OK, I just found out that the word for Mandarin in Mandarin is Guanhua. Is this Guan the same as Michelle Kwan's name (Hong Kong version)? Could we say that the official language of China "Kwan-talk"?
OK, I just found out that the word for Mandarin in Mandarin is Guanhua. Is this Guan the same as Michelle Kwan's name (Hong Kong version)? Could we say that the official language of China "Kwan-talk"?
Actually, we are talking about two different characters/words here: there are many homophones in Mandarin Chinese. The 'guan' in "Guanhua" does share the same pronunciation (also tone) with Michelle's last name in modern Chinese. But in writing, they correspond to different characters. The 'guan' in "Guanhua" means 'officer, staff', and "Guanhua" thus means "official language". On the other hand, Michelle's last name 'Kwan' (with standard Hanyu pinyin: guan) has several meanings, as seen in "guanxi" relationship, "guankou" customs barrier, and also as a common surname.