Characters are symbols of writing language. After it came into being, it overcame the time and space limitation of language, expanded the dissemination of information, increased the accumulation of culture and greatly promoted the development of society.
In China, Chinese characters are not only written by the Han nationality, but also the common language of all ethnic minorities in China, and the legal language representing China in international activities. Ethnic minorities, who all speak Chinese, naturally use Chinese characters as their own writing. Most ethnic minorities who don't have the same language and script as their own also choose Chinese characters as their own scripts.
Among the 55 ethnic minorities in China, most of them do not use their own languages except Hui (except Hui) and Manchu, and 29 ethnic groups have languages consistent with their own languages, which is an important part of China's language history. Because some ethnic groups use more than one language, for example, Dai people use four languages, Jingpo people use two languages and 29 ethnic groups use 54 languages.
Extended data
According to the latest survey, there are more than 120 minority languages used in China, and languages with a population of less than 1 10,000 account for about half of the total number of languages. There are more than 20 species with less than 1000 people, which are basically endangered.
According to Professor Sun Hongkai, honorary president of China Ethnic Languages Society, several ethnic languages have completely lost their communicative functions, such as Manchu, She, Hezhe and Tatar. 20% of the languages are endangered, such as Nu language, gelao language, Pumi language, Jino language and so on. 40% of languages have shown signs of extinction or are on the verge of extinction.
Even if languages with a population of more than 1000 people are used, it does not mean that they have strong vitality. For example, although Manchu has a population of more than 1 1 10,000, less than 100 people can speak Manchu and less than 10 people can master Manchu. They are all over 80 years old. The death of these old people will also be the day when Manchu withdrew from the historical stage. People concerned worry that if Manchu disappears, many historical facts of the Qing Dynasty will never be decrypted.
In this regard, Professor Zhou Haizhong, a famous scholar in China, pointed out: today's weak national languages are facing the impact of strong languages, globalization and the Internet, and are in danger of disappearing gradually;
Therefore, relevant institutions and linguists should take active and effective measures to protect the weak national languages and rescue the endangered national languages. This is not only conducive to the inheritance and development of human civilization, but also conducive to national unity and social stability.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Minority Languages and Characters