Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters

Differing literary and colloquial readings (simplified Chinese: 文白异读; traditional Chinese: 文白異讀; pinyin: wénbái yìdú) of certain Chinese characters are common doublets in many Chinese varieties and the reading distinctions for certain phonetic features often typify a dialect group. Literary readings (文读; 文讀; wéndú) are usually used in formal loan words or names, when reading aloud and in formal settings, while colloquial readings (白读; 白讀; báidú) are usually used in vernacular speech.

Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters

Differing literary and colloquial readings (simplified Chinese: 文白异读; traditional Chinese: 文白異讀; pinyin: wénbái yìdú) of certain Chinese characters are common doublets in many Chinese varieties and the reading distinctions for certain phonetic features often typify a dialect group. Literary readings (文读; 文讀; wéndú) are usually used in formal loan words or names, when reading aloud and in formal settings, while colloquial readings (白读; 白讀; báidú) are usually used in vernacular speech.