Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Hakka dialect

Hakka dialect

9.9
A form of Chinese that Hakka people speak in southeast China and many other countries
  • noun
translation icon : dialecto Hakka
  • The Hakka dialect is known for its unique pronunciation and vocabulary among Chinese dialects.

Examples

  • In Taiwan, the Hakka dialect is widely taught in schools to preserve the language.

  • Many people in Guangdong speak the Hakka dialect as part of their cultural heritage.

  • Second, because most local teachers were conversant in local languages (Hakka dialect or Yao language), effective communication was facilitated.

    Academic text (2003)

Synonyms

Hakka
vsHakka dialect
9.2

A Chinese dialect spoken in southeastern China and by communities abroad

applies to speakers in southeastern China and in several other regions

Surface Forms

Hakka dialect singular
Hakka dialects plural

Morphology

Hakka + dialect

The phrase 'Hakka dialect' is transparently compositional: 'Hakka' names the speech community/language and 'dialect' denotes a regional or social variety, so the combined meaning (the dialect spoken by Hakka people) follows directly from the parts. This construction (language name + dialect) is cross-linguistically common and would be obvious to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Hakka dialect comes from the word Hakka, which means 'guest families' because many Hakka were people who moved into new areas and kept their own speech. So Hakka dialect means the special way those 'guest' communities speak today.