漢語

Noun

 * 1) the Chinese language

Usage notes
usually refers to spoken Chinese, however since is only accessible to modern people in the written form, it can also refer to written Chinese depending on context. can also imply, especially in the term. Ethnic minorities in China often refer to Standard Mandarin as in order to contrast it with their respective ethnic languages.

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1) kango, a Japanese word of Chinese origin, or a Japanese word coined along Chinese lines (a Sino-Japanese word)
 * 2)  the Chinese language
 * 3) the ancient Chinese language, the language of the Han  ethnicity
 * 1) the ancient Chinese language, the language of the Han  ethnicity
 * 1) the ancient Chinese language, the language of the Han  ethnicity

Usage notes
Kango are usually written in kanji, and read with the on'yomi. Contrast with wago, which may be written in kanji read with the kun'yomi or in kana only.

Kango are derived from Classical Chinese. They are composed of words that: Note that some words of Chinese origin are not considered kango, such as (a gairaigo borrowed from a modern Chinese language),  or  (both of which have undergone irregular shifts from their original Chinese pronunciation).
 * 1) retained their original meanings in Classical Chinese, such as,  or
 * 2) were repurposed to translate Western concepts, such as, ,  or
 * 3) were newly coined from Classical Chinese syllables, morphemes or graphemes, such as  or, where words coined from more than one syllable are called wasei kango  and coined kanji are called kokuji