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Tamil vs Cantonese


Cantonese vs Tamil


Countries

Countries
Malaysia, Mauritius, Puducherry, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  
Hong Kong, Macau  

Total No. Of Countries
6  
9
2  
13

National Language
Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu  
China, Guangdong  

Second Language
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, kerala, Puducherry  
Not spoken in any of the countries  

Speaking Continents
Asia  
Asia  

Minority Language
Canada, Malaysia, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles  
Hawaii  

Regulated By
Official language Commission of Government of Tamil Nadu, Thanjavur Tamil University  
Civil Service Bureau, Government of Hong Kong, Official Language Division  

Interesting Facts
  • Tamil is the oldest language in the world. Tamil was spoken in South India more than 5000 years ago.
  • The first legally recognized Classical Language of India is Tamil.
    •   
  • Cantonese have lot of slangs, many of them include words that do not make sense at all and some also have English in them.
  • Even though Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of Chinese, Cantonese has 8 tones instead of Mandarin's 4.
  

Similar To
Malayalam  
Chinese Language  

Derived From
-  
-  

Alphabets

Alphabets in
Tamil-Alphabets.jpg#200  
Cantonese-Alphabets.jpg#200  

Alphabets
247  
99+
28  
10

Phonology
  
  

How Many Vowels
12  
9
8  
5

How Many Consonants
18  
8
20  
10

Scripts
Tamil  
Chinese Characters and derivatives  

Writing Direction
Left-To-Right, Horizontal  
Left-To-Right, Horizontal, Top-To-Bottom  

Hard to Learn
  
  

Language Levels
3  
2
10  
8

Time Taken to Learn
44 weeks  
17
88 weeks  
19

Greetings

Hello
வணக்கம் (Vanakkam)  
您好  

Thank You
நன்றி (Naṉṟi)  
谢谢  

How Are You?
நீங்கள் எப்படி இருக்கிறீர்கள்? (Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi irukkiṟīrkaḷ?)  
你好吗?  

Good Night
நல்ல இரவு (Good night) / irravu vanakkam (Good night)  
晚安  

Good Evening
நல்ல மாலை (Nalla mālai)/ மாலை (irravu vanakkam)  
晚上好  

Good Afternoon
பிற்பகல் வணக்கம் (perpagal vanakkam)  
下午好  

Good Morning
காலை வணக்கம் (Kaalai Vanakkam)  
早上好  

Please
தயவு (Tayavu)  
请  

Sorry
மன்னிக்கவும் (Maṉṉikkavum)  
遗憾  

Bye
சென்று வருகிறேன் (Sendru Varukiren)  
再见  

I Love You
நான் உன்னை காதலிக்கிறேன் (Naan Unnai Kadalikiren)  
我爱你  

Excuse Me
என்னை மன்னியுங்கள் (Eṉṉai maṉṉiyuṅkaḷ)  
原谅我  

Dialects

Dialect 1
Kongu  
Guangzhou  

Where They Speak
Kongu  
outside mainland China  

How Many People Speak
77,000,000.00  
10
71,000,000.00  
13

Dialect 2
Madurai Tamil  
Xiguan  

Where They Speak
Madurai, South Tamil Nadu  
Hong Kong  

How Many People Speak
77,000,000.00  
8
71,000,000.00  
11

Dialect 3
Tirunelveli Tamil  
Hong Kong  

Where They Speak
South Tamil Nadu, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli  
Hong Kong  

How Many People Speak
77,000,000.00  
7
70,000,000.00  
10

Total No. Of Dialects
10  
10
3  
3

How Many People Speak

How Many People Speak?
78.00 million  
21
60.00 million  
27

Speaking Population
1.06 %  
20
16.00 %  
2

Native Speakers
70.00 million  
15
52.00 million  
21

Second Language Speakers
8.00 million  
99+
71.00 million  
15

Native Name
தமிழ்  
Kwang Tung Wa  

Alternative Names
Damulian, Tamal, Tamalsan, Tambul, Tamili  
Guangfu, Metropolitan Cantonese  

French Name
tamoul  
cantonais  

German Name
Tamil  
Kantonesisch  

Pronunciation
[t̪ɐmɨɻ]  
[kʰɐn˧˥tʰœːn˧˥sɨ˧˥]  

Ethnicity
Tamil people or Tamilans  
Han Chinese  

History

Origin
300 BC  
17th century  

Language Family
Dravidian Family  
Sino-Tibetan Family  

Subgroup
-  
-  

Branch
-  
-  

Language Forms
  
  

Early Forms
Old Tamil and Middle Tamil  
No early forms  

Standard Forms
Modern Tamil  
Standard Cantonese  

Language Position
18  
16
1  
1

Signed Forms
Signed Tamil  
Signed Cantonese  

Scope
Individual  
-  

Code

ISO 639 1
ta  
No data available  

ISO 639 2
  
  

ISO 639 2/T
tam  
yue  

ISO 639 2/B
tam  
yue  

ISO 639 3
tam  
No data available  

ISO 639 6
tam  
yue  

Glottocode
tami1289, oldt1248  
cant1236  

Linguasphere
tami1289  
No data available  

Types of Language
  
  

Language Type
Living  
-  

Language Linguistic Typology
Subject-Object-Verb  
-  

Language Morphological Typology
-  
-  

Countries >>
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Tamil and Cantonese Language History

Comparison of Tamil vs Cantonese language history gives us differences between origin of Tamil and Cantonese language. History of Tamil language states that this language originated in 300 BC whereas history of Cantonese language states that this language originated in 17th century. Family of the language also forms a part of history of that language. More on language families of these languages can be found out on Tamil and Cantonese Language History.

Compare Most Spoken Languages

Tamil and Cantonese Greetings

People around the world use different languages to interact with each other. Even if we cannot communicate fluently in any language, it will always be beneficial to know about some of the common greetings or phrases from that language. This is where Tamil and Cantonese greetings helps you to understand basic phrases in Tamil and Cantonese language. Tamil word for "Hello" is வணக்கம் (Vanakkam) or Cantonese word for "Thank You" is 谢谢. Find more of such common Tamil Greetings and Cantonese Greetings. These greetings will help you to be more confident when conversing with natives that speak these languages.

Tamil vs Cantonese Difficulty

The Tamil vs Cantonese difficulty level basically depends on the number of Tamil Alphabets and Cantonese Alphabets. Also the number of vowels and consonants in the language plays an important role in deciding the difficulty level of that language. The important points to be considered when we compare Tamil and Cantonese are the origin, speaking countries, language family, different greetings, speaking population of these languages. Want to know in Tamil and Cantonese, which language is harder to learn? Time required to learn Tamil is 44 weeks while to learn Cantonese time required is 88 weeks.

Most Spoken Languages

Most Spoken Languages

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Compare Most Spoken Languages

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