Chinese Google : Traditional, Simplified : webhp hl zh

Chinese Google is the Google home page for Chinese language searches. Since there is no Google China, this is the only way to find information about China in Chinese, through the Google database. If your local language is English then you will need to use the Google webhp URL extension to access a Chinese language version, of which there are two: Chinese traditional and Chinese simplified.

Chinese is the second most requested internet search language. It is the most spoken language, with over 1 billion native speakers. Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

Chinese, due to the extent and diversity of the landforms of China, has been very diverse. The plains of Northern China meant that a single language developed. The mountains and valleys of the south meant that many language diversifications occurred. It was not until the mid 20^thCentury that the education system forced Mandarin Chinese to be used.

Google in Chinese (Traditional) can be obtained by using the Google webhp URL:

• http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=zh-TW

Google in Chinese (Simplified) with the webhp URL:

• http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=zh-CN

The webhp “hl” extension defines the language for the Google web page, in this case “zh” for Chinese, and either “TW” for traditional, or “CN” for simplified.

These Google products are accessible directly from the Chinese Google home page (either traditional or simplified):

• Web - 所有網頁 (trad.), 网页 (simp.) – gives the full URL for the Chinese Google home page

• Images - 圖片 (trad.), 图片 (simp.) - Google images search

• Videos - 影片 (trad.), 视频 (simp.) - Google videos search

• Maps - 地圖 (trad.), 地图 (simp.) - Google Maps access

• News - 新聞 (trad.), 新闻 (simp.) - Google News access

• Mail - 郵件 (trad.), 邮件 (simp.) – access personal Gmail account

and also

• Advertising Programs - 廣告服務 (trad.), 加入营销计划 (simp.) - access Google Adwords and Google AdSense.

The new 'cogwheel' icon allows access to:

• Search settings - 搜尋設定 (trad.), 搜索设置 (simp.) - to apply global language preferences, and Google search default settings.

• Advanced search - 進階搜尋 (trad.), 高级搜索 (simp.) - for search results limiting criteria.

• Language tools - 語言工具 (trad.), 语言工具 (simp.) - for translation, language and domain search pages, and translated search.

• iGoogle (trad.), iGoogle 个性化首页 (simp.) – if you have an iGoogle account.

• Web history - 網頁記錄 (trad.), 网络历史记录 (simp.) - to manage your search activity.

If you have been invited into the Google+ community, appropriate functions will be available.

Chinese Google search home pages have:

• Google search - Google 搜尋 (trad.), Google 搜索 (simp.)

• “I'm feeling lucky” - 好手氣 (trad.), 手气不错 (simp.).

Google Chinese is Zhongwen. Other Sinitic languages are Hanyu and Huayu. In general, these languages are mutually unintelligible. Chinese is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Regional groups of the Chinese language include:

• Mandarin – which forms the basis of standardized spoken Chinese. Standardized Chinese is the official language of China and Taiwan, and an official language of Singapore and the United Nations.

• Wu – as spoken in Shanghai and other regions.

• Cantonese – an official language of Hong Kong and Macau.

• Min Nan – also known as Taiwanese and Hokkien.

Chinese is also a recognized minority language in Mauritius and the United States of America.

Pinyin is the Chinese language written in Latin script. It is used extensively in Chinese language teaching outside of China.

These countries have a Chinese language version (traditional or simplified) of the Google home page:

Brunei (www.google.com.bn) : Chinese (Simplified), Malay, English

Hong Kong (www.google.com.hk) : Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English

Singapore (www.google.com.sg) : Chinese (Simplified), English, Malay, Tamil

Taiwan (www.google.tw): Chinese

Trinidad and Tobago (www.google.tt) : Chinese (Traditional), English, Hindi, French, Spanish (Latin American), Spanish

Vietnam (www.google.com.vn) : Chinese (Traditional), Vietnamese, English, French.

See also: Google languages and Google Chinese by Humagaia.