在中国社交媒体上，一个名为“Apple U”的模因——一个模仿一些维吾尔人如何在普通话中说“Hey, friend”的双关语——是被称为nang yan wen或“naan Mandarin”潮流的一部分。带有该术语的短视频自年初以来在抖音上累计获得超过17亿次观看，显示出病毒式传播的规模和速度。

嘲笑地区口音在中国由来已久，但“naan Mandarin”被国家媒体和网络影响者采用的方式模糊了戏仿与居高临下的界限。语言政策在收紧：1949年后允许自治区以本地语言授课，1990年代通过“双语教育”收窄了这一空间，2000年后逐步制度化。习近平自2013年上任；他在2014年首次到访新疆时称掌握普通话有利于就业并促进民族团结；2017年政府要求少数民族学生“掌握并使用”普通话，目标是全国95%的课堂使用标准普通话。

许多少数民族儿童现在主要使用普通话，因此有关发音的笑话格外刺痛。尤其是持有新疆户口的人常报告被反复盘查和遭遇歧视。一位来自该地区的用户在线抱怨：“我不是你可以取笑的孩子或宠物。我花了多年学普通话，好让我们可以作为平等的人交谈。”

On Chinese social media a meme called “Apple U” — a pun mimicking how some Uyghurs say “Hey, friend” in Mandarin — is part of a trend labelled nang yan wen or “naan Mandarin.” Videos tagged with the term have amassed more than 1.7 billion views on Douyin since the start of the year, showing rapid viral spread.

Mocking regional accents has long been common in China, but the “naan Mandarin” trend is used by state media and influencers in ways that can slip from parody into prejudice. Linguistic policy has tightened: after 1949 local-language schooling was permitted, but “bilingual education” in the 1990s narrowed that space; after 2000 it became more institutionalised. Under Xi Jinping (leader since 2013) officials pushed Mandarin: on a 2014 Xinjiang visit he linked Mandarin mastery to jobs and ethnic unity; in 2017 the government ordered minority students to “master and use” standard Mandarin and aimed for its use in 95% of classrooms nationwide.

Many minority children now primarily speak Mandarin, which makes pronunciation jokes especially painful. Minorities — notably those with Xinjiang hukou — also report regular police checks and frequent discrimination. As one regional user put it: “I’m not a child or a pet for you to tease. I spent years learning Mandarin so we could speak as equals.”