So say mainland and government spokespersons.\u00a0 It sounds absurd, but here's the \"reasoning\", as summarized by Bob Bauer:<\/p>\n
Have you heard about HK's latest brouhaha that Cantonese is NOT the mother tongue of HK's Cantonese-speaking population? A bigshot mainland scholar has written that HK Cantonese can't possibly be their mother tongue because it's MERELY a dialect and dialects can't be mother tongues!<\/p>\n
Yesterday the Chief Executive Carrie Lam was asked by a legislative councilor what her mother tongue was, but she refused to answer his question and said it was pointless!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oh, how I detest the word \"dialect\" when it's used irresponsibly, derogatorily, and maliciously like this!<\/p>\n
Here are some news reports on this highly contentious matter:<\/p>\n
\"<\/b>Lam dismisses controversies over education<\/a>\", by Sophie Hui and Riley Chan, The Standard (5\/4\/18)<\/p>\n \"Should Mandarin replace Cantonese in Hong Kong? No, says Carrie Lam<\/a>:\u00a0 Chief Executive Carrie Lam, education secretary and mainland linguist all dismiss idea that Mandarin will be used to teach Chinese in city\u2019s schools\", by Su Xinqi and Sum Lok-kei, SCMP (5\/3\/18)<\/p>\n \"Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam dismisses speculation over changes to controversial liberal studies subject<\/a>:\u00a0 The contentious secondary school subject could reportedly lose its status as a \u2018core subject\u2019 for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education exam\", by Sum Lok-kei, SCMP (5\/3\/18)<\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s (5\/3\/18) Apple Daily newspaper \u860b\u679c\u65e5\u5831 published the following headline on page A7 (\u860b\u679c\u6e2f\u805e):\u00a0 \"Ji\u00e0o j\u00fa y\u01d0n n\u00e8id\u00ec xu\u00e9zh\u011b: Yu\u00e8y\u01d4 f\u0113i g\u01ceng r\u00e9n m\u01d4y\u01d4 \u6559\u5c40\u5f15\u5185\u5730\u5b78\u8005: \u7cb5\u8a9e\u975e\u6e2f\u4eba\u6bcd\u8a9e\" (\"Education Bureau cites mainland scholar:\u00a0 Cantonese is not the mother tongue of Hong Kongers\")<\/p>\n This main article and related ones on the same page present a good account of the matter.<\/p>\n Readings<\/b><\/p>\n \"Is Cantonese a language, or a personification of the devil?<\/a>\" (2\/9\/14)<\/p>\n \"Spoken Hong Kong Cantonese and written Cantonese<\/a>\" (8\/29\/13)<\/p>\n \"English is a Dialect of Germanic; or, The Traitors to Our Common Heritage<\/a>\" (9\/4\/13)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese and Mandarin are two different languages<\/a>\" (9\/25\/15)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese as Mother Tongue, with a note on Norwegian Bokm\u00e5l<\/a>\" (12\/22\/13)<\/p>\n \"Speak Cantonese<\/a>\" (6\/10\/16)<\/p>\n \"Written Cantonese on a 'Democracy Wall' at a University in Hong Kong<\/a>\" (3\/21\/14)<\/p>\n \"Token Cantonese<\/a>\" (5\/16\/15)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese 'here'<\/a>\" (10\/15\/15)<\/p>\n \"Uyghur, Cantonese, and other valuable languages of China<\/a>\" (2\/20\/16)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese novels<\/a>\" (8\/20\/13)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese tones<\/a>\" (2\/25\/17)<\/p>\n \"Dialect or Topolect?<\/a>\" (7\/1\/10) (see the comments by Claw and Jason Cullen)<\/p>\n \"A quick exit for Cantonese<\/a>\" (7\/22\/15)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese teachers influenced by Mandarin<\/a>\" (1\/9\/17)<\/p>\n \"Kongish<\/a>\" (8\/6\/15)<\/p>\n \"Kongish, ch. 2<\/a>\" (1\/22\/16)<\/p>\n \"Written public cursing in Hong Kong<\/a>\" (5\/3\/17)<\/p>\n \"Eighty-one Cantonese proverbs in one picture<\/a>\" (2\/27\/14)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese as Ebonics<\/a>\" (12\/17\/13)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese is not dead yet<\/a>\" (6\/9\/17)<\/p>\n \"Cantonese: still the main spoken language of Hong Kong<\/a>\" (7\/1\/17)<\/p>\n \"Differing Cantonese and Mandarin readings of the same headline<\/a>\" (4\/30\/18)<\/p>\n \"Multiscriptal, multilingual Hong Kong headline<\/a>\" (5\/4\/18)<\/p>\n