[9] Standard Zhuang has six tones, reduced to two (numbered 3 and 6) in checked syllables: The sentence Son mwngz hwnj max gvaq dah (Son mɯŋƨ hɯnз maч gvaƽ daƅ) "Teach thee to climb on a horse to cross a river" is often used to help people remember the six tones.

Unlike Chinese, Sawndip has never been standardized, authors may differ in their choices of characters or spelling, and it is not currently part of the official writing system.

The phonology is essentially that of Shuangqiao, with the addition of ny, ei, ou from Fuliang, both located in Wuming County.

It is one of the official languages of China that appears on bank notes; all Chinese laws must be published in it, and it is used for bilingual signs.

Whilst used for adult literacy programs, it is currently only taught in a very small percent of primary and secondary schools in Zhuang-speaking areas.

In 2012, the first Zhuang Proficiency Test (Vahcuengh Sawcuengh Suijbingz Gaujsi, abbreviated VSSG) took place, in which 328 people took and 58% passed.

[14] It was promoted as the first standardised minority language test in mainland China, with the objective of supporting bilingual Zhuang-Chinese education.

[15] Currently available at three levels, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, the examination tests the written skills of reading comprehension, translation both into and from Standard Chinese, and writing.

[15] While Standard Zhuang is largely pronounced as Shuangqiao Wuming dialect, there is a degree of purposeful dialect mixture in vocabulary: A significant amount of Zhuang words are loaned from Chinese - around 30 to 40 percent in normal conversation, and almost every word regarding science, politics, or technology.