Taishanese 台山话

Taishanese, or Toishanese (simplified Chinese:台山话; traditional Chinese:台山话; Taishanese: [hɔi˨san˧wa˧˨˥]), is a dialect of Yue Chinese. The dialect is related to and is often referred to as Cantonese but has little mutual intelligibility with the latter. Taishanese is spoken in the southern part of Guangdong Province in China, particularly in and around the city-level county of Taishan. In the mid to late 19th century, a significant number of Chinese emigration to North America originated from this area, making Taishanese a dominant variety of the Chinese language spoken in Chinatowns in Canada and the United States. It was formerly the lingua franca of the overseas Chinese residing in the United States. It is not currently recognized as having official status in any country or area.