The spoken language, undoubtedly, started long before the
invention of written characters. However, the spoken language of Chinese
has been altered much more than written characters have. It is apparent
that written characters can be recorded on turtle backs, on bamboos, or in
books. But the spoken language cannot be recorded at all. The
Chinese did not have a dictionary that recorded phonetics (not that I know of)
until 1000~1500 years ago. Moreover, the dictionaries that appeared did
not have any definite phonetic systems; they only documented the consonants, the
vowels, and the tones.
The documentation of consonants, the vowels, and the tones
seem helpful, but over thousands of years, thousands of dialects developed
because of the uneasiness of communication. The Northern Region of China
were political centers of China; communication at these places are common.
The dialects in the Northern Region of China evolved quickly due to the
interaction with other races. The Huns, the Turkish, the Mongols, the
Manchu have invaded China from the North. Interactions with others
could not avoid the evolution of language. Remote ethnic groups in the
south, such as the Province of Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Taiwan and Zhejiang
retained much similarity with the old Chinese.