UN Chinese Language Day is celebrated annually on April 20. This is a holiday celebrating cultural diversity and multilingualism. Chinese is among the six official languages designated by the United Nations. The holiday promotes the use of the official languages equally. Each of the six official languages receives six days of recognition. These festivals are celebrated around the globe. The day’s events serve to promote Chinese culture and the splendour of diversity. It is an opportunity for everyone to comprehend the similarities and differences between various cultures.
The background of UN Chinese Language Day
The Chinese language has existed for countless centuries. The Chinese formed the Sino-Tibetan language family, and Cangjie is credited with the origin of the Chinese language. Cangjie was a prominent and well-known figure in ancient China. He is recognised as the Yellow Emperor’s official historian and the creator of Chinese characters. The holiday date was selected to honour Cangjie. Upon the Yellow Emperor’s accession to power, the first official historians devised the Chinese characters. Throughout the provinces of China, distinct dialects developed and expanded. The majority of the archaic Chinese spoken between the early and middle 11th and 7th centuries B.C. is rarely used in contemporary Chinese.
The United Nations instituted Chinese Language Day to promote cultural diversity and multilingualism. The objective was to educate more people about the history of the Chinese language. Individuals are educated about the advantages of learning Chinese. Chinese became an official language of the United Nations in 1946, and the General Assembly adopted it as a working language in 1973. Numerous United Nations employees use Chinese as a functional language.
Promoting the use of Chinese serves to increase the number of individuals who speak multiple languages. Language study is beneficial for the mind and serves to broaden one’s horizons. More people are exposed to how fascinating it can be to explore other cultures. We can all learn a great deal from the cultures of the globe. Learning a second language, such as Chinese, also facilitates communication with those who speak the same language.
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5 Chinese language facts that will blow your mind
Chinese is a pictographic language similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The Chinese language lacks a segmented alphabet and is instead learned through the study of distinct characters.
According to some Chinese dictionaries, the number of characters in the Chinese language is much higher than 50,000.
You can speak and read Chinese if you know approximately 20,000 characters.
There are no masculine or feminine nouns in Chinese writing or speech.
UN CHINESE LANGUAGE DAY DATES
Year | Date | Day |
---|---|---|
2023 | April 20 | Thursday |
2024 | April 20 | Saturday |
2025 | April 20 | Sunday |
2026 | April 20 | Monday |
2027 | April 20 | Tuesday |