Why is the Chinese language (sometimes) called Mandarin in English?

The words 中文 (literally "Chinese language") refers to Cantonese in Hong Kong and Macau, but Mandarin in People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan), because that is the dominant and administrative language of those regions. As the official language of two Chinese states, the term "Chinese language" is attributed to Mandarin.

But as you see, there is no such thing as *the* Chinese language. There is a family of Chinese languages... a "dialect" for different provinces, prefectures, and regions. So it is somewhat silly and ambiguous to say "I speak Chinese".

Compare with "I speak Indian": there is no such thing as the "Indian" language... there is a family of "Indian" (South Asian) languages, not one: Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, and Sinhala are the major administrative languages India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

However, you can write the Chinese language. It was unified over 2000 years ago, but today there are two scripts: Traditional (正體字 or 繁體字) and Simplified (简体字). Compare with writing Serbian in Cyrillic (српски) or Latin (srpski): same thing, different script.

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About Chinese not from China

Chinese not from China is an overseas Chinese educated on Chinese history, fluent in two Chinese languages, and raised in Chinese culture. Learn more about me.