putonghua


Pu·tong·hua

also Pu tong hua P0678600 (po͞o′tông′hwä′, -wä′, -tŏng′-)n. See Mandarin.
[Mandarin pǔtōnghuà (literally, common language ) : pǔtōng, common (Mandarin pǔ, general, widespread from Middle Chinese phuə̆´ + Mandarin tōng, through, from Middle Chinese thəwŋ) + huà, speech, language (from Middle Chinese xɦwa⋮j`, of Proto-Sino-Tibetan origin; akin to Tibetan gros).]

putonghua

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

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]