Langenesis

Sino-Tibetan family

Cantonese

1000 CE – today Living

Cantonese (1000 CE – today) is a living Sino-Tibetan language. Lineage: Proto-Sino-Tibetan → Proto-Sinitic → Old Chinese → Middle Chinese → Cantonese.

See Cantonese on the interactive map
Speakers
85M (85,000,000)
ISO 639-3
yue
Glottocode
yuec1235

Member of the Yue branch of Sinitic, traditionally said to preserve features of Middle Chinese lost in Mandarin (e.g. final stops, more tones).

Lineage

  1. Proto-Sino-Tibetanc. 4,000 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-Siniticc. 1,500 BCE – 1,250 BCE
  3. Old Chinese1,250 BCE – 25 CE
  4. Middle Chinese25 CE – 1000 CE
  5. Cantonese1000 CE – today

Sister languages 6

Also descended from Middle Chinese.

Sources