This lesson begins by introducing some sounds unique to the Chinese language, including tones. The Chinese writ-ing system dates back more than four thousand years, and it is especially intriguing to see how Chinese characters developed since their basically pictographic origins in ancient China. By the end of the lesson, you will know eleven Chinese characters and be able to express some everyday greetings in Chinese. 

文化知识Cultural Notes 

The Chinese Language (Hanyu) and "Common Speech" (Putonghua) 

Scholars think Chinese writing originated almost four thousand years ago and that the spoken language goes back to remote antiquity, making it one of the world's oldest languages. In spite of its great age , Chinese is now one of the most widely used living languages. The language is spoken in many dialects within China, as well as in many overseas Chinese communities, especially in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas. And there are more than a billion native speakers of Chinese worldwide. It is one of the languages the United Nations uses when conducting official business. 

Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Hanyu , literally "language of the Han", refers to the standard Chinese language , and is spoken by the Han, Hui, Manchu, and other ethnic groups that constitute 94% of the population of China. There are fifty-six recognized ethnic groups in China, using as many as eighty different languages. Chinese includes variants from seven main dialect groups. The northern or Mandarin dialect covers three fourths of China's territory and includes two thirds of its population. Standard Chinese is also known by its official designation, Putonghua, literally "common speech". Putonghua is based on the northern dialect ,using the dialect of Beijing as the basis for its pronunciation and modern vernacular literature for its grammatical structure. This is the Chinese that is taught in this textbook.