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Min language resources



Min is spoken on a daily basis in: China Min--> --> --> -->

Additional background on Min

Min (Chinese: ???; pinyin: Min fangy�n; POJ: B�n hong-gi�n; BUC: M�ng huong-ngi�ng) is a general term for a group of dialects of the Chinese language spoken in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian as well as by migrants from this province in Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Swatou, or Chaoshan area, and the Leizhou peninsula), Hainan, three counties in southern Zhejiang, and Zhoushan archipelago off Ningbo, and Taiwan. There are many Min speakers also among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

Min is typically divided, on the basis of mutual unintelligibility, into northern Min (Min Bei), southern Min (Min Nan), and other sub-groups. Min Bei is centered around the city of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province (though this variant is also classed by some as Min Dong, Eastern Min), while Min Nan is dominant in most other locations. Qiong Wen, spoken in Hainan, is sometimes classed as a separate sub-group, but often viewed as part of Min Nan. Min Nan is also called by the name of its regional variants in the places it is spoken, especially Taiwanese. Xiamen (Amoy) dialect is the prestige dialect of Min Nan in mainland China, with Teochew also being an important sub-variant.

More complex division is suggested by SIL: Northern Min (Min-Bei, around Jian'ou in Fujian), Central Min (Min-Zhong, around Shaxian, Sanming), Eastern Min (Min-Dong in Fuzhou), Xinghua (in Puxian and Xianyou counties) and Southern Min (Min-Nan, in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen). Southern Min is also spoken by Fujian or Hoklo diaspora in Guangdong, Taiwan, Hainan, etc.

The Southern Min language in Taiwan is known as Ho-l�-oe, in Guangdong 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, known as Lan-nang. In Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other areas in Southeast Asia, Minnan 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.




Min


What are the most spoken languages on earth?

All data is derived from UNESCO.





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