ИСТИНА

The paper is devoted to the description of the relationship between the sound and the graphic components in modern and contemporary literature produced in the many Sinitic languages of China. In determining the relationship between the national written standard (Putonghua / Goyu) and other Sinitic languages, one encounters the problem of interpreting the meaning of the Chinese term fangyan, which is usually translated as “dialect”, being, however, quite distant from it. Using instead the term topolect, as proposed by Victor Mair, we try to enumerate the main reasons for the marginalization of contemporary topolect writing. They are closely connected with the history of the modern vernacular and the formation of the current standard, with the sociopolitical situation in the Greater China, the popular perception of its linguistic stratification and the very nature of the Chinese script. The only exception to date among the marginalized topolects of China is the case of rapidly evolving written Cantonese in Hong Kong, that produces a great deal of contemporary topolect texts.