Cantonese Courses Offered at 16 U.S. Universities: A Language Worth Promoting Worldwide

美國16間大學開粵語課，呢種語言值得世界各國推廣

Recent news has brought a pleasant surprise: at least 16 universities in the United States have now incorporated Cantonese into their curriculum. The list—which includes Harvard, Stanford, New York University, UC Berkeley, Brigham Young University, and the University of Pittsburgh—continues to grow. When an East Asian dialect finds its way onto the class schedules of top Western institutions, its significance runs far deeper than merely “learning another language.”

The world is taking notice of Cantonese primarily because of its ancient roots and structural complexity. Shaped during the Qin and Han dynasties and matured by the Tang and Song eras, Cantonese preserves vast traces of Old Chinese in its phonology, vocabulary, and syntax. Terms like sik(eat), yam(drink), haang(walk), saam(clothing), geisi(when), dakhaan(free time), and geido(how many)—words once used by poets like Su Dongpo and Li Yu—remain part of daily conversation for native speakers today. With its nine tones and six distinct pitches, including preserved entering tones, Cantonese possesses a built-in melodic quality; this is the very reason Cantopop can move generations to tears. Linguists classify it under the ISO 639-3 code yue, noting its divergence from Mandarin exceeds that between many European languages. It is also recognized by the United Nations as one of the world’s major languages for daily communication.

Secondly, Cantonese is remarkably widespread and vibrant. With over 120 million speakers across more than 50 countries, it ranks as the third most spoken language in the U.S. (after English and Spanish), third in Canada (after English and French), and fourth in Australia. From the Chinatowns of San Francisco to the kopitiams of Kuala Lumpur, from the courts of Hong Kong (where it holds official status alongside English under the Basic Law) to Chinese schools in Brunei, it serves as a vital linguistic bond for the diaspora and the operational medium of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

This is further amplified by cultural soft power. In the 1980s and 90s, Hong Kong cinema and Cantopop turned the language into a global trend. Icons like Sam Hui, Leslie Cheung, and Beyond inspired even non-Cantonese speakers to learn phrases like “mgoi” (thank you) and “haigaan sin” (see you later). Words like “yum cha” (drink tea) and “dim sum” have entered the English lexicon, while a single line from Transformers: Age of Extinction—”Yau mou gaau cho ah?” (Are you kidding me?)—can elicit a knowing smile from any Cantonese speaker. This is language export at its most vivid.

Returning to those 16 American universities: they offer Cantonese not just for commerce (given the economic heft of the Greater Bay Area) or academia (who wouldn’t want to study a living fossil of Old Chinese?), but because the language itself is a living cultural chain. It anchors one end to the elegance of traditional operas like The Flower Princessand the other to the raw energy of modern films like The Way We Dance, stringing together the daily lives and nostalgia of 120 million people.

The Chinese language has never had a single voice. Mandarin allows the world to understand China; Cantonese allows the world to understand China deeply. Far from conflicting, the two complement each other—one offers accessibility, the other depth. In those 16 classrooms across America, what is being taught is more than just how to say “pen” (bat jai) or “drink tea” (yum cha). It is an invitation for the world to recognize that within the vast landscape of Chinese culture, there burns a uniquely vibrant and witty flame—one that deserves to be kept alight for generations to come.

近來有則消息令人又意外又欣慰：美國目前至少有16間大學開設咗粵語課程，從哈佛、史丹福、紐約大學，到加州大學柏克萊分校、楊百翰大學、匹茲堡大學，份名單仲越拉越長。當一種東亞方言走進西方頂尖學府嘅 timetable，佢背後嘅分量，遠遠唔止「多學一種語言」咁簡單。

粵語之所以俾世界「睇見」，首先因為佢夠老、夠硬淨。秦漢成形、唐宋成熟，粵語喺語音、詞彙、句法上保留咗大量古漢語痕跡——「食」、「飲」、「行」、「走」、「衫」，仲有「幾時」、「得閒」、「幾多」，蘇東坡同李煜都用過嘅字詞，依家老廣仍然隨手拈來。九聲六調、入聲獨立，令佢講起上嚟自帶旋律，呢個亦係粵語歌可以「唱喊一代人」嘅底層原因。語言學界特登俾佢一個 ISO 639-3 代碼 yue，同普通話嘅差異程度「大過好多歐洲語言之間嘅分別」，聯合國都將佢列為日常生活主要運用嘅語言之一。

其次係佢夠廣、夠生猛。全球講粵語嘅人口超過 1.2 億，覆蓋 50 幾個國家；喺美國係僅次於英語、西班牙語嘅第三大語言，加拿大排第三（次於英、法），澳洲排第四。從舊金山唐人街到吉隆坡嘅茶室，從香港法庭（《基本法》下粵語同英文同為法定語文）到汶萊華校，佢既係海外華人「同聲同氣」嘅紐帶，亦係粵港澳大灣區每日真實嘅運作媒介。

更唔使講文化軟實力嘅加持。20世紀80、90年代，香港影視同 Cantopop 將粵語推上「潮流代名詞」嘅地位，許冠傑、張國榮、Beyond 令非粵語區嘅人都主動學幾句「唔該」、「係咁先」。「yum cha（飲茶）」、「dim sum（點心）」直接入咗英文詞典，《變形金剛4》入面一句「有冇搞錯啊」可以令老廣會心一笑——呢啲先至係語言走出去最生動嘅模樣。

返返去嗰16間美國大學。佢哋開粵語課，唔單止為咗商貿（大灣區嘅GDP擺喺度），亦唔單止為咗學術（古漢語活化石邊個唔想挖），更因為粵語本身就係一條活著嘅文化鏈——一頭綁住《帝女花》嘅典雅，一頭牽住《狂舞派》嘅生猛，中間串起1.2億人嘅日常同鄉愁。

漢語從來唔係得一個聲調。普通話令中國俾世界聽得明，粵語令中國俾世界聽得「深」。兩者唔衝突，反而互為註腳——一個通住普及，一個通住縱深。美國嗰16間課室入面嘅粵語課，教嘅或者唔只係一支筆點叫「筆仔」、飲茶點講「飲茶」，而係想話俾世界知：中華語言版圖入面，仲有呢一盞「盞鬼生猛」嘅燈，值得被點亮、被傳落去。