Southern Min Language 198045 223641211 2008-07-05T01:06:54Z Squids and Chips 2947772 Disambiguate [[Western]] to [[Western world]] using [[:en:Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups|popups]] {{language |name=Southern Min Language |nativename={{lang|zh-tw|閩南語}} / {{lang|zh-cn|闽南语}} ''Bân-lâm-gú'' |familycolor=Sino-Tibetan |states=[[People's Republic of China]], [[Taiwan]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]], [[Singapore]], [[Thailand]], [[Philippines]], [[Vietnam]], and other areas of Southern Min and [[Hoklo (ethnic group)|Hoklo]] settlement |region=Southern [[Fujian]] province; the [[Chaozhou]]-[[Shantou]] ([[Chaoshan]]) area and [[Leizhou Peninsula]] in [[Guangdong]] province; extreme south of [[Zhejiang]] province; most of [[Taiwan]]; much of [[Hainan]] ''(if Hainanese or [[Qiong Wen]] is included)'' |speakers=49 million |rank=21 ''(if [[Qiong Wen]] is included)'' |fam2=[[Chinese dialect|Chinese]] |fam3=[[Min (linguistics)|Min]] |nation=None ([[bill (proposed law)|Legislative bills]] have been proposed for [[Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese]] ([[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy]] Southern Min) to be one of the 'national languages' in the [[Republic of China]]); one of the statutory languages for public transport announcements in the ROC [http://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A7%E7%9C%BE%E9%81%8B%E8%BC%B8%E5%B7%A5%E5%85%B7%E6%92%AD%E9%9F%B3%E8%AA%9E%E8%A8%80%E5%B9%B3%E7%AD%89%E4%BF%9D%E9%9A%9C%E6%B3%95] |agency=None ([[Republic of China]] Ministry of Education and some [[non-governmental organization|NGOs]] are influential in [[Taiwan]]) |iso1=zh|iso2b=chi|iso2t=zho|iso3=nan}} '''Southern Min Language''' (Chinese: '''Min Nan''', '''Minnan''', or '''Min-nan''' ({{zh-stp|s=[[wiktionary:闽|闽]][[wiktionary:南|南]][[wiktionary:语|语]]|t=閩南語|p=Mǐnnányǔ}}; [[Pe̍h-oē-jī|POJ]]: Bân-lâm-gú; or "Southern Fujian" language) refers to a family of [[Chinese language]]s/[[dialects]] which are spoken in southern [[Fujian]] and neighboring areas, and by descendants of [[overseas Chinese|emigrants from these areas]] in [[diaspora]]. In common parlance, Southern Min Language usually refers to [[Amoy (linguistics)|Xiamen speech]] (better known as the [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy language/dialect]]), which is usually called [[Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese]] by residents of [[Taiwan]], and [[Hokkien]] by residents of [[Southeast Asia]]. [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy]] is a combination of [[Quanzhou]] and [[Zhangzhou]] speech. The Southern Min Language family also includes [[Teochew (dialect)|Teochew]] and [[Hainanese (linguistics)|Hainanese]]. [[Teochew (dialect)|Teochew]] has limited [[mutual intelligibilty]] with [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy]]. However, [[Hainanese (linguistics)|Hainanese]] is generally not considered to be mutually intelligible with any other Southern Min dialect. The Southern Min Language forms part of the [[Min (linguistics)|Min]] language group, alongside several other divisions. The Min languages/dialects are part of the [[Chinese language]] group, itself a member of the [[Sino-Tibetan]] language family. The Southern Min Language is not [[Mutual intelligibilty|mutually intelligible]] with the [[Min Dong|Eastern Min Language]], [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]], or [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]]. As with other varieties of [[Chinese language|Chinese]], there is a political dispute as to whether the Southern Min language should be called a [[language]] or a [[dialect]]. (''See [[Identification of the varieties of Chinese]] for greater detail.'') ==Geographic distribution== The Southern Min Language is spoken in the southern part of [[Fujian]] province, three southeastern counties of [[Zhejiang]] province, the [[Zhoushan archipelago]] off [[Ningbo]] in Zhejiang, and the eastern part of [[Guangdong]] province ([[Chaoshan]] region). The [[Qiong Wen]] variant spoken in the [[Leizhou]] peninsula of [[Guangdong]] province, as well as [[Hainan]] province, which is not mutually intelligible with standard Minnan or Teochew, is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min Language and in other schemes as separate. A form of Southern Min Language akin to that spoken in [[southern Fujian]] is also spoken in Taiwan, where it has the native name of '''Tâi-oân-oē''' or '''[[Taiwanese (linguistics)|Hō-ló-oē]]'''. The (sub)ethnic group for which the Southern Min Language is considered a [[native language]] is known as the [[Hoklo (ethnic group)|Holo]] (Hō-ló) or [[Hoklo (ethnic group)|Hoklo]], the main ethnicity of [[Taiwan]]. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is generally true though not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-[[Hoklo]]s speak the Southern Min Language fluently. There are many Southern Min Language speakers also among [[overseas Chinese]] in [[Southeast Asia]]. Many ethnic [[Chinese people|Chinese]] emigrants to the region were [[Hoklo]] from southern Fujian, and brought the language to what is now [[Indonesia]] (the former [[Dutch East Indies]]) and present day [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]] (formerly [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and the [[British Straits Settlements]]). In general, Southern Min Language from southern Fujian is known as '''Hokkien''', '''Hokkienese''', '''Fukien''' or '''Fookien''' in Southeast Asia, and is extremely similar to Taiwanese. Many [[Southeast Asia]]n ethnic Chinese also originated in [[Chaoshan]] region of [[Guangdong]] province and speak '''[[Teochew dialect|Teochew]]''', the variant of Southern Min Language from that region. Southern Min Language is reportedly the native language of up to 98.5% of the [[Chinese Filipino|community of ethnic Chinese]] in the [[Philippines]], among whom it is also known as '''[[Lan-nang]]''' or '''[[Lán-lâng-oē]]''' ("Our people’s language"). Southern Min Language speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore with the largest being [[Hoklo]]s and the second largest being the [[Teochew]]s. == Classification == Southern [[Fujian]] is home to three main [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy]] accents. They are known by the geographic locations to which they correspond: * '''[[Quanzhou]]''' (Chinchew) (泉州) * '''[[Xiamen]]''' (Amoy) (廈門) * '''[[Zhangzhou]]''' (Changchew) (漳州) As Xiamen is the principal city of southern Fujian, the Xiamen accent is considered the most important, or even [[prestige dialect|prestige]] accent. The Xiamen accent is a hybrid of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou accents. Xiamen and the [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy dialect]] have played an influential role in history, especially in the relations of [[Western world|Western]] nations with China, and was one of the most frequently learned of all Chinese languages/dialects by [[Western world|Western]]ers during the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The variants of Southern Min Language 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 (linguistics)|Taiwanese]]. Taiwanese is used by a majority of the population and bears much importance from a socio-political perspective, forming the second (and perhaps today most significant) major pole of the language. Those Southern Min Language variants that are collectively known as "Hokkien" in [[Southeast Asia]] also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min Language in the [[Chaoshan]] region of eastern Guangdong province are collectively known as '''[[Teochew dialect|Teochew]]''' or '''Chaozhou'''. [[Teochew]] is of great importance in the [[Southeast Asia]]n [[Chinese diaspora]], particularly in [[Malaysia]] (where Teochew people form a substantial part of the ethnic [[Chinese people|Chinese]] population), [[Cambodia]], [[Vietnam]], [[Thailand]] and other locations. 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 of [[Zhangzhou]] ([[Changchew]]) Hokkien has developed. In [[Penang]], it is called '''[[Penang Hokkien]]''' while across the [[Malacca Strait]] in [[Medan]], an almost identical variant is known as '''[http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Hokkien Medan Hokkien]''' (in [[Indonesia]]n). == Phonology == The Southern Min Language has one of the most diverse phonology of Chinese variants, with more consonants than standard Mandarin or Cantonese. Vowels, on the other hand, are more or less similar to that of Standard Mandarin. === Initials === The Southern Min Language has aspirated, unaspirated as well as voiced consonant initials. This distinction makes the Southern Min Language one of the harder dialects for native English speakers to learn. For example, the words for opening and closing(''kwee'') a door only differ from each other very slightly from the point of view of an English speaker, with the word for opening having an aspirated initial k and the word for closing having an unaspirated inital k. In addition, the Southern Min Language also has labial initial consonants such as '''m'''. === Finals === Unlike Mandarin, the Southern Min Language retains all the final consonants of Middle Chinese. While Mandarin only preserves the '''n''' and '''ŋ''' finals, the Southern Min Language also preserves the '''m''', '''p''', '''t''' and '''k''' finals. === Vowels === === Tones === In general, the Southern Min Language variants have seven to eight [[tone (linguistics)|tone]]s, and [[tone sandhi]] is extensive. There are minor variations between the [[Quanzhou]] and [[Zhangzhou]] tone systems. The Teochew tone system differs significantly from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. Taiwanese tones follow the schemes of Amoy and Zhangzhou, depending on the area of Taiwan] See also [[Amoy (linguistics)|Amoy]] and [[Teochew (dialect)|Teochew]] for more examples. :{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Minnan tones<ref>{{cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | title = 閩南語辭典 (Min Nan Dictionary), page 21 | language = Mandarin, Southern Min Language | publisher = | location = | id = ISBN 9578447523 }}</ref> ! Tone ! Amoy<br>([[Xiamen]]) ! [[Quanzhou]] ! [[Zhangzhou]] |- | 1 || {{IPA|˥}} (55) || {{IPA|˧}} (33) || {{IPA|˥}} (55) |- | 2 || {{IPA|˥˧}} (53) || {{IPA|˥}} (55) || {{IPA|˥˧}} (53) |- | 3 || {{IPA|˨˩}} (21) || {{IPA|˧˩}} (31) || {{IPA|˨˩}} (21) |- | 4 || {{IPA|˩ʔ}} (1) || {{IPA|˥ʔ}} (5) || {{IPA|˩ʔ}} (1) |- | 5 || {{IPA|˧˥}} (35) || {{IPA|˧˥}} (35) || {{IPA|˩˧}} (13) |- | 6 || (= #2) || {{IPA|˨}} (22) || (= #2) |- | 7 || {{IPA|˩}} (11) || {{IPA|˧˩}} (31) || {{IPA|˩}} (11) |- | 8 || {{IPA|˥}} (5ʔ) || {{IPA|˨˧ʔ}} (23) || {{IPA|˩˨ʔ}} (12) |} ==Comparison== [[Amoy (linguistics)|Xiamen speech]] is a hybrid of [[Quanzhou]] and [[Zhangzhou]] speech. [[Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese]] is also a hybrid of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. Taiwanese in northern [[Taiwan]] tends to be based on Quanzhou speech, whereas the Taiwanese spoken in southern Taiwan tends to be based on Zhangzhou speech. There are minor variations in pronunciation and vocabulary between Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech. The grammar is basically the same. Additionally, Taiwanese includes several dozen loanwords from [[Japanese language|Japanese]]. In contrast, [[Teochew (dialect)|Teochew]] speech is significantly different from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech in both pronunciation and vocabulary. ===Mutual intelligibility=== *Spoken: [[Quanzhou]] speech, [[Xiamen]] (Amoy) speech, [[Zhangzhou]] speech and [[Taiwanese (linguistics)|Taiwanese]] are [[mutually intelligible]]. [[Chaozhou]] ([[Teochew]]) speech and Amoy speech are 84.3% phonetically similar<ref>[http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/research/mutint/phon/minnan.php glossika Southern Min Language phonetics]</ref> and 33.8% lexically similar<ref>[http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/research/mutint/lex/minnan.php glossika Southern Min Language ]</ref>, whereas Mandarin and Amoy Min Nan are 62% phonetically similar<ref>[http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/research/mutint/phon/minnan.php glossika Southern Min Language phonetics]</ref> and 15.1% lexically similar<ref>[http://www.glossika.com/en/dict/research/mutint/lex/minnan.php glossika Southern Min Language]</ref>. In comparison, German and English are 60% lexically similar<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=deu ethnologue]</ref> In other words, Chao-Shan, including Swatow (both of which are variants of [[Teochew]]), has very low intelligibility with Amoy<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=nan ethnologue]</ref>, and Amoy and [[Teochew]] are not [[mutually intelligible]] with Mandarin. However, many Amoy and Teochew speakers speak [[Mandarin]] as a second or third language. *Written: The Southern Min Language dialects lack a standardized written language. The Southern Min Language speakers are taught how to read [[Standard Mandarin]] in school. As a result, there has not been an urgent need to develop a writing system. In recent years, an increasing number of Southern Min Language speakers have become interested in developing a standard writing system (either by using Chinese Characters, or using [[Romanized]] script). For a phonological and lexical comparison of major Sino-tibetan languages (including prominent varieties of Southern Min Language), see [[wikt:Appendix:Sino-Tibetan Swadesh lists|Sino-Tibetan Swadesh lists]]. ==Scripts and orthographies== {{Expand-section|date=June 2008}} Like most ethnic [[Chinese people|Chinese]], whether from mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, or other parts of Southeast Asia, when writing [[Chinese language|Chinese]], Southern Min Language speakers use [[Chinese characters]] as in [[Standard Mandarin]], although there are a number of special characters which are unique to Southern Min Language and sometimes used in informal writing (as is the case with [[written Cantonese|Cantonese]]). Where [[standard Chinese]] characters are used, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. === Romanization === The Southern Min Language, especially Taiwanese, can be written with the [[Latin alphabet]] using a [[Romanization|Romanized]] [[orthography]] called <font face="Lucida Sans Unicode"> [[Pe̍h-ōe-jī]], or POJ</font> ({{zh-tspl|t=[[wiktionary:白|白]][[wiktionary:話|話]][[wiktionary:字|字]]|s=白话字|p=báihuà zì|l=vernacular writing}}). POJ was developed first by [[Presbyterian]] [[missionaries]] in [[China]] and later by the indigenous [[Presbyterian Church in Taiwan]]; use of the orthography has been actively promoted since the late 19th century. The use of a mixed orthography of Han characters and romanization is also seen, though remains uncommon. Other [[Latin-based]] orthographies also exist. Earlier scripts<!--does the term "script" here mean a text, or a writing system? It's unclear.--> in Southern Min Language can be dated back to the 16th century. One example is the "Doctrina Christiana en letra y lengua china," presumably written after 1587 by the [[Spanish Dominicans]] in the [[Philippines]]. Another is a [[Ming Dynasty]] script of a play called ''[[Romance of the Lychee Mirror]]'' (1566 AD), supposedly the earliest Southern Min colloquial text. {{POJtable}} === Computing === The Southern Min Language is registered per RFC 3066 as [http://www.iana.org/assignments/lang-tags/zh-min-nan zh-min-nan] [http://www.evertype.com/standards/iso639/iana-lang-assignments.html]. When writing the Southern Min Language in [[Written Chinese|Chinese]] characters, some writers create 'new' characters when they consider it impossible to use directly or borrow existing ones; this corresponds to similar practices in character usage in [[Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese]], [[Chữ Nôm|Vietnamese chữ nôm]], [[Hanja|Korean hanja]] and [[Kanji|Japanese kanji]]. These are usually not encoded in [[Unicode]] (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646: [[Universal Character Set]]), thus creating problems in computer processing. All [[Latin]] characters required by [[Pe̍h-oē-jī]] can be represented using [[Unicode]] (or the corresponding ISO/IEC 10646: [[Universal character set]]), using precomposed or combining (diacritics) characters. Prior to June 2004, the vowel akin to but more open than ''o'', written with a '''dot above right''', was not encoded. The usual workaround was to use the (stand-alone; spacing) character ''[[Interpunct]]'' (U+00B7, ''·'') or less commonly the combining character ''dot above'' (U+0307). As these are far from ideal, since 1997 proposals have been submitted to the ISO/IEC [[working group]] in charge of ISO/IEC 10646—namely, [http://anubis.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/ ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2]—to encode a new combining character ''dot above right''. This is now officially assigned to U+0358 (see documents [http://www.evertype.com/standards/la/taioan.html N1593], [http://anubis.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n2507 N2507], [http://anubis.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC2/WG2/docs/n2628 N2628], [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2699 N2699], and [http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n2713 N2713]). Font support is expected to follow. ==See also== *[[Penang Hokkien]] *[[Taiwanese (linguistics)]] *[[Fuzhou dialect]] *[[Hakka language]] *[[Languages of China]] *[[Demographics of Taiwan#Languages|Languages of Taiwan]] *[[Malaysian Chinese]] *[[Chinese in Singapore]] *[[wikt:Appendix:Amoy Min Nan Swadesh list|Amoy Min Nan Swadesh list]] ==References== <references /> ==Further reading== *{{cite book |last=Branner |first=David Prager |title= Problems in Comparative Chinese Dialectology — the Classification of Miin and Hakka |series= Trends in Linguistics series, no. 123 |year=2000 |publisher= Mouton de Gruyter |location= Berlin |isbn= 31-101-5831-0 }} *{{cite book |last=Chung |first=R.-f |title= The segmental phonology of Southern Min in Taiwan |year=196 |publisher= Crane Pub. Co |location= Taipei |isbn= 95-794-6346-8 }} *{{cite article |last= DeBernardi |first=J. E |title= [http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp025_taiwanese.html Linguistic nationalism--the case of Southern Min ] |series= Sino-Platonic papers, no. 25 |year=1991 |publisher= Dept. of Oriental Studies, University of Pennsylvania. }} == External links == {{InterWiki|code=zh-min-nan}} {{Wikibooks|Min Nan}} * [http://solution.cs.ucla.edu/~jinbo/dzl/ 當代泉州音字彙], a dictionary of Quanzhou speech * [http://203.64.42.21/iug/ungian/SoannTeng/chil/taihoa.asp 台語-華語線頂辭典], Taiwanese-Mandarin on-line dictionary * [http://nlg.csie.ntu.edu.tw/systems/TWLLMT/index.html 臺灣本土語言互譯及語音合成系統], Taiwanese-Hakka-Mandarin on-line conversion * [http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/languages/amoy.html Voyager - Spacecraft - Golden Record - Greetings From Earth - Amoy], includes translation and sound clip *: (The voyager clip says: Thài-khong pêng-iú, lín-hó. Lín chia̍h-pá--bē? Ū-êng, to̍h lâi gún chia chē--ô·! 太空朋友,恁好。恁食飽未?有閒著來阮遮坐哦!) * [http://daiwanway.dynip.com/cgi/tdict.acgi?w=&p=&e=&m= 台語詞典] Taiwanese-English-Mandarin Dictionary {{Chinese_language}} [[Category:Chinese language]] [[Category:Chinese dialects]] [[Category:Min Nan| ]] [[Category:Languages of the Philippines]] [[Category:Tonal languages]] [[am:ደቡብ ሚንኛ]] [[zh-min-nan:Bân-lâm-gú]] [[br:Mineg ar su]] [[ca:Min Nan]] [[da:Minnan]] [[de:Min Nan]] [[es:Min Nan]] [[fr:Minnan]] [[zh-classical:閩南語]] [[ko:민난어]] [[id:Bahasa Hokkien]] [[ms:Bahasa Hokkien]] [[cdo:Mìng-nàng-ngṳ̄]] [[nl:Zuidelijk Min]] [[ja:ミン南語]] [[pl:Język minnański]] [[ru:Южноминьский язык (диалект)]] [[th:ภาษาหมิ่นหนาน]] [[vi:Tiếng Mân Nam]] [[tr:Min-Nan]] [[wuu:闽南语]] [[zh-yue:閩南話]] [[zh:闽南语]]