<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Southern Min </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Tâi - lô </Th> <Td> Hàn - gí </Td> </Tr> <P> Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino - Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local language varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible . The differences are similar to those within the Romance languages, with variation particularly strong in the more rugged southeast . These varieties, often called "dialects", have been classified into seven to ten groups, the largest being Mandarin (e.g. Beijing dialect), Wu (e.g. Shanghainese), Min (e.g. Hokkien), and Yue (e.g. Cantonese). </P> <P> Chinese varieties differ most in their phonology, and to a lesser extent in vocabulary and syntax . Southern varieties tend to have fewer initial consonants than northern and central varieties, but more often preserve the Middle Chinese final consonants . All have phonemic tones, with northern varieties tending to have fewer distinctions than southern ones . Many have tone sandhi, with the most complex patterns in the coastal area from Zhejiang to eastern Guangdong . </P>

What is the most common dialect of chinese