Languages of China - Written Languages

Written Languages

The following languages traditionally had written forms that do not involve Chinese characters (hanzi):

• The Dai – Dai language
• The Hui – Chinese language – Xiaoerjing
• The Kazakhs – Kazakh language – Arabic script
• The Koreans – Korean language – Hangul
• The Kyrgyz – Kyrgyz language – Arabic script
• The Manchus – Manchu language – Manchu alphabet
• The Mongolians – Mongolian language – Mongolian alphabet
• The Naxi – Dongba script/Geba script
• The Sui – Sui language – Sui script
• The Tibetans – Tibetan language – Tibetan script
• The Uyghurs – Uyghur language – Arabic script
• The Xibe – Xibe language – Manchu alphabet
• The Yi – Yi language – Yi syllabary

Some formerly have used Chinese characters

• The Jurchens (Manchu ancestors) – Jurchen language – Jurchen script
• The Koreans – Korean language – Hanja
• The Khitans (Mongol ancestors) – Khitan language – Khitan script
• The Tanguts (Sino-Tibetan people) – Tangut language – Tangut script
• The Zhuang – Zhuang languages – Sawndip

Chinese palaces, temples, and coins have traditionally been inscribed in five scripts:

• Chinese
• Manchu
• Mongol
• Tibetan
• Uyghur

During the Mongol Yuan dynasty, the official writing system was:

• 'Phags-pa script

Chinese banknotes contain several scripts in addition to Chinese script. These are:

• Mongol
• Tibetan
• Arabic (for Uyghur)
• Latin (for Zhuang)

Ten nationalities who never had a written system have, under the PRC's encouragement, developed phonetic alphabets. According to a government white paper published in early 2005, "by the end of 2003, 22 ethnic minorities in China used 28 written languages."