Things that Western textbooks refuse to acknowledge

[mrswdk]

But there's not a single "Chinese" language, surely. Don't they affect and modify each other?

There is standard Chinese (known as Mandarin in English) and then there are a bunch of regional dialects, including Cantonese, Shanghainese and others. The dialects all have the exact same grammar as Mandarin and use the same Chinese characters when being written and read - the only difference is the way the characters are spoken. The dialects aren't distinct enough to be recognized as languages, so they aren't.

[mrswdk]

That's a map of America's gays.

[subtleknifewield]

The only non-mongrel language in existence is probably Chinese. China is the oldest civilization in the world and has developed without influence from outside.

Chinese doesn't have a single language, as others have pointed out. There are several.

Even if you argue they are just dialects...they are still different methods of speaking the language.

[mrswdk]

The only non-mongrel language in existence is probably Chinese. China is the oldest civilization in the world and has developed without influence from outside.

Chinese doesn't have a single language, as others have pointed out. There are several.

Even if you argue they are just dialects...they are still different methods of speaking the language.

lolwut

Yeah, because British, American, Canadian and Australian are all separate languages.

[subtleknifewield]

I noticed you completely skipped over the fact that I accounted for either possibility: Defining the as another language OR as a dialect.

After all, what is a dialect but a bastardization of the original?

And what is classed as original, anyway? Any living language evolves over time, it is the natural course of things.

For example, since this language seems to be the main focus of this little discussion, Old English, which had its roots in the germanic family, Middle English, which was influenced by both the Celts and Saxons, and Modern English.

A language that has stopped evolving has done so because it is not the native language of anyone alive anymore.