Southern Min

Not to be confused with Southern Ming.
"Minnan" redirects here. For the politician, see Denzil Minnan-Wong. For the golfer, see Hsieh Min-Nan.
Southern Min
Min Nan
閩南語 / 闽南语 Bân-lâm-gú

Koa-a books, Min Nan written in Chinese characters
Native to China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and other areas of Southern Min and Hoklo settlement
Region Southern Fujian province; the Chaozhou-Shantou (Chaoshan) area and Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong province; extreme south of Zhejiang province; much of Hainan province (if Hainanese or Qiong Wen is included); and most of Taiwan.
Native speakers
 47 million (2007)[1]
Dialects
Chinese characters; Latin
Official status
Official language in
 None; one of the statutory languages for public transport announcements in Taiwan[2]
Regulated by None (The Republic of China Ministry of Education and some NGOs are influential in Taiwan)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 nan
Glottolog minn1241[3]

  Southern Min

Subgroups of Southern Min
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 闽南语
Traditional Chinese 閩南語
Literal meaning "Language of Southern Min [Fujian]"

Southern Min, or Minnan, is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in certain parts of China including southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang, and in Taiwan. The Min Nan dialects are also spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, including Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien; both are combinations of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. The Southern Min dialect group also includes Teochew, though Teochew has limited mutual intelligibility with Hokkien. Hainanese is not mutually intellgible with other Southern Min and is often considered a separate branch of Min. Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with Eastern Min, Puxian Min, any other Min branch, Hakka, Cantonese or Standard Chinese.

Geographic distribution

China and Taiwan

Southern Min dialects are spoken in the southern part of Fujian, three southeastern counties of Zhejiang, the Zhoushan archipelago off Ningbo in Zhejiang, and the Chaoshan (Teo-swa) region in Guangdong. The variant spoken in Leizhou, Guangdong as well as Hainan is Hainanese and is not mutually intelligible with other Southern Min or Teochew. Hainanese is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate. Puxian Min was originally based on the Quanzhou dialect, but over time became heavily influenced by Eastern Min, eventually losing intellegility with Minnan.

A forms of Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, collectively known as Taiwanese, Southern Min is a first language for most of the Hoklo people, the main ethnicity of Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-Hoklo speak Southern Min fluently.

Southeast Asia

There are many Southern Min speakers also among Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many ethnic Chinese immigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia (the former Dutch East Indies) and present-day Malaysia and Singapore (formerly British Malaya and the Straits Settlements). In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as Hokkien, Hokkienese, Fukien or Fookien in Southeast Asia and is mostly mutually intellegible with Hokkien spoken elsewhere. Many Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and speak Teochew dialect, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Philippine Hokkien is reportedly the native language of up to 98.5% of the Chinese Filipino community in the Philippines, among whom it is also known as Lan-nang or Lán-lâng-oē ("our people’s language"), although Hoklo people consist of only around 60% of the Chinese Filipino population.

Southern Min-speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore, with the largest group being Hokkien and the second largest Teochew. Despite the similarities the two groups are rarely seen as part of the same "Minnan" Chinese subgroups.

Classification

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.

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, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra and West Kalimantan. The Philippines variant is mostly from the Quanzhou area as most of their forefathers are from the aforementioned area.

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 based on the Zhangzhou dialect 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.

Varieties

There are three principal branches of Southern Min: Hokkien (a.k.a. Quanzhang 泉漳), Datian (大田), and Teochew a.k.a. Chaoshan (潮汕).

Hokkien

Main article: Hokkien

Xiamen (Amoy) dialect is a blend of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects. Taiwanese Hokkien is also a blend of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialect. Taiwanese in northern Taiwan tends to be based on Quanzhou dialect, whereas the Taiwanese spoken in southern Taiwan tends to be based on Zhangzhou dialect. There are minor variations in pronunciation and vocabulary between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. The grammar is basically the same. Additionally, extensive contact with the Japanese language has left a legacy of Japanese loanwords. In contrast, Teochew speech is significantly different from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech in both pronunciation and vocabulary.

Teochew

Main article: Teochew dialect

Teochew, or Chaoshan, includes Swatow dialect. It has very low intelligibility with Amoy dialect.[4]

Datian

Main article: Datian Min

Datian Min, spoken in Datian County, Sanming prefecture northwest of Quanzhou]], is minimally mutual intelligibility with other Minnan, partially due to influence from Central Min and other Min branches. Because of this is sometimes classified as a separate branch of Min.

Phonology

Southern Min has one of the most diverse phonologies of Chinese varieties, with more consonants than Mandarin or Cantonese. Vowels, on the other hand, are more-or-less similar to those of Mandarin. In general, Southern Min dialects have five to six tones, and tone sandhi is extensive. There are minor variations within Hokkien, and the Teochew system differs somewhat more.

Southern Min's nasal finals consist m, n, ŋ, ~.

Writing systems

See also: Written Hokkien

Southern Min dialects lack a standardized written language. Southern Min speakers are taught how to read Standard Chinese in school. As a result, there has not been an urgent need to develop a writing system.Template:Synth-inline In recent years, an increasing number of Southern Min speakers have become interested in developing a standard writing system (either by using Chinese Characters, or using Romanized script).

History

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The Min homeland of Fujian was opened to Chinese settlement by the defeat of the Minyue state by the armies of Emperor Wu of Han in 110 BC.[5] The area features rugged mountainous terrain, with short rivers that flow into the South China Sea. Most subsequent migration from north to south China passed through the valleys of the Xiang and Gan rivers to the west, so that Min varieties have experienced less northern influence than other southern groups.[6] As a result, whereas most varieties of Chinese can be treated as derived from Middle Chinese, the language described by rhyme dictionaries such as the Qieyun (601 AD), Min varieties contain traces of older distinctions.[7] Linguists estimate that the oldest layers of Min dialects diverged from the rest of Chinese around the time of the Han dynasty.[8][9] However, significant waves of migration from the North China Plain occurred:[10]

Jerry Norman identifies four main layers in the vocabulary of modern Min varieties:

  1. A non-Chinese substratum from the original languages of Minyue, which Norman and Mei Tsu-lin believe were Austroasiatic.[11][12]
  2. The earliest Chinese layer, brought to Fujian by settlers from Zhejiang to the north during the Han dynasty.[13]
  3. A layer from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, which is largely consistent with the phonology of the Qieyun dictionary.[14]
  4. A literary layer based on the koiné of Chang'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty.[15]

Comparisons with Sino-Xenic character pronunciations

Min Nan (or Hokkien) can trace its origins through the Tang Dynasty, and it also has roots from earlier periods. Min Nan (Hokkien) people call themselves "Tang people", (唐人, pronounced as "唐儂" Thn̂g-lâng) which is synonymous to "Chinese people". Because of the widespread influence of the Tang culture during the great Tang dynasty, there are today still many Min Nan pronunciations of words shared by the Sino-xenic pronunciations of Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese languages.

English Chinese characters Mandarin Chinese Taiwanese Hokkien[16] Teochew Korean Vietnamese Japanese
Book 冊 Cè Chhek/Chheh ze1 Chaek (책) Tập/Sách Saku/Satsu/Shaku
Bridge 橋 Qiáo Kiâu/Kiô giê5 Gyo (교) Cầu/Kiều Kyō
Dangerous 危險 Wēixiǎn Guî-hiám guîn5/nguín5 hiem2 Wiheom (위험) Nguy hiểm Kiken
Embassy 大使館 Dàshǐguǎn Tāi-sài-koán dai6 sái2 guêng2 Daesagwan (대사관) Đại Sứ Quán Taishikan
Flag 旗 Qí Kî kî5 Gi (기) Cờ/Kỳ Ki
Insurance 保險 Bǎoxiǎn Pó-hiám Bó2-hiém Boheom (보험) Bảo hiểm Hoken
News 新聞 Xīnwén Sin-bûn sing1 bhung6 Shinmun (신문) Tân Văn Shinbun
Student 學生 Xuéshēng Ha̍k-seng Hak8 sêng1 Haksaeng (학생) Học sinh Gakusei
University 大學 Dàxué Tāi-ha̍k/Tōa-o̍h dai6 hag8/dua7 oh8 Daehak (대학) Đại học Daigaku

See also

Related languages

References

  1. ↑ Mikael Parkvall, "Världens 100 största språk 2007" (The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007), in Nationalencyklopedin
  2. ↑ 大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Min Nan Chinese". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ Min Nan Southern Min at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  5. ↑ Norman (1991), pp. 328.
  6. ↑ Norman (1988), pp. 210, 228.
  7. ↑ Norman (1988), pp. 228–229.
  8. ↑ Ting (1983), pp. 9–10.
  9. ↑ Baxter & Sagart (2014), pp. 33, 79.
  10. ↑ Yan (2006), p. 120.
  11. ↑ Norman & Mei (1976).
  12. ↑ Norman (1991), pp. 331–332.
  13. ↑ Norman (1991), pp. 334–336.
  14. ↑ Norman (1991), p. 336.
  15. ↑ Norman (1991), p. 337.
  16. ↑ Iûⁿ, Ún-giân. "Tâi-bûn/Hôa-bûn Sòaⁿ-téng Sû-tián" 台文/華文線頂辭典 [Taiwanese/Chinese Online Dictionary]. Retrieved 1 October 2014.

Further reading

External links

Min Nan Chinese edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southern Min test of Wikibooks at Wikimedia Incubator
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Min Nan
Look up Min Nan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Minnan phrasebook.
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