User:Jadejjjade/Southern Min
Language group (branch of the Min Chinese language) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southern Min or Minnan (simplified Chinese: 闽南语; traditional Chinese: 閩南語; lit. 'Southern Fujian') is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan (many citizens are descendants of settlers from Fujian), eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang.[7] The Minnan dialects are also spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New York City. It is the largest Min Chinese branch and the most widely distributed Min Chinese subgroup.
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Southern Min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Minnan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
閩南語 / 闽南语 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Native to | China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, New York City, and other areas of Southern Min and Hoklo settlement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Region | 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 Qiongwen is included); and most of Taiwan as well as Penang, Melaka, Singapore and Sumatra. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ethnicity | Hoklo people Teochew people Hainanese people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Native speakers | 50.46 million [1] (2017) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dialects | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese characters; Latin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Official status | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Official language in | None[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Linguasphere | 79-AAA-j | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southern Min in China and Taiwan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subgroups of Southern Min in China and Taiwan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 闽南语 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 閩南語 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "Language of Southern Min [Fujian]" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In common parlance and in the narrower sense, Southern Min refers to the Quanzhang or Hokkien-Taiwanese variety of Southern Min originating from Southern Fujian in Mainland China. This is spoken mainly in Fujian, Taiwan, as well as certain parts of Southeast Asia. The Quanzhang variety is often called simply "Minnan Proper" (simplified Chinese: 闽南语; traditional Chinese: 閩南語). It is considered the mainstream Southern Min Chinese Language.
In the wider scope, Southern Min also includes other Min Chinese varieties that are linguistically related to Minnan proper (Quanzhang). Most variants of Southern Min have significant differences from the Quanzhang variety, some having limited mutual intelligibility with it, others almost none. Teochew, Longyan, and Zhenan may be said to have limited mutual intelligibility with Minnan Proper, sharing similar phonology and vocabulary to a small extent. On the other hand, variants such as Datian, Zhongshan, and Qiong-Lei have historical linguistic roots with Minnan Proper, but are significantly divergent from it in terms of phonology and vocabulary, and thus have almost no mutual intelligibility with the Quanzhang variety. Linguists tend to classify them as separate Min languages.
Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with other branches of Min Chinese nor other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin.