Eastern Min

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Eastern Min
Min Dong (閩東語)
Foochowese (福州話)
平話
Pronunciation
"Bàng-uâ" in different dialects
[paŋ˨˩ŋuɑ˨˦˨] (Fuzhou)
[paŋ˥ŋuɑ˦˨] (Fuqing)
[paŋ˥˦˦ŋua˧˨˦] (Gutian)
[paŋ˧˩ŋuɑ˩˧˩] (Matsu)
[paŋ˨ɰo˧˧˨] (Ningde)
[paŋ˨ɰo˨˧] (Fu'an)
[paŋ˨ŋua˨˩˨] (Xiapu)
[paŋ˨˩ŋua˨˩˧] (Zherong)
Native toSoutheast China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, United States (chiefly New York City)
RegionEastern Fujian (Fuzhou and Ningde), Matsu; parts of Taishun and Cangnan, Wenzhou, Zhejiang
Native speakers
11 million (2022)[1]
Early forms
Dialects
Foochow Romanized
Official status
Official language in
Matsu Islands, Taiwan (as local language[5])[6]
Recognised minority
language in
one of the statutory languages for public transport announcements in the Matsu Islands, Taiwan[7]
Language codes
ISO 639-3cdo
Glottologmind1253

Eastern Min or Min Dong (

Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄) is a branch of the Min group of the Chinese languages of China. The prestige form and most commonly cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian.[8]

Geographic distribution

Fujian and vicinity

Eastern Min varieties are mainly spoken in the eastern region of

Changle, Minhou, Yongtai, Fuqing and Pingtan, as well as the urban area of Fuzhou proper.[9][10]

It is also widely encountered as the

People's Republic of China in 1949 separated the Matsu Islands from the rest of Fujian, and as communications were cut off between the ROC and the PRC, the specific identity of the Matsu Islands was established. Thus, the varieties of Eastern Min on the Matsu Islands became seen as the Matsu dialect (馬祖話).[11]

Additionally, the inhabitants of

Eastern Min generally coexists with the official language, Standard Chinese, in all these areas. On the ROC, the Matsu dialect is officially recognized as a statutory language for transport announcements on the Matsu Islands.[15] In Fuzhou, there is radio available in the local dialect, and the Fuzhou Metro officially uses alongside Standard Mandarin and English in its announcements.[16]

United States

As the coastal area of Fujian has been the historical homeland of a large worldwide diaspora of overseas Chinese, varieties of Eastern Min can also be found across the world, especially in their respective Chinatowns. Cities with high concentrations of such immigrants include New York City,[17] especially Little Fuzhou, Manhattan, Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens.

Europe

Speakers of Eastern Min varieties are also found in various Chinatown communities in Europe, including

Wenzhounese.[25][26]

Japan and Malaysia

Chinese communities within

West Malaysia and in Rajang river towns of Sibu, Sarikei and Bintangor in East Malaysia.[citation needed
]

Classification

Eastern Min is descended from

Coastal Min branch, and is thus closely related to Northern Min.[29][28]

Norman lists four distinctive features in the development of Eastern Min:[28]

  • The Proto-Min initial *dz- becomes s- in Eastern Min, as opposed to ts- as in Southern Min. For example, "to sit" is pronounced sô̤i (IPA: /sɔy²⁴²/) in colloquial Fuzhou dialect, but tsō (IPA: /t͡so²²/) in Xiamen and Taiwanese Hokkien.
  • Eastern Min varieties have an upper register tone for words which correspond to voiceless nasal initials in Proto-Min, e.g. "younger sister" in Fuzhou is pronounced with an upper departing tone muói (IPA: /mui²¹³/) rather than a lower departing tone.
  • There are some lexemes that descend from Old Chinese which have been conserved in Eastern Min but replaced in other Min varieties. For example, instead of for "dog".
  • A lack of nasal vowels, in contrast to Southern Min.[28]

Branches

The branches of Eastern Min

Eastern Min is conventionally divided into three branches:[30]

  1. Changle dialect, Lianjiang dialect and the dialect of the Matsu Islands
    .
  2. Funing language group (福寧片), also called the Northern subgroup, including the Ningde language and the Fu'an language.
  3. Manjiang dialect (蠻講), spoken in parts of Taishun and Cangnan, Wenzhou, Zhejiang.

Besides these three branches, some dialect islands in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have been classified as Eastern Min.[31][14] Zhongshan Min is a group of Min varieties spoken in the Zhongshan county of Guangdong, divided into three branches: the Longdu dialect and Nanlang dialect belong to the Eastern Min group, while the Sanxiang dialect belongs to Southern Min.[13][14]

Phonology

The Eastern Min group has a phonology which is particularly divergent from other

Wu dialects
of Zhejiang, and hence has significantly more initials than the varieties of Fujian.

The finals vary significantly between varieties, with the extremes being represented by Manjiang dialects at a low of 39 separate finals, and the Ningde dialect representing the high at 69 finals.

Comparison of numbers of Eastern Min initials and finals
Types Houguan subgroup (侯官片) Funing subgroup (福寧片) Manjiang (蠻講)
City Fuzhou (福州) Fuqing (福清) Gutian (古田) Ningde (宁德) Fuding (福鼎) Fu'an (福安) Qianku, Cangnan, Zhejiang (蒼南錢庫)
Number of Initials 15 15 15 15 15 17 29
Number of Finals 46 42 51 69 41 56 39
Number of Tones 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

Eastern Min varieties generally have seven tones, by the traditional count (based on the four tones of Middle Chinese, including the entering tone as a separate entity). In the middle of the Qing dynasty, eight tones were attested, but the historical rising tones (上聲) re-merged.[32]

Comparison of tones across Eastern Min varieties
Dark level 陰平 Light level 陽平 Rising 上聲 Dark departing 陰去 Light departing 陽去 Dark entering 陰入 Light entering 陽入
Fuzhou
福州話
˦ 44 ˥˧ 53 ˧˩ 31 ˨˩˧ 213 ˨˦˨ 242 ˨˧ 23 ˥ 5
Fu'an
福安話
˧˧˨ 332 ˨ 22 ˦˨ 42 ˨˩ 21 ˧˨˦ 324 ˨ 2 ˥ 5
Ningde
寧德話
˦ 44 ˩ 11 ˦˨ 42 ˧˥ 35 ˥˨ 52 ˦ 4 ˥ 5
Fuding
福鼎話
˦˦˥ 445 ˨˩˨ 212 ˥ 55 ˥˧ 53 ˨ 22 ˥ 5 ˨˧ 23
Taishun, Zhejiang
泰順
˨˩˧ 213 ˧ 33 ˦˥˥ 455 ˥˧ 53 ˦˨ 42 ˥ 5 ˦˧ 43
Qianku, Cangnan, Zhejiang
蒼南錢庫蠻講
˦ 44 ˨˩˦ 214 ˦˥ 45 ˦˩ 41 ˨˩ 21 ˥ 5 ˨˩ 21
Miaojiaqiao, Cangnan, Zhejiang
蒼南繆家橋蠻講
˧ 33 ˨˩˧ 213 ˦˥ 45 ˦˩ 41 ˩ 11 ˥ 5 ˩ 1

Sandhi phenomena

The Eastern Min varieties have a wide of range of sandhi phenomena. As well as tone sandhi, common to many varieties of Chinese, there is also the assimilation of consonants[33] and vowel alternations (such as rime tensing).

Tone sandhi across Eastern Min varieties can be regressive (where the last syllable affects the pronunciation of those before), progressive (where earlier syllables affect the later ones) or mutual (where both or all syllables change). The rules are generally quite complicated.

Initial assimilation of consonants is usually progressive, and may create new phonemes that are not phonemically contrastive in initial position but do contrast in medial position.[34] A few varieties exhibit regressive assimilation too.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[2][3][4]

References

  1. ^ Eastern Min at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. JSTOR 2718766
  3. from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  4. ^ 本土語言納中小學必修 潘文忠:將按語發法實施 (in Chinese)
  5. ^ "國家語言發展法 第二條".
  6. ^ 大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法
  7. .
  8. ^ "关于福州十邑". 闽都在线 Mindu Online (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  9. S2CID 247931980. Retrieved 11 October 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  10. ^ Lin, Sheng-Chang (2021-09-13). "At the Edge of State Control: The Creation of the "Matsu Islands"". Taiwan Insight. University of Nottingham Taiwan Studies Programme. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
  11. ISSN 2405-478X
    . Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  12. ^ a b Bodman, Nicholas C. (1984). "The Namlong Dialect, a Northern Min Outlier in Zhongshan Xian and the Influence of Cantonese on its Lexicon and Phonology". Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies. 14 (1): 1–19.
  13. ^
    JSTOR 20006706
    .
  14. ^ "大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法§6-全國法規資料庫". law.moj.gov.tw (in Chinese). 全國法規資料庫. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  15. ^ Zheng, Jing 郑靓. "乡音报站"女神"郭铃:唱响福州地铁好声音 -东南网-福建官方新闻门户". 东南网. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  16. .
  17. ^ Pieke, Frank. "Research Briefing 4: Transnational Communities" (PDF). Transnational Communities Programme, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  18. S2CID 151552619
    . Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  19. . Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  20. ^ Pieke, Frank N. "Recent Trends in Chinese Migration to Europe: Fujianese Migration in Perspective" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  21. ^ Luo, Siyu. "Statusless Chinese Migrant Workers in the UK: Irregular Migration and Labour Exploitation" (PDF). Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  22. ^ Wu, Yan; Wang, Xinyue. "Gendered Active Civic Participation: The Experience of Chinese Immigrants in Europe" (PDF). University of Oldenburg. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  23. S2CID 153457798
    . Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  24. ^ Liu, Ting (2022). "El traductor automático en los comercios chinos de Cataluña: una herramienta para eliminar la barrera lingüística" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  25. ^ Ma, Jie. "From China to Spain Chinese Immigrants in Anthropological View" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
  26. .
  27. ^ .
  28. ^ Pan 潘, Maoding 茂鼎; 李, 如龍; 梁, 玉璋; 張, 盛裕; 陳, 章太 (1963). "福建漢語方言分區略說". 中國語文 (6): 475–495.
  29. .
  30. ^ Bodman, Nicholas C. (1984). "The Namlong Dialect, a Northern Min Outlier in Zhongshan Xian and the Influence of Cantonese on its Lexicon and Phonology". Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies. 14 (1): 1–19.
  31. ^ 李, 含茹. "苍南蛮话语音研究--《复旦大学》2009年硕士论文". CDMD.cnki.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  32. ^ Yuan, Bixia; Wang, Yizhi (2013). "On the Initial Assimilations of Eastern Min Dialects in Fujian Province--《Dialect》2013年01期". Dialect. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  33. ^ Yang, Ching-Yu Helen (2015). "A synchronic view of the consonant mutations in Fuzhou dialect" (PDF). University System of Taiwan Working Papers in Linguistics. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2019-09-09.

Further reading