Min Chinese

Min
閩 / 闽 Hokkien POJ: Bân Teochew PUJ: Mâng Hokchew BUC: Mìng Hinghwa Romanized: Máng Kienning Romanized: Mâing
Geographic distribution	Mainland China: Fujian, Guangdong (around Chaozhou-Shantou, Shanwei, Zhongshan, and Leizhou Peninsula), Hainan, Zhejiang (Shengsi, Putuo and Cangnan), Taiwan, Singapore; overseas communities in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Brunei, Myanmar, Japan, Northeastern United States, Southwestern United States and Canada.
Ethnicity	Min Chinese: Fuzhou people, Putian people, Minnan people, Teochew people, Hainan people, etc.
Native speakers	75 million (2012)[1]
Linguistic classification	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese[a] Min
Proto-language	Proto-Min
Subdivisions	Coastal Min: Eastern Min, Hainan Min, Leizhou Min, Pu-Xian Min, Southern Min Inland Min: Central Min, Northern Min, Shao-Jiang Min
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
ISO 639-6	mclr
Linguasphere	79-AAA-h to 79-AAA-l
Glottolog	minn1248
Distribution of Min languages in mainland China and Taiwan[image reference needed]
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	闽语
Traditional Chinese	閩語
Hokkien POJ	Bân-gú / Bân-gír / Bân-gí / Mân-ú
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Mǐn Yǔ Southern Min Hokkien POJ Bân-gú / Bân-gír / Bân-gí / Mân-ú Teochew Peng'im Mang7 ghe2 Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Mìng ngṳ̄ Pu-Xian Min Hinghwa BUC Máng-gṳ̂ Northern Min Jian'ou Romanized Mâing-ngṳ̌

Min (simplified Chinese: 闽语; traditional Chinese: 閩語; pinyin: Mǐnyǔ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bân-gú / Bân-gír / Bân-gí / Mân-ú; BUC: Mìng-ngṳ̄) is a broad group of Sinitic languages with about 75 million native speakers. These languages are spoken in Fujian province as well as by the descendants of Min-speaking colonists on the Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan and by the assimilated natives of Chaoshan, parts of Zhongshan, three counties in southern Wenzhou, the Zhoushan archipelago, Taiwan^[1] and scattered in pockets or sporadically across Hong Kong, Macau, and several countries in Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei. The name is derived from the Min River in Fujian, which is also the abbreviated name of Fujian Province. Min varieties are not mutually intelligible with one another nor with any other variety of Chinese (such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Gan, Xiang, or Hakka).

There are many Min speakers among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. The most widely spoken variety of Min outside of mainland China is Hokkien, a variety of Southern Min which has its origin in southern Fujian. Amoy Hokkien is the prestige dialect of Hokkien in Fujian, while a majority of Taiwanese speak a dialect called Taiwanese Hokkien or simply Taiwanese. The majority of Chinese Singaporeans, Chinese Malaysians, Chinese Filipinos, Chinese Indonesians, Chinese Thais, Chinese Cambodians are of Southern Min-speaking background (particularly Hokkien and/or Teochew), although the rise of Mandarin has led to a decline in the use of Min Chinese. Communities speaking Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, Haklau Min, Leizhou Min, and Hainanese can also be found in parts of the Chinese diaspora, such as in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Many Min languages have retained notable features of the Old Chinese language, and there is linguistic evidence that not all Min varieties are directly descended from Middle Chinese of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The Min languages are believed to have a significant linguistic substrate from the languages of the inhabitants of the region before its sinicization.

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