10 Interesting Facts about Cantonese

4. Cantonese is also sometimes called Yue

Because the classification of the language varieties spoken in China is so messy, Cantonese can actually refer to a few different language groups. Taken very narrowly, the term essentially refers to the standardised form of Cantonese, which is considered the prestige variety. However, it can also include the varieties very closely related to it, which means that the collection of dialects together are called either Cantonese or Yue. In this case, the “language” actually includes versions that are completely mutually unintelligible.