| Ethnic people in China enjoy the
freedom to use and develop their own languages. Chinese is the universal
language in this country; it is also one of the five working languages of
the United Nations. Due to historical and geographical reasons, the Chinese
language consists of quite a few local dialects, such as Suzhou, Cantonese,
and Fukienese dialects. Putonghua is the standard spoken language for the
Han people. The Chinese characters, which are the written form of the
Chinese language, had their origin in oracle inscriptions more than 6,000
years ago. Most of the 55 ethnic minorities, however, speak their own
languages, and some 30 of them have their own written languages. |
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