but in modern usage it is more common to read from left to right. Examples Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Standard Chinese, written with traditional Chinese characters: Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Standard Chinese, written with simplified Chinese characters: The pinyin transcription of the text into Latin alphabet: Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. See also Chinese speech synthesis Comparison of national standards of Chinese Philippine Mandarin Malaysian Mandarin Singaporean Mandarin Taiwanese Mandarin Protection of the Varieties of Chinese Notes References Citations Works cited Further reading Hsia, T., China's Language Reforms, Far Eastern Publications, Yale University, (New Haven), 1956. Ladefoged, Peter; & Maddieson, Ian (1996). The sounds of the world's languages. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. (hbk); (pbk). Lehmann, W. P. (ed.), Language & Linguistics in the People's Republic of China, University of Texas Press, (Austin), 1975. Lin, Y., Lin Yutang's Chinese-English Dictionary of Modern Usage, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1972. Milsky, C., "New Developments in Language Reform", The China Quarterly, No. 53, (January–March 1973), pp. 98–133. Seybolt, P. J. and Chiang, G. K. (eds.), Language Reform in China: Documents and Commentary, M. E. Sharpe (White Plains), 1979. . Simon, W., A Beginners' Chinese-English Dictionary of the National Language (Gwoyeu): Fourth Revised Edition, Lund Humphries (London), 1975. External links Video - Talk by David Moser Languages of China Languages of Taiwan Chinese languages in Singapore Chinese