Abstract
Since the Ming period, especially during the Qing period, the word guanhua 官話 was used in the sense of the spoken language that served as the standard language or lingua franca. This article shows through textual sources how these twin characters of guanhua emerged. First, the word guanhua primarily referred to the classical-style language of social intercourse used among intellectuals, and it represented dignity and status. The use of the word guanhua in the sense of lingua franca was first used chiefly in manuals giving the “correct pronunciation” of guanhua vocabularies, but in other texts terms referring to the spoken language of the north were used in this meaning. It can be seen in textual sources how the connotations of guanhua gradually underwent a shift from the classical-style language of social intercourse to a lingua franca.
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