jyu5 hai6語系语系
Jyutpingjyu5 hai6
Yaleyúh haih
Definition
Language family; a group of languages descended from a common ancestral language.
neutralother
How it's used
This term is primarily used in academic or linguistic contexts rather than casual daily chatter. It functions as a technical classification tool to group languages based on shared historical ancestry. When discussing specific families, it is almost always suffixed to the name of the group, such as 印歐語系 or 南島語系.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
The Sino-Tibetan language family includes many different languages.
Do you know which language family Cantonese belongs to?
Related words
Common phrases
Sino-Tibetan language family
Indo-European language family
Common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse this with 語言, which refers to a single language rather than a group of related languages. Ensure you do not use it to describe a dialect or a specific regional speech variety.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
