It is generally accepted by linguists that, if two spoken languages are not directly communicable, they can be defined as two different languages; if the two have big or small differences but can be directly communicable, they can be defined as two dialects of the same language. In accord to this standard of classification, as Cantonese and Mandarin are mutually unintelligible, they should be classified into two different languages. On the other hand, it is widely accepted that this is not the only standard of language classification. For instance, although Norwegian, Swedish and Danish are mutually communicable, they are classified into three different languages. As a matter of fact, Cantonese and other dialects of Chinese share highly unified written words and populations, which shows huge differences with Western languages.
The classification of languages unavoidably involves political and cultural consideration; therefore, most northern Chinese linguists tend to classify Cantonese as one of the Chinese dialects. In the meanwhile, it is undeniable that there can be plenty of different new languages appear in China if a rather strict standard of Mandarin is applied. All in all, with the standardization of Cantonese, there is a gradually increased possibility for it to become an independent language.
