Min Chinese - Varieties

Varieties

Min has greater dialectal diversity than any other division of Chinese. It is typically divided, on the basis of mutual intelligibility, into five to nine languages, such as Min Dong (Eastern Min) and Min Nan (Southern Min). Phylogenetically, there is a primary split between an Inland Min group consisting of Shao-Jiang Min (disputed), Min Bei, and Min Zhong and a Coastal Min consisting of Min Dong, Pu-Xian Min, Min Nan, and Qiong Wen. Shaojiang Min may also be classified as an outgroup within Min Chinese branching off first from the other Min languages.

Min Dong is centered around the city of Fuzhou (Fuzhou dialect is the standard dialect of Min Dong), capital of Fujian province, while Min Nan is dominant in the south of Fujian and into eastern Guangdong. Pu-Xian Min originated as a Min Nan dialect which underwent major phonological influence from Fuzhou Min Dong. Similarly, Qiong Wen, spoken in Hainan, is sometimes classed as a separate language; it originated from a Min Nan dialect that underwent major phonological shifts over time.

Min-Nan is also called by the name of its regional variants in the places it is spoken, especially Taiwanese. The Amoy dialect of Xiamen is the prestige dialect of Min Nan in mainland China and Taiwan, with Teochew also being an important variety.

Glossika divides the Min languages into eight: Northern Min (Min Bei in Nanping prefecture in Fujian, but Jian'ou dialect is the standard dialect of Min Bei), Shaojiang (eastern Nanping and surrounding areas; in broader classifications treated as a dialect of Min Bei), Eastern Min (Min Dong in Fuzhou and Ningde prefectures), Central Min (Min Zhong in Sanming prefecture), Puxian Min in Putian prefecture, Southern Min (Min Nan in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen (Amoy) prefectures and on Taiwan (Hokkien dialect), and in eastern Guangdong province (Teochew dialect); Hokkien and Teochew are sometimes considered separate languages), Leizhou (on the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong), and Hainanese (on Hainan Island; in broader classifications Leizhou and Hainanese are treated as a Qiongwen language or as dialects of Min Nan).

The Southern Min language in Guangdong is known as Hoklo, in Hainan as Qiong Wen or Qiongzhou hua (though some class Qiong Wen as a separate sub-group). Min Nan is the dominant Chinese dialect spoken by the Chinese minority in the Philippines, where it is known as Lan-nang. In Taiwan, Min Nan is known as Hō-ló-oē and is spoken by the majority of the population as their native language. In Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other areas in Southeast Asia, Min Nan is known as Hokkien, in addition to the Teochew variant, originating in the Chaoshan region, which is the ancestral home of many ethnic Chinese in Singapore as well as in Bangkok, Thailand (see Thai Chinese for more information about the Chinese community in Thailand).