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Eastern Min
Min Dong (閩東語) Foochowese (福州話)
平話 Bàng-uâ
Region	Southeast China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, United States
Native speakers	11 million (2022)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Min Coastal Min Eastern Min
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Proto-Min
Varieties	Funing: Fu'an, Ningde Houguan: Fuqing, Fuzhou, Matsu Manjiang Zhongshan
Writing system	Chinese characters and Foochow Romanized
Official status
Official language in	Matsu Islands, Taiwan
Recognised minority language in	statutory language for public transport in the Matsu Islands
Language codes
ISO 639-3	cdo
Glottolog	mind1253
Eastern Min

Eastern Min or Min Dong (traditional Chinese: 閩東語; simplified Chinese: 闽东语; pinyin: Mǐndōngyǔ, 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.

Geographic distribution

Fujian and vicinity

Eastern Min varieties are mainly spoken in the eastern region of Fujian, in and near the cities of Fuzhou and Ningde. This includes the traditional Ten Counties of Fuzhou (Chinese: 福州十邑; pinyin: Fúzhōu Shí Yì; Foochow Romanized: Hók-ciŭ Sĕk Ék), a region that consists of present-day Pingnan, Gutian, Luoyuan, Minqing, Lianjiang, Changle, Minhou, Yongtai, Fuqing and Pingtan, as well as the urban area of Fuzhou proper.

It is also widely encountered as the first language of the Matsu Islands controlled by Taiwan. Historically, the Eastern Min varieties in the Matsu Islands were seen as a part of the Lianjiang variety. The establishment of 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.

Additionally, the inhabitants of Taishun and Cangnan to the north of Fujian in Zhejiang also speak Eastern Min varieties. To the south of Fujian, in Zhongshan County, Guangdong, varieties classified as Eastern Min are also spoken in the towns of Dachong, Shaxi and Nanlang.

Eastern Min generally coexists with 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. In Fuzhou, there is radio available in the local dialect, and the Fuzhou Metro officially uses alongside Standard Mandarin and English in its announcements.

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, 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 London, Paris, and the city of Prato in Italy. In the United Kingdom, a large proportion of the British Chinese community is made up of migrants coming from areas of Fujian that speak Eastern Min, principally from rural parts of Fuqing and Changle. In Spain, speakers of Eastern Min from Fuqing and Changle are also common, second to the more dominant Zhejiang community, who speak varieties of Southern Wu such as Wenzhounese.

Japan and Malaysia

Chinese communities within Ikebukuro, Tokyo as well as Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia have significant populations of Eastern Min speakers. Fuzhou communities can also be found in Sitiawan, Perak and Yong Peng, Johor in West Malaysia and in Rajang river towns of Sibu, Sarikei and Bintangor in East Malaysia.

Classification

Eastern Min is descended from Proto-Min, which split from the transition from Old Chinese into Middle Chinese during the Han dynasty. It has been classified by Pan Maoding and Jerry Norman as belonging to the Coastal Min branch, and is thus closely related to Northern Min.

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

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

Branches

Eastern Min is conventionally divided into three branches:

1. Houguan language group (侯官片), also called the Southern subgroup, including the Fuzhou language, Fuqing language, Changle dialect, Lianjiang dialect and the dialect of the Matsu Islands.
2. Fu-Ning 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. 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.

Phonology

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The Eastern Min group has a phonology that is particularly divergent from other varieties of Chinese. Aside from the Manjiang dialect, both Houguan and Funing groups are similar in the number of initials, with the Fu'an dialect having 17 initials, two more than the Fuzhou dialect, the additions being /w/ and /j/ or /ɰ/ as separate phonemes (the glottal stop is common to both but excluded from this count). The Manjiang dialect on the other hand has been influenced by the 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.

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.

Sandhi phenomena

The Eastern Min varieties have a wide range of sandhi phenomena. As well as tone sandhi, common to many varieties of Chinese, there is also the assimilation of consonants 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. For example, in the Fuzhou dialect, the /β/ phoneme can arise from /pʰ/ or /p/ in an intervocalic environment.

Many varieties also exhibit regressive assimilation of consonants, such as in the way a final nasal consonant, usually given the citation value /ŋ/, assimilates to the place of articulation of the following consonant. For example, the negative adverb of the Fuzhou dialect, often written 伓, is generally transcribed in Bàng-uâ-cê as n̂g /ŋ/, but it can also surface as /m/ before labial consonants and as /n/ before dental consonants. In this case, since both regressive and progressive assimilation processes occur, it can be described as mutual assimilation, resulting in one nasal consonant.

See also

• Protection of the varieties of Chinese

Notes

1. Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.

References

1. Eastern Min at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
2. Mei, Tsu-lin (1970), "Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 30: 86–110, JSTOR 2718766
3. Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1984), Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p. 3, ISBN 978-0-774-80192-8
4. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2023-07-10). "Min". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7398962. Archived from the original on 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
5. 本土語言納中小學必修 潘文忠：將按語發法實施 (in Chinese)
6. "國家語言發展法 第二條".
7. 大眾運輸工具播音語言平等保障法
8. Li Rulong (李如龙) (1994). 福州方言词典 (in Chinese) (Rev. 1st ed.). Fuzhou: Fujian People's Press. p. 1. ISBN 7211023546.
9. "关于福州十邑". Mindu Online (in Chinese). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
10. Sim, Michelle Jia En (2022). A sketch grammar of Singapore Fuzhou (Master's thesis). Singapore: Nanyang Technological University. doi:10.32657/10356/155961. S2CID 247931980.
11. 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.
12. Zheng, Wei (25 January 2015). 論前齶音聲母j-的唇齒化音變 (PDF). Bulletin of Chinese Linguistics (in Chinese). 8 (2): 195–213. doi:10.1163/2405478X-00802003. ISSN 2405-478X. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
13. ^ 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.
14. ^ Bodman, Nicholas C. (1985). Acson, Veneeta; Leed, Richard L. (eds.). The Reflexes of Initial Nasals in Proto-Southern Min-Hingua. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications. Vol. 20. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 2–20. ISBN 978-0-8248-0992-8. JSTOR 20006706.
15. "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.
16. 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". Min Dong Wang. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
17. Guest, Kenneth J. (2003). God in Chinatown: Religion and Survival in New York's Evolving Immigrant Community. New York University Press. p. 48. ISBN 0814731546.
18. 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.
19. Wang, Danlu (31 March 2014). "Profession or passion?: Teaching Chinese in London Chinese complementary schools". London Review of Education. 12: 34–49. doi:10.18546/LRE.12.1.05. ISSN 1474-8460. S2CID 151552619.
20. Luo, Siyu; Gadd, David; Broad, Rose (May 2023). "The criminalisation and exploitation of irregular Chinese migrant workers in the United Kingdom". European Journal of Criminology. 20 (3): 1016–1036. doi:10.1177/14773708221132889. S2CID 255079151.
21. Pieke, Frank N. "Recent Trends in Chinese Migration to Europe: Fujianese Migration in Perspective" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
22. Luo, Siyu. "Statusless Chinese Migrant Workers in the UK: Irregular Migration and Labour Exploitation" (PDF). Retrieved 10 October 2023.
23. Wu, Yan; Wang, Xinyue. "Gendered Active Civic Participation: The Experience of Chinese Immigrants in Europe" (PDF). University of Oldenburg. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
24. Lin, Sheng; Bax, Trent (December 2009). "Irregular Emigration from Fuzhou: A Rural Perspective". Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. 18 (4): 539–551. doi:10.1177/011719680901800405. S2CID 153457798. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
25. Liu, Ting (2022). "El traductor automático en los comercios chinos de Cataluña: una herramienta para eliminar la barrera lingüística" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
26. Ma, Jie. "From China to Spain Chinese Immigrants in Anthropological View" (PDF). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
27. Wong, Bernard P.; Chee-Beng, Tan, eds. (2013). Chinatowns around the world gilded ghetto, ethnopolis, and cultural diaspora. Brill. p. 251. ISBN 978-9004255906.
28. ^ Norman, Jerry (1991). "The Mǐn Dialects in Historical Perspective". Journal of Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series (3): 323–358. ISSN 2409-2878. JSTOR 23827042.
29. Pan Maoding (潘茂鼎); Li Rulong (李如龍); Liang Yuzhang (梁玉璋); Zhang Shengyu (張盛裕); Chen Zhangtai (陳章太) (1963). 福建漢語方言分區略說. Zhongguo yuwen (6): 475–495.
30. Kurpaska, Maria (2010). Chinese language(s): a look through the prism of the great dictionary of modern Chinese dialects. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 71. ISBN 9783110219142.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. ^ Li, Zhuqing (2002). Fuzhou Phonology and Grammar. Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press. ISBN 9781881265931.

Further reading

• Norman, Jerry (1977–1978). "A preliminary report on the dialects of Mintung". Monumenta Serica. 33: 326–348. doi:10.1080/02549948.1977.11745053. JSTOR 40726246.
• Yan, Margaret Mian (2006). Introduction to Chinese Dialectology. LINCOM Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-629-6.
• Akitani, Hiroyuki; Chen, Zeping . 2012. The Gutian dialect of Min Dong District . Fuzhou: Fujian People's Press. ISBN 9787211064830

v t e Sino-Tibetan branches
Western Himalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim)	West Himalayish Tamangic Newaric Newar Baram–Thangmi Kiranti Dhimalish Dhimal Toto Lhokpu Lepcha Greater Magaric Magaric Magar Kham Chepangic Chepang Bhujel Raji–Raute Dura–Tandrange
Eastern Himalayas (Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal)	Bodish Tibetic East Bodish Tshangla Basum Nam? Gongduk ʼOle Tani Chamdo
Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border	Karbi Kuki-Chin Mruic Mru Hkongso Pyu Taman "Naga" Ao Angami–Pochuri Meitei Tangkhulic Zeme Sal Boro–Garo Konyak Jingpho–Luish
East and Southeast Asia	Sinitic Bai Tujia Nungish Karenic Gong Kathu Cai–Long Caijia Longjia Luren Burmo-Qiangic Qiangic Gyalrongic Ersuic Naic Lolo-Burmese Mondzish Burmish Loloish
Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal)	Hrusish Hruso Mijiic Kho-Bwa Puroik Miju–Meyor Songlin Greater Siangic Siangic Koro Milang Idu–Taraon
Proposed groupings	Central Tibeto-Burman Kuki-Chin–Naga Macro-Bai Mahakiranti Rung Tibeto-Burman Tibeto-Kanauri
Proto-languages	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Proto-Tibeto-Burman Proto-Loloish Proto-Karenic Proto-Min Proto-Hakka
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches.

v t e Min Chinese
Languages Eastern Min Houguan Fuzhou dialect Fuqing dialect Changle dialect Gutian dialect Matsu dialect Funing Xiapu dialect Fu'an dialect Ningde dialect Others Manjiang dialect Zhongshan Min Longdu dialect Nanlang dialect Southern Min Teochew Min Swatow dialect Hokkien Amoy dialect Quanzhou dialects Hui'an dialect Yongchun dialect Zhangzhou dialects Chawan dialect Longyan dialect Taiwanese Banana colloquial speech Northern Malacca Straits Hokkien Penang Hokkien Medan Hokkien Kelantan Peranakan Hokkien Philippine Hokkien Southern Malacca Straits Hokkien Southern Peninsular Malaysian Hokkien Singaporean Hokkien Others Datian Min Houlu dialect Haklau Min Zhenan Min Zhongshan Min Sanxiang dialect Pu–Xian Min (Hinghwa) Putian dialect Xianyou dialect Northern Min Jian'ou dialect Jianyang dialect Shao–Jiang Min Shaowu dialect Jiangle dialect Central Min Sanming dialect Shaxian dialect Yong'an dialect Leizhou Min Zhanjiang dialect Hainanese Haikou dialect Wenchang dialect
Writing system Logographic Chinese characters Alphabetic Pe̍h-ōe-jī Pe̍h-ūe-jī Hainan Romanized Foochow Romanized Hinghwa Romanized Kienning Colloquial Romanized Taiwanese Romanization System Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet Daighi tongiong pingim Bbánlám pìngyīm Peng'im Fuzhou Transliteration Scheme Hainanese Transliteration Scheme Mixed Hàn-lô
Research Proto-languages Proto-Min Rime dictionaries Qi Lin Bayin Jianzhou Ba Yin

v t e Chinese language
Sinitic languages
Major groups	Mandarin Northeastern Changchun Harbin Shenyang Taz Beijing Beijing Taiwan Jilu Tianjin Jinan Jiaoliao Dalian Qingdao Weihai Central Plains Dongping Gangou Guanzhong Xi'an Luoyang Xuzhou Dungan Xinjiang Southwestern Sichuanese Chengdu–Chongqing Minjiang Leshan Renshou–Fushun Zigong Kunming Nanping Wuhan Gui–Liu Wuming Jianghuai Nanjing Nantong Nanping Lanyin Lanzhou dialect [zh] Urumqi dialect [zh] Xinjiang Other Junjiahua Qinjiang Gyami Jin Zhangjiakou–Hohhot Zhi–Yan Wu Taihu Shanghai Suzhou Wuxi Changzhou Hangzhou (?) Shaoxing Ningbo Jinxiang Jiangyin Shadi Taizhou Wu Taizhou Tiantai Oujiang Wenzhou Rui'an Wencheng Wuzhou Jinhua Chu–Qu Quzhou Jiangshan Qingtian Xuanzhou Xuancheng Huizhou Ji-She [zh] Xiu-Yi [zh] Qi-De [zh] Yanzhou [zh] Jing-Zhan [zh] Gan Chang–Du Nanchang Yi–Liu Ying–Yi Da–Tong Xiang Changyi Changsha Loushao Shuangfeng Xiangxiang Wugang Ji–Xu Yong–Quan Qiyang Min Eastern Houguan Fuzhou Fuqing Changle Gutian Matsu Fu–Ning Ningde Fu'an Other Manjiang Zhongshan Longdu Nanlang Southern Hokkien Quanzhou Zhangzhou Amoy Chawan Taiwan Philippine Pedan Penang Singapore Malaysian Teochew Swatow Haklau Zhongshan Sanxiang Other Zhenan Longyan Other Northern Jian'ou Jianyang Central Pu–Xian Shao–Jiang Leizhou Zhanjiang Hainan Wenchang Haikou Banqiao Hakka Meixian Wuhua Huizhou Tingzhou Changting Taiwanese Sixian Hailu Raoping Yue Yuehai Guangzhou Hong Kong Malaysia Xiguan Jiujiang Shiqi Weitou Dapeng Siyi Taishan Xinhui Other Gao–Yang Goulou Wu–Hua Yong–Xun Luo–Guang Qin–Lian Pinghua Northern Tongdao Younian Southern Yongjiang Guandao Rongjiang Unclassified Shaozhou Tuhua Xiangnan Tuhua Badong Yao Danzhou Mai Shehua Waxiang Yeheni Huizhou Bai Cai-Long Caijia Longjia Luren Laobeizi
Standard forms	Standard Chinese Sichuanese Taiwanese Philippine Malaysian Singaporean Standard Singdarin Cantonese Hokkien Hakka
Phonology	Historical Old Old National Cantonese Hokkien Northern Wu Mandarin Literary and colloquial readings
Grammar	Numerals Classifiers Honorifics Cantonese grammar Classical grammar
Idioms	Chengyu Xiehouyu
Input	Biaoxingma Boshiamy Cangjie Simplified CKC Dayi Pinyin Google Microsoft Sogou Stroke count Wubi (Wang Ma) ZhengMa
History	Old Chinese Eastern Han Middle Chinese Old Mandarin Middle Mandarin Proto-Min Proto-Hakka Ba–Shu Gan
Literary forms	Official Classical Adoption in Japan in Vietnam Vernacular Written Cantonese Written Dungan Written Hokkien Written Sichuanese
Scripts	Logographic Script styles Oracle bone Bronze Seal Clerical Semi-cursive Cursive Chinese characters Simplified Traditional Punctuation Braille Cantonese Mainland Chinese Taiwanese Two-cell Phonetic Cyrillization Dungan Cyrillic Romanization Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hanyu Pinyin MPS II Postal Tongyong Pinyin Wade–Giles EFEO Lessing-Othmer Yale Bopomofo Cantonese Bopomofo Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols Taiwanese kana Taiwanese Hangul Xiao'erjing Nüshu
List of varieties of Chinese

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• Chinese languages in Singapore
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