How do you say "Standard Chinese" in Chinese

[Takeshi]

The term "Standard Chinese" referring to the modern written language based on Mandarin. I especially hear HKers using this term (in English) because they speak "Cantonese" but write "Standard Chinese".

I realize that the archetypical meaning of 中文 is such, but 中文 also includes Classical Chinese and written forms of other dialects in its broader meaning. So I want a term that I can use to contrast "Standard Chinese" with written forms of dialects

A lot of people just seem to call it 普通話 when they want to make such a contrast, but I specifically don't want to use this term because it implies use of Mandarin sounds.

[skylee]

According to this website (check out the foreword), standard Modern Chinese = 現代漢語規範. Based on this, I think you can call Standard Chinese 規範漢語.

Personally I will simply call it 中文 。

[Takeshi]

Thanks.

Would you still use 中文 when contrasting with 白話文 or 粤語文 or whatever you call it over there? How would you say something like "I don't write in Cantonese, I write in Standard Chinese" in Chinese? This is the sort of example I'm talking about; I don't know about in HK, but in Guangzhou, 90% of people would say 普通话 to refer to Standard Chinese in this instance.

[skylee]

I would say something like, "寫作時我用的是(標準)中文，不是粵語/廣東話".

I don't usually use 白話文, unless I am talking about it in the context of 白話文 vs/and 文言文.

I have not seen 粵語文 used. And I don't support writing in Cantonese.

[Takeshi]

Ahh, I see. I guess 標準中文 should work then. 規範漢語 sounds stilted-ish to my ears, but what would I know.

I have not seen 粵語文 used. And I don't support writing in Cantonese.

I am quite aware of this as you make it very evident.

We could argue about this for a long time, but there'd be no end to it.

[Hofmann]

The term "Standard Chinese" is so vague that the only reason I understand it is because a bunch of people on Wikipedia used it to replace Standard Mandarin. It refers to 普通話.

[abcdefg]

Deleted by poster -- figured out that what I was going to say was wrong.

[skylee]

Didn't seem that wrong to me. I thought about that too. I think it is not just 普通話.

[abcdefg]

#8 --

What I had written, and later deleted, was that I wondered if 国语 would express what the OP was trying to say. I wasn't sure if it only referred to spoken language or not.

I've gotten gunshy about making stupid posts for fear of getting red points.

[jkhsu]

What I had written, and later deleted, was that I wondered if 国语 would express what the OP was trying to say.

I doubt it. 国语 is described here. It's used more in Taiwan (and many overseas Chinese communities) to refer to the same thing as 普通话 in mainland China. It also refers to the spoken language. What the OP is looking for is a way to say written vernacular "Mandarin" Chinese that does not include Classical Chinese or other written forms of spoken Chinese such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.

[imron]

I've gotten gunshy about making stupid posts for fear of getting red points.

It seems to be mostly rude/arrogant posts that attract red points. In any event, even a string of red points won't change the fact that you're still in the top 10 members in terms of overall reputation points

[abcdefg]

What the OP is looking for is a way to say written vernacular "Mandarin" Chinese that does not include Classical Chinese or other written forms of spoken Chinese such as Cantonese, Shanghainese, etc.

I understand now. Always learn new things here. Keeps me coming back for more.

And thanks for the reassurance, @Imron. I never follow things like that and was not aware of how it worked until recently.