Hi fellow Skritterers,

I've recently started learning Chinese and I'm surprised by the different ways of communicating "Chinese (language)" in Chinese and I'd like to ask the more advanced users for some clarification. 普通话 is pretty clear to me (= "Mandarin" in English), but I'm not sure about 汉语 and 中文. I assume the largest difference between these two translations and 普通话 is that there's no differentiation between Mandarin and Traditional Chinese, but is there more to it than that? What are the specific connotations at play? For example, did the Han introduce specific linguistic changes (other than the Communist reforms, of course) that give 汉语 special connotations compared to the more general 中文?

Thanks for the help!

中文 used to refer to written Chinese, but it now seems to be used to refer to spoken Chinese as well. Which form of Chinese it refers to depends on context, as speakers in, for example, Hong Kong would use 中文 to refer to Cantonese.

普通话 refers, as you said, to modern standard Mandarin Chinese, contrasting it to other topolects of Chinese.

Note from Tuttle Dictionary:

"In Chinese there are a number of words denoting “the Chinese language.” 汉语 Hànyǔ literally means the language of the Han Chinese people, in contrast with the languages of the non-Han peoples in China. 汉语 Hànyǔ is therefore the accurate, scientific term for the language. However, the most popular term for the Chinese language is 中文 Zhōngwén. In Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries, the standard Chinese language is often referred to as 华语 Huáyǔ in contrast to the various Chinese dialects spoken there. Also see note on 普通话 Pǔtōnghuà."

Basically same as xiaokaka, but for beginning purposes to simplify, can work with:
普通话 (Taiwan:国语) = Standard Chinese (emphasis on spoken, usually doesn't refer to written)
中文 = Standard Chinese (emphasis on written, but used for spoken too)
汉语 = language of the Han race = Standard Chinese (perhaps an outdated term)
华语 = language of (han) chinese (civilisation) = Standard Chinese (term mainly used outside China)
Mandarin = Standard Chinese (perhaps an outdated term)
Chinese = Standard Chinese (rarely refers to other dialects/languages etc. like Cantonese, unless reason to think it does).

Traditional and simplified characters are both 中文.

These are really good explanations. I've asked My Chinese tutor, as well as my husband, the difference between 中文 and 汉语. They gave me somewhat different answers, but basically there is more of an implication of reading and writing when using the word 中文 while 汉语 often refers to spoken language.

I was a bit confused when I traveled to Makaysia as to what the polite thing would be to ask ethnic Chinese: 你会说国语？ 汉语？ 普通话？I think my husband suggested 国语 but who knows?! I suppose some of this is up to interpretation and translations must vary somewhat among Chinese speakers.

普通话 is not interchangeable with "Mandarin". Mandarin is a variety of Chinese which is spoken with lots of different regional accents and regional variations in vocabulary. 普通话 is an official standard for how to speak Mandarin, covering accent and vocabulary.

So, in daily life, many people speak Mandarin with an accent very different from that of 普通话.

In Taiwan I always hear people refer to the 國語 that I speak. I usually refer to 中文 for spoken Chinese as well, but using 漢語 or 普通話 will make people give you funny looks. 普通話 is used in Taiwan to refer specifically to the Beijing pronounciation of Mandarin, in the sense that Kryby was saying.

rmzhao82 - I've heard 华语 is the normal term in Malaysia, but don't know for sure.

Kryby - while sinologists/linguists sometimes speak of the "mandarin dialects" and redefine "Mandarin" accordingly, OP's view (Mandarin = putonghua) is more in line with standard english usage - see OED: "Mandarin or Mandarin Chinese" [MASS NOUN] the standard literary and official form of Chinese

ricksh: I'm not sure that's the standard English usage. If you ask native English speakers what language is spoken in everyday life by Beijing locals, most'll say Mandarin. But those Beijing locals aren't speaking 普通话