芬兰文 = 芬兰语

Fēnlánwén = Fēnlányǔ = Finnish language.
"文" and "语" both means "language" here.

中文 and 汉语 (Zhōngwén and Hànyǔ)

中文 is maybe more like "written Chinese," and 汉语 is "spoken Chinese."

  • Chinese subtitles = 中文字幕. When referring to only the written language, use 中文.
  • Chinese dictionary = 汉语字典. For dictionaries, use 汉语 because they often relate to the entire language, both spoken and written, for example including pronunciation.
  • I can speak Chinese = 我会说中文/汉语. Here the two terms are interchangeable, if you are referring to Mandarin, which is confusing at first. This is because of the status of Mandarin as the standard Chinese spoken language.

Countries, nationalities and languages 

Fēnlán 芬兰 (Finland)
Fēnlánrén 芬兰人 (Finn)
Fēnlánwén 芬兰文 (Finnish language)

Zhōngguó 中国 (China)
Zhōngguórén 中国人 (Chinese)
Zhōngwén 中文 (Chinese language)

Fǎguó 法国 (France)
Fǎguórén 法国人 (French)
Fǎwén 法文 (French language)

Jiānádà 加拿大 (Canada)
Jiānádàrén 加拿大人 (Canadian)
Yīngwén 英文 (English)

Yīngguó 英国 (UK)
Yīngguórén 英国人 (British)
Yīngwén 英文 (English)

Déguó 德国 (Germany)
Déguórén 德国人 (German)
Déwén 德文 (German language)

Rìběn 日本 (Japan)
Rìběnrén 日本人 (Japanese)
Rìwén 日文 (Japanese language)

Měiguó 美国 (USA)
Měiguórén 美国人 (American)
Yīngwén 英文 (English)

Last modified: Thursday, 29 April 2021, 5:08 PM