Editing Dialect continuum (section)

== Chinese ==
[[File:Map of sinitic languages cropped-en.svg|thumb|right|Areas of Chinese dialect groups]]
Chinese consists of hundreds of mutually unintelligible [[varieties of Chinese|local varieties]].<ref name="Norman 2003 p72">{{cite book
  | given = Jerry | surname = Norman | author-link = Jerry Norman (sinologist)
  | chapter = The Chinese dialects: phonology | pages = 72–83
  | editor-given1 = Graham | editor-surname1 = Thurgood | editor-link1 = Graham Thurgood
  | editor-given2 = Randy J. | editor-surname2 = LaPolla | editor-link2 = Randy LaPolla
  | title = The Sino-Tibetan languages | publisher = Routledge | year = 2003
  | isbn = 978-0-7007-1129-1
  }} p. 72.</ref><ref>{{cite journal
  | given = Mahé Ben | surname = Hamed
  | title = Neighbour-nets portray the Chinese dialect continuum and the linguistic legacy of China's demic history
  | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
  | volume = 272  | number = 1567 | pages = 1015–1022 | year = 2005
  | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2004.3015 | pmc = 1599877 | pmid=16024359 |jstor=30047639
}}</ref>
The differences are similar to those within the [[Romance languages]], which are similarly descended from a language spread by imperial expansion over [[substrate language]]s 2000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book
  | given = Jerry | surname = Norman | title = Chinese
  | location = Cambridge | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1988
  | isbn = 978-0-521-29653-3
  | page = 187
  }}</ref>
Unlike Europe, however, Chinese political unity was restored in the late 6th century and has persisted (with interludes of division) until the present day.
There are no equivalents of the local standard literary languages that developed in the numerous independent states of Europe.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=2–3}}

Chinese dialectologists have divided the local varieties into a number of dialect groups, largely based on phonological developments in comparison with [[Middle Chinese]].<ref>{{cite book
  | given = Maria | surname = Kurpaska
  | title = Chinese Language(s): A Look Through the Prism of "The Great Dictionary of Modern Chinese Dialects"
  | publisher = [[Walter de Gruyter]] | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-3-11-021914-2
  | pages = 41–55
  }}</ref>
Most of these groups are found in the rugged terrain of the southeast, reflecting the greater variation in this area, particularly in [[Fujian]].<ref>{{cite book
  | given = S. Robert | surname = Ramsey | title = The Languages of China
  | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-0-691-01468-5
  | page = 22
  }}</ref>{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=183–190}}
Each of these groups contains numerous mutually unintelligible varieties.<ref name="Norman 2003 p72"/>
Moreover, in many cases the transitions between groups are smooth, as a result of centuries of interaction and multilingualism.<ref>{{cite journal
  | given = Laurent | surname = Sagart | author-link = Laurent Sagart
  | title = On distinguishing Hakka and non-Hakka dialects
  | journal = Journal of Chinese Linguistics | volume = 26 | issue = 2
  | year = 1998 | pages = 281–302 | jstor = 23756757
  }} p 299.</ref>

The boundaries between the northern [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] area and the central groups, [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], [[Gan Chinese|Gan]] and [[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]], are particularly weak, due to the steady flow of northern features into these areas.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|pp=190, 206–207}}<ref>{{cite book
  | given = M.A.K | surname = Halliday | author-link = Michael Halliday
  | chapter = The users and uses of language
  | pages = 139–169 | orig-year = 1964
  | title = Readings in the Sociology of Language
  | editor-given = Joshua A. | editor-surname = Fishman
  | publisher = Walter de Gruyter | year = 1968
  | isbn = 978-3-11-080537-6
}} p. 12.</ref>
Transitional varieties between the Wu, Gan and Mandarin groups have been variously classified, with some scholars assigning them to a separate [[Huizhou Chinese|Hui]] group.<ref>{{cite book
  | given = Margaret Mian | surname = Yan
  | title = Introduction to Chinese Dialectology
  | publisher = LINCOM Europa | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-3-89586-629-6
  | pages = 223–224
  }}</ref>{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=206}}
The boundaries between Gan, [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and [[Min Chinese|Min]] are similarly indistinct.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=241}}{{sfnp|Norman|2003|p=80}} 
[[Pinghua]] and [[Yue Chinese|Yue]] form a dialect continuum (excluding urban enclaves of [[Cantonese]]).<ref>{{cite book
  | given = Hilário | surname = de Sousa
  | chapter = Language contact in Nanning: Nanning Pinghua and Nanning Cantonese
  | pages = 157–189
  | title = Diversity in Sinitic Languages
  | editor-given = Hilary M. | editor-surname = Chappell
  | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-0-19-872379-0
  }} p. 162.</ref>
There are sharper boundaries resulting from more recent expansion between Hakka and Yue, and between [[Southwestern Mandarin]] and Yue, but even here there has been considerable convergence in contact areas.{{sfnp|Halliday|1968|pp=11–12}}