Mandarin
Pronunciation: /ˈmæn.də.ɹɪn/
The English word “Mandarin” has 2 meanings listed here.
proper noun
Etymology
Calque from Chinese 官話／官话 (Guānhuà, “spoken language of the mandarins”). An extension of mandarin (“bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire”) to the language used by the imperial court and sometimes by imperial officials elsewhere. As such, it was adopted as a synonym for Modern Standard Chinese in the 20th century. The term became ambiguous, however, as its use was extended to the various Northern…
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