The
Southern Min language, or
Min Nan (
Hokkien:
), ("Southern Fujian" language) is a family of
Chinese languages which are spoken in southern
Fujian and neighboring areas, and by descendants of
emigrants from these areas in
diaspora. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to the
Hokkien, in particular the
Amoy and
Taiwanese. Amoy and Taiwanese are both combinations of
Quanzhou and
Zhangzhou speech. The Southern Min family also includes
Teochew and
Hainanese. Teochew has limited
mutual intelligibility with the
Amoy. However, Hainanese is generally not considered to be mutually intelligible with any other Southern Min variants.
Southern Min forms part of the
Min language group, alongside several other divisions. The Min languages/dialects are part of the
Chinese language group, itself a member of the
Sino-Tibetan language family. Southern Min is not
mutually intelligible with
Eastern Min,
Cantonese, or
Mandarin. As with other varieties of
Chinese, there is a political dispute as to whether the Southern Min language should be called a
language or a
dialect. (
See Identification of the varieties of Chinese for greater detail.)
Geographic distribution
Southern Min is spoken in the southern part of
Fujian province, three southeastern counties of
Zhejiang province, the
Zhoushan archipelago off
Ningbo in Zhejiang, and the eastern part of
Guangdong province (
Chaoshan region). The
Qiong Wen variant spoken in the
Leizhou peninsula of
Guangdong province, as well as
Hainan province, which is not mutually intelligible with standard Minnan or Teochew, is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate.
A form of Southern Min akin to that spoken in
southern Fujian is also spoken in Taiwan, where it has the native name of
Tâi-oân-oē or
Hō-ló-oē. The (sub)ethnic group for which Southern Min is considered a
native language is known as the
Holo (Hō-ló) or
Hoklo, the main ethnicity of
Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is generally true though not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-
Hoklos speak Southern Min fluently.
There are many Southern Min speakers also among
overseas Chinese in
Southeast Asia. Many ethnic
Chinese emigrants to the region were
Hoklo from southern Fujian, and brought the language to what is now
Indonesia (the former
Dutch East Indies) and present day
Malaysia and
Singapore (formerly
Malaya and the
British Straits Settlements). In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as
Hokkien,
Hokkienese,
Fukien or
Fookien in Southeast Asia, and is very much like Taiwanese. Many
Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the
Chaoshan region of
Guangdong province and speak
Teochew, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Southern Min is reportedly the native language of up to 98.5% of the
community of ethnic Chinese in the
Philippines, among whom it is also known as
Lan-nang or
Lán-lâng-oē ("Our people’s language"). Southern Min speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore with the largest being
Hoklos and the second largest being the
Teochews.
Classification
Southern
Fujian is home to three main
Amoy dialects. They are known by the geographic locations to which they correspond (listed north to south):
As Xiamen is the principal city of southern Fujian, the Xiamen dialect is considered the most important, or even
prestige dialect. The Xiamen dialect is a hybrid of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects. The Xiamen dialect (also known as the
Amoy dialect) has played an influential role in history, especially in the relations of
Western nations with China, and was one of the most frequently learned of all Chinese languages/dialects by
Westerners during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century.
The variants of Southern Min spoken in
Zhejiang province are most akin to that spoken in Quanzhou. The variants spoken in
Taiwan are similar to the three
Fujian variants, and are collectively known as
Taiwanese. Taiwanese is used by a majority of the population and is quite important from a socio-political perspective, forming the second (and perhaps today most significant) major pole of the language. Those Southern Min variants that are collectively known as "Hokkien" in
Southeast Asia also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min in the
Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province are collectively known as
Teochew or
Chaozhou.
Teochew is of great importance in the
Southeast Asian
Chinese diaspora, particularly in
Malaysia,
Philippines,
Thailand,
Cambodia,
Vietnam,
Sumatra and
western Kalimantan.
The Southern Min language variant spoken around
Shanwei and
Haifeng differs markedly from
Teochew and may represent a later migration from Zhangzhou. Linguistically, it lies between
Teochew and
Amoy. In southwestern
Fujian, the local variants in
Longyan and
Zhangping form a separate division of Min Nan on their own. Among ethnic Chinese inhabitants of
Penang,
Malaysia and
Medan,
Indonesia, a distinct form of
Zhangzhou (
Changchew) Hokkien has developed. In
Penang, it is called
Penang Hokkien while across the
Malacca Strait in
Medan, an almost identical variant is known as
Medan Hokkien.
Phonology
The Southern Min language has one of the most diverse phonologies of Chinese variants, with more consonants than standard Mandarin or Cantonese. Vowels, on the other hand, are more or less similar to those of Standard Mandarin. In general, Southern Min dialects have five to six
tones, and
tone sandhi is extensive. There are minor variations within Hokkien, but the Teochew system differs significantly. See
Hokkien dialect,
Amoy dialect, and
Teochew dialect for details.
Comparison
Xiamen speech is a hybrid of
Quanzhou and
Zhangzhou speech.
Taiwanese is also a hybrid of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. Taiwanese in northern
Taiwan tends to be based on Quanzhou speech, whereas the Taiwanese spoken in southern Taiwan tends to be based on Zhangzhou speech. There are minor variations in pronunciation and vocabulary between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. The grammar is basically the same. Additionally, Taiwanese includes several dozen loanwords from
Japanese. In contrast,
Teochew speech is significantly different from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech in both pronunciation and vocabulary.
Mutual intelligibility
- Spoken: Quanzhou speech, Xiamen (Amoy) speech, Zhangzhou speech and Taiwanese are mutually intelligible. Chaozhou (Teochew) speech and Amoy speech are 84.3% phonetically similar
- Written: Southern Min dialects lack a standardized written language. Southern Min speakers are taught how to read Standard Mandarin in school. As a result, there has not been an urgent need to develop a writing system. In recent years, an increasing number of Southern Min Language speakers have become interested in developing a standard writing system (either by using Chinese Characters, or using Romanized script). For a phonological and lexical comparison of major Sino-tibetan languages (including prominent varieties of Southern Min Language), see Sino-Tibetan Swadesh lists.
See also
Related languages
Other topics
