The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word PINYIN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
I
N
Y
I
N
More clues leading to the result PINYIN
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Mandarin may thus appear" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case mandarin may thus appear = pinyin.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does PINYIN mean?
PINYIN noun- A phonetic script or romanization system for a language spoken in the People's Republic of China.
- A system of romanization for Standard Mandarin, used in the People’s Republic of China, and more recently in other Chinese-speaking areas as well.
- A Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon.