putonghua

Pu·tong·hua

also Pu tong hua  (po͞o′tông′hwä′, -wä′, -tŏng′-)

n.

See Mandarin.

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[Mandarin pǔtōnghuà (literally, common language ) : pǔtōng, common (Mandarin pǔ, general, widespread from Middle Chinese p^huə̆´ + Mandarin tōng, through, from Middle Chinese t^həwŋ) + huà, speech, language (from Middle Chinese xɦwa⋮j`, of Proto-Sino-Tibetan origin; akin to Tibetan gros).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

putonghua

(ˌpuːtʊŋˈhwɑː)

n

(Languages) the official spoken language of China, based on the variety of Mandarin spoken in Beijing

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pu•tong•hua

or p'u-t'ung hua

(ˈpuˈtʌŋˈʰwɑ)

n.

the form of spoken Chinese, based on the dialect of Beijing, adopted as the official national language of China.

[1945–50; < Chinese pǔtōnghuà literally, common (spoken) language]

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