Chinese Chinese linguistics and dialect

Min Nan Wikipedia

Mǐn N??n (Simplified Chinese character|Simplified Chinese: 闽南语, Traditional Chinese character|Traditional Chinese: 閩南語), also spelt as Minnan or Min-nan; native name Bân-lâm-g??; literally means "Southern Min (linguistics)|Min" or "Southern Fujian" and refers to the local language/dialect of southern Fujian Provinces of China|province, China. It is often known simply as Hokkien (i.e. "Fujian(ese)") or Teochew, especially in Southeast Asia.

language|name=Min Nan|nativename=闽南语
|familycolor=tomato
|states=People's Republic of China, Republic of China, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and other areas of Min Nan settlement around the world
|region=Southern Fujian province; the Chaozhou-Shantou area in Guangdong province; extreme south of Zhejiang province; most of Taiwan; much of Hainan (if Qiong Wen is included); Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong province
|speakers=49 million |rank=21 (if Qiong Wen is included)
|family=Sino-Tibetan

 Chinese dialect|Chinese

  Min

   Min Nan

|nation=none (bill (proposed law)|legislative bills have been proposed to have Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese be a 'national language' in the Republic of China but these are unlikely to pass)
|agency=none (Republic of China|ROC Ministry of Education and some non-governmental organization|NGOs are influential in Taiwan)
|iso1=zh|iso2=chi (B) / zho (T)|sil=CFR


Northern and Southern Min can be grouped together as Min (linguistics)|Min. Both are often classified as dialects of the Chinese language (itself part of the Sino-Tibetan language family). However, Min Nan, Northern Min and Mandarin (linguistics)|Mandarin (the Chinese official dialect) are not mutually intelligible.

Min Nan is spoken in the southern part of the southeastern China|Chinese province of Fujian as well as by descendents of migrants from this province in Taiwan, Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Swatou, and Leizhou peninsula), Hainan, two counties in southern Zhejiang and Zhoushan archipelago offshore Ningbo. There are many Min Nan speakers also among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. In Taiwan, it also has the native name of Taiwanese language|Hō-l??-oē. In the Philippines, it has the name L??n-lâng-oē ("our people's language") among the Chinese Filipinos, many of which are descendants of Fujian people.

Like all other varieties of Chinese language|Chinese, there is plenty of dispute as to whether Min Nan is a language or a dialect. Please see Chinese_language#Is_Chinese_a_Language_or_a_Family_of_Languages?|here for the issues surrounding this dispute.

Last Modified:   2005-02-27