across the island, with multiple systems sometimes existing in the same locality. Following the defeat of the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War and their subsequent retreat to Taiwan in 1945, little emphasis

3306-947: The United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of

3393-525: The area of Nanzhuang , Shitan , Dahu and Zhuolan . Public and private schools were also established all over Miaoli which made the area a place of gathering intellectuals and elites in northern Taiwan. The county was at first eliminated under Japanese Imperial rule . Byōritsu-chō ( Japanese : 苗栗庁 ) existed from ca. 1901 to 1908, but was split over Shinchiku-chō ( 新竹庁 ) and Taichū-chō ( 台中庁 ) in 1909. From 1920 to 1945, Byōritsu town ( 苗栗街 ) , Enri town ( 苑裡街 ) and six villages were under

3480-526: The colonial period, Japanese had become the high dialect of the island as the result of decades of Japanization policy. After the Republic of China under the Kuomintang (KMT) gained control of Taiwan in 1945, Mandarin was introduced as the official language and made compulsory in schools, although the local population rarely spoke it at the time. Many who had fled the mainland after the defeat of

3567-471: The country underwent liberalization, but Guoyu remained the dominant language. Local languages were no longer proscribed in public discourse, mass media, and schools. English and "mother tongue education" ( 母語教育 ; mǔyǔ jiàoyù ) — Hokkien and Hakka — were introduced as elective subjects in primary school in 2001. Greater time and resources are devoted to both Mandarin and English, which are compulsory subjects, compared to mother tongue instruction. Mandarin

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3654-473: The county government spent NT$ 7,239,103,000 on education, science and culture (38.21% of all of its total expenditure), NT$ 4,457,682,000 for general and administration (23.53% of all of its total expenditure) and NT$ 2,267,660,000 on social welfare (11.97% of all of its total expenditure). Education-related affairs in Miaoli County is regulated by Education Department of the Miaoli County Government . At

3741-691: The county include the Miaoli Park , Wu Chuo-liu Art and Cultural Hall , Wugu Cultural Village , Yingtsai Academy and Hakka Round House . Entertainment centers in the county are Nanzhuang Theater and West Lake Resortopia . Temples in the county are Zhonggang Cihyu Temple , Gongtian Temple , Shuntian Temple , Yuqing Temple , Miaoli Wenchang Temple , Xuanwang Temple and Maling Temple . The various cultural festivals of Miaoli County includes, Miaoli Marine Tourism, Meng-Hua Literary Award, Hakka Tung Hua Festival, Hakka folk song festival, Miaoli international tourism festival, etc. Miaoli Station of

3828-418: The county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where the county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in

3915-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for

4002-717: The county. The dam has a capacity of 17.1 million cubic meters. Tourist arrivals to Miaoli in 2011 was 17,000,000 people. Nature tourism in Miaoli County including Flying Cow Ranch , Longfeng Fishing Port , Shei-Pa National Park , Waipu Fishing Port and Yongheshan Reservoir . Miaoli County houses several museums, such as Huoyan Mountain Ecology Museum , Miaoli Ceramics Museum , Miaoli County Urban Planning Exhibition Center , Miaoli Railway Museum , Museum of Saisiat Folklore , Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum , Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall , Triangle Rush Exhibition Hall and Zaochiao Charcoal Museum . Cultural centers in

4089-424: The dominant digital input method on electronic devices. (Before the introduction of Hanyu pinyin starting in 1958, it was also used in mainland China, whereas today in the mainland it is used primarily in language education and in some dictionaries. ) It has accordingly become a symbol of Taiwanese identity as well. Chinese language romanization in Taiwan somewhat differs from on the mainland, where Hanyu Pinyin

4176-663: The early 20th century. Standard Guoyu pronunciations tend to be based on prescribed dictionaries of the period, whereas Standard Putonghua integrated colloquial Northern Mandarin pronunciations for some words. Notable characteristics of Guoyu as is commonly spoken in Taiwan include its somewhat different tonal qualities compared to Putonghua , the lack of the erhua phenomenon, and the lack of retroflex consonants (with zh- , ch- , sh- being pronounced like z- , c- , and s- ) in most contexts. Guoyu also incorporates vocabulary from Hokkien and Japanese. Written Chinese in Taiwan generally uses traditional characters , in contrast to

4263-563: The early 21st century, direct interaction between mainland China and Taiwan increased, and some vocabulary began to merge, especially by means of the Internet. For example, the words 瓶頸 ( 瓶颈 ) píngjǐng 'bottleneck' and 作秀 zuòxiù 'to grandstand, show off' were originally unique to Guoyu in Taiwan but have since become widely used in mainland China as well. Guoyu has also incorporated mainland phrases and words, such as 渠道 qúdào , meaning 'channel (of communication)', in addition to

4350-411: The end of 2004, the population of people older than 15 years old was 451,128, among which 97.91% of them were literate. There were 108,052 college-educated, 156,870 senior high school or junior college graduates, 176,755 junior high school or lower graduates. The percentage of people receiving education higher than college was relatively low. Miaoli County houses several universities and colleges, such as

4437-688: The highly educated: Taiwan Guoyu pronunciation is strongly influenced by Hokkien. This is especially prominent in areas where Hokkien is common, namely, in Central and Southern Taiwan. Many, though not all, of the phonological differences between Taiwan Guoyu and Putonghua can be attributed to the influence of Hokkien. Notable phonological features of Taiwan Guoyu include: The non-standard Taiwanese Guoyu tends to exhibit frequent, informal elision and cluster reduction when spoken. For example, 這樣子 zhè yàngzi 'this way, like so' can be pronounced similar to 醬子 jiàngzi 'paste, sauce'; wherein

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4524-625: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford

4611-549: The island as a colony for the next 50 years, introducing Japanese in education, government, and public life. With the defeat of Imperial Japan in World War II, Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China , ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT), which by 1950 had been expelled from the mainland by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The KMT promulgated Guoyu in Taiwan while suppressing non-Mandarin languages in

4698-414: The jurisdiction of Byōritsu District, under Shinchiku Prefecture . After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China on 25 October 1945, the present day area of Miaoli County was incorporated to Hsinchu County . On 16 August 1950, the government re-established Miaoli county with Miaoli Township as the county seat . On 25 December 1981, Miaoli Township was upgraded from township to

4785-476: The mainland, however, the word is also a euphemism for a prostitute and is therefore not used as a polite term of address. Guoyu and Putonghua speakers may also display strong preference for one of a set of synonyms. For example, both 禮拜 lǐbài ( 礼拜 ) and 星期 xīngqí ( xīngqī in Putonghua ) are acceptable words for 'week' in Guoyu and Putonghua , but 禮拜 is more common in Taiwan. Guoyu tends to preserve older lexical items that are less used in

4872-513: The mainland. In Taiwan, speakers may use a more traditional 早安 zǎo'ān to say 'good morning', whereas mainland speakers generally default to 早上好 zǎoshang hǎo , for instance. Both words are acceptable in either dialect. Likewise, words with the same literal meaning in either dialect may differ in register . 而已 éryǐ 'that's all, only' is common both in spoken and written Guoyu , influenced by speech patterns in Hokkien, but in Putonghua

4959-461: The mid-17th century, Han Chinese began to migrate into the area, beginning a gradual process of deforestation and establishment of permanent settlement sites. Most inhabitants of Miaoli assimilated into the dominant Han population or migrated deeper into the mountainous range. After several hundred years, Miaoli had become the home of people from different origins, such as Hakka , Hoklo , Atayal and Saisiyat . After Koxinga took over Taiwan from

5046-492: The name was modified from various forms ( 貓裏, 貓裡, 貓里 ) to its current form. Evidence of settlement in Miaoli dates back a thousand years. Many archaeological artifacts have been found showing that during the prehistoric era, people lived in the river terrace . They mainly led an agriculture life and engaged in hunting and fishing for their extra food source. About a thousand years ago, an indigenous group Taokas settled here. In

5133-527: The natively spoken language of a significant number of, or even any, people. Guoyu exists on a continuum from the most standard, formal version of the language to the form most heavily influenced by Hokkien. The former variety can be called Standard Guoyu ( 標準國語 ; Biāozhǔn Guóyǔ ) in contrast to the less standard Taiwan Guoyu ( 臺灣國語 ; Táiwān Guóyǔ ). More formal settings—such as television news broadcasts—tend to feature speakers using Standard Guoyu , which closely resembles mainland Putonghua , but

5220-400: The northern areas of Taipei, Taoyuan , and Hsinchu . Youth is correlated with use of Guoyu : in 2020, over two-thirds of Taiwanese over 65 used Hokkien or Hakka as their primary language, compared with just 11% of 15–24-year-olds. Guoyu employs traditional Chinese characters (which are also used in the two special administrative regions of China , Hong Kong and Macau ), rather than

5307-551: The number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized the term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after

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5394-461: The other. For example, 誇張 ( 夸张 ) kuāzhāng means 'to exaggerate,' but in Taiwan, it can also be used to express exclamation at something absurd or overdone, a meaning absent in Putonghua . 籠絡 ( 笼络 ) lǒngluò in Guoyu means 'to convince, win over', but in Putonghua , it carries a negative connotation (cf. 'beguile, coax'). Another example is 小姐 xiǎojiě , meaning 'miss' or 'young lady', regularly used to address young women in Guoyu . On

5481-627: The process of sinicization . Official communications among the Han were done in Mandarin ( 官話 ; Guānhuà ; 'official language'), but the primary languages of everyday life were Hokkien or Hakka. After its defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War , the Qing dynasty ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan , which governed the island as an Imperial colony from 1895 to 1945. By the end of

5568-528: The public sphere. At the same time, the People's Republic of China promoted the same national language as Putonghua ( 普通话 ; 普通話 ; Pǔtōnghuà ; 'common speech') on the mainland. Putonghua in mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan are highly similar and derive from the same standard based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese and the grammar of written vernacular Chinese in

5655-407: The result of Taiwan Guoyu incorporating influences from other languages used in Taiwan , primarily Hokkien, but also Japanese. Like Standard Guoyu , Taiwan Guoyu is also mutually intelligible with Putonghua , but when compared with Standard Guoyu , Taiwan Guoyu exhibits greater differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. Chinese is not a single language but a group of languages in

5742-469: The rural peasant mountainous areas. Currently, the inhabitants of the four coastal townships of Miaoli ( Nanzhuang Township , Houlong Township , Tongxiao Township , and Yuanli Township ) consists of primarily Taiwanese Hokkien speakers. With the exception of the four coastal townships and Tai'an Township , the main population consists of Hakka. The main sports and recreational structures in Miaoli include Miaoli Sports Hall, Miaoli County Tennis Court, and

5829-412: The same language; citing Yuen Ren Chao , John DeFrancis likened the differences among some dialects as like those between English and Dutch, for example. Mandarin Chinese is a grouping of Chinese languages that includes at least eight subgroups, often also called dialects. In English, "Mandarin" can refer to any of these Mandarin dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. However,

5916-400: The south of the mainland. Both pairs are grammatically correct in either dialect. County seat In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia

6003-795: The spectrum, there is Standard Guoyu ( 標準國語 ; Biāozhǔn guóyǔ ), an official national language of Taiwan. This variety is taught as the standard in the education system and is employed in official communications and most news media. The core of this standard variety is described in the Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary . Very few people speak purely standard Guoyu , however. Mandarin, as colloquially spoken in Taiwan, can be broadly called "Taiwan Guoyu " ( 台灣國語 ; Táiwān guóyǔ ). Taiwan Guoyu diverges in varying degrees from Standard Guoyu , with some speakers being closer to Standard Guoyu than others. These divergences are often

6090-585: The standard Guoyu , there are differences in pronunciation that arise from conflicting official standards in Taiwan and the mainland. Quantification of the extent of pronunciation differences between Guoyu and Putonghua varies. Estimates from graduate-level research include a 2008 study based on the 7,000 characters in the List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which found approximately 18% differed between Guoyu and Putonghua , and 13% for

6177-457: The standards of Beijing Mandarin. The precise nature of the tonal differences is not well attested, however, as relevant studies often lack a sufficiently large variety of speakers. Tones may vary based on age, gender, and other sociolinguistic factors and may not even be consistent across every utterance by an individual. In general, for Guoyu speakers, the second tone does not rise as high in its pitch, according to Jeroen Wiedenhof , and

6264-777: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of

6351-483: The table below. A few shorthand characters are used as frequently as standard traditional characters, even in formal contexts, such as the tai in Taiwan , which is often written as 台 , as opposed to the standard traditional form, 臺 . In informal writing, Guoyu speakers may replace possessive particles 的 de or 之 zhī with the Japanese particle の no in hiragana (usually read as de ), which serves

6438-671: The term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under

6525-681: The term is most commonly used to refer to Standard Chinese , the prestige dialect . Standard Chinese in mainland China is called Putonghua ( 普通話 ; Pǔtōnghuà ; 'common speech') and in the Republic of China (Taiwan) Guoyu ( 國語 ; Guóyǔ ; 'national language'). Both of these, as Mandarin languages, are based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin and are mutually intelligible, but also feature various lexical, phonological, and grammatical differences. There exists significant variation within Putonghua and Guoyu as well. Some scholars have argued that Putonghua and Guoyu are artificial standards that, strictly speaking, do not represent

6612-499: The third tone does not "dip" back up from the low, creaky voice range. Overall, Guoyu speakers may exhibit a lower and more narrow pitch range than speakers of the Mandarin of Beijing. Acoustic analysis of 33 Mandarin speakers from Taiwan in 2008 also found that for many speakers, the second tone tends to have a dipping contour more akin to that of the prescriptive third tone. In addition to differences in elision and influence from Hokkien, which are not features that are codified in

6699-643: The total population where the rural areas is where the Hokkiens are the main group in western urban areas of Miaoli, while the Hakkas comprise the main group of Han Chinese in the rural southern and central parts of Miaoli county The Saisiat currently reside in the Wufeng Township of Hsinchu County and the Nanzhuang Township of Miaoli County. Due to oppression by initial Han immigrants,

6786-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of

6873-733: The traditional Guoyu term, 管道 guǎndào . Words may be formed from abbreviations in one form of Mandarin but not the other. For example, in Taiwan, bubble tea , 珍珠奶茶 zhēnzhū nǎichá , is often abbreviated 珍奶 zhēnnǎi , but this is not common on the mainland. Likewise, traffic rules/regulations, 交通規則 ( 交通规则 ) jiāotōng guīzé , is abbreviated as 交规 jiāoguī on the mainland, but not in Taiwan. Some identical terms have different meanings in Guoyu and Putonghua . There may be alternative synonyms which can be used unambiguously by speakers on both sides. The same word carry different connotations or usage patterns in Guoyu and Putonghua , and may be polysemous in one form of Mandarin but not

6960-433: The usage of Mandarin in Taiwan. The Kuomintang heavily discouraged the use of Southern Min and other non-Mandarin languages, portraying them as inferior, and school children were punished for speaking their non-Mandarin native languages. Guoyu was thus established as a lingua franca among the various groups in Taiwan at the expense of existing languages. Following the end of martial law in 1987 , language policy in

7047-624: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,

7134-411: The use of non-Mandarin Chinese languages, younger generations generally prefer using Mandarin. Government statistics from 2020 found that 66% of Taiwanese residents use Guoyu as their primary language, and another 31% use it as a secondary language (32% used Minnanyu /Hokkien as their primary language, and 54% used it as a secondary language). Guoyu is the primary language for over 80% of people in

7221-512: The word is largely confined to formal, written contexts. Preference for the expression of modality often differs among northern Mandarin speakers and Taiwanese, as evidenced by the selection of modal verbs . For example, Taiwanese Mandarin users strongly prefer 要 yào and 不要 búyào over 得 děi and 別 bié , respectively, to express 'must' and 'must not', compared to native speakers from Beijing. However, 要 yào and 不要 búyào are also predominantly used among Mandarin speakers from

7308-771: Was gaining prominence internationally. Ultimately, a revised version of Gwoyeu Romatzyh was released in 1986, which was called Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II . However, this system was not widely adopted. Like Putonghua , both Standard and Taiwan Guoyu are tonal. Pronunciation of many individual characters differs in the standards prescribed by language authorities in Taipei and Beijing. Mainland authorities tended to adopt pronunciations popular in Northern Mandarin areas, whereas Taiwanese authorities prefer traditional pronunciations recorded in dictionaries from

7395-499: Was natively spoken by around 70% of the population, and Hakka by 15%. A 2004 study found that Mandarin was spoken more fluently by Hakka and Taiwanese aboriginals than their respective mother tongues; Hoklo groups, on average, spoke better Hokkien, but Hoklo under 50 years old still spoke significantly better Mandarin (with comparable levels of fluency to their usage of Hokkien) than the elderly. Overall, while both national and local levels of government have taken some measures to promote

7482-538: Was placed on the romanization of Chinese characters, with the Wade-Giles system used as the default. It is still widely used for transcribing people's legal names today. The Gwoyeu Romatzyh method, invented in 1928, also was in use in Taiwan during this time period, albeit to a lesser extent. In 1984, Taiwan's Ministry of Education began revising the Gwoyeu Romatzyh method out of concern that Hanyu Pinyin

7569-583: Was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been

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