Alternate Names: Minnan, Southern Min
Dialects: Chao-Shan (Chaozhou, Choushan, Teochew), Hainan (Hainanese, Qiongwen Hua, Wenchang), Leizhou (Lei Hua, Li Hua), Longdu, Quanzhou (Chinchew), Xiamen (Amoy), Zhangzhou (Changchew), Zhenan Min. Amoy is the prestige dialect. Amoy and Taiwanese are easily mutually intelligible. Chao-Shan has difficult intelligibility with Amoy; Hainan quite different from other dialects. Most speakers in Thailand use Chaoshou dialect. Min Nan most widely distributed and influential Min variety. A member of macrolanguage Chinese ,.
Status Notes: Language of recognized nationality: Han.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 25,700,000 in China (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001). Population total all countries: 46,619,500.
Language Use: Other speakers use it for commerce. Most domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use English [eng], Mandarin Chinese [cmn], Yue Chinese [yue]. Used as L2 by Lingao [onb], She [shx], Tsat [huq].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 91% (2000 census, Han nationality). Highly literate in Chinese and they use that literature. Poetry. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1884–1933.
Typology: SVO; tone sandhi, tonal.
Spoken In: Taiwan
Writing System: Bopomofo, Latin
Nation of Origin: China
Other Comments: Traditional religion, Buddhist, Christian, Daoist.