Zhongshan Min

Zhongshan Min (simplified Chinese: 中山闽语; traditional Chinese: 中山閩語), known as Cunhua (村话; 村話) by its speakers,^[5] are three Min Chinese dialect islands in the Zhongshan region of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. The Zhongshan Min people settled in the region from Fujian Province as early as the Northern Song dynasty period (1023–1031).^[5] The three dialects are:^[1][5]

• Longdu dialect, spoken mainly in Shaxi and Dachong in the west of the prefecture,
• Nanlang dialect or Dongxiang dialect, spoken mainly in Nanlang and Zhangjiabian in the east, and
• Sanxiang dialect, spoken in Sanxiang in the south.

Zhongshan Min
中山闽语 / 中山閩語
Native to	China
Region	Zhongshan, Guangdong
Native speakers	140,000 (2005)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Min Coastal Min Eastern Min and Southern Min Zhongshan Min
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese[a] Proto-Min
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	zhon1238  Zhongshan Min

Min dialect islands in Zhongshan: (1) Longdu, (2) Nanlang, (3) Sanxiang

According to Nicholas Bodman, the Longdu and Nanlang dialects belong to the Eastern Min group, while the Sanxiang dialect belongs to Southern Min.^[6][7] All three have been heavily influenced by the Shiqi dialect, the local variety of Yue Chinese.^[8]

As the dialect with the most speakers, the Longdu dialect may be taken as the representative dialect of Zhongshan Min.^[9]

Notes

1. Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.^[2][3][4]