Datian Min ( or 'Datian speech') is a
Southern Min
Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...
language spoken in
Datian County
() is a county of central Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is placed under the jurisdiction of the Sanming City.
History
Before the year 1535, this area belonged to four counties: Youxi, Dehua, Yong'an and Zhangping. Datian Co ...
,
Sanming
Sanming (, Foochow Romanized: Săng-mìng), also known as Minzhong (), is a prefecture-level city in western Fujian province, China. It borders Nanping City to the north, Fuzhou City to the east, Quanzhou City to the southeast, Longyan City to ...
City,
Fujian Province
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...
, China. It has been influenced by other
Min languages, including
Central Min,
Eastern Min
Eastern Min or Min Dong (, Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄), is a branch of the Min group of Sinitic languages of China. The prestige form and most-cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian.
...
,
Northern Min and
Puxian Min
Puxian (Hinghwa Romanized: ''Pó-sing-gṳ̂''; ), also known as Pu-Xian Chinese, Puxian Min, Xinghua, Henghwa or Hinghwa (''Hing-hua̍-gṳ̂''; ), is a Sinitic language that forms a branch of Min Chinese. Puxian is a transitional variety of C ...
.
Datian Min developed from
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
, a dialect of
Southern Min
Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...
. Before the year 1535, this area belonged to four counties:
Youxi,
Dehua
() is a county located in central Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Quanzhou City and covers an area of with a total population of 300,000.
History
Dehua is rich in kaolin and famous for ceramic pr ...
,
Yong'an and
Zhangping. Hokkien was spoken in Dehua and Zhangping, while Yong'an and Youxi spoke
Central Min and
Eastern Min
Eastern Min or Min Dong (, Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄), is a branch of the Min group of Sinitic languages of China. The prestige form and most-cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian.
...
respectively.
Datian County
() is a county of central Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is placed under the jurisdiction of the Sanming City.
History
Before the year 1535, this area belonged to four counties: Youxi, Dehua, Yong'an and Zhangping. Datian Co ...
was set up and affiliated to Yanping Fu (延平府, modern
Nanping
Nanping (), historically known as Yanping (), is a third-tier prefecture-level city in northwestern Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It borders Ningde to the east, Sanming to the south, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi to th ...
) which spoke
Northern Min in 1535.
Language contact
Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for th ...
occurred in the later days. The county changed affiliate to Yongchun Zhou (永春州, modern
Yongchun County
Yongchun (; Min Nan: Éng-chhun; lit. 'eternal spring') is a county in western Quanzhou city of southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China, located on the upper reaches of the Jin River (Fujian), Jin River. It is under the administration ...
, spoke Hokkien dialect) in 1734, then to Yong'an Division (永安专区, modern
Sanming Prefecture, spoke Central Min) in 1949. The administrative here changed so frequently that the differences between Datian Min and Hokkien dialect became more and more obvious.
Datian Min has little
intelligibility with other varieties of
Southern Min
Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ( ...
, and is sometimes classified as a separate branch of
Min
Min or MIN may refer to:
Places
* Fujian, also called Mǐn, a province of China
** Min Kingdom (909–945), a state in Fujian
* Min County, a county of Dingxi, Gansu province, China
* Min River (Fujian)
* Min River (Sichuan)
* Mineola (Am ...
. Some Chinese scholars call it Min dialects transition area ().
References
Southern Min
Languages of China
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