Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The standardized spoken Chinese language, also referred to as Standard Mandarin. The term remains in common use in Taiwan and colloquially in Hong Kong (along with Putonghua). In mainland China, Guoyu or Taiwan Guoyu is used to refer to Taiwanese Mandarin (standard), as opposed to mainland standard Mandarin.
  • proper noun historical The language the Emperor of China spoke.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Mandarin guóyǔ, loan translation (using the Mandarin readings of the two Chinese characters used to write the Japanese word) of Japanese kokugo, national language (of Japan) : koku, nation, country (from Early Middle Chinese kwək) + go, language (from Early Middle Chinese ŋɨă’).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Mandarin trad. 國語, simpl. 国语 (pinyin: Guóyǔ) , literally "nation-language" or "country-language".

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Guoyu.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.