Min Dialects
By James Campbell
Min is a cover term for several languages spoken in Fujian province, some common names including Hokkien, Holo, Hoktsiu, Teochew, Hainanese. Though Hokkien is the old spelling of Fujian province and the way it is pronounced in Southern Min, today Hokkien refers mainly to the language. The Min dialects are divided into several divisions (languages) because mutual intelligibility between them is very difficult: Northern Min, Eastern Min, Southern Min, Central and Western Min, and Qiongwen (spoken on Hainan island). There is an article in the news about a man who showed up in a New York City courthouse who needed a Chinese interpreter. The interpreter they brought in could only speak Mandarin who complained it was impossible to speak with this man because he was a Hokkien speaker! Even if they could have found someone from Fujian, say Fuzhou (N. Min), the interpreter still wouldn't be able to communicate unless he could speak Southern Min because these are not mutually intelligible languages. The Min languages branched off from Chinese at a point in history much earlier than the other languages started to emerge. So there are some remnants in Min that resemble a much earlier form of Chinese than can be found in any of the other Sinitic languages. This also explains why there is much more variety within Min to the point that we can at least distinguish a northern and a southern language.
This is an index to the information on Min dialects found at this site. Names are listed first in Traditional, then Simplified characters with Pinyin pronunciation. Links to information on this site available on a dialect are provided next to each entry. More data is being added on a weekly basis. Updated December 13, 2003.
Mǐn
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