A Reworking of Chinese Language

Classification
by Robert Lindsay

Introduction

The Chinese languages have undergone a lot of reclasification lately

(Mair 2009), going from one to 14 in the latest edition of Ethnologue.
However, Jerry Norman, one of the world's top experts on Chinese,
has stated that based on mutual intelligibility, there are 350-400
separate languages within Chinese (Mair 1991). Native speakers of
Chinese have stated that according to my criteria of distinguishing a
language from a dialect, there would be 300-400 separate languages
in Fujian alone (Xun 2009).
So far, 2,500 dialects of the Chinese language have been identified,
and a number of them are separate languages.
Based on the criteria of mutual intelligibility, I have expanded the 14
Chinese languages into 708 separate languages.
There are different ways of calculating mutual intelligibility. Mutual
intelligibility is hard to determine. I am not interested in typological
studies of varieties involving either lexicon, phonology, or tones,
unless this can be quantified in terms of mutual intelligibility in a
scientific way (Cheng 1991). For the most part, what I am interested
in is, "Can they understand each other?"
I decided to put it at 90%, with >90% being a dialect and <90%
being a separate language. This is based on what appears to be
Ethnologue's criteria for establishing the line between a dialect and a
language. Based on numerous conversations I had with linguists at
various universities, there was wide agreement with the 90%
benchmark.
In the cases below where I had mutual intelligibility data available, a
number of Chinese languages had no more than 65% intelligibility
between them (Cheng 1991).
The best way to see this study is as a pilot study. The purpose of the
classification below is more to stimulate academic interest and sprout
new thinking and theory. It is not intended to be an end-all or be-all
statement on the subject; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Pilot
studies, which is what this is, are de facto never accurate and precise.
Reasonable, fair-minded, and professional comments, additions,
criticisms, elaborations, presentations of evidence, etc. are highly
encouraged.
I assume this paper will be controversial. Keep in mind that this work
is extremely tentative and should not be taken as the last word on the
subject by a long shot.
Interested scholars, observers or speakers of Chinese languages are
encouraged to contribute any knowledge that they may have to add
to, confirm, or criticize this data below. So far as I know, this is the
first real attempt to split Chinese beyond the 14 languages elucidated
by Ethnologue.
There are many problems with the data below. Unfortunately, I
currently lack excellent mutual intelligibility data within the major
language groups such as Gan, Xiang, Wu, and the branches of
Mandarin. There is probably quite a bit of lumping still to be done
below. Where varieties are mutually intelligible below, I have tried to
lump them into one language with various dialects.
In many cases, we seem to be dealing with dialect chains. This is
particularly the case with the Mandarin languages, incorrectly referred
to as the Mandarin dialects. For instance, in Henan each major city
can understand the next city over fairly well, but at the second or
third city over, you run into serious comprehension difficulties. But
even there, the languages are fairly close, with intelligibility at ~70%,
and after three weeks of close contact, they can communicate fairly
well. In many cases, it is a matter of working out the tone changes,
for tone changes are very common even among the Mandarin
varieties.
 Map of China showing all of the provinces.

Mandarin

Mandarin is a Sinitic category that includes varieties that share a

loosely based history with Ming and Qing Era Guan Hua, or Official's
Speech. The speech was based on the Chinese spoken by government
workers in northern capitals like Beijing and Nanjing which spread
across the northern plains with migration and state influence. In most
of the southern half of China, the government never had firm control,
and Guan Hua only had a minor effect on the Chinese languages
spoken there.
That is why Hui, Xiang, Hakka, Min, Wu, Cantonese, Ping, and Tuhua
are mostly spoken in the south of China and the northern half of
China is almost exclusively Mandarin-speaking and the other Sinitic
languages are not present there.
There are an incredible 1,526 varieties of Mandarin.
Mandarin has 873 million speakers.

Different major groups of Mandarin: Northeastern is in bluer blue-green. Beijing is in greener

blue-green. Jilu is in pink. Jiaoliao is in light bright green. Jin is in brown. Zhongyuan is in
dark yellow. Lanyin is in light yellow. Jianghuai is in light blue. Southwestern is in dark blue.
 Beijing Mandarin

Beijing
Beijing Mandarin or Beijinghua is best seen as a separate group in
Mandarin encompassing 45 varieties spoken not just in Beijing but
also in far Northern Hebei, Southwestern Liaoning, and a bit into
Central Inner Mongolia. It is also spoken as a native language far over
to the west in far Northern Xinjiang.
Beijinghua was the basis for Putonghua. However, many Putonghua
speakers claim that Beijinghua is not inherently intelligible with
Putonghua. Complaints about unintelligible taxi drivers in Beijing are
legendary. At the very least, competing views of the intelligibility of
Beijinghua and Putonghua deserve investigation.
On the other hand, Beijinghua is intelligible with Hebei Mandarin and
Nanjing City Mandarin, yet Putonghua is not intelligible with Hebei.
The Beijinger dialect of Beijing's hutongs and taxi drivers is legendary
for being hard to understand.
The truth is that Putonghua was never entirely based on Beijinghua. It
was in terms of pronunciation but in for vocabulary. Putonghua got
only 35% of its vocabulary from Beijinghua. Most of its vocabulary
came from Japanese Kanji words. They used a form of Mandarin that
was based on Chinese scholars who went to study in Japan at the end
of the Qing Era. So Putonghua, like Standard Italian which is based on
Florentine Italian of Dante circa 1400, is in a sense frozen in time.
The two varieties may also have taken separate trajectories. This has
also occurred in Italian, where, though Standard Italian was based on
Florentine Tuscan, Standard Italian, and Tuscan Italian have taken
separate trajectories since. If you see old Tuscan men on TV in Italy, a
speaker of Standard Italian from Southern Italy would need subtitles
to understand them, but one from Northern Italy would not.
Others say that Putonghua was based on the language of the Beijing
suburbs, not the city itself.
For whatever reason, Beijinghua often seems to have less than 90%
intelligibility with Putonghua, though the question needs further
research. Beijinghua, in its pure and least mutually intelligible form,
seems to be spoken mostly in the innermost hutongs and among taxi
drivers and other low-income and working class people. The dialect of
people with more education and money is probably a lot more
comprehensible.
I would describe the real, pure, Putonghua as "CCTV speech", the
dialect you hear on Chinese state television. There is quite a bit of
good evidence that Beijinghua lacks full intelligibility with Putonghua.
The question of whether or not Beijinghua is a separate language
from Putonghua is sure to be highly controversial. Perhaps
intelligibility testing could settle the question.
The 45 varieties inside of the Beijing Group are very uniform and it is
probable that mutual intelligibility among the group is full.

Xinjiang
Believe it or not, the Mandarin spoken in northern Xinjiang is actually
a form of Beijinghua. This is because Han people only started moving
there after the formation of the People's Republic in China in 1949. In
particular, they arrived after Putonghua was made into the national
language in 1955. Although they have only been there for 60 years,
their Beijinghua has already changed quite a bit under the influence of
the Turkic Uighur language. Nevertheless, intelligibility with the rest of
Beijinghua is full.
The Keshi Group of Beijing Mandarin is the name for the Beijinghua
spoken in Northern Xinjiang. It is composed of Burqin, Fuhai, Fuyun,
Hoboksar, Jeminay, Shihezi, Toli, and Wenquan. Lanyin Mandarin and
a type of Zhongyuan Mandarin are also spoken in Xinjiang in the
south and center of the province.

Classification
Chaoyang, Chifeng and seven others are members of the Chaofeng
Group of Beijing Mandarin, which has nine varieties.
Chengde, Lanfang and 15 others are members of the Huaicheng
Group of Beijing Mandarin, which has 17 varieties.
Beijing and five others are members of the Jinshi Group of Beijing
Mandarin, which has six members.
Burqin, Fuhai, Fuyun, Hoboksar, Jeminay, Shihezi, Toli, Wenquan, and
two others are members of the Keshi Group of Mandarin has 11
varieties.
The Beijing Group of Mandarin has 43 varieties.

Jianghuai Mandarin

Jianghuai or Lower Yangtze Mandarin is a separate branch of

Mandarin that is very different from the rest of Mandarin and is not
fully intelligible with Putonghua. It is spoken in most of Jiangsu, in
Central and Southeastern Anhui, in Eastern and far Western Hubei, in
a bit of far Northwestern Zhejiang, in a tiny spot in far Northwestern
Jiangxi, and in a single location in Shanxi.
Some say that this is not even part of Mandarin, as it is better seen as
in between Mandarin and Wu. Jianghuai, especially the variety spoken
around Taizhou, is not intelligible at all with Anhui Zhongyuan
Mandarin or Sichuan Southwestern Mandarin. Jianghuai Mandarin
speakers cannot even tell that the Anhui or Sichuan speakers are
speaking Mandarin because the language is so foreign.
Jianghuai Mandarin was the Standard Mandarin language or Guanhua
until 1800, when Beijinghua took over (Norman 2003).
There is a concept in Chinese linguistics called the Jianghuai Line. This
line divides Chinese languages into northern languages and southern
languages. The line is approximately the border between the
Zhongyuan Mandarin and Jianghuai Mandarin zones, with the
southern border of Zhongyuan being the start of the northern Chinese
languages and the northern border of Jianghuai being the start of the
southern Chinese languages (Ray 1995).
This line stretches across a small part of Northeastern Jiangsu and a
larger part of Northeastern Anhui down to the Henan and Hubei where
it rides the border between the two provinces, with Henan being the
start of northern Chinese languages and Hubei being the start of
southern Chinese languages (Ray 1995).
Most of the influences in Chinese languages have been from north to
south with very little in the opposite direction. Much of this influence
moved to Southern China by crossing this Jianghuai Line. Linguistic
movement was facilitated by frequent invasions from the north that
moved into Southern China by crossing this line (Ray 1995).
Jianghuai is badly splintered. It is probably the most splintered
Mandarin group. It is so diverse that varieties spoken even right next
to each other or in the same city may be unintelligible and best seen
as completely different languages.

The Hongchao Group of Jianghuai Mandarin

The Hongchao Group of Jianghuai is spoken in Central and
Southeastern Anhui, in Central and Northern Jiangsu, and in a single
dialect island in Fujian.

Anhui
In 1933, there were three different languages spoken in Tongcheng.
Whether these three languages still exist is not known, but surely
some of the speakers in 1933 are still alive.
East Tongcheng Jianghuai Mandarin, was a separate language
spoken in the eastern part of the city of Tongcheng. It was not
intelligible with the Tongcheng in the west of the city.
Hefei Jianghuai Mandarin is considered to be a separate language
by a 200 word Swadesh list (Ben Hamed 2005). It is not understood
outside of the city. It is spoken in Hefei Prefectural City.
Wenli Tongcheng Jianghuai Mandarin was the classical-based
language spoken by the educated elite of the city of Tongcheng.
West Tongcheng Jianghuai Mandarin was a separate language
spoken in the west of the city of Tongcheng, not intelligible with the
Tongcheng spoken in the east of the city.

Fujian
Hongchao is spoken in a single dialect island in Fujian.
Nanping Jianghuai Mandarin spoken in Nanping Prefecture in
Northwestern Fujian is one of only two native Mandarin varieties
spoken in Fujian.
As such, it has a number of odd characteristics and has been the
subject of scholarly articles (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
Careful research has shown that Nanping has some features of
southern Chinese languages. It also has a number of features of
Southwestern Mandarin, no doubt derived from the same southward
migrations from Henan and Hubei that populated much of the
Southwestern Mandarin region (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
The Ming Emperor sent a large group of soldiers down to the Nanping
area to subdue a prolonged a rebellion in 1448. Of these soldiers,
20,000 came from Zhejiang; 20,000 came from came from the capital
but were originally from Henan, Northern Jiangsu, and Shandong;
10,000 were Mongols who were formerly stationed at Nanjing; and
7,000 were from Jiangxi. A military base was set up in Nanping after
the rebellion was dispatched and the soldiers ended up staying there
and influencing Nanping (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
A look at the garrisons from different regions shows that the 20,000
men from Zhejiang contributed almost nothing to Nanping, and the
Mongols contributed nothing all. There are definitely some influences
from Jiangxi as can be seen by comparing Nanping with Nanchang
Gan (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
But the largest influence of all came from the soldiers who were from
Henan, Shandong and Northern Jiangsu impact, as Nanping looks
almost nothing like either modern Beijing or the Yin Yun Zhongyuan
Mandarin spoken in around the capital at the time, so the influence is
not a Beijing area influence as was thought earlier (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜
1981).
Of the three influences, Shandong, Henan and Northern Jiangsu,
Northern Jiangsu contributed the most influence (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜
1981).
Nanping looks almost nothing like the important Kaifeng Zhongyuan
Mandarin variety. However, Nanping does share some features with
Lingbao Zhongyuan Mandarin located in the far northwest of Henan.
Perhaps this was another input from these soldiers, as many did come
from Henan (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
There is also some influence from Jiaoliao Mandarin in Shandong
(Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
But it looks more like Yangzhou Jianghuai Mandarin or Northern
Jiangsu Jianghuai Mandarin than anything else (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜
1981).
This is interesting because it is now thought that most of the north-
to-south influence in Chinese has flowed through via holes in what is
known in the Jianghuai Line, which more or less follows the border
between the Jianghuai and Zhongyuan Mandarin languages. This
border runs right through Northern Jiangsu near Yangzhou, so this
instance would be one more case of north-to-south influence flowing
down through a break in the Jianghuai Line.
Although Nanping has influences from all of the other named
languages above, the influences from Jianghuai Mandarin has flooded
and swamped out the those of the other languages.
Oddly, although Nanping has the most influences from Nothern
Jiangsu, Nanping people instead tend to trace their origins back to
Henan and Hubei, especially far Southern Hubei. These memories are
the results of the slow and steady movement of migrants in the
Southwestern Mandarin zone, most of whom came from Henan and
Hubei, and Nanping does share a number of Southwestern Mandarin
features (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981).
Due to its isolated and odd nature, Nanping must be a separate
language.

Jiangsu
Hongchao is spoken in Central and Northern Jiangsu.
Danyang Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate language spoken in the
north of Danyang County in Southwestern Jiangsu. The south of the
county speaks a language that looks like Wu, and the north of the
county speaks a langauge that looks like Jianghuai. However,
Danyang does not look like a typical Jianghuai language, and the Wu
language does not look much like typical Wu.
Lianyungang Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate language. It is not
intelligible with Yancheng Jianghuai Mandarin.
Yancheng Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate language. Yancheng
and Lianyungang are not mutually intelliglble.
Yangzhou Jianghuai Mandarin is spoken in Yangzhou Prefectural
City in West-Central Jiangsu. It considered to be a separate language
by a 200 word Swadesh test (Ben Hamed 2005). Yangzhou has about
52% intelligibility with the other branches of Mandarin (Cheng 1997).
Phonetically, it resembles Wu. The city has gone back and forth
between speaking Wu and Jianghuai Mandarin over the last few
hundred years.

The Tairu Group of Jianghuai Mandarin

The Tairu Group of Jianghuai is a group of highly divergent Jianghuai
varieties spoken in the south of Jiangsu.

Jiangsu
Dafeng is similar to Dongtai and may be a dialect of Dongtai. It is
closely related to Haian and Xinghua. It is spoken in Jiangsu.
Dongtai Jianghuai Mandarin, spoken in Dongtai County on the
central coast of Jiangsu in Yancheng Prefectural City, is a separate
language.
Haian is similar to Dongtai and may be a dialect of Dongtai. It is
closely related to Dafeng and Xinghua. It is spoken in Jiangsu.
Jinsha is a dialect of Nantong. It is spoken in Nantong Prefectural City
in Southern Jiangsu.
Nantong Jianghuai Mandarin, is a very strange Mandarin language
on the border of Wu and Mandarin that shares many features with Wu
languages, is a separate language. It is spoken in the city of Nantong
in Nantong Prefectural City in Southern Jiangsu in the urban area. It
is not intelligible with Tongdong or Rugao.
Rudong Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate language, not intelligible
with Rugao or Nantong. It is spoken in the city of Rudong in Nantong
Prefectural City in Southern Jiangsu.
Rugao Jianghuai Mandarin, spoken next to Nantong in the city of
Rugao in Nantong Prefectural City in Southern Jiangsu, is also a
separate language. It is not intelligible with Tongdong or Nantong.
Taizhou Jianghuai Mandarin is spoken in the north of the Tairu
Group of Jianghuai in Southern Jiangsu. Rugao is in the south and
Tongzhou is in the west. Rugao and Nantong are not mutually
intelligible and Taizhou is quite a ways away, so it is probably not
intelligible with either.
Tongdong Jianghuai Mandarin, a sister language of Nantong, is
also a separate language. It is spoken right next to Nantong in the
city of Nantong in Nantong Prefectural City in Jiangsu.
Xinghua is similar to Dongtai and may be a Dongtai dialect. It is
closely related to Dafeng and Haian. It is spoken in Jiangsu.

The Huangxiao Group of Jianghuai Mandarin

The Huangxiao Group of Jianghuai is spoken mostly in Hubei and in a
few isolated places in the far northwest corner of Jiangxi.

Jiangxi
Jiujiang Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate language. It is not
intelligible with Xingzi Jianghuai Mandarin spoken just 12 miles to the
south.
Xingzi Jianghuai Mandarin, located close to Jiujiang, is also a
separate language. Although it is only 12 miles south of Jiujiang, the
two are unintelligible with each other.

The Unclassified Group of Jianghuai Mandarin

There are six unclassified Jianghuai languages in Sichuan in dialect
islands, one in Jiangsu, and another in a dialect island in Shaanxi.

Jiangsu
Jintan Jianghuai Mandarin is an unclassified Jianghuai language
spoken in the city of Jintan. Since it is unclassified, it should be valid
to split it off.

Shaanxi
Ankang Jianghuai Mandarin is spoken in a strange dialect island
far off from the Jianghuai area in Ankang Prefectural City in Eastern
Shaanxi. This is obviously a separate language. A Zhongyuan
Mandarin variety is native, but there is also this Jianghuai island, a
Southwestern Mandarin island and a Xiang island. All of the Mandarin
varieties have interacted with each other over time.

Sichuan
There are a number of Jianghuai dialect islands spoken in scattered
locations in Sichuan. It is not known how they got there, but
obviously, they are far removed from the rest of the family. They
must have gotten there via a migration out of the main Jianghuai
region, probably some time ago.
The Jianghuai region has been the source of many of the southward
migrations of Sinitic groups in Chinese history (Ray 1995).
Since they are spoken as widely scattered islands, no doubt each one
has taken an independent course of development and these islands
now may differ considerably from each other. Even back in the
Jianghuai heartland, many Jianghuai varieties differ dramatically, and
even those spoken right next to each other often show poor mutual
intelligibility and are separate languages. If they were already this
diverse back in the homeland, no doubt they have only gotten more
diverse in Sichuan.
Mianning Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate unclassified Jianghuai
language spoken in Sichuan as a Jianghuai dialect island far off from
the rest of Jianghuai. It must be a separate language due to its status
as a dialect island.
Nanbu Jianghuai Mandarin is an unclassified dialect island in
Jianghuai spoken in Sichuan far off from the rest of Jianghuai. Due to
its isolation, it must be a separate language.
Shazhou Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate unclassified Jianghuai
language spoken in Sichuan as a dialect island far off from the rest of
Jianghuai. Its isolation qualifies it for being a separate language.
Xichang Jianghuai Mandarin is an unclassified dialect island of
Jianghuai in Sichuan spoken far off from the rest of the family. As a
dialect island, it must be a separate language.
Xidi Jianghuai Mandarin is an unclassified Jianghuai language
spoken as a dialect island in Sichuan far off from Jianghuai Proper. It
must be a separate language since it is a dialect island.
Yilong Jianghuai Mandarin is a separate unclassified Jianghuai
language spoken in Sichuan as a dialect island far off from the main
Jianghuai speaking area. Due to its extreme isolation, it must be a
separate language. A Hakka dialect island is also spoken here. They
arrived from Guangdong 200 years ago, so no doubt Yilong has been
affected by Hakka.
 Classification
Anqing, Chuzhou, Dangtu, East Tongcheng, Huaian, Hefei,
Lianyungang, Nanping, Wenli Tongcheng, West Tongcheng, Yancheng,
Yangzhou, and 70 others are in the Hongchao Group of Jianghuai
Mandarin, which has 82 varieties.
Dafeng, Dongtai, Haian, Jinsha, Nantong, Rudong, Rugao, Taixian,
Taixing, Taizhou, Tongdong, and Xinghua are in the Tairu Group of
Jianghuai Mandarin, which has 12 different varieties.
Jiujiang, Xingzi, and 18 others are members of the Huangxiao Group
of Jianghuai Mandarin, which has 20 varieties.
Ankang, Jintan, Mianning, Nanbu, Shazhou, Xichang, Xidi, and Yilong
are members of the Unclassified Group of Jianghuai Mandarin, which
has eight varieties.
Jianghuai Mandarin is composed of 122 varieties.
The Jianghuai Mandarin languages have 65 million speakers (Olson
1998).

Jiaoliao Mandarin

Jiaoliao Mandarin is a group within Mandarin that is spoken along the

eastern coast of China on the Shandong Peninsula, in Linaoling, and in
a couple of places in Heliongjiang. It is not fully intelligible with
Putonghua. Jiaoliao is also known as “Bureaucrat's Language.” The
center of Jiaoliao is in Shandong, which is where it evolved. Speech
communities in Liaoning and Heliongjiang represent later movements
of Jiaoliao speakers north to those places. Jiaoliao is somewhat
splintered, but it is hard to say how much. It may be about as
splintered as Zhongyuan Mandarin. It is more splintered than
Northeastern Mandarin and possibly Jilu, but it is more uniform than
Southwestern Mandarin or Jianghuai.

The Denglian Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin

The Denglian group is spoken 2/3 in Shandong, and 1/3 in Liaoning,
with one variety spoken in Heilongjiang.
 Liaoning
Jiaoliao is spoken along the coast of Liaoning in the eastern third of
the province.
There are three different languages spoken in Zhuanghe as Zhuanghe
Jiaoliao Mandarin along the coast of Liaoning – one on the offshore
islands, one in the central city and another in the mountains outside
of town. Zhuanghe is a mixture of Jiaoliao Mandarin which arrived via
immigrants from Shandong, Northeastern Mandarin, and Beijinghua.
Different mixtures have affected the three varieties differently.
Evidence indicates that all three may well be separate languages.
Buyunshan Jiaoliao Mandarin is the form of Zhuanghe spoken in
the northern mountains of Zhuanghe. There are wide differences
between Buyunshan and the speech of the city itself.
Downtown Zhuanghe Jiaoliao Mandarin is spoken along the coast
in the city of Zhuanghe itself. There are large differences between
Downtown Zhuanghe and Buyunshan spoken in the mountains to the
north.
Zhuanghe Islands Jiaoliao Mandarin is spoken on Shicheng and
Wangjia Islands off the coast of Zhuanghe. This represents the speech
of the earlier immigrants to Zhuanghe who have been less affected by
Beijinghua spoken inland to the south. There are significant
differences between the speech of the islands that of downtown or
city speech such that island speech may be a separate language.

The Gaihuan Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin

Liaoning
The Gaihuan Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin is spoken exclusively in
Liaoning. As a completely separate group in Jiaoliao, it is justified to
classify it as a separate language.

The Denglian Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin

Shandong
The Denglian group is spoken about 2/3 in Shandong, and 1/3 in
Liaoning, with one variety spoken in Heilongjiang.
Wehai Jiaoliao Mandarin is a separate language with difficult
intelligibility of Qingdao.
Yantai is a dialect of Wehai spoken in Yantai Prefectural City on the
northwestern edge of the Shandong Peninsula.

The Qingzhou Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin

Shandong
The Qingzhou Group of Jiaoliao is spoken exclusively in Shandong.
Anqui is spoken in Weifang Prefectural City.
Changyi Jiaoliao Mandarin is a heavily-Mandarinized Shandong
variety spoken in Changyi in Shandong. Changyi has poor intelligibility
of Qingdao Jiaoliao Mandarin.
Linqu is spoken in Weifang Prefectural City towards the western edge
of the Jiaoliao zone in Shandong.
Qingdao Jiaoliao Mandarin is a separate language spoken in
Qingdao Prefectural City in Eastern Shandong. Its intelligibility with
Changyi is limited. Reports that Qindao is intelligible with Wehai
Jiaoliao are incorrect because Qingdao must be learned as a separate
language by Wehai speakers. Furthermore, Wehai is in a completely
different Jiaoliao group as Qingdao. Qingdao uses a lot of retroflex
consonants.
Qingzhou is spoken in Qingzhou in Weifang Prefectural City. It is a
member of the Qingzhou Group of Jiaoliao – in fact, the group is
named after this variety.

The Unclassified Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin

Heilongjiang
Funyuan Jiaoliao Mandarin is an unclassified Jiaoliao variety
spoken in Heilongjiang. As it is unclassified, it should be classified as a
separate language.
 Classification
Buyunshan, Dalian, Downtown Zhuanghe, Wehai, Yantai, Zhuanghe
Islands, and 17 other varieties are members of the Denglian Group of
Jiaoliao Mandarin, which has 23 varieties.
Gaixian and four others are members of the Gaihuan Group of Jiaoliao
Mandarin, which has five members.
Anqui, Changyi, Linqu, Qingdao, Qingzhou, and 11 others are
members of the Qingzhou Group of Jiaoliao Mandarin, which has 16
members.
Funyuan is unclassified.
Jiaoliao Mandarin is composed of 45 varieties.

Jilu Mandarin

Jilu Mandarin is a major split in Mandarin that includes the Beijing

dialect from which Putonghua or Standard Mandarin was derived.
Therefore Jilu varieties will sound familiar to most Putonghua
speakers. It is spoken in Western Shandong, Southern and Eastern
Hebei, Tianjin, and far Northern Heilojang.
Jilu has low intelligibility with other branches of Mandarin: 72% with
Southwest Mandarin, 64% with Zhongyuan Mandarin, and 55% with
Jiaoliao Mandarin (Cheng 1997).
Jilu is somewhat splintered, moreso than Northeastern anyway, but it
probably not as splintered as Zhongyuan, and it is much more
uniform than Southwestern or Jianghuai.

The Baoding Group of Jilu Mandarin

The Dingba Group of Baoding

Hebei
Baoding Jilu Mandarin is a separate language because there are
people from the city who cannot speak it at all. It is spoken in the city
of Baoding in Hubei. Baoding is a member of the Baotang Group of
Jilu, which is named after the Baoding language. Within that group, it
is a part of the Dingba subgroup.

The Fulong Group of Baotang

The Fulong subgroup of Baotang is spoken only in Hubei and may
well be a separate language. Quinhuangdao is a member of this
group.

The Jinzun Group of Baotang

The Jizun subgroup of Baotang is spoken mostly in Hebei but also
to some extent in Tianjin. It may well be a separate language.

The Luanchang subgroup of Baotang

The Luanchang subgroup of Baotang is spoken only in Hubei and
may be a separate language. Changli, Luannan, and Luanxian are
members of this group.

The Tianjin Group of Baotang

Tianjin
Tianjin Jilu Mandarin is a separate language, as it is in its own
completely separate group in Baoding Jilu.
Its tones are quite different from Putonghua's, its tone sandhi is much
more complicated, and it is more closely related to varieties 150-500
miles away than to Putonghua, since originally, Tianjin speakers came
from Anhui (Lee 2002). Tianjin is on the list of hardest dialects in
China, some say it is a full language and not a dialect, and others say
that if you grew up within 20 miles of Beijing, you cannot understand
Tianjin. Furthermore, normal rapid speech of the locals cannot be
understood by outsiders.

The Canghui Group of Jilu Mandarin

The Huangle Group of Canghui

The Huangle Group of Canghui is spoken in Hubei.
 Hubei
Cangxian is a dialect of Cangzhou spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural
City.
Cangzhou Jilu Mandarin, spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City in
Southeastern Hebei south of Tianjin, is a separate language. It is only
partly intelligible with Putonghua. Putonghua speakers have to take
translators with them with them when they go out into the Cangzhou
countryside because the “thick Cangzhou dialect” is so hard to
understand. Cangzhou is in the Canghui Group of Jilu that is widely
spoken in Shandong.
Within that group, it is part of the Huangle subgroup of Canghui. This
subgroup is mostly spoken in Hebei. So Cangzhou is in a completely
different Jilu group than Baoding. Cangzhou shares some similarities
with Tianjin and Baoding, but it is probably not fully intelligible with
either at least partly because they are both in a different Jilu Group
altogether.
Cangxian, Dongguang, Haixing, Hejian, Huanghua, Mengcun, Nanpi,
Qingxian, Renqiu, Suning, Wuqiao, Xianxian, and Yanshan, all spoken
in Cangzhou Prefectural City, are all dialects of Cangzhou.
Dongguang is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou spoken in Cangzhou
Prefectural City.
Haixing is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou spoken in Cangzhou
Prefectural City.
Hejian is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou dialect spoken in Cangzhou
Prefectural City.
Huanghua is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou that is spoken in
Cangzhou Prefectural City in Hubei.
Mengcun, a Huangle dialect spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City, is a
dialect of Cangzhou in Hubei.
Nanpi is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou that is spoken in Cangzhou
Prefectural City in Hubei.
Qingxian is a Huangle dialect of Cangzhou that is spoken in Cangzhou
Prefectural City in Hubei.
Renqiu, a Huangle dialect spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City, is a
dialect of Cangzhou in Hubei.
Suning, spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City in Hubei, is a dialect of
Cangzhou.
Wuqiao is a Huangle dialect spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City in
Hubei which is also a dialect of Cangzhou.
Xianxian is a Huangle dialect spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City in
Hubei, and it is also a dialect of Cangzhou.
Yanshan is a Huangle dialect spoken in Cangzhou Prefectural City in
Hubei, and it is also a dialect of Cangzhou.

The Juzhao Group of Canghui

Shandong
The Juzhao Group is spoken only in Shandong.
Rizhau Jilu Mandarin is so strange that it is not intelligible at all
with Putonghua. It is based on the speech of the ancient Donyi
Civilization. Rizhau is notorious for being one of the most difficult
varieties to understand in Shandong.

The Yangzhou Group of Canghui

The Yangzhou Group is spoken only in Shandong. Many Shandong
varieties are part of Yangzhou.

Shandong
Binzhou is spoken in the northern city of Binzhou. It is very similar to
Beijing, one of the Shandong varieties most similar to Beijing in the
Jilu Group.
Boxing is spoken in Boxing County in Zibo Prefectural City. Zibo
varieties are quite diverse, with different tones and vocabulary in each
county.
Dongying Jilu Mandarin is spoken in the city of Dongying. It is a
separate language, as it is in the Yangzhou subgroup of the Canghui
Group of Jilu.
Gaoqing is spoken close to Dongying. It is probably a dialect of
Dongying.
Shougang is spoken nearby Dongying and is probably a Dongying
dialect.
Weifang is spoken in Weifang Prefectural City in North-central
Shandong. It has many subdialects associated with it geograhically
but not necessarily linguistically, including Anqui, Central Weifang,
Linqu, and Qingzhou. Anqui, Linqu, and Qingzhou are completely
different from Weifang and are not even in Jilu. Instead, they are
Jiaoliao varieties. So apparently the only true Weifang language is
spoken in the city center itself.
Weifang is interesting because it retains a lot of vocabulary from Old
Chinese similar to some Southern Chinese languages like Min in Fujian
and Cantonese in Guangdong. Absent any information that Weifang
has difficult intelligibility with the rest of Canghui Yangzhou, it is not
proper to split it.

The Zhanghuan Group of Canghui

The Zhanghuan Group of Canghui is spoken only in Shandong.

Shandong
Lijin Jilu Mandarin is spoken close to Dongying, but it is in a
completely different subgroup of the Canghui Zhanghuan Group of
Jilu. Therefore, it may be a separate language.
Zhanqiu is spoken in the city of Zhanqiu in Zibo Prefectural City.
Zhanqiu is in a completely different Jilu group than Zibo. We don't
have evidence that it is different from Lijn, so we can't split it.
Zouping is spoken in Zouping County in Zibo Prefectural City. It is
probably a lot like Zhanjiu.

The Shiji Group of Jilu Mandarin

The Liaotai Group of Shiji

About 2/3 of the Liaotai Group is spoken in Shandong, while the other
third is spoken in Hebei. Many Shandong varieties are members of
Liaotai.

Shandong
Boshan is spoken in Boshan County in Zibo Prefectural City and is
probably a dialect of Zibo.
Dezhou Jilu Mandarin sounds a lot like Putonghua, but it is not fully
intelligible with it. Dezhou is at the border of Shandong, Henan, Tiajin
and Beijing, and it has been influenced by speech from all of those
provinces. It has managed to marry all of these distinct Mandarin
families into itself without developing a unique style of its own.
Although it is spoken in Shandong, it does not sound much like a
Shandong variety.
Although Putonghua speakers can understand Dezhou pretty well,
there is a lot of unique vocabulary used that is not intelligible to those
outside the area. This is similar to the case with some of the
Northeastern languages. Dezhou is a Shiji Liaotai language.
Jiaocheng Jilu Mandarin is spoken in the Prefectural City of
Jiaocheng in far West-Central Shandong. Jinan and Tai'an are to the
east, Dezhou is to the north, Jining is to the south, and far
Southeastern Hebei Province is to the west.
Jiaocheng is a Shiji Liaotai Jilu language like so many other Shandong
variety, but it looks very different from the others since it the
alveolar-type consonants s, ts, z, sh, ch, and zh are all different from
Putonghua. This is unusual for Jilu and is more similar to Jiaoliao
languages like Yantai in which the alveopalatals sh, ch, and zh also
differ. Because it is so different from the rest of Shiji Liaotai Jilu, it
may well be a separate language.
Jinan (New Jinan) Jilu Mandarin is a separate language. It is
spoken in Jinan Prefectural City, the capital of Shandong Province.
Jinan is located in the West-Central part of the province. Jinan has
some old Mongolian and Manchu loans. Jinan is a Shiji Liaotai
language.
Laiwu is spoken in spoken in the center of Shandong. It apparently a
Shiji Liaotai variety like all of those around it. Tai'an is to the west,
Jinan is to the northwest, and Zibo is to the northeast. All are Shiji
Liaotai varieties. Laiwu is influenced heavily by the varieties spoken
around it. Northern Laiwu is influenced by the Canghui Zhangyuan
variety Zhanqiu, Northeastern Laiwu is influenced by the Shiji Liaotai
variety Boshan, and Western and Southwestern Laiwu are influenced
by Tai'an, a Shiji Liaotai variety.
The true Laiwu dialect is spoken in Central, Northwestern, Southern,
and Southeastern Laiwu and seems to be a Shiji Liaotai variety. This
is no good evidence that Laiwu is much different from Shiji Liaotai in
general, so there is no reason to split it off.
Linyi Jilu Mandarin is spoken in the city of Linyi in Central
Shandong. Although it is a Shiji Liaotai language like many Shandong
varieties, it is different, as it is a mix of the Jilu, Zhongyuan and
Jiaoliao Groups of Mandarin. It is very different and quite unique, with
a lot of soft syllables. This implies that Linyi may be a separate
language.
Linzi is a Shiji Liaotai dialect spoken in Linzi County in Zibo Prefectural
City in Shandong. It is probably a dialect of Zibo.
Tai'an is spoken in the city of Tai'an in Central Shandong. Tai'an is
heavily influenced by the nearby Tai'an Mountain Culture, which has
deep roots in Chinese history. The historical city of Quancheng is in
the north side of the mountain and Confucious' mansion is in the
south side. The mountain forms the border between the ancient Qi
and Lu Empires. Tai'an is a Shiji Liaotai variety like Zibo, Dezhou and
Jinan, but there is little evidence to justify splitting it off into its own
language.
Zibo is spoken in Zibo Prefectural City in North-Central Shandong. It
is similar to Jinan, with the exception that each county has its own
different tones and vocabulary. Some of the varieties spoken in Zibo
Prefectural City are very different from each other. Zibo is in the
Liaotai subgroup of Shiji.
Zichuan is a Shiji Liaotai dialect spoken in Zichuan County in Zibo
Prefectural City in Shandong. It is probably a dialect of Zibo.

The Unclassified Group of Shiji

Hebei
Huoli Jilu Mandarin is an unclassified member of the Shiji group. As
it is unclassified, it must be a separate language.

The Xinheng Group of Shiji

Hebei
The Xingheng subgroup of Shiji is spoken only in Hebei and may
be a separate language.

The Zhaoshen Group of Shiji

Hebei
The Zhaoshen subgroup of Shiji is spoken in Hebei only and may
be a separate language.

The Taiping Group of Jilu Mandarin

The Tunhua Group of Taiping

Heliongjiang
Jiayun Jilu Mandarin is one of only two Jilu varieities spoken in
Heliongjiang. Since it is the only member of its only group and
subgroup in Jilu and since it is one of only two Jilu varieities
spoken in Heliongjiang, Jianyun is a separate language.

Classification
The Baotang Group of Jilu Mandarin has 52 varieties. The Baotang
Group is made up of five subgroups: Dingba, Fulong, Jizun,
Luanchang, and Tianjin.
Baoding and 23 others are members of the Dingba subgroup of
Baotang, which has 24 members.
Quinhuangdao and three others are members of the Fulong subgroup
of Baotang, which has four members.
The Jizun subgroup of Baotang has 14 members.
Changli, Luannan, Luanxian and one other are members of the
Luanchang subgroup of Baotang, which has four members.
Tianjin forms its own subgroup within Baoding.
The Canghui Group of Jilu Mandarin has 45 varieties. Canghui is made
up of four subgroups: Huangle, Juzhao, Yangshuo, and Zhongyuan.
Cangxian, Cangzhou, Dongguang, Haixing, Hejian, Huanghua,
Mengcun, Nanpi, Qingxian, Renqiu, Suning, Wuqiao, Xianxian,
Yanshan, and 11 others are members of the Huangle subgroup of
Canghui, which has 25 varieties.
Rizhau and two others are members of the Juzhao subgroup of
Canghui, which has three members.
Binzou, Boxing, Changle, Dongying, Gaoqing, Guangrao, Huimin,
Jiyang, Shougang, Weifang, Yangxin, and two others are members of
the Yangshuo subgroup of Canghui, which has 13 members.
Lijin, Zhanqiu, and two others are in the Zhanghuan subgroup of
Canghui has four members.
The Shiji Group of Jilu Mandarin has 72 members. The Shiji Group is
made up of three subgroups: Liaotai, Xingheng, Zhaoshen, and single
unclassified language.
Boshan, Dezhou, Jinan, Laiwu, Linzi, Mengyin, Tai'an, Xintai, Zibo,
Zichuan, and 27 others are members of the Liaotai subgroup of Shiji,
which has 37 varieties.
The Xinheng subgroup of Shiji has 15 varieties.
The Zhaoshen subgroup of Shiji has 19 varieties.
Huoli is the only member of the Unclassified Group of Shiji.
The Taiping Group of Jilu Mandarin is made up of a single subgroup,
Tunhua.
Jiayun is the sole member of the Tunhua Group of Taiping.
Jilu Mandarin has a shocking 170 varieties.

Lanyin Mandarin

Lanyin Mandarin is a large group of Mandarin languages spoken in

the far northwest of China in Ningxia, Northern and Central Gansu,
across a wide stretch of Northern Xinjiang, and a bit in Southwest
Inner Mongolia. It is not intelligible with Putonghua, despite claims to
the contrary (Campbell 2004).
 Gansu
Jiuquan Lanyin Mandarin at least appears to be a completely
separate language inside Lanyin.

Classification
Jiuquan and 17 others are members of the Hexi Group of Lanyin
Mandarin, which has 18 varieties.
Lanzhou and three others are members of the Jincheng Group of
Lanyin Mandarin, which has four varieties.
Emin and 20 others are in the Tami Group of Lanyin Mandarin, which
has 21 varieties.
The Yinnan Group of Lanyin Mandarin has two varieties.
The Yinwu Group of Lanyin Mandarin has 12 varieties.
Lanyin Mandarin is composed of 57 separate varieties.
The Lanyin Mandarin languages have 9 million speakers (Olson 1998).

Northeastern or Dongbei Mandarin

Northeastern (Dongbei) Mandarin, a major split in Mandarin, is made

up of a number of varieties that do not vary much. It is spoken in
most of Jilin, in parts of Eastern Inner Mongolia, in all of Linaoning,
and in almost all of Heilongjiang. Approximately 50% of Northeastern
is spoken Heilongjiang, 30% in Jilin, 15% in Liaoning, and 5% in
Neimenggu.
This is a very new split in Mandarin, as Dongbei was only formed in
the late 1800's and early 1900's by a wave of immigrants who moved
into the sparsely populated Manchurian area. Hence, this language
group is only 100-130 years old. These immigrants were primarily
from the Hebei and Shandong areas. Their numbers were so large
that they swamped the languages being spoken by the residents,
creating new varieties that were a mixture between the old tongues
and Hebei and Shandong Mandarin.
It is controversial whether this variety is intelligible with Putonghua.
Some say it is, but second language speakers who easily understand
Putonghua cannot understand Dongbei. Furthermore, Dongbeihua
made it onto the list of hardest dialects in China, and reports say that
outsiders cannot understand it readily, generally due to different
vocabulary.
Northeastern is quite uniform across its territory, and mutual
intelligibility among its varieties is quite high, extending even across
the borders of major Northeastern groups.

The Hafu Group of Northeastern Mandarin

The Hafu Group of Northeastern Mandarin is spoken mostly in
Heilongjiang, to a lesser extent in Jilin, somewhat in Liaoning, and in
a few places in Neimenggu.

The Changjin Group of Hafu

Jilin
Changchun is spoken in the city of Jilin. It is a dialect of Shenyang in
Liaoning even though it is in a completely different Northeastern
group spoken in an entirely different province. Changchun is in the
Hafu group, while Shenyang is in the Jishen group.

The Zhaofu Group of Hafu

Heilongjiang
Harbin Northeastern Mandarin could be seen as a separate
language or at least the more pure Harbinhua spoken by older men
could be, as there are also reports that Putonghua speakers cannot
readily understand the hard Harbinhua spoken by rural men over 50,
particularly due to different vocabulary and expressions.

The Jishen Group of Northeastern Mandarin

The Tongxi Group of Jishen

Liaoning
Shenyang Northeastern Mandarin appears to be a separate
language, as there are people who grew up in Shenyang and cannot
understand old people speaking, since so much of the vocabulary was
different. The pronunciation is not so much of a problem; instead, the
problem is the different vocabulary and expressions. So at least the
older varieties of Shenyang spoken by older rural people aged 50+
are not intelligible even to younger speakers in the same town.
Shenyang is a member of the Jishen Group of Northeastern, and
within that group, it is a member of the Tongxi subgroup. Shenyang is
intelligible with Changchun, although Changchun is a member of a
completely different group of Northeastern, the Hafu group.

Classification
The Hafu Group of Northeastern Mandarin has 64 varieties. It has two
subgroups: Changjin and Zhaofu.
Changchun and 45 others are members of the Changjin subgroup of
Hafu, which has 46 varieties.
Harbin and 17 others are members of the Zhaofu subgroup of Hafu,
which has 18 varieties.
The Heisong Group of Northeastern Mandarin has 67 varieties. It has
three subgroups: Jianfu, Nenke, and Zhanhua.
The Jianfu subgroup of Heisong has 21 varieties.
The Nenke subgroup of Heisong has 36 varieties.
The Zhanhua subgroup of Heisong has 10 varieties.
The Jishen Group of Northeastern Mandarin has 38 varieties. It has
three subgroups: Jiaoning, Tongxi, and Yanji.
The Jiaoning subgroup of Jishen has 14 varieties.
Shenyang and 23 others are members of the Tongxi subgroup of
Jishen, which has 24 varieties.
The Yanji subgroup of Jishen has 6 varieties.
Northeastern Mandarin has 102 varieties.

Southwestern Mandarin
 The four main divisions of Southwestern or Sichuanese Mandarin spoken in Guangxi, Sichuan, and
Yunnan for the most part.

Southwestern Mandarin is a huge and diverse group of Mandarin

which contains a multitude of varieties and is not fully intelligible with
Putonghua. Southwestern Mandarin is derived from Ba-Shu Chinese,
an offshoot of Old Chinese that developed in the area in 300. In
contrast, most other major Chinese varieties are derived from Middle
Chinese. Ba-Shu is little-known, but it seems clear that its phonology
was quite a bit different than that of modern Mandarin.
It is spoken across the entire provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, and
Chongqing; in half of Giangxi; in Northern, Southern, and a bit in
East-Central Hunan; in the eastern half of Sichuan; in Chongquing; in
Western and Central Hubei; and a bit in Southern Shaanxi.
During the Yuan Dynasty, invasions and epidemics reduced the
population of Ba-Shu speakers and eventually the language was
replaced by varieties of Mandarin spoken by immigrants, mostly from
Hubei. Gan, Hakka, and Xiang speakers also made their way to
Sichuan and influenced the newly developing Southwestern language.
Intelligibility of Southwestern with Putonghua is as low as 20%, if
that.
Southwestern is quite splintered, at least in some locations such as
Guangxi. In Sichuan, it is not so splintered, mostly because a regional
koine called Chengduhua has recently sprung up in the large cities of
the east. But Southwestern is still quite diverse, more diverse than
Zhongyuan Mandarin but not as diverse as Jianghuai.

Chongqing
Chongqing Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language spoken
in the city of Chongqing. Speakers of Chongqing cannot understand
Chengdu or Guiliu speakers.

Guangxi
Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in the western half of Guangxi.
Beiliu Southwestern Mandarin is an unclassified variety of
Southwestern Mandarin, the only variety that remains unclassified.
Since it is unclassified, Beiliu must be a separate language.
Chuanlan or Tunbao Southwestern Mandarin is a little-known
language spoken by the Tunbao people. This language is frozen in
time from the Ming Dynasty. Around 1300, large numbers of soldiers
were sent down to the region to settle it. They ended up marrying
into local groups. Their language, customs and architecture have not
assimilated to their neighbors in hundreds of years. It is unintelligible
with the rest of Southwestern Mandarin. The language is also known
as Tunbao.
Ducun Gate Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in a very now built-
up village in a suburb of the city of Yangshuo in Guilin Prefectural City
only one mile from the city center, but it is so different that Yangshuo
speakers cannot understand it. The language changes, often
dramatically, every 10-15 miles in Guilin, so there may be quite a few
languages here. This resembles the situation in the Wu area.
Lingui Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in Lingui County in Guilin
Prefectural City, is a separate language, as the Southwestern varieties
spoken in different counties in Guilin seem to have poor intelligibility
with each other.
Longsheng Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in Longsheng County
in Guilin Prefectural City, is a separate language, as the Southwestern
varieties spoken in different counties of Guilin seem to have poor
intelligibility with each other.
Xing'an Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in Xing'an County in
Guilin Prefectural City in Guangxi , appears to be a separate language
with poor intelligibility of Yangshuo.
Yangshuo Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in Yangshuo County in
Guilin Prefectural City in Guangxi, is a separate language. It is widely
spoken in the county as Yangshuohua. There is considerable
divergence in Yangshuohua, which has a number of dialects inside of
it. It is not intelligible with Xing'an, and it is not even intelligible
within itself.

Hubei
Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in Central and Western Hubei.
Gong'an Southwestern Mandarin is a very unusual Southwestern
Mandarin language spoken in the city of Gong'an. It is nearly a mixed
language, having features of both Southwestern Mandarin and Xiang.
However, it is generally classed as a Southwestern Mandarin
language. As such, no doubt it is a separate language.
Honghu Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in Honghu County in
Jingzhou Prefectural City in South-Central Hubei. It has high but not
full intelligibility with Tianmen Southwestern Mandarin spoken in the
city of Tianmen 50 miles to the north.
Lonkou is a dialect of Honghu spoken by 10,000 people in the small
city of Lonkou along the Yangtze River 12 miles northeast of the city
of Honghu.
Tianmen Southwestern Mandarin, which is spoken in the city of
Tianmen in central Hubei, has high but not full intelligibility of Honghu
spoken 50 miles to the south.
 Hunan
There are several varieties of Southwestern Mandarin spoken in
Hunan. They are spoken in the far north and far south and a bit on
the east-central border.
Chengguan Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in Linwu County, is
apparently a separate language. There are five separate Sinitic
varieties spoken there, all of which may be separate languages. Four
of those are Eastern Min, Southwestern Mandarin, Tuhua, and Xiang
are also spoken there.
Gaoping Southwestern Mandarin and Baixi Southwestern
Mandarin are mutually intelligible varieties, even though Gaoping is in
Longhui County and Baixi is in Xinhua County. Both varieties are
surrounded by Luoshuo Xiang speakers. Although they are very far
from each other, the two towns can communicate with each other in
their own varieties without problems. This is because an extended
family left Gaoping 150 years ago and moved to Baixi, marrying the
two languages. It would be best to call this language Gaoping
Southwestern Mandarin.
Shaoshan Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language spoken
near Xiangtan in Hunan. Xiang is spoken in this region.
Taoyuan Southwestern Mandarin is not fully intelligible with other
Southwest Mandarin varieties. It is spoken in Hunan.
Zhangjiajie Maoxi Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language
spoken in Zhangjiajie County in Hunan. The Maoxi are a tribal group
there that speak a strange type of Southwestern Mandarin.

Jiangxi
There is a single Southwestern Mandarin dialect island in Jiangxi.
Xinfeng Southwestern Mandarin is a Southwestern Mandarin
island spoken in the city of Ganzou in Xinfeng County surrounded by
Gannan Hakka speakers. Over time, it has seen so much Hakka
influence that it may now be characterized as a mixed language.
Nevertheless, it is generally categorized as a Southwestern Mandarin
language. Given the massive Hakka influence, Xinfeng is no doubt a
separate language.
 Shaanxi
Ankang Southwestern Mandarin is a strange Southwestern dialect
island spoken in the city of Ankang far off from the Southwestern
zone. The native language is a Zhongyuan language, but there is also
a Jianghuai island, this Southwestern island, and a far-removed Xiang
island. All of the Mandarins have been interacting with each other
over centuries to where they all now differ quite a bit from the norm
of their group.
Hanzhong Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in the city of
Hanzhong in the far south of Shaanxi. It is a Southwestern outlier and
as such, is a separate language.

Sichuan
The many small Southwestern Mandarin varieties around Mt. Emei in
Sichuan are not intelligible with Chengduhua, appear to be be very
different, and may be one or more separate languages.
Chengdu Southwestern Mandarin is part of a broadly intelligible
Sichuan Southwestern Mandarin koine that is spoken in many of the
larger cities in Sichuan and Yunnan. Chengduhua is still very widely
spoken in Chengdu by people of all ages (Xun 2009).
It includes Baoxing, Bazhong, Dazhu, Deyang, Kunming, Luzhou,
Mianyang, Neijiang, Yibin, and Ziyang (Xun 2009).
Emei Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language spoken
around Mt. Emei in Central Sichuan. There are a number of different
languages spoken around this mountain.
Gulin Southwestern Mandarin is not intelligible with Chengduhua.
It is spoken in the city of Gulin.
Meishan Southwestern Mandarin is not intelligible to Chengdu
speakers (Xun 2009). It is spoken in the city of Meishan in Sichuan.
Yingshan Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language based on
a 200 word Swadesh test (Ben Hamed 2005). It is spoken in Yingshan
County in Nanchong Prefectural City, Sichuan.
Zigong Southwestern Mandarin is not intelligible to Chengdu
speakers (Xun 2009). It is spoken in the city of Zigong in Sichuan.
Ziyang is intelligible with the koine but has a heavy accent (Xun
2009). It is spoken in the city of Ziyang in Sichuan.

Yunnan
Dahua Southwestern Mandarin, spoken in and around Dahua
village on the Puduhe River near Dongchuan, is apparently a separate
language.
Dali Southwestern Mandarin is spoken in the city of Dali near
Kunming. The language is still widely spoken.
Kunming is widely spoken by people of all ages in the city of Kunming.
It is part of Chengduhua.
Leshan Southwestern Mandarin is a separate language. It is
spoken in the city of Leshan. It is unintelligible with the Chengduhua
koine, but it can be learned in a few weeks of exposure (Xun 2009).
Intelligibility between Leshan and Sichuanhua may be ~70%.
Wenshan Southwestern Mandarin is not intelligible with other
Southwestern varieties (Johnson 2010). It is spoken in the city of
Wenshan.
Wuhan Southwestern Mandarin spoken in the city of Wuhan in
Yunnan, is not intelligible to speakers of Southwestern Mandarin from
other provinces; for instance, it is only 80% intelligible with Chengdu
(Cheng 1998). Once you go an hour in any direction from Wuhan,
Yunnan, Wuhan is no longer intelligible.

Classification
Cengong and 13 others are members of the Cenjiang Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has 14 members.
Gong'an, Taoyuan, and 12 others are members of the Changhe Group
of Southwestern Mandarin, which has 14 varieties.
Bazhong, Chengdu, Dazhu, Deyang, Mianyang, Yichang, Yingshan,
Ziyang, and 105 others are members of the Chengyu Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has 113 varieties.
The Dianxi Group of Southwestern Mandarin has 36 members. Dianxi
is divided into two groups, Baolu and Yaoli.
Lanping and 20 others are members of the Baolu subgroup of Dianxi,
which has 21 varieties.
Dianxi and 14 others are members of the Yaoli subgroup of Dianxi,
which has 15 members.
Baokang and 16 others are members of the Ebei Group of
Southwestern Mandarin.
The Guanchi Group of Southwestern Mandarin has 85 varieties.
The Guanchi group has four subgroups: Lichuan, Minjiang, Renfru,
and Yamian.
Binchuan and four others are members of the the Lichuan subgroup of
Guanchi, which has five varieties.
Chongqing, Emei, Leshan, Luzhou, Meishan, Yibin, and 54 others are
members of the Minjiang Group of Guanchi, which has 59 members.
Longchang, Neijang, Zigong, and 10 others are members of the Renfu
subgroup of Guanchi, which has 13 varieties.
Baoxing and seven others are members of the Yamian Group of
Guanchi, which has eight members.
Dacun Gate, Lingui, Liuzhou, Longcheng, Luocheng, Xing'an,
Yangshuo, and 50 others are members of the Guiliu Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has 57 varieties.
Guangde and six others are members of the Hubei Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has seven varieties.
Kunming, Menghai, Wenshan, and 92 others are members of the
Kungui Group of Southwestern Mandarin, which has 95 varieties.
Fenggang, Shiqian, Zhijin, and 30 others are members of the Qianbei
Group of Southwestern Mandarin, which has 33 varieties.
Danzhai and 14 others are members of the Qiannan Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has 15 varieties.
Xinfeng is the sole member of the Taiping Waicun Group of
Southwestern Mandarin.
Honghu, Longkou, Tianmen, Wuhan, and five others are members of
Wutian Group of Southwestern Mandarin, which has nine varieties.
Chengguan and 16 others are members of the Xiangnan Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which has 17 varieties
Ankang, Baixi, Beiliu, Chuanlan, Dahua, Gaoping, Shaoshan, and
Zhangjiajie Maoxi are members of the Unclassified Group of
Southwestern Mandarin, which contains eight varieties.
Southwestern Mandarin itself has a stunning 528 varieties.
The Southwestern Mandarin languages have 240 million speakers.
(Olson 1998).

Standard Mandarin or Putonghua and

Derivatives

Putonghua is Standard Mandarin, based on the Beijing Mandarin

dialect as of 1955, but it has since diverged wildly, and many
Putonghua speakers today cannot understand Beijinghua. Putonghua
is being promoted as the national language of China. In addition to
Putonghua, there 1,500 other dialects of Mandarin spoken in China. In
general, other Mandarin dialects are not intelligible to Putonghua
speakers (Campbell 2009). However, the Northeastern Mandarin
dialects and the dialects around Beijing are more intelligible with
Putonghua than the Mandarin dialects in the rest of the country.
The implication is that there may be over 1,500 Mandarin languages
in China. However, many of these Mandarin dialects are intelligible
with at least some other Mandarin varieties. Hence, despite the lack
of intelligibility with Putonghua, there is a lot of potential lumping
within Mandarin.
The degree to which Mandarin dialects are intelligible to each other is
very much an open question and in general is poorly investigated.
We should also note here that even Putonghua, the language that was
meant to tie the nation together, seems to be evolving into regional
languages.
These varieties of Mandarin cause a particular interference with
Putonghua that results in a severe dialectal disturbance in their
Putonghua.
There are also varieties of Putonghua spoken in Singapore and
Taiwan.
Anhui Putonghua has poor intelligibility with Standard Putonghua
due to its phonology. Therefore, it is a separate language.
Guangdong Putonghua is not fully intelligible to speakers of the
Putonghuas of Northern China and hence is probably a separate
language.
Jianghuai Putonghua is not intelligible to Putonghua speakers not
from the area (Campbell 2009). Jianghuai is spoken in Anhui, Jiangsu,
Hubei, and to a much lesser extent Zhejiang Provinces.
Malay Mandarin is said to be quite different but nevertheless
mutually intelligible with Putonghua. Nevertheless, Malay Mandarin
speakers say they have to make speech adjustments with Chinese
speakers, otherwise their speech is poorly intelligible. This implies
that Malay Mandarin is indeed a separate language.
Shanghai Putonghua is often not intelligible with Putonghua from
other regions. It has heavy interference from Shanghaihua, which
seriously effects the Putonghua accent. Even after four years of
exposure, Standard Putonghua speakers often have problems with it.
Singapore Mandarin has fewer differences with Putonghua than
Taiwanese Mandarin and hence is a dialect of Putonghua.
Taiwanese Mandarin is not fully intelligible with Putonghua as
claimed. Actually, it is about 80-85% intelligible with Putonghua.
Based on that intelligibility figure, Taiwanese Mandarin is a separate
language.
Tibetan Mandarin has heavy Tibetan admixture and in all probability
is a separate language.
Yunnan Putonghua is intelligible with Putonghua from other regions
(Campbell 2009).
Zhengcao Zhongyuan Putonghua is also not intelligible to
Putonghua speakers outside the region (Campbell 2009). Zhengcao
Zhongyuan is spoken in Anhui, Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu, with
one dialect spoken in Hebei.

Zhongyuan Mandarin

Zhongyuan or Central Plains Mandarin is a large split in Mandarin. It is

not fully intelligible with Putonghua. For instance, Xi'an, a Zhongyuan
dialect, is about 65% intelligible with other Mandarin groups.
However, Xi'an is a lot more intelligible to Putonghua speakers (70%)
than Henan Zhongyuan Mandarin (35%).
Xi'an Mandarin is closest to Jinan Jilu Mandarin, with which it has 75%
intelligibility (Cheng 1997).
Zhongyuan is spoken across almost all of Henan, in Central and
Southern Shaanxi, in Southern Shandong, in far Northwestern
Jiangsu, in Northern Anhui, in far Southern Shanxi, in the southern
half of Gansu and Ningxia, in a broad swath across Central and
Southern Xinjiang, and in a small part of East-Central Qinghai.
Jilu is sometimes seen as a form of Zhongyuan. Zhongyuan is
splintered, but it is not nearly as splintered as Jianghuai or the non-
Mandarin languages of the south. On the other hand, Zhongyuan is
not as uniform as Mandarin groups of the north like Northeastern and
Beijinghua.

Gansu-Qinghai
Gansu and Qinghai Provinces are part of a Gansu-Qinghai Sprachbund
where the languages share many unique features. The Han here are
really Hanized minority groups, and many have little Han ancestry.
Here the Han have been living close to non-Han minority groups for a
long time.

Gansu
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in the southern half of Gansu. Within
Gansu itself, there are divergent varieties.
Gansu Zhongyuan Mandarin appears to be a separate language.
This is a code name for the general Zhongyuan Mandarin spoken in
the province.
Sale Zhongyuan Mandarin is not intelligible with other Gansu
varieties.
Tongwei appears to be a dialect of Gansu.

Henan
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in nearly all of Henan Province. In
general, intelligibility between many varieties in Henan is not full, but
after a few weeks or so of close contact, they can start to understand
each other. Mutual intelligibility between Xinyang, Gushi, and Nanyang
may be ~70%.
Fuyang Zhongyuan Mandarin is very different and may well be a
separate language.
Gushi Zhongyuan Mandarin is different from Nanyang and is
probably not intelligible with it.
Henan Zhongyuan Mandarin is a good name a group of mutually
intelligible varieties spoken in Henan Province, including Luoyang,
Kaifeng, Changyuan, and Zhengzhou.
Lingbao Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in the far northwest of
Henan and is much different from standard Henan Mandarin
languages such as Kaifeng (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981). No doubt it is a
separate language.
Nanyang Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the city of Nanyang, has
high but not complete intelligibility with Luoyang. Intelligibility
between Nanyang and Luoyang is probably ~70%. Nanyang has 15
million speakers.
Xinyang Zhongyuan Mandarin is a separate language spoken in the
city of Xinyang in Henan and cannot be understood by Luoyang or
Gushi speakers.

Inner Mongolia
Hohhot Xincheng Zhongyuan Mandarin, a combination of Hebei
Jin, Northeastern Mandarin, and the Manchu language, is one of the
Hohhot languages. The other Hohhot language is Hohhot Jin. Hohhot
Mandarin is quite aberrant.

Jiangsu
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in a slice across the far northern part
of Jiangsu, with the Zhongyuan zone being deeper in the far
northwest and more narrow in the very far northeast.
Gayu Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in the far northeast of Jiangsu
near the Shandong border. Gayu has some extreme differences with
the rest of Zhongyuan and in some ways looks more like a Shandong
Jianghuai language (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜 1981). It is quite probably not
intelligible with Zhongyuan Mandarin spoken in other areas.
Nanjing Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the famous city of Nanjing in
Western Jiangsu, is composed of two languages, Old Nanjing
Mandarin - the old variety now spoken only in the suburbs which is a
separate language - and city speech which is now a general
Northeastern China Mandarin like that spoken in Beijing and Hebei.
Old Nanjing Zhongyuan Mandarin is a separate language, as the
language of the city is now a basic Northeastern Mandarin variety like
those spoken in Beijing and Hebei.

Qinghai
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in a tiny protrusion into East-Central
Qinghai on the border.
Gangou Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in Minhe Hui and Tu
Autonomous County in a finger at the eastern edge of Qinghai. It has
been strongly affected by Mongour Mongolian and Ambdo Tibetan. It
has borrowed many words from and had its syntax and phonology
strongly affected by both languages. Gangou Zhongyuan Mandarin is
uncontroversially regarded as a separate language within Mandarin.
Qinghai Zhongyuan Mandarin is very different from that spoken in
Gansu. This is a code name for the general Zhongyuan Mandarin
spoken in Qihai.

Shaanxi
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken widely in the southern half of Shaanxi
Province.
In Shangzhou, Danfeng and Luonan Counties in Shangluo Prefectural
City in Eastern Shaanxi, two different Mandarin languages are spoken.
The first variety, Zhaozi, is spoken by the natives of the region. The
second variety, Manxi, is spoken by a group that immigrated to the
region from the south during the early Qing Dynasty. They came from
the Southern Yangtze River and from coastal areas of Guangdong and
Fujian. The natives refer to them as “settlers.” The natives call the
settlers' language manzi for “sly people” and the settlers call the
natives' language zhaozi for rogue people. No doubt the two Mandarin
varieties are quite different.
Ankang Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in Anyang Prefectural City
in Eastern Shaanxi. This Mandarin variety is native, but there are also
Southwestern and Jianghuai Mandarin islands and there is even a
distant Xiang island. The three Mandarin types have been interacting
with each other over centuries and they have all become different
from the norm of their group.
The Guanzhong Group of Zhongyuan is a separate language.
These varieties are spoken in much of Shaanxi outside of the north
and south. It includes Huxian, Xi'an, and Zhouzhi.
Manxi Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken by immigrants who came to
Shangzhou, Danfeng, and Luonan Counties in Shaanxi from the far
south of China in the early Ming Dynasty.
Xi'an, perhaps the prototypical Zhongyuan variety, is spoken in the
large city of Xi'an in Shaanxi. It is part of Guanzhonghua.
Xining Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in Xinghai in Shaanxi, seems
to be very different from other Shaanxi varieties and is probably a
separate language altogether. It has severe influence from Tibetan
and Mongolic languages. There are now two languages spoken in
Xining, Old Xining, which is the language described here, and New
Xining, a mixture between this dialect and Putonghua which is still not
Putonghua at all but instead is a separate language.
Yan'an Zhongyuan Mandarin is part of a completely different group
of Zhongyuan, Quinlong Zhongyuan, and as such may well be a
separate language.
Zhaozi Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken by the natives of
Shangzhou, Danfeng, and Luonan Counties of Shangluo Prefectural
City in Shaanxi.

Shandong
Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in a swath across the south of
Shandong.
Heze is spoken on the border of Shandong and Anhui, Henan, and
Jiangsu. This is a Zhengcao variety like Zhaozhuang. Although Heze is
different from other Shandong languages, there is not enough
evidence that it is different from Zhaozhuang to split it.
Jining Zhongyuan Mandarin is spoken in Jining Prefectural City
Southwestern Shandong near Zhaozhuang. Nevertheless, Jining is in
a completely different Zhongyuan group than Zhongyuan. Jining is in
the Cailu Group of Zhongyuan. Based on that, it is a good guess that
Jining could be a separate language. Jining is based on the language
of the ancient Lu Empire, and much of the territory of this empire lay
within Jining Prefectural City.
Zhaozhuang Zhongyuan Mandarin, spoken in the city of
Zhaozhuang in the far south of Shandong, is completely unintelligible
with Putonghua. Zhaozhuang is a member of the Zhengcao Group of
Zhongyuan.

Classification
Yingshang, Jining and 28 others are members of the Cailu Group of
Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 30 varieties.
Huxian, Xian, Zhouzhi, and 42 others are members of the Guanzhong
Group of Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 45 varieties.
Sale, Tongwei and 23 others are part of the Longzhong Group of
Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 25 varieties.
Luoyang and 27 others are members of the Luoxu Group of
Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 28 varieties.
Xining, Yanan, and 65 others are members of the Qinlong Group of
Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 67 varieties.
Bozhou, Changyuan, Heze, Kiafeng, Nanyang, Zengzhou,
Zhaozhuang, and 86 others are members of the Zhengcao Group of
Zhongyuan Mandarin, which has 93 varieties.
Gushi, Xinyang and 18 others are in the Xinbeng subgroup of
Zhengcao, which has 20 varieties.
Zhongyuan Mandarin has a shocking 305 varieties.
The Zhongyuan Mandarin languages have 130 million speakers (Olson
1998).

Unclassified Mandarin
 Fujian
Yanyucun Mandarin is spoken in the Yanyucun District of city of
Changle in Northern Fujian in the Eastern Min speaking area. This is
one of only two places where a native Mandarin variety is spoken in
Fujian. The other is in Nanping. Nanping is described under Jianghuai
Mandarin.
This strange Mandarin island is the result of a movement of Mandarin-
speaking immigrants to the area in the 1700's (Chung-yu & 陈重瑜
1981).
It has now been shown that this movement was due to northern
soldiers being sent down to the area to set up a garrison. However,
the Northern soldiers thought they were better than the locals, so
they did not mix with them very much. Consequently, the language
has retained much of its northern character. Nevertheless, due to its
isolation, no doubt Yanyucun is a separate language.

Qinghai
Wutun or Wutunhua is an unclassified separate Mandarin language,
a Mandarin-Mongolian-Tibetan creole mixed language spoken by
2,000 Tu or Monguar people in Eastern Qinghai Province. The
Monguars speak Bonan, a Mongolic language with heavy Tibetan and
Mandarin influence. Although the government regards them as
Monguar Mongolians, the group self-identifies as Tibetan.
The source of the Mandarin is not known, but it is thought that the
group came from outside the region, either from Jilu Mandarin
speakers from Tianjin in the northeast or from a group of Southwest
Mandarin-speaking Hui Muslims in Sichuan Province who converted to
Lamaist Buddhism for unknown reasons. They have been in their
present location since at least 1585. Over centuries of interacting with
Mongolic speakers, a tremendous amount of Mongolic has come into
the language.
This is best seen as a Mandarin language that came under heavy
influence of Bonan and to a lesser extent Tibetan, after which when it
was changed into an agglutinative language under the influence of
these two other languages. Nevertheless, this is still mostly a
Mandarin language. The lexicon is 60% Mandarin with the tones lost,
25% Tibetan and 10% Bonan. Wutunhua is best seen as an
unclassified Mandarin language.

Xinjiang
Karamay Mandarin is an unclassified separate Mandarin language
spoken in Xinjaing.

Zhejiang
Tiantai Mandarin, a separate Mandarin language spoken around
Tiantai in Central Zhejiang, has very heavy Taizhou Wu influence. It is
unclassified.

Classification
Wutun, Karamay, Tiantai, and Yanyucun are in the Unclassified Group
of Mandarin, which contains four languages.

Jin

Jin is a completely separate language from Mandarin, with only 57%

intelligibility with Mandarin Proper (Cheng 1997), although the two
are closely related. The differences between Jin and Mandarin are
somewhat greater than the differences between Mandarin itself. Jin is
spoken in most of Shanxi, in bits on the western edge and in
Northwest Hubei, in North Shaanxi, in South-Central Inner Mongolia,
and in a bit of far Northwest Henan.

The Bingzhou Group of Jin

Shanxi
Taiyuan Jin is also a separate language according to the same
Swadesh test, not intelligible with Yuci (Ben Hamed 2005). Taiyuan is
the capital of Shanxi.
Yuci Jin is a separate language from Taiyuan Jin on a 200 word
Swadesh test (Ben Hamed 2005). It is spoken in the Yuci District of
Jinzhong Prefectural City.
 The Dabao Group of Jin

Inner Mongolia
Baoto Jin may be a separate language. It is described as a highly
distinctive Jin language of Inner Mongolia.

The Hanxin Group of Jin

The Cizhang Group of Hanxin

The Cizhang Group of Hanxin is spoken in Hebei. Since it is
separate from the Zhanghu Group also spoken there, it is probably a
separate language.

The Houoji Group of Hanxin

The Houoji Group of Hanxin is spoken mostly in Henan. As these
are the only Jin varieties spoken in Henan, this group probably
represents a separate language.

The Luiliang Group of Jin

The Fenzhou Group of Liuliang

The Fenzhou Group of Liuliang is a separate language, as it is its
own subgroup. It is mostly spoken in Shanxi and to a lesser extent in
Shaanxi.

The Xinxi Group of Luiliang

The Xingxi Subgroup of the Liuliang Group of Jin is a separate
langauge, as it is its own subgroup. It is mostly spoken in Shanxi,
with one variety spoken in Shandong.

Shandong
Jin is spoken in a single dialect island in Shandong.
Yonghe Jin is a separate language, as it the only Jin variety spoken
in Shandong, and it is spoken far away from the rest of the group.
This is the only dialect island in Jin, and as such, it is a separate
language.
 The Shandang Group of Jin
The Shangdang Group of Jin is a separate language, as it a
separate group. Shangdang Jin is spoken in Shanxi.

The Wutai Group of Jin

Shaanxi
Jingbian Jin is a separate language, since it is in its own group. It is
spoken in the city of Jingbian.

The Zhanghu Group of Jin

The Zhanghu Group of Jin is spoken in Hebei and Neimenggu. As a
separate group of Jin, it is a separate language.

The Zhiyan Group of Jin

The Zhiyan Group of Jin is spoken in Shaanxi. As a separate group
of Jin, it is a separate language.

Classification
Taiyuan, Yuci, and 14 others are members of the Bingzhou Group of
Jin, which has 16 varieties.
Baotou, Yulin, and 27 others are members of the Dabao Group of Jin,
which has 29 varieties.
The Hanxin Group of Jin has 35 varieties. Hanxin is broken into two
subgroups, Cizhang and Huoji.
The Cizhang Group of Hanxin has 17 varieties.
The Houji Group of Hanxin has 18 varieties
The Luliang Group of Jin has 17 varieties. Liuliang is split into two
subgroups, Fenzhou and Xingxi.
The Fenzhou subgroup of Liuliang has nine members.
Yonghe and seven others are members of the the Xingxi subgroup of
Liuliang, which has eight members.
The Shangdang Group of Jin has 15 varieties.
Jingbian and 14 others are members of the Wutai Group of Jin, which
has 15 varieties.
The Zhanghu Group of Jin has 28 varieties.
The Zhihan Group of Jin has four varieties.
Jin is composed of 149 varieties, 12 of which are separate languages.
The Jin languages have 48 million speakers (Olson 1998).

Gan

Gan is a macrolanguage spoken mostly in Jiangxi Province. The

mountainous and rugged terrain of Jiangxi means that Gan is very
diverse, with many mutually unintelligible varieties within it. Whether
Gan is as diverse as Xiang or Hui is not known. The two most well-
known varieties of Gan are Nanchang Gan and Anyi Gan. Gan is
spoken mostly in Jiangxi and to a lesser extent in Hunan, Hubei, and
Anhui. There is a good possibility that there is a different Gan
language spoken in every county in the Gan area. It is also possible
that all major Gan varieties are separate languages.

The Changjiang Group of Gan

Changjiang is spoken mostly in Jiangxi, with one language spoken in
Hunan.

Jiangxi
Anyi Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Nanchang
Prefectural City. Anyi and Nanchang Gan are separate languages
based on a 200 word Swadesh test (Ben Hamed 2005).
Duchang Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Duchang
County. It is quite different from the rest of Gan (Sagart 1998).
Gao'an Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in the county-
level city of Gao'an in the central part of Yichun Prefectural City. It is
significantly different from the rest of Gan (Sagart 1998).
Fengxin Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Fengxin
County in the northern part of Yichun Prefectural City. It part of a
third major split in Northern Gan according to some systems (Sagart
1998).
Hukou Gan is a a separate Changjiang language. It is a major split in
Northern Gan according to some analyses (Sagart 1998).
Jing'an Gan is a a separate Changjiang language spoken in Jing'an
County in the north of Yichun Prefectural City in Jiangxi.
Nangchang Gan, spoken in Nanchang Prefectural City in Jiangxi, is a
separate Changjiang language from Anyi based on a 200 word
Swadesh test (Ben Hamed 2005). Nanchang has a great deal of
dialectal diversity (Cui 2007), with several dialects covering different
cities and the rural areas. Since Putongua is used by rural Nanchang
speakers to speak to the urban ones (Cui 2007), this shows that the
one or more Gan varieties spoken in the rural areas of Nanchang are
not intelligible with Nanchang Proper spoken in the city. Nanchang is
still spoken very heavily in Nanchang (Cui 2007). No doubt each rural
county in Nanchang speaks its own Gan language.
Tonggu Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Tonggu
County in the northwestern part of Yichun Prefectural City in Jiangxi.
Wuning Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Jiangxi. It
is also a major split in Northern Gan according to some classifcatory
schemes (Sagart 1998).
Xinjian Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in the Xinjian
District of Nanchang Prefectural City in Jiangxi (Cui 2007).
Yongxiu Gan is a separate Changjiang language spoken in Jiangxi. It
has significant differences with the rest of Gan (Sagart 1998).

The Datong Group of Gan

Datong is spoken mostly in Hubei and to a lesser extent in Hunan.

Hubei
Daye Gan is a separate language as a member of the Datong Group
of Gan.

The Dongsui Group of Gan

The Dongsui Group is spoken in Hunan.
 Hunan
Dongkou Gan is a separate language as a member of the Dongsui
Group of Gan.

The Fugang Group of Gan

The Fugang Group is spoken mostly in Jiangxi and in a couple of
places in Fujian.

Jiangxi
Jinxian Gan is a separate language spoken in Jinxian County, part of
Nanchang Prefectural City (Cui 2007).
Linchuan Gan, spoken in East-Central Jiangxi, is a very interesting
Gan that differs from all others. This seems to be the remains of the
old language that was brought into Jiangxi by the ancestors of the
Hakka, Early South Central Chinese, and it indicates a close
relationship between Gan and Hakka (Sagart 1998).
Nancheng Gan is quite different from the rest of Gan, so it may well
be separate language (Sagart 1998).

The Huaiyue Group of Gan

The Huaiyue Group of Gan is spoken in Anhui.

Anhui
Huaining Gan is a separate language as a member of the Huaiyue
Group of Gan.

The Jicha Group of Gan

The Jicha Group of Gan is spoken mostly in Jiangxi and to a much
lesser extent in Hunan.
Ji'an Gan, a macrolanguage, is divided into two varieties, one in the
south and one in the north. The two are not intelligible with each
other.

Jiangxi
Baixiang Ji'an is a separate language, the southern part of the Ji'an
language. It lacks intelligibility of Nanxiang spoken in the northern
part of the language.
Nanxiang Ji'an is a separate language, the northern part of the Ji'an
language. It is not intelligible with Baixiang Ji'an, the southern part of
the language.

Hunan
Dongxiang Chaling Gan, spoken in Hunan near the Jiangxi border,
is a language with mixed Gan and Xiang features. The best analysis is
that this is a Gan dialect. Due to the heavy Xiang mixture, it is no
doubt a separate Gan language.

The Jilian Group of Gan

The Jilian Group consists of only a single language, and it is spoken in
Jiangxi.

Jiangxi
Wanan Gan is the sole member of the Jilian Group of Gan, so it must
be a separate language.

The Leizi Group of Gan

The Leizi Group is spoken only in Hunan.

Hunan
Leiyang Gan is a separate language, as it is a member of the Leizi
Group of Gan.

The Yiliu Group of Gan

The Yiliu Group is spoken mostly in Jiangxi and in a couple of places in
Hunan.

Jiangxi
Yichun Gan is a separate language as a member of the Yiliu Group of
Gan.
 The Yingyi Group of Gan
The Yingyi Group is spoken in Jiangxi.

Jiangxi
Hecheng Gan is a major split in Southern Gan and as such is a
separate language (Cui. 2007).

The Yiping Group of Gan

The Yiping Group consists of only one language that is spoken in
Jiangxi.

Jiangxi
Wanzai Gan is spoken in Wanzai County in Yichun Prefectural City. It
is the only member of the Yiping Group of Gan, and hence it is a
separate language.

Classification
Anyi, Dean, Duchang, Fengxian, Gao'an, Hukou, Jinj'an, Nanchang,
Pingjiang, Tonggu, Wuning, Xingzi, Xinjian, Xiushui, and Yongxiu are
members are in the Changjing Group of Gan, which has 15 varieties.
Daye, Huarong, Jiangyu, and 10 others are members of the Datong
Group of Gan, which has 13 varieties.
Dongkou and four others are members of the Dongsui Group of Gan,
which has five varieties.
Fuzhou, Jinxian, Linchuan, Nancheng, and 11 others are members of
the Fuguang Group of Gan, which has 15 varieties.
Huaining and eight others are members of the Huaiyue Group of Gan,
which has nine varieties.
Nanxiang Ji'an, Baixiang Ji'an, and 13 others are members of the
Jicha Group of Gan, which has 15 varieties.
Wanan is the sole member of the Jilian Group of Gan.
Anren, Changning, Leiyang, Yongxing, and Zixing are members of the
Leizi Group of Gan, which has five varieties.
Yichun and 10 others are members of the Yiliu Group of Gan, which
has 11 varieties.
Boyang, Chaling Donxian, Leping, Hechang, Yingtan, and seven others
are members of the Yingyi Group of Gan, which has 12 varieties.
Wanzai is the sole member of the Yiping Group of Gan.
Gan has 102 varieties.
There are 30 million speakers of the Gan languages (Olson 1998).

Min

There are 90 million speakers of the Min languages.

 Most varieties of Min are shown here, including all varieties of Inland Min.
Inland Min includes Northern, Shaojiang and Central Min. Northern Min is
spoken in red around Nanping. Shaojiang Min is spoken in brown around
Shaowu. Central Min is spoken in yellow around Sanming. Coastal Min groups
on the map are Eastern, Southern, Putian, Hainanese, and Luizhou Min.
Longyan, Zhongshan, Hailufeng, Teochew, Hokkien, Datian and Zhenan Min
are subsumed in Southern Min on this map, though in my treatment, many are
placed outside of Southern Min in Coastal Min itself where Southern Min is
reduced to a Coastal Min subgroup.

Zhenan Min is spoken in blue above the green Eastern Min zone. Longyan Min
is spoken in a small area around Longyan inland of the Hokkien area. Hokkien
is spoken around Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Xiamen in China and in Taiwan.
Teochew is spoken to the south of Hokkien around Shantou, Jieyang and
Chaozhou. Hailufeng is spoken to the south of Teochew around Shanwei.
Zhongshan Min is not shown on the map, but is spoken across the bay to the
west from Hong Kong in Zhongshan Prefectural City. Hainanese Min is spoken
in Hainan in light purple. Leizhou Min is spoken in dark purple to the north of
Hainan around Zhangjiang and Maoming.
 Inland Min: Central, Northern, Longyan, Pingle,
and Shaojiang Min

Inland Min: Central Min or Min Zhong

Central Min or Min Zhong is a separate language not intelligible

with Northern or Eastern Min. It has three varieties, Shaxian,
Sanming, and Yongan, but we don't know if there are languages
among them. The tones of the three varieties are quite different.
Further, there are many dialects in the interior of Sanming Prefecture,
so there may be more than one language there.

Classification
Sanming, Shaxian, and Yongan are members of Central Min, which
has three dialects.
Central Min has 3.5 million speakers.

Inland Min: Longyan Min

Longyan Min is group of Min languages that constitutes a major split

in Min. It is spoken in Longyan Prefectural City's Xinluo District and
Zhangping city deep inside Fujian to the west of the Hokkien-speaking
area (Branner 2008) .
Longyan Min has anywhere from 300,000 (Branner 2008) to 740,000
speakers and has limited intelligibility with other Min languages. It has
heavy Hakka influence due to the large number of Hakka speakers in
the surrounding areas. Some put Longyan Min in a Southern Min Nan
division of its own, others put it in Hokkien, and others put it outside
of all other major Min categories in its own Min category.
David Branner puts it in Inland Min but in a separate group from the
first group of Nothern Min, Central Min, and Shaojiang Min. This
seems radical to me. Instead of these proposals, the best analysis
seems to be that it is an Inland Min language in the same group as
Northern Min, Central Min, and Shaojiang Min.
Wan'an Longyan Min is a macrolanguage comprising a number of
separate languages in Wan'an Township of Fujian. Wan'an and the
rest of Longyan Min are not mutually intelligible (Branner 2008).
Wan'an is a small township in Northwestern Longyan Prefectural City
in Western Fujian which consists of very rugged, hard to access
mountains with scattered very isolated villages made up of poor
farmers. Some of these villages were visited for the first time by a
Westerner only in the last 20 years (Branner 2000).
To give you an idea of how remote the area is, to walk between two
villages in Wan'an would take six difficult and confusing hours down
ancient cobblestone paths through dark forests. But to take a bus
between the two towns that are six hours walking distance away
would take three days (Branner 2000)! There are 13 varieties of
Wan'an Longyan Min, all separate languages.
All are spoken in Wan'an township except Shiahtsuen Buhyun Liling,
which is spoken in Laiyuan Township in Southeastern Liancheng
County in Longyan Prefectural City (Branner 2000).
With many of these varieties, they don't understand each other at
first, but after they talk to each other for a while, they start to figure
out the other variety (Branner 2008). Owing to difficult intelligibility
from village to village, the best analysis seems to be that all of the
above are separate languages. Intelligibility among the Wan'an
languages is ~70%.
Koongfu Longyan Min and Shizhong Longyan Min are usually called
dialects of Longyan Min, but on examination, they are quite different.
Considering the extreme divergence of Longyan Min varieties in
Wan'an, Koongfu and Shizhong and are separate languages.

Fujian
Baisha Youshui Longyan Min is a separate Wan'an Longyan Min
language spoken in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan
Prefectural City.
Koongfu Longyan Min is a separate Longyan language spoken in
Kanshi Township in Yongding County in Longyan Prefectural City.
Koongfu is quite different from Shizhong Longyan Min.
Shanghang Baisha Pengxin Longyan Min is a separate Wan'an
Longyan Min language spoken in Shanghang village in Wan'an
Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Shanghang Buhyun Liliing Longyan Min, is another Wan'an
Longyan Min language spoken in Shanghang village in Wan'an
Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Shanghang Guanzhuang Shangzhuo Longyan Min is spoken in
Shanghang village in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of
Longyan Prefectural City. It is also a Wan'an Longyan Min language.
Shanghang Gutian Laifang Longyan Min is a Wan'an Longyan Min
language spoken in Shanghang village in Wan'an Township in the
Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Shiahtsuen Buhyun Liliing Longyan Min is a separate language
spoken in Laiyuan Township in the southeast of Liancheng County of
Longyan Prefectural City.
Shikou Longyan Min is a Wan'an Longyan Min language spoken in
Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Shizhong Longyan Min is a separate Longyan language spoken in
Southern Longyan Prefectural City. It is significantly different from
Koongfu.
Songyang Longyan Min is a Wan'an Longyan Min language spoken
in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Tutan Longyan Min is a separate Wan'an Longyan Min language
spoken in Wan'an Township inthe Xinluo District of Longyan
Prefectural City.
Wenheng Longyan Min is a separate Wan'an Longyan Min language
spoken in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan
Prefectural City.
Wuzhai Longyan Min is a Wan'an Longyan Min language spoken in
Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan Prefectural City.
Xi Longyan Min, spoken in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of
Longyan Prefectural City.
Xiangxi Longyan Min is a separate language within Wan'an Longyan
Min spoken in Wan'an Township in the Xinluo District of Longyan
Prefectural City.
Zhangping Longyan Min appears to be a separate language. It is
often thought to be a Hokkien tongue, but it is actually a Longyan Min
language. It is spoken in Zhangping County in Longyan Prefectural
City.
Malaysian Longyan Min is a variety of Longyan Min still spoken on the
Malay Peninsula. The language has been dying out for sometime now
in Malaysia, but it is still quite alive in Penang around Parit Buntar and
in the far north of the peninsula in Taiping on the border with
Thailand. In Taiping, there are six different Longyan Min associations,
each from a different town in the Longyan Min area of China.
So there are six different dialects of Malaysian Longyan Min in Taiping
alone: Malaysian Longyan Min A, Malaysian Longyan Min B, Malaysian
Longyan Min C, Malaysian Longyan Min D, Malaysian Longyan Min E,
and Malaysian Longyan Min F. Intelligibility data between Malaysian
Longyan Min and Longyan Min in China is not known.
Longyan Min seems to have about 85% intelligibility with Taiwanese
Hokkien. The intelligibility of Malaysian Longyan Min with Penang
Northern Malayland Hokkien is very poor, near zero.

Classification
Baisha Youshui, Koongfu, Malaysian, Malaysian A, Malaysian B,
Malaysian C, Malaysian D, Malaysian E, Shanghang Baisha Pengxin,
Shanghang Gunzhuang Shangzhuo, Shanghang Gutian Laifang,
Shikou, Shiahtsuen Buhyun Liliing, Shizhong, Songyang, Tutan,
Wenheng, Wuzhai, Xi, and Xiangxi are all members of Longyan Min,
which has 20 varieties, 14 of which are separate languages.
The Longyan Min languages have 300-740,000 speakers.

Inland Min: Northern Min or Min Bei

Northern Min or Min Bei, a macrolanguage, is a major split in the Min

family. Northern Min has only 0-20% intelligibility with Min Nan.
Northern Min or Min Bei has 13 varieties, almost all spoken in Nanping
Prefectural City in the far north of Fujian.
Shibei Northern Min and Pucheng Northern Min are spoken in Pucheng
County; Chong'an Northern Min, Wufu Northern Min, and Xingtian
Northern Min are spoken in Wuyishan City; Zhenghe Northern Min and
Zhenqian Northern Min are spoken in Zhenghe County; Jianyang
Northern Min is spoken in Jianyang County, Shunchang Northern Min
is spoken in Shunchang County, Songxi Northern Min is spoken in
Songxi County, and Jian'ou Northern Min is spoken in Jian'ou County.
All of these are spoken in Nanping City.
There are reports that there is no Min Bei standard and that each
“mountain” speaks somewhat differently from others, and hence
intelligiblity is difficult among varieties. There is even difficult
intelligibility within varieties, for instance, some Jian'ou speakers
cannot understand other Jian'ou speakers from other parts of the
county.
Hence, there is almost certainly a separate Northern Min language in
each county, but to be on the safe side, we will split all Northern Min
varieties in the Min Dong homeland as separate languages.
Chong'an Northern Min is a separate languages based on reports of
difficult intelligibility among Northern Min varieties.
Jianyang Northern Min is a separate language, as it only has 75%
intelligibility of Jian'ou Northern Min.
Jian'ou Northern Min is also a separate language, having only 75%
intelligibility of Jianyang. There are some reports that there is difficult
intelligibility even inside of Jian'ou, with some areas of the city having
difficulty understanding other areas.
Pucheng Northern Min is a separate language as in general, there
is difficult intelligibility among Northern Min varieties.
Shebei Northern Min is a separate language based on reports of
limited intelligiblity among Northern Min varieties.
Shunchang Northern Min is a separate language based on reports
that there is difficult intelligibility among Northern Min varieties.
Songxi Northern Min is a separate language, as reports state that
there is incomplete intelligibility among Northern Min varieties
Wufu Northern Min is a separate language since Northern Min
varieties are reported to have difficult intelligibility among
themselves.
Xingtian Northern Min is a separate language since there is difficult
intelligibility among Northern Min varieties.
Zhenghe Northern Min is also a separate language since each
Northern Min “mountain” speaks differently from the others and there
is difficult intelligibility between varieties.
Zhenqian Northern Min is a separate language also as each
Northern Min variety speaks a bit differently from the others and
there is difficult intelligibility from “mountain to mountain.”

Guangxi
Nandan is an outlying variety spoken in Nandan County all the way
down in Northwest Guangxi.

Zhejiang
Taishun is spoken to the north in Taishun County in the far south of
Zhejiang.
Intelligibility of the outliers Nandan in Guangxi and Taishun in
Zhejiang with the rest of Northern Min in Northern Fujian is not
known.

Malaysia
Overseas Northern Min is spoken in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and
Thailand. There are 389,000 speakers in Malaysia, 14,000 in Thailand,
12,000 in Singapore, and 9,600 in Brunei. Little is known about
Diaspora Northern Min, and intelligibility of it with Northern Min in
China is not known.

Classification
Chong'an, Jianyang, Jian'ou, Nandan, Overseas, Pucheng, Shibei,
Shunchang, Songxi, Taishun, Wufu, Xingtian, Zenqian, and Zhenghe
are all members of Northern Min, which has 14 varieties, 11 of which
are separate languages.
There are 10.9 million speakers of the Northern Min languages.
 Inland Min: Pingle Min

This group refers to a little researched category consisting of Min

dialect islands that are spoken far inland in Guangxi. There is already
a tradtion in Chinese scholarship to refer to the Min dialect islands in
Guangxi collectively as Pingle Min.
The Min dialect islands in Guangdong are not usually grouped with
Pingle Min, but they should be because they are the source of the
Pingle islands in Guangxi. The islands in Guangdong are a result of
movements of Hokkien speakers to the area from Zhangzhou during
the Tang Dynasty from 600-900. The phonology is relict and harkens
back to Tang Dynasty Proto-Zhangzhou Min phonology. After the
movement to Western Guangdong, a number of these speakers then
moved to Guangxi, where there are now scattered islands of Min
speakers.
Although Pingle Min varieties are sometimes simply characterized as
unclassified Southern Min, that does not seem to be a good
classification, as Southern Min is now a part of Coastal Min, and Pingle
Min is spoken far inland. Instead, it is better to put these unclassified
Min varieties in Inland Min like Longyan Min, with which they shares
certain similarities, such as a derivation from Hokkien and an inland
location.
Pingle Min in Guangdong and Guanxi is so poorly known that most
people do not even realize that it exists. Nevertheless, there has been
a tiny trickle of Chinese scholarship on these dialect islands, although
I am not aware of further attempts to place them anywhere in the Min
spectrum. Even in the Chinese literature there has been very little
work done on these varieties.

Guangdong
Three Min dialect islands are spoken in Fulin, Taiping, and Xiaba Dam
in Yunfu Prefectural City in Western Guangdong. They are a result of a
movement to the area from the Zhangzhou region during the Tang
Dynasty from 600-900. They have since been surrounded by
Cantonese and Hakka speakers and a lot of Cantonese and Hakka
have gone into them. The phonology of both varieties is ancient, from
the Tang Dynasty.
There are more Min islands in Shaoguan Prefectural City in the far
north of Guangdong. These are probably best described as Pingle Min.
They arrived here in 1750 from the Teochew region of Eastern
Guangdong and the Hokkien area of Southern Fujian. They call their
language Liantan Sheng or Liantan Speech. It is spoken in a few
scattered villages here and there in Lechang, Qujiang and Ruyuan
Counties. There are 20,000 Pingle Min speakers in Shaoguan.
Changshabei Pingle Min is spoken in Changshabei, four miles south
of Danxiazhen in Renhua County in Shaoguan Prefectural City in the
far north of Guangdong. They arrived there 250 years ago.
Fulin Pingle Min is spoken in Fulin in Yan'an County in Yunfu
Prefectural City. They moved to the area from the Zhangzhou area
over 1,000 years ago. It has heavy Cantonese and Hakka influences.
Lechang Pingle Min is spoken in Lechang County in Shaoguan
Prefectural City.
Qujiang Pingle Min is spoken in Qujiang County in Shaoguan
Prefectural City.
Ruyuan Pingle Min is spoken in Ruyuan County, Shaoguan
Prefectural City. This is mostly a Hakka and Tuhua speaking area.
They arrived here 250 years ago.
Taiping Pingle Min is spoken in Taiping in Xining County in Yunfu
Prefectural City. Speakers moved here from Zhangzhou during the
Tang Dynasty. It has been strongly influenced by Hakka and
Cantonese.
Xiaba Pingle Min is spoken in the town of Xiaba Dam 2.5 miles
south of the city of Yun'an in Yun'an County in Yunfu Prefectural City.
They probably came there during the Tang Dynasty like the nearby
Taiping and Fulin Min languages. This group also migrated to Guangxi
and is the source of the Pingnan Min dialect island there.

Guangxi
There are a variety of Min islands in Guangxi collectively known as in
the Chinese literature as Pingle Min. All of these may be derived
fromm a movement of Xiaba Min speakers from Xiaba Dam in Yun'an
at some time in the past. Pingle Min in Guangxi has since come under
heavy influence of Southwestern Mandarin.
Pingnan Pingle Min is a Pingle Min dialect island in Guangxi. It is
probably a separate language as it has been separated from the
source language in Xiaba for so long.

Inland Min: Shaojiang Min or Min Gan

Shaojiang Min or Min Gan is a group of Min languages, a separate

high-level division of Southern Min. It is spoken in Shaowu, Guangze,
and the western part of Shunchang Counties in the western part of
Nanping Prefectural City and in Jiangle County in the northern part of
Sanming Prefectural City in the far northwest of Fujian. It borders the
Northern Min and Wu-speaking area to the east. It has four languages
inside of it that have limited mutual intelligibility. There are
subdialects within these larger languages.
The substratum of Shaojiang is not for the most part Min, Gan or
Hakka as often suggested - instead, it is the ancient Baiyue language;
however, there are lesser Hakka and Gan influences. Others say that
this is not Southern Min at all and instead it is a division of Min called
Inland Min which includes Northern and Central Min. This would make
sense due to its location and the fact that Shaojiang split away from
Northern Min several hundred years ago.
These are originally Northern Min speakers who came under heavy
influence of Hakka, Gan, and Baiyue. As the Min element is Northern
Min instead of Southern Min, this classification makes the most sense.
Chinese scholars sometimes call it Min Gan or Min-Hakka-Gan to
illustrate the heavy Gan or Hakka admixture. Some consider it to be a
Min-Gan transitional language, hence the moniker Min Gan.
Guangze Shaojiang Min is spoken in Shaowu County in the west of
Nanping Prefectural City in the far northwest of Fujian. It has limited
intelligibility with the rest of Shaojiang Min.
Jiangle Shaojiang Min, is spoken in Jiangle County in the northern
part of Sanming Prefectural City in far Northwestern Fujian. It has
only limited intelligibility of the rest of Shaojiang Min.
Shaowu Shaojiang Min is spoken in Shaowu County in the western
part of Nanping Prefectural City in far Northwestern Fujian Shaowu
has limited intelligibility of the rest of Shaojiang Min.
Shunchang Shaojiang Min is spoken in the western part of
Shunchang County in the west of Nanping Prefectural City in far
northwestern Fujian. Shunchang has only limited intelligibility with the
rest of Shaojiang Min.

Classification
Guangze, Jiangle, Shaowu, and Shunchang are all part of Shaojiang
Min, which has four varieties, all separate languages.
There are 984,000 speakers speakers of the Shaojiang Min languages.

Coastal Min: Eastern Min, Zhongshan Min, Puxian

Min, and Southern Min

Coastal Min: Eastern Min or Min Dong

Eastern Min, Min Dong, Eastern Min, Fukchiu, Fuzhou, Hokchiu,

Hokchia, or Fooshuw is a major split in the Min languages spoken in
Fujian.
Eastern Min has no intelligibility with Teochew or Hokkien.
Three Eastern Min varieties, all spoken in Youxi County, are separate
languages. The three languages have markedly poor intelligibility
between them (Zheng 2008).
“Fuzhou” in general has at most 65-70% intelligibility between its
varieties. According to George Ngù "Fuzhou is not intelligible even
within its many varieties" (Ngù 2009). In Malaysia, intelligibility for
some varieties is much lower than that.
 The Funing Group

Fujian
Fu'an Eastern Min, a member of the the Fuzhou macrolanguage, is
a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Fuding Eastern Min, a member of the the Fuzhou macrolanguage, is
a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Shouning Eastern Min is another member of the the Fuzhou
macrolanguage that is a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Xiapu Eastern Min, yet another member of the Fuzhou
macrolanguage, is also a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Zherong Eastern Min, another member of the the Fuzhou
macrolanguage, is a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Zhouning Eastern Min, as a member of the the Fuzhou
macrolanguage, is a separate language (Ngù 2009).

The Hougan Group

Fujian
Changle Eastern Min is a separate language as a member of the
Fuzhou macrolanguage (Ngù 2009). Changle has little understanding
of Fuzhou, maybe 10%.
Chengguan Eastern Min, Chengguan is spoken in the middle of
Youxi County and is a separate language, with markedly poor
intelligiblity of Zhongxian and Yangzhong, the other two Eastern Min
languages spoken in Youxi County (Zheng 2008).
Fuqing Eastern Min is not fully intelligible with Fuzhou (Ngù 2009).
Fuzhou speakers can understand Fuqing speakers better than the
other way around.
Fuzhou Eastern Min is the variety on which the standard is based. It
is not fully intelligible with the rest of Eastern Min (Ngù 2009).
Gutian Eastern Min, another member of the Fuzhou macrolanguage,
must also be a separate language (Ngù 2009). Many Gutian speakers
also emigrated to Malaysia. Gutian and Minqing sound a lot different
and have very different vocabulary. There was bitter competition
between Gutian and Minqing speakers in Sibu, Sarawak, in Malaysia.
Lianjiang Eastern Min is yet another member of the Fuzhou
macrolanguage, hence it is a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Luoyuan Eastern Min, as member of the Fuzhou macrolanguage,
must be a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Matsu Eastern Min is spoken on Matsu Island off the coast of China.
It is similar to but probably not intelligible with Changle. Matsu may
well be a separate language like all the rest of the Fuzhou
macrolanguage (Ngù 2009).
Minhou Eastern Min is a member of the Fuzhou macrolanguage and
hence is a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Minqing Eastern Min, being part of the Fuzhou macrolanguage, is
also a separate language (Ngù 2009). Many Minqing speakers
emigrated to Malaysia.
Ningde Eastern Min is a separate language as a member of the
Fuzhou macrolanguage (Ngù 2009).
Nanping Eastern Min is a separate language (Ngù 2009). There are
many dialects in the Eastern Min-speaking areas of Nanping, and
there may be more than one language here.
Pingnan Eastern Min is a separate language since it is part of the
Fuzhou macrolanguage (Ngù 2009). Many Pingnan speakers
emigrated to Malaysia.
Pingtan Eastern Min is a member of the Fuzhou macrolanguage,
and since all Fuzhou varieties lack mutual intelligibility with the rest of
the group, Pingtan is a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Tong'an Eastern Min should also be included, as it is a member of
the Fuzhou macrolanguage (Ngù 2009).
Yangzhong Eastern Min is spoken in the north of Youxi County and
is a separate language, with markedly poor intelligibility of Chengguan
and Zhongxian, the other two Eastern Min languages spoken in the
county (Zheng 2008).
Yongtai Eastern Min, yet another member of the Fuzhou
macrolanguage, must also be a separate language (Ngù 2009).
Zhongxian Eastern Min is spoken in the south of the Youxi County
and is a separate language with strikingly poor intelligibility of
Chengguan and Yangzhong, the other two Eastern Min languages
spoken in the county (Zheng 2008).

Malaysia
Malaysian Eastern Min, Hokchiu, Hokchia, or Fooshow is spoken in
Sibu, Sarawak, and Singapore. It is also spoken in Yongpeng, Johor,
Serambam, Bintangor, Sarikei, Selangor, Sitiawan (where it is dying
out), and Sabah. Hokchiu refers to Malaysian Fuzhou speakers and
Hokchia refers to Malaysian Fuqing speakers. Collectively they are
known as Fooshow. Malaysian Eastern Min speakers say that Hokchiu
and Hokchia only have 12% intelligibility in Malaysia, which seems
much lower than their intelligibility in China.
Malaysian Eastern Min is the most widely spoken Chinese language in
Sarawak. The heart of the Malaysian Eastern Min region in Sarawak is
Sibu, but it also spoken in Bintulu and Miri. Many speakers have
migrated from Sibu to Miri in recent years. Sibu was the where the
Malaysian Eastern Min community originally concentrated in Sarawak,
and from there, they spread out to Miri, Bintulu, and Sabah. Sibu
speakers mostly spoke Gutian. Most Malaysian Eastern Min speakers
arrived around 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.
Malaysian Eastern Min is similar across the region. The varieties
spoken in Sibu are similar to the varieties spoken on the peninsula.
These people were mostly Christians who left around 1900. Eastern
Min speakers in Malaysia spoke different Eastern Min languages. Most
were Gutian and Minqing speakers, but some also spoke Fuqing and
Minhou. Intelligibility of Malaysian Eastern Min with the Eastern Min
languages spoken in China is not known, but it seems to be quite
high.

Taishun Manjiang

Zhejiang
Man, Mango, or Taishun Manjiang Eastern Min is spoken in the
central part of Taishun County in Southern Zhejiang in the far
southern end of the Wu-speaking area. The name means "barbarian
speech." Mango is probably a mixture of Southern Wu, Eastern Min,
Northern Min, and maybe even pre-Sinitic languages. Manjiang is not
intelligible with Fuzhou. However, Manjiang has affinity with Shouning
in phonology, vocabulary, and grammar. Whether it is intelligible with
Shouning is not known.
Min Nan speakers who have looked at Manjiang data say it doesn't
even look like a Sinitic language. It is best seen as an Eastern Min
language with very strong substratum of a Tai-Kadai or Austroasiatic
language and significant Wenzhou and Northern Min influences.

Classification
Fuan, Fuding, Shouning, Xiapu, Zherong, and Zhouning are in the
Funing Group of Eastern Min, which has six languages.
Changle, Chengguan, Fuzhou, Fuqing, Gutian, Lianjiang, Luoyuan,
Malaysian, Matsu, Minhou, Minqing, Nanping, Ningde, Pingnan,
Pingtan, Tong'an, Yangzhong, Yongtai, and Zhongxian are in the
Houguan Group of Eastern Min, which has 19 varieties, 18 of which
are separate languages.
Taishun Manjiang is in an Eastern Min division of its own.
Eastern Min contains 26 varieties, 25 of which are separate
languages.
There are 9.5 million speakers of the Eastern Min languages.

Coastal Min: Northeastern or Zhongshan Min

In Guangdong Province in the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong, there
is a a large, divergent split in Min called Zhongshan Min.
Zhongshan Min is a small group of Min languages that has limited
intelligibility with other Min varieties. It is located in Zhongshan
Prefectural City to the south of the Hailufeng Min zone south of the
Pearl River Delta in the heart of the Cantonese zone along the
Southern Guangdong coast.
Looking at the whole picture, it appears that various immigrants
speaking Puxian Min, Northern Min, and Southern Min all settled
around Zhongshan. These various Min elements, along with a hefty
dose of Cantonese, have gone into the creation of Zhongshan Min.
They are sometimes referred to in old literature as "Northeastern
Min.” That's not really a category. It often means Northern Min, but
sometimes it means Eastern Min.
I do not know which Min category we should put them in. Maybe bring
back Northeastern Min, and put it in Coastal Min alongside Southern
Min and Eastern Min because the Coastal Min components seem
greater than the Inland Min components.
One expert says that Longdu Zhongshan Min and Nanlang Zhongshan
Min belong to Eastern Min, while Sanxiang Zhongshan Min is Southern
Min (Bodman 1998). This solution doesn't seem like it will work at all.
But that at least would still put the group in Coastal Min, which seems
to be where it belongs. Longdu and Namlong taken together have at
least 100,000 combined speakers. Each language is a dialect island
surrounded by Cantonese speakers, and all three populations are
unconnected.
In Chinese, Longdu, Namlong, and Sanxiang are referred to as All-
Lung Min, South Gourd Min, and Three Rural Min respectively. 14% of
the population of Zhongshan Prefectural City speaks Zhongshan Min.
Sanxiang, Namlong, and Longdu are not mutually intelligible,
although Namlong is close to Longdu. Sanxiang is more divergent.
Further, there are dialects within these three languages, and dialectal
divergence is considerable.
Zhongshan Min has borrowed extensively from Siyi Cantonese spoken
in the Pearl River Delta.
Longdu Zhongshan Min is also a separate language. It is spoken in
the west of Zhongshan Prefectural City in the towns of Shaxi and
Dayong. Longdu Min has a number of dialects. For now it seems best
to list Longdu A and Longdu B as Longdu dialects.
Nanlang Zhongshan Min is a separate language mostly spoken 10
miles southeast of Zhongshan Prefectural City in Cuiheng, but it is
also spoken in Nanlang Town and the Zhangjiabian or
Zhangshangbeng Subdistrict in Eastern Zhongshan City. Nanlang now
has mostly elderly speakers. Nanlong has a number of dialects. It
seems to best to list Nanlang A and Nanlang B as Nanlang dialects.
Sanxiang Zhongshan Min is a separate language spoken in the
south of Zhongshan Prefectural City in Sanxiang Town in hilly rural
areas. Sanxiang has 30,000 speakers.
Sanxiang has at least two dialects, Phao and Tiopou. Phao is fairly
uniform across a number of villages, but Tiopou is quite different.
Nevertheless, there is near-full intelligibility between Phao and Tiopou
(Bodman 1988).

Classification
Longdu, Longdu A, Longdu B, Namlong, Namlong A, Namlong B,
Phao, Sanxiang, and Tiopou are all members of Zhongshan Min, which
contains nine varieties, three of which are separate languages.
There are 130-150,000 speakers of the Zhongshan Min languages.

Coastal Min: Puxian Min

Puxian Min or Hinghua is a group of two languages constituting

major split in Min. It has already been identified as separate from the
rest of Min. It is spoken on the southeast coast of Fujian.
Puxian Min has a close relationship with Hokkien. It was originally a
part of Quanzhou speaking proto-Quanzhou, but it split when the
Song Emperor made a military base there in 979 during the Mongol
invasions. The area then saw a lot of fighting after the Mongols
invaded South China. A large group of them went south to become
the Teochew speakers, and another group stayed behind. The ones
who remained came under serious Eastern Min influence and hence
became a separate language.
Later, some Min speakers from the Puxian region broke off, moved
down to far southern Guangdong and became the Leizhou Min
speakers.
The close relationship with Hokkien can be seen by looking at
cognates – Puxian had 62% cognates with Quanzhou, while it has
only 39% cognates with Eastern Min.
It has limited intelligibility of other Min languages – for instance,
Puxian Min has 60% intelligibility of Xiamen Hokkien - but the mutual
intelligibility is lopsided, as Xiamen intelligibility with Puxian Min is
lower at 30% (Terng 2016). Hence Puxian-Xiamen intelligibility is only
45% (Terng 2016).
The name is derived from the names of two different cities in China
where this language is spoken – “Pu” for Putian and “Xian” for
Xianyou.
Puxian Min has seven dialects. There is full intelligibility between all of
the dialects, although there are some minor pronunciation and
vocabulary differences (Terng 2016). The two main divisions of Puxian
Min are into Putian and Xianyou, hence the name Puxian Min being a
mix of the two main varieties. Both are dialects of the main Puxian
Min language.
There are at least six subdialects spoken in Putian County, all
subdialects of Putian. They are Jiangyou and Changli along with two
spoken in Putian City called North Putian City and South Putian City.
There are other Putian varieties spoken in the county to the north and
south of the Putian City other than Chengli and Jiangyou, but their
names are not known. We will call them North Putian County and
South Putian County.
There are three subdialects spoken in Xianyou County, one in Xianyou
City called Xianyou City or Central Xianyou, another in the north of
the county called North Xianyou County, and a third in the south of
county called South Xianyou County. All are subdialects of a single
dialect of Puxian Min, Xianyou. All three subdialects are fully
intelligible with each other with only some minor differences in
pronunciation and some different vocabulary (Terng 2016).
For instance, North Xianyou kou, “to throw,” is lacking in Xianyou City.
South Xianyou has [i] and [e] for [y] and [ɵ] in Xianyou City and
North Xianyou has [θ] for Xianyou City [ɬ] (Terng 2016).
Xianyou city trades a lot with the north and south of the county, so
there is a lot of contact between the subdialects. The city gets rice
and rice-derived goods from the south and fish and shellfish from the
south. There is also a lot of intermarriage between speakers of the
three subdialects. Most speakers of one of the Xianyou dialects have
relatives who speak another of the dialects. The only research on
Xianyou has focused on the dialect of the city – Central Xianyou - with
other two dialects being poorly known (Terng 2016).
Intelligibility between Xianyou and Putian is good at 90%-100%.
There are some vocabulary differences.
For instance:
“white”: Xianyou City pann, Chengli Putian 城里, Putian City pa
“officer”: Xianyou City kuann, Chengli Putian melon kua
are two pairs that cause some confusion.
In these cases, Chengli Putian has lost nasalization that Xianyou City
has retained. As we shall see below, loss of final nasalization is not
just seen in Chengli Putian but in all of Putian. Nevertheless, Xianyou
City intelligibility of Chengli Putian is full at 100% (Terng 2016).
There is some different vocabulary there too, and in some cases of
common words, the differences are striking.
For instance:
“children”: Xianyou kann en, Putian ta a
“wet”: Xianyou iunn, Putian tang
Once again we see than Xianyou has retained the older nasalization,
whereas it appears that all of Putian, not just Chengli, has lost it
(Terng 2016).
There are also rhyme differences between Putian and Xianyou.
Xianyou has retained more rhymes at 50 rhymes, whereas Chengli
Putian has 40, and Jiangyou Putian has 36 rhymes (Terng 2016).
So in addition to loss of nasalization, there may have been rhyme
reduction in Putian also. It appears that Xianyou may be the older
form of the Puxian language and that Putian broke away from it more
recently.
Jiangyou Putian's 36 rhymes versus Xianyou's 50 rhymes leads to
some difficulties in communication, however, Xianyou retains full
intelligibility of Jiangyou at 90% (Terng 2016).
Hinghwa or Henghua Puxian Min, the variety of Puxian Min spoken
in Singapore, lacks full intelligibility with Puxian Min in China. Hinghwa
speakers are a minority in Singapore, and their language has mixed a
lot with Singapore Hokkien, Malay, English, and other languages
spoken in Singapore, resulting in a separate language. Malaysian
Hokkien has only 10% intelligibility of Henghua.
 Classification
Chengli, Highwa, Jiangyou, North Putian County, North Xianyou, North
Putian City, South Putian City, South Putian County, South Xianyou,
and Xianyou City are all part of Puxian Min, which has 10 varieties,
two of which are separate languages.
The Puxian Min languages have 2.6 million speakers.

Coastal Min: Qiongwen Min

Qiongwen Min, a macrolanguage, is a major split in Min spoken on

Hainan Island and to the north on the mainland.
Qiongwen Min itself has 17 separate varieties, all spoken on Hainan or
next to Hainan on the mainland. It is split into two major groups,
Hainanese Min and Leizhou Min, which are then split into their own
subgroups and varieties.
Qiongwen Min consists of 28 varieties, four of which are separate
languages.
There are 10.8 million speakers of the Qiongwen Min languages.

Coastal Min: Hainanese Min

Hainanese Min is a macrolanguage with eight million speakers, five

million on Hainan and three million more overseas. Speakers were Min
and Cantonese speakers from Southern Fujian and Northern
Guangdong who came to the island long ago. Later, Hakka speakers
moved in and added some Hakka influence. The language has a lot of
influences from the native Li language and Taishanese Cantonese.
There also seems to be some Vietnamese influence.
Hainanese tones vary from region to region, which calls mutual
intelligibility into question once again. The Hainanese tone system
does not seem to be well described.
Hainanese Min is divided into 19 dialects: Changjiang, Changliu,
Chengbian, Chengmai, Dingan, Dongfang, Haikou, Henchang,
Indonesian, Ledong, Lingao, Lingshui, Malaysian Hainanese Min,
Qiongshan, Qiongzhong, Qionghai, Tunchang, Wanning, and Yaxian.
Hainanese Min is split into five different groups. As all major
subgroups in the rest of Min are separate languages, it follows that if
Hainanese is like the rest of the family, then each of these is a
separate language also. The groups are Changgan, Fucheng,
Wanning, Wenchang, and Yaxian.

The Changgan Group

The Changgan Group of Hainanese is spoken on the west coast of
Hainan and includes Changjiang and Dongfang.

The Fucheng Group of Hainanese

The Fucheng Group of Hainanese is spoken in the northwest of the
island and includes Changliu, Chengbian, Chengmai, Dingan, Haikou,
Qiongshan, Qiongzhong, and Tunchang.
Changliu is spoken in Changliu Township, six miles to the west of
Haikou. In between, residents speak both Changliu and Haikou.
Chengmai is spoken near Haikou.
Haikou is spoken in Haikou City, the capital of Hainan and a few miles
away in Qiongshan County. There are no significant differences
between the language of Haikou city districts and the suburbs.
Lingao, spoken in Lingao County, is closely related to Changliu.

The Wanning Group of Hainanese

The Wanning Group of Hainanese includes Lingshui and Wanning.

The Wenchang Group of Hainanese

Hainan
The Wenchang Group of Hainanese is spoken around Wenchang
on the northeastern coast of Hainan. It includes Qionghai and
Wenchang.
Qionghai has considerable variation in lexicon from other Hainanese
varieties. For instance, most Qionghai vocabulary is different from
Haikou's.
Wenchang is the standard or prestige variety of Hainanese.
Statements that Wenchang is understood well by all Hainanese
speakers implies that there is less than full intelligibility among
Hainanese varieties, otherwise there would be no reason to make a
statement like that. A grammar written around 1900 on Bun-Sio
(Wenchang) stated that a number of the more distant Hainanese
varieties were “perfectly unintelligible” to Bun-Sio speakers (De Souza
1903).
Wenchang is spoken in the Wenchang District. This region
encompasses the far northeastern end of the island. Wenchang has
more of a Tai-Kadai substrate than Southern Min in general based on
a look at this grammar. There is also a trace of Cantonese and more
of a Mandarin influence than in the rest of Hokkien and Teochew.

Malaysia
Malaysian Hainanese Min is spoken in Penang, Selangor, Malaka,
Kemaman, Terrenggau, Johor Bahru, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore.
They were the last Chinese group to arrive in the region, with most of
them coming from 1910-1920. Hainan Hainanese have a hard time
understanding Malaysian Hainanese because of the presence of so
many Malay loans. Some Malaysian Hainanese speakers say that they
cannot understand Hainan Hainanese at all. Hence, Malaysian
Hainanese Min is a separate language.

The Yaxian Group of Hainanese

The Yaxian Group of Hainanese is spoken on the south of the
island. It consists of Yaxian and Ledong.

The Unclassified Group of Hainanese

Indonesia
Indonesian Hainanese Min is a Hainanese variety spoken in Indonesia
that is full of loans from Indonesian languages. Intelligibility data for
this variety is not available.
Hainanese is also spoken in the highlands of Laos and in Brunei.
Nothing is known about these varieties.

Classification
Changjiang, Changliu, Chengbian, Chengmai, Dingan, Dongfang,
Haikou, Indonesian, Ledong, Lingao, Lingshui, Malaysian, Qionghai,
Qiongshan, Qiongzhong, Tunchang, Wanning, Wenchang, and Yaxian
are members of Hainanese Min, which has 19 varieties, two of which
are separate languages.
The Haianese Min languages have eight million speakers, five million
on Hainan and three million overseas.

Coastal Min: Leizhou Min

Guangdong
Leizhou Min is a macrolanguage made up of two languages: Leizhou
Min and Zhanjiang Min.
Leizhou Min is a separate language, and it has a close relationship
with Hainanese. It is spoken in Guangdong at the far southern end of
the province next to Hainan. Intelligibility between Leizhou Min and
Hainanese Min is controversial, with some saying it is full, but actually
intelligibility is not quite full at 85%. Leizhou is very different from
Hokkien that it is best to put it outside of Southern Min Proper
because Hokkien speakers ask how can this possibly be a Min Nan
language. This makes sense as the relationship between Liezhou Min
and Hokkien is distant, since Leizhou speakers originally came from
the Puxian Min region.
Leizhou Min consists of eight different varieties: Haikang, Dianbai,
Dianbai Tanka, Lianjiang, Malaysian, Suixi Wen, Wuchuan, and
Xuwen.
At least some of the eight Leizhou varieties are very different in
phonology and lexicon. Intelligibility data is not known, but they may
be mutually intelligible. Leizhou has low intelligibility with other Min
languages other than Hainanese.
Dianbai is spoken in the Dianbai County on the coast of Guangdong. It
is spoken in Shuidong Township in the city and in the Lintou, Poxin,
Quijing Xiadong, and Yangjiao Districts.
Dianbai Tanka is spoken by Tanka fisherpeople in Dianbai County in
Bohe, Chen Village, Dabang, Danchang, Jueshan, Magang, Mata,
Nanhai, Shayuan, Shuzi, and Yanhaidianchang. Intelligibility with
Dianbai Proper is not known.
Yangjiang Leizhou Min is an unclassified “Southern Min” variety
where Southern Min includes Leizhou Min but does not include
Yangjiang in Leizhou. Leizhou Min is spoken in the coastal areas of
Yangjiang but not inland. The best evidence seems to be that
Yangjiang is a type of Leizhou Min, but it's unclassified status implies
that it might be very different and have poor intelligibility with the
rest of the language, hence it proper to split it off as a separate
language for now.
Zhanjiang Min is not intelligible with Leizhou Min. It is spoken in
Zhanjiang Prefectural City in the far southwest of Guangdong and
seems to be a separate language.

Malaysia
Malaysian Leizou Min is spoken by Leizhou speakers who emigrated to
Malaysia. The community is small and centered around Malaka. In the
village of Kg Baru Tian Dua, most people still speak Leizhou.
Intelligibility with Chinese Leizhou Min is not known.

Vietnam
There are many Leizhou speakers in Vietnam. Nothing is known about
Leizhou in Vietnam.

Classification
Dianbai, Dianbai Tanka Haikang, Lianjiang, Malaysian, Suixi,
Wuchuan, Xuwen, Yangjiang, and Zhanjiang are members of Leizhou
Min, which has nine varieties, two of which are separate languages.
The Leizhou Min languages have 2.8 million speakers.
 Coastal Min: Southern Min or Min Nan

Within Min Nan or Southern Min, a major category in Coastal Min,

there are a number of separate languages. First of all, there is huge
confusion over what Min Nan or Southern Min even means. Techincally
it was always considered to be a single language with many dialects.
The prototypical Southern Min language was always Hokkien.
However, it has now become clear that Southern Min or Min Nan is
actually a macrolanguage or better yet, a language family.
This group is split into a number of major subgroups, all of which are
separate languages and most of which are actually macrolanguages in
themselves. So Hokkien and Min Nan/Southern Min are not
synonymous. Instead Hokkien is simply one of the branches of the
Min Nan/Southern Min family of languages.
There was a proposal several years ago before SIL to split Southern
Min/Min Nan into three separate languages - Xiamen, Qiongwen and
Teochew. Not only are all three of those separate languages and not
dialects of Min Nan, in fact, all three of those are also
macrolanguages.
The proposal was initiated by a request for a separate Teochew
Wikipedia. Wikipedia will not grant new Wikipedia language versions
unless the language has an ISO code. Teochew had no code, hence no
Teochew Wikipedia was allowed. The requesters then submitted the
change request to SIL. To this date, SIL has not acted on this
proposal. Instead it has been put on hold. This is unfortunate but
typical of SIL's huge aversion to splitting and move towards lumping
and conservatism since it was granted the right to issue ISO codes.
Since SIL never made a decision on the change request, the request
for a Teochew Wikipedia has been on hold for several years now.
The Min Nan languages were derived from a mass movement of
Northern Chinese who moved into the Fujian region around 300 in the
Jin Dynasty. This mass migration occurred due people fleeing the
Invasion of the Five Barbarians which occurred in the early 300's.
They settled around what is now the Jin River in Fujian in the heart of
the Hokkien zone. They named this river the Jin River after the
dynastic era during which they arrived. They named another river in
Fujian the Luoyang River after a city in northern China that many of
them came from.
They brought with them the Northern Old Chinese variety they were
speaking at the time, which formed the basis for Proto-Min Nan.
Proto-Min Nan was not related to Proto-Eastern Min which was already
being spoken in the Lower Min River at that time. The fact that all of
the Min languages did not have the same etiology ought to make the
concept that Northern Min and Southern Min are part of one language
group controversial.
There are 43 million speakers of the Southern Min languages.
 The traditional view of Min Nan or Southern Min major groupings. This paper takes a dramatically
different view. Min is instead divided into Coastal and Inland Min. Longyan Min and Qiongwen Min
are moved out of Southern Min into separate categories in Coastal Min. Coastal Min then consists of
Puxian Min, Eastern Min, Zhongshan Min, Longyan Min, Qiongwen Min, and Southern Min. Southern
Min Proper, as subcategory in Coastal Min, is reduced to Hokkien, Teochew (Chaoshan Min on this
map), Hailufeng Min, Datian Min, and Zhenan Min. Puxian Min is not shown on the map, but it is
spoken somewhat to the north of the Hokkien zone on the coast. Datian Min is also not shown on the
map. This is a new category that is somewhat controversial.
 Southern Min: Datian Min

Datian Min in Fujian is in its own group in Min Nan and is a separate
language. It is spoken in Datian County in Sanming Prefecture in
Central Fujian. Datian developed from Amoy Hokkien. Before 1535,
this area encompassed Youxi, Dehua, Yong'an and Zhangping
Counties. Youxi and Yong'an Counties spoke Eastern Min, and Dehua
and Zhangping Counties spoke Hokkien.
Datian County was lopped off of this area and affiliated to Nanping,
which spoke Northern Min. The county changed affiliation again in
1734 to Yongchun County, which spoke Hokkien. In 1949 it changed
again to Yong'an Division of Sanming Prefecture, which spoke Central
Min. This is a Southern Min language that has been influenced by
Eastern Min, Northern Min, Central Min, and Puxian Min. With the
continuous changes in administration, the differences between Datian
Min and Hokkien became increasingly stark. It has poor intelligibility
with the rest of Southern Min.
Houlou is spoken in Northwest Datian County, Southwest Youxi
County, and some towns in Yong'an County and Shanxi County.
Datian, Youxi, and Yong'an Counties are in Sanming Prefectural City.
The main Houlou speaking area is in Northwest Datian County in
Juangping, Jianshe, Qitao, Wenjiang, and Meishan. 22.5% of the
population of Datian County speaks Houlou. Intelligibility with the rest
of Datian Min is not known.
Xianlou is spoken in the town of Xianlou.

Classification
Houlou and Xianlou are members of Datian Min, which has two
dialects.
Datian Min has 300,000 speakers.
 Southern Min: Hailufeng Min

Hailok'hong, Hailufeng or Hoklo Min is a separate language within

Southern that represents a later move of Zhangzhou speakers 400-
500 years ago southwards towards Northeastern Guangdong by the
same group that formed a small part of the Teochew. Since then there
has been convergence with Teochew (Kirinputra 2014) because being
located south of the main Quanzhang area and adjacent to Shanwei,
it was cut off from Zhangzhou. It also has substantial Hakka
influence. Hailok’hong (Haklau) is spoken down the coast south of the
Teochew zone between the Teochew area and Hong Kong.
Hailufeng is widely spoken in Vietnam. Intelligibility data is not
available.
Many insist that Hailufeng Min is a Teochew language because this
area was redistricted into the Teochew area administratively in the
20th Century. Chinese people are jealously loyal to their home districts
and see all languages spoken in their district in geographical and not
linguistic terms. So to admit that Hailufeng Min is not Teochew would
be a sort of treason to the homeland if you will (Kirinputra 2014).
The area where the language is spoken along the coast of Guangdong
is actually to the south of the Teochew area.
Hailufeng Min is halfway between Teochew and Zhangzhou.
Hailok'hong or Haklou etymologically is Haihong + Lok'hong, which is
the same thing Haifeng + Lufeng, so it is a combination of Haifeng
and Lufeng. Haklau is also cognate with Hokkien Holo and Cantonese
Hoklo, referring either to Taiwanese Hokkien or Teochew. In an overall
sense, it meant Hokkien + Teochew, which is a good description of the
language (Kirinputra 2014).
Hailufeng Min is still confused a lot with Hokkien in many casual
descriptions. Many Hailufeng Min speakers can now understand
Teochew, but that is due to bilingual learning (Kirinputra 2014).
Although this is often said to be a Teochew language, Teochew
speakers say they have a hard time understanding it.
Hailufeng is not intelligible with Hokkien, though it is fairly close to it.
Hailufeng has 70% intelligibility of Hokkien.
Hailufeng Min is usually better known as Hailok'hong or Haklou Min. It
has at least three dialects, Haifeng, Lufeng, and Shanwei and has
limited intelligibility of Teochew proper. Hailufeng is the most widely
spoken language in Shanwei Prefectural City on the coast of
Guangdong to the west of Teochew-speaking Jieyang Prefectural City
and east of Cantonese and Hakka-speaking Huizhou Prefectural City.
Haifeng and Lufeng are spoken in Central Shanwei in Lufeng city and
Haifeng County. Luhe County in the north of Shanwei is Hakka-
speaking.
Intelligibility among the three main Hailufeng Min dialects is full.
Intelligibility data for the Tanka Hailufeng varieties and for Vietnamese
Hailufeng is not available.
Haifeng is spoken in Haifeng County. The city of Haifeng has mostly
Hailufeng speakers.
Hong Kong Tanka or Hoklau is spoken by a group of Hailufeng Min
speakers who moved south from the Shanwei area to Hong Kong
where they are now living in Hong Kong as part of the Tanka
fisherpeople community. They live in the northern part of Hong Kong
north of the Hokkien-speaking Tankas. In 1921, reports said that
Hailufeng was one of the three major languages of Hong Kong, the
other two being Cantonese and Hakka. All three were described as
very different from each other. Reports further noted that Hong Kong
Hailfeng was divided into a number of dialects which differed
considerably from each other.
Lufeng is spoken in the western half of Lufeng City.
Shanwei is spoken more in Cheng or Chengku County, which is the
urban area of Shanwei Prefectural City.
Shanwei Tanka is a Tanka variety spoken by Tanka fisherpeople in
Shanwei itself. It resembles Shanwei, but much of the vocabulary is
different.

Classification
Haifeng, Hong Kong Tanka, Lufeng, Shanwei, and Shanwei Tanka are
all members of Hailufeng Min, a single language which has five
dialects.
There are 3 million speakers of Hailufeng Min.
Southern Min: Chaoshan Min or Teochew
 The route taken by Proto-Putian speakers south to the
Chaozhou area around 1000 when they fled due to
Mongol invasions. Note that Zhangzhou, Xiamen, and
Quanzhou are midway between Putian in the north and
Chaozhou in the south. Fuzhou is where Eastern Min is
spoken, so Putian is halfway between the Eastern Min
area and the main Hokkien area. Shanwei is the
Hailufeng Min zone south of the Teochew area.

Chaoshan Min or Teochew is a group of Southern Min languages

spoken in a nine-county region of Guangdong. It is also spoken a lot
in Thailand. Most Overseas Chinese in Thailand speak Teochew. The
Mandarin name for the language is Chaozhou, but Teochew speakers
do not accept that appellation and prefer Teochew instead.
Teochew was formed by Proto-Putian Min speakers who left the Putian
Min area fleeing Mongol invasions and moved south to the Teochew
area in the 1200's during the Southern Song Dynasty. Proto-Putian
was a split from Proto-Quanzhou. One branch went to Proto-Putian,
and the other went to Nan'an-Quanzhou. Proto-Putian went to
Teochew and Puxian Min, and Nan'an-Quanzhou went to Quanzhou
Min.
Putian County was a part of Quanzhou before 1000 before a separate
Xinghua Military Prefectural was carved out for it in 979 in the
Northern Song Dynasty. In other words, the Emperor established a
military base in Putian at this time. Putian was chosen because it was
close to Quanzhou, which was the largest port in China at the time.
The Putian area became a warzone when Mongols invaded Southern
China during the Song Dynasty, and many Putian speakers fled south,
probably on boats, past the Quanzhou-Xiamen-Zhangzhou area to the
Han River Basin where Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang are situated.
A group from Zhangzhou joined the Putian speakers because
Zhangzhou is close to the Teochew area.
After hundreds of years in the Teochew area, Zhangzhou, She, and a
heavy dose of some unknown substrate languages went into the
language, possibly including a Cantonese-type dialect, producing
modern Teochew (Kirinputra 2014).
Sources report that Teochew varieties can vary greatly in the
pronunciation of even single words, and the tones can be quite
different too.
Teochew has only 51% intelligibility with Xiamen (Cheng 1997).
Chaozhou Teochew is the basis for Standard Teochew. This was
formerly known as the Fucheng language.
Chao'an Teochew is a Teochew variety that has been heavily
influenced by Hokkien such that there is a controversy about whether
to put it in Teochew or Hokkien. It seems best to put it in Teochew for
now.
Chaoyang Teochew is a highly divergent Teochew variety. The other
Teochew varieties cannot understand Chaoyang.
Chenghai Teochew is spoken in the city of Chenghai, now the site of
an international airport.
Hong Kong Teochew is spoken in Hong Kong. This variety is heavily
influenced by Cantonese. Intelligibility data is not available.
Huilai Teochew is spoken in the city of Huilai.
Jiexi Teochew is spoken in the city of Jiexi.
Jieyang Teochew is utterly intelligible with Hokkien (Kirinputra 2014).
Jieyang is spoken in the city of Jieyang.
Puning Teochew is spoken in the city of Puning.
Raoping Teochew is spoken in the city of Raoping in the far north of
the Teochew area.
Shantou or Swatow Teochew speakers cannot understand
Chaozhou, as Shantou is quite a bit different from the other Teochew
varieties, and they also seem to have a hard time understanding
other Teochew varieties, as they say the Teochew changes every hour
or so as you travel and becomes difficult to understand. Shantou
Teochew is a separate Teochew language.
Raoping, Jieyang and Shantou are spoken outside of the Chaoyang-
speaking area which hugs the coastline southwest of the Shantou
area (Kirinputra 2014), which may explain why they have a hard time
understanding Chaoyang. Shantou is more intelligible with Hokkien
than other types of Teochew, but intelligibility is still only 54%.

Overseas
Overseas Teochew is a significant branch of Teochew that is spoken
outside of the Teochew are in China in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Overseas Teochew is an
extremely variable macrolanguage consisting of a number of different
languages.

Malayland
Malayland Teochew is spoken in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Malayland Teochew, instead of being a language, is a macrolanguage
composed of several languages.

Malaysia
Johor Bahru Teochew is spoken in the state of Johor at the far
southern tip of peninsular Malaysia. Speakers mostly came from
Shantou like Singaporean Teochew speakers.
Kedah Teochew is spoken in the city of Kedah.
Malay Teochew, the Teochew variant spoken in Malaysia, is
composed of many highly variant varieties. A different Teochew
variety is spoken in each subregion, and varieties sometimes differ
dramatically in pronunciation and tones. Whether they are mutually
intelligible is not known. Malay Teochew is not intelligible with Thai
Teochew. It has come under heavy influence of Hokkien and to a
lesser extent Cantonese and Mandarin.
Malay Teochew is spoken in four different places on the Malay
Peninsula. It is spoken in two places at the southern tip of the
peninsula in Johor Bahru and in Pontian, Muar, and Batu Pahat along
the coast of Western Johor. In the north, it is spoken in Kedah and
North Perak on the far northwestern coast where there are substantial
Teochew populations. There are also speakers in Malaka, Iopoh, and
Selangor, particularly in Sabak Berlam. Malay Teochew is not
intelligible with other SE Asian Teochew languages. Malay Teochew
has converged more with Hokkien than other types of Teochew.
Miri Teochew is spoken in Miri in Sarawak.
North Perak Teochew is spoken in the northern part of Perak in
peninsular Malaysia.
Penang Teochew is spoken in the state of Penang in peninsular
Malaysia. It is intelligible with Kuching Teochew spoken in Kuching in
Indonesia.
Western Coastal Johor Teochew is spoken on the west coast of Johor
state in far southern peninsular Malaysia.
There are 800,000 Teochew speakers in Malaysia.

Singapore
Singapore Teochew is different from Malay Teochew, and both have
undergone separate divergent influences, so each one should be
regarded as a separate language. Furthermore, Singapore Teochew is
a macrolanguage. However, Singapore Teochew is similar to Shantou
because most Singaporean speakers came from there. Singaporean is
regarded by Teochew speakers on the mainland as a heavily corrupted
and impure variety of Teochew. Singaporean Teochew is not
intelligible with any of the Teochew spoken in China anymore, not
even the Shantou that it came from.
It has come under such heavy influence from Singaporean Hokkien
that it is not better regarded as Singaporean Teochew-Hokkien than a
pure Teochew tongue. Many of the original Teochew terms have been
replaced with Hokkien words. It is also now heavily admixed with
Malay and a lot of the characteristics of Mainland Teochew have been
lost.
There are variations even among Singaporean Teochew. Speakers of
some of the coarser, more rural varieties can only understand 50% of
the purer varieties. This is derived from the early days when only
some of the immigrants from Shantou were educated and most were
uneducated peasants. The peasants did not speak the same higher,
more refined Shantou than the educated people did.
In time, the differences became more dramatic.
High Singaporean Teochew is the more literary and refined
Singaporean Teochew, derived from the more educated immigrants to
Singapore from the Shantou region. Lo Thia Khiang, the leader of
Singapore's Workers Party, speaks High Singaporean Teochew and is
poorly understood by speakers of Low Singapore Teochew.
Low Singaporean Teochew, is the coarser Singaporean Teochew
spoken by the less educated immigrants who came to Singapore from
the Shantou region. Low Singaporean can only understand 50% of
High Singaporean speech.
There are 500,000 Teochew speakers in Singapore.

Indonesia
Indonesian Teochew is composed of a number of different varieties
spoken in various places in Indonesia such as Bantam Island, Dabo
Singrep, Jambi, Kuching, Medan, Pontianak, Riau, Siantan,
Singkawang, and Tanjung Penang.
Kuching Teochew, spoken in Kuching, Borneo, is intelligible with
Penang Teochew spoken in Malaysia.
Khuntien Teochew is based on Chenghai Teochew. It is still very
widely spoken in Pontianak, Indonesia, the capital of West Kalimantan
Province. Khuntien tones are flatter than the higher and lower tones
in China and elsewhere in Indonesia. Khutien has come under heavy
influence of the Pontianak Malay language, which may have caused
the tone flattening. The Teochew spoken nearby in Siantan and
Singkawang is probably similar to Khutien. Khutien is heavily mixed
with Indonesian. Khuntien speakers no longer understand Chinese
Teochew well.
Jambi Teochew is a widely spoken dialect of Teochew spoken in Jambi
City, Sumatra. It has also retained the higher and lower tones of the
main Teochew speaking area. It has been heavily influenced by the
the Jambi Malay language in its syntax. Jambi Teochew has been so
heavily affected by Jambi Malay that it qualifies as a mixed language.
Medan Teochew, a separate language spoken in Medan, Sumatra, is
particularly interesting. It has heavy Malay, Hokkien and Cantonese
influence and cannot be understood by other Teochew speakers
(Kirinputra 2014). The town of Brahang 12 miles from Medan speaks
this type of Teochew.
Riau Teochew is spoken in Riau, Sumatra. It still has the higher and
lower tones that are used in the Teochew region in China.
There are 3 million Teochew speakers in Indonesia.

Indochina
Indochinese Teochew, the Teochew spoken in Indochina in Vietnam,
Cambodia, and Laos is a macrolanguage. It is not intelligible with the
Teochew in China, nor is it even intelligible within itself. Some
Indochinese Teochew speakers who have returned to their family
villages on the mainland say they could only understand 70% of the
speech there.

Cambodia
Cambodian Teochew is not intelligible with other Vietnamese or
Thai Teochew (Tek 2016). Most Chinese in Cambodia are Teochew
speakers. Cambodian Teochew is based on Jieyang and is full of
Khmer borrowings.

Laos
Laotian Teochew, spoken by 20,000 Teochew in Ventiane, Laos, is
currently dying out and has only elderly speakers. It is about as
different from Vietnamese and Cambodian Teochew as they are from
each other, hence it is a separate language. Lao Teochew is full of Lao
borrowings.
 Thailand
Thailand Teochew or Diojiu-we is spoken in Thailand and is not
intelligible with Cambodian Teochew (Tek 2016). The Chinese lingua
franca in Thailand is not Mandarin but Teochew. There are five million
Chinese Thais with roots in the Teochew region, and three million of
them speak Diojiuwe. It may also be based on Jieyang. Thai Teochew
is full of Thai borrowings.

Vietnam
Vietnamese Teochew is not intelligible with Cambodian Teochew
(Tek 2016). It is full of Vietnamese borrowings.

North America
American Teochew is spoken in the US and to a lesser extent in
Canada. There are quite a few Teochew speakers in San Francisco,
California. American Teochew speakers no longer understand much of
the speech of Chinese Teochew speakers. They can understand some
speakers but not others. In particular they can no longer understand
the fast speech used on Teochew TV or in Teochew rap songs.

Classification
Cambodian, Chao'an, Chaozhou, Chenghai, High Singapore, Jieyang
or Kek'iôⁿ, Low Singapore, Nan'ao, Pouleng, Raoping, Shantou,
Singapore, and Thai are all part of the Chaozhou Group of Teochew,
which has 13 varieties.
Chaoyang, Huilai, Indonesian, Jambi, Khuntien, Kuching, Puning, and
Riau are part of the Chaopu Group of Teochew, which has eight
varieties.
American, Coastal West Johor, Dabu, Fengshun, Hong Kong, Huidong,
Jiexi, Johor Bahru, Kedah, Laotian, Malay, Medan, Miri, North Perak,
Penang, and Vietnamese are unclassified. 16 Teochew varieties are
unclassified.
Teochew has 38 varieties, 12 of which are separate languages.
The Teochew languages have 10 million speakers.
 Southern Min: Hokkien

The creation of the Quanzhang or Hokkien language.

Map of Hokkien and Longyan Min. Hokkien is in red, blue, and pink. Quanzhou is in red. Zhangzhou is
in blue. Amoy is in pink. Longyan Min, actually a separate branch of Min outside of Southern Min
altogether according to our classification, is in yellow.
Min Nan, Hokkien, Hoklo or Banlamese is the principal split in
Southern Min. In fact, Hokkien is often considered to be synonymous
with Southern Min and Min Nan. Hokkien is not a single language. In
fact, it is a group of languages with many dialects among them.
Hokkien was formed first by the creation of Quanzhou and then the
splitting off of Zhangzhou which was formed starting in 750 after it
was split off from Quanzhou Prefecture. These two developed
independently until the establishment of a military base in Xiamen in
1650, when migrants from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou began to mix in
Xiamen. The result was the Quanzhang language with its Xiamen and
Taiwanese dialects, now better known as Standard Hokkien.
Xiamen Hokkien is the standard version of Hokkien. It is spoken in
the city of Xiamen, sometimes called by its old name, Amoy. Amoy
and Taiwanese are dialects of Xiamen. They are really the same
language, as Taiwanese is an Amoy dialect.
A better name for Xiamen according to the Chinese literature is
Quanzhang (Campbell 2009). This would actually be a
macrolanguage. Quanzhang is a combination of Quanzhou Hokkien
and Zhangzhou Hokkien, the two closely related languages that
combined together to create a single language called Amoy or
Xiamen. Xiamen has only 51% intelligibility with Teochew (Cheng
1997).
The differences between Xiamen dialects are small. The differences
between Xiamen and Taiwanese Hokkien are less than the differences
between Xiamen and Quanzhou Hokkien, and those two have 89%
intelligibility.
Amoy, the dialect spoken in Amoy city in China, is identical to certain
Taiwanese Hokkien dialects (Kirinputra 2014).
Amoy was created when Xiamen became an important port city during
the Southern Ming Dynasty in 1650 when Ming General Zheng Cheng
Gong established a military base there. Over time, many migrant
workers from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou moved to Xiamen due to its
central location between the two cities and due to its status as an
international port during the Southern Ming and Qing Dynasties. The
intermixing of Quanzhou Hokkien and Zhangzhou Hokkien speakers
created a new language that was a mix of the two Hokkien tongues.
It is intelligible with Taiwanese Hokkien, as the differences between
the two are minor, akin to British and American English. There have
only been 120 years of separation between Amoy and Taiwanese
Hokkien. Most of the differences are in modern and local vocabulary.
Taiwanese Hokkien and Amoy tones are identical.
Amoy and Qaunzhou Hokkien are no longer fully intelligible with each
other due to lack of a standard and the dialectal variations in each.
However, Quanzhou Hokkien speakers understand Xiamen much
better than they understand Zhangzhou Hokkien because Xiamen is
half Quanzhou Hokkien. Also Amoy is closer to Quanzhou Hokkien
than it is to Zhangzhou Hokkien, whereas Taiwanese Hokkien is a
pure pure 50/50 mix between the two. In addition, Amoy has
developed more modern meanings for certain words, while Quanzhou
Hokkien retains more of the older meanings for the same terms.
Zhangzhou Hokkien and Amoy are not fully intelligible anymore either.
50% of the residents of Amoy now are from other parts of China. In
recent years, many Mandarin loans have gone into Amoy, replacing a
lot of the original vocabulary.
Many Xiamen residents no longer speak Xiamen. ~30% of the
population speaks good Xiamen. The rest either do not speak it at all
or speak a broken version of it. Many Xiamen-speaking parents are
raising their children in Mandarin and refusing to speak to them in
Xiamen. In the region, all government workers under age 50 are
forbidden from speaking Xiamen on the job as part of the Mandarin-
only policy. Many Xiamen speakers feel that Xiamen is an inferior
language and there is a lot of shame involved in speaking it.
Xiamen is not easily understood by speakers of Malayland Hokkien.
There are cases of Malayland Hokkien speakers who have been living
in Xiamen for six years who still do not understand it well.
Jinmen or Kinmen is a dialect of Amoy spoken on Jinmen Island only
two miles off the coast of Amoy. It has good intelligibility with
Taiwanese Hokkien.
Map of Hokkien accents in Taiwan: Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and mixed.
Amoy has 1.5 million speakers in Amoy and Jinmen.
Taiwanese Hokkien is the Xiamen variant very widely spoken in
Taiwan by ~70% of the population. It is very close to Amoy is
completely intelligible with it. Taiwanese tones are exactly the same
as Xiamen tones.
However, it is in trouble, as fewer young people speak it anymore. 20
years ago in Đàoviên, Taiwan, it was common to hear young women
in their late teens and twenties speaking Hokkien, but now it is
uncommon (Kirinputra 2014).
The variations in the dialects below, especially those spoken in Taipei,
are more common with the older generation. The Taiwanese of the
young generation speak either the mixed Zhangzhou-leaning
"Southern" style favored in the media, or they do not speak any
Hokkien at all.
Gaoxiong is a Taiwanese dialect that is similar to Tainan. It is spoken
in the city of Gaoxiong. Gaoxiong is one of the prestige dialects of
Taiwanese.
Lugang is a Taiwanese dialect that is very different but is intelligible
with Standard Taiwanese (Campbell 2009).
Sulim (Shilin), the Taiwanese dialect spoken in Sulim in Taipei, heavily
favored Zhangzhou Hokkien in the past. Other districts in Taipei spoke
a Tong’an Hokkien-type dialect, which is just Quanzhou Hokkien
mixed with Amoy.
Taichung is a dialect of Taiwanese spoken in the city of that name.
Taipei is considered to be a Taiwanese standard along with Tainan.
Standard Taiwanese is often called Longhai Hokkien, as it is quite
similar to the Zhangzhou Hokkien spoken in that city. The situation
regarding Taipei in the past was interesting. The dialects of the city
were a mix of Zhangzhou Hokkien and Quanzhou Hokkien.
Taipei City, the dialect of the center of the city, was mixed between
the two, with a slight Quanzhou Hokkien lean to it. Actually, it was
nearly the same as Xiamen.
Tainan is a Taiwanese dialect spoken in the city of Tainan. This is a
Zhangzhou dialect. Speakers hearing Taipei have some
communication problems, but it appears that they are still intelligible
with each other (Campbell 2009). Tainan is one of the the prestige
dialects of Taiwanese.
Yilan a Taiwanese dialect that is so different that it alone posed
serious problems for the task of standardizing Taiwanese, yet it is
intelligible with Standard Taiwanese (Campbell 2009). Yilan is a city in
Taiwan.

Map showing the Jin and Jiulong Rivers in Fujian. Proto-Min Nan and
later Quanzhou developed along the Jin River where immigrants came in
300 in the Jin Dynasty fleeing Mongol invasions. 350 years later, more
immigrants from Henan came to the Jiulong River area. They were fleeing
south due to the Invasion of the Five Barbarians. The Zhangzhou
language developed from these people.
Literary Hokkien is based on court language taught in schools
during the Tang Dynasty in the 600's. It is dramatically different from
the rest of Hokkien such that it is hard to see how a speaker of
Hokkien Proper could understand it. Its differences between both
Quanzhou Hokkien and Zhangzhou Hokkien are dramatic and hence it
is best seen as a separate language.
Quanzhou or Coânciu Hokkien, a separate language, is one of the
main splits in Hokkien. Quanzhou dialects are spoken in Quanzhou
Prefectural City in Fujian.
During the Tang Dynasty, there were two main settlements in
Quanzhou Prefecture along the Jin and Mulan Rivers. This is where
Proto-Min Nan was birthed from the Old Chinese spoken by settlers
fleeing south to escape invasions during the Jin Dynasty. Quanzhou
speakers were the earliest Min Nan speakers in the region, arriving
around 300.
The settlers along the Jin River spoke Proto-Nan'an Min, and those in
the Mulan River Basin spoken Proto-Putian Min, which later developed
into Puxian Min up north around Putian City. These Putian speakers
had migrated to Quanzhou to escape Mongol invaders. The two areas
were part of Nan'an County around Quanzhou City, which was the
cultural and linguistic center for Quanzhou speakers. It was via the
mixing of Proto-Putian and Proto-Nan'an that Quanzhou was created.
Quanzhou was an important port along the Maritime Silk Road during
the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Many European traders
visited the port.
There are at least 16 dialects within Quanzhou, including Anhai, Anxi,
Dehua, Guanku, Hui'an, Jimei, Jinjiang, Longmen, Nan'an, Quangang,
Shishi, Shuishang, Tong'an, Woshan, Xiang'an, and Yongchun.
Anhai is a dialect of Jinjiang spoken in the township of Anhai in the
city of Jinjiang. There are Anhai dialect associations in Hong Kong.
Anxi is a Quanzhou dialect spoken in Anxi County in Southwestern
Quanzhou. There are Anxi dialect associations in Hong Kong and even
worldwide.
Dehua is a Quanzhou dialect spoken in the far north of Quanzhou.
Hui'an is a Quanzhou dialect spoken in Hui'an County on the northern
coast of Quanzhou. The women of this town are famous for their
elaborate clothing styles.
Jinjiang is a Quanzhou dialect spoken in the city of Jinjiang on the
southern coast of Quanzhou. Jinjiang has dialect assocations in Hong
Kong and even worldwide.
Nan'an is a Quanzhou dialect spoke in the city of Nan'an in Central
Quanzhou.
Shishi is a Quanzhou dialect spoken in the city of Shishi on the coast.
Shuishang Tanka is a Quanzhou dialect spoken by a a group of
Hokkien speakers among the Tanka fisherpeople located to the north
of the Four Counties area in Hong Kong. They speak a language that
resembles Anxi. They communicate well with speakers from the
Hokkien homeland, so it looks like their language has not changed
much. Most of them arrived in Hong Kong from the main Hokkien-
speaking region in the 1930's and 1940's, so their language has not
changed much.
Yongchun is a Quanzhou dialect that has dialect associations in Hong
Kong.
All Quanzhou dialects are mutually intelligible.
Tong'an is said to be a dialect of Amoy, but the truth is that it is in
between Amoy and Quanzhou. The differences between Tong'an and
Amoy are large. Tong'an is spoken in the city of that name. Tong'an
varieties are also spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia, especially the
Bagan Hokkien variety in Indonesia. Tong'an speakers in Indonesia
cannot understand Amoy or Quanzhou. Tong'an actually has a number
of dialects inside of it. Xiamen and Jinmen were originally Tong'an
dialects, but they split away.
Whether Tong'an is a Quanzhou language or an Amoy language is
hard to determine, but the best analysis is that it is Quanzhou with a
minor Amoy mixture.
Guankou is a Tong'an dialect spoken in the northwest of Tong'an.
Jimei is sometimes seen as a Zhangzhou Hokkien dialect, but it is
better viewed as a Tong'an dialect.
Woshan is another Tong'an dialect.
Xiang'an, sometimes considered to be a Zhangzhou Hokkien dialect, is
probably better seen as a Tong'an dialect.
Taiwanese speakers can no longer understand the pure Quanzhou
spoken in the Chinese city of that name (Kirinputra 2014), and some
Quanzhou speakers say they cannot understand Taiwanese either.
Nevertheless, Taiwanese has 80% intelligibility of Quanzhou and
Zhangzhou Hokkien. After all, Taiwanese itself is just a mixture
between Zhangzhou Hokkien and Quanzhou.
Quanzhou has 6.5 million speakers.
Zhangzhou or Ciangciu Hokkien, actually a macrolanguage, is a
principal split in Hokkien. Zhangzhou is derived from a type of Old
Chinese spoken by immigrants who moved into the region from Henan
in the Tang Dynasty before Middle Chinese became widely spoken in
Henan. Zhangzhou speakers arrived to the Min Nan area around 650,
or 350 years later than the Quanzhou speakers.
They settled first in Zhangpu in the Zhang River Basin. Lonqui, which
lies along the Jiulong River Basin was transferred from Quanzhou
Prefecture to Zhangzhou Prefecture in the 700's. It is here where
Zhangzhou was formed via a mix of Proto-Zhangzhou and the Proto-
Min Nan spoken in Quanzhou. At the end of the Tang Dynasty,
Zhangzhou developed into two main varieties – Lonqui and Zhangpu.
Lonqui became the prestige dialect, as it was the seat of Zhangzhou
Prefecture.
Although Zhangzhou is a younger variety of Hokkien than Quanzhou,
it seems older, as it preserves more archaic features. Other varieties
of Hokkien in general do not have full intelligiblity of Zhangzhou
anymore. The dialect of the city is more intelligible to other Hokkien
speakers, but the dialects in the villages around Zhangzou are harder
to understand. It is spoken in Zhangzhou Prefectural City in Fujian.
The language of the city itself is changing as many speakers of rural
Zhangzhou varieties have been moving into the city, and their
varieties have been mixing with city speech.
There are differences within Zhangzhou, and it has at least 12
varieties, two of which are separate languages.
Changtai, Dongfu, Dongshan, Longhai, Haicang, Hua'an, Jingcheng,
Nanjing, Pinghe, Yunxiao, Zhangpu, and Zhao'an are all varieties of
Zhangzhou, spoken in the vicinity of the city.
Dongshan, Zhao'an, and Yunxiao are all spoken in Southern
Zhangzhou on the border of the Teochew region. They have been
strongly affected by Teochew such that there is controversy over
whether they are Teochew or Hokkien.
Dongshan is a Zhangzhou dialect that has been so strongly affected
by Teochew that there is debate about whether it is Hokkien or
Teochew. It has changed n → ng and t → k as in Teochew.
Dongfu is a dialect of Longhai.
Longhai is a Zhangzhou dialect that is very similar to the standard.
There are Longhai dialect associations in Hong Kong.
Yunxiao Hokkien is a separate language. It is not intelligible to
Zhao'an speakers. It has changed n → ng and t → k as in Teochew.
Zhangpu is a Zhangzhou dialect that is somewhat different. Quanzhou
speakers have much better intelligibility of Standard Zhangzhou than
they do of Zhangpu.
Zhao'an Hokkien is a separate language. It is very different from
the rest of Zhangzhou and speakers cannot understand other
Zhangzhou varieties, even the closely related Yunxiao. Zhao'an
resembles Teochew more than Yunxiao or Dongshan, as it has an ir
vowel.
Zhangzhou has four million speakers.
Zhangzhou and Quanzhou are not fully intelligible with each other in
China, and both have marginal intelligibility with Teochew (Kirinputra
2014). The differences between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou are
significant. When Zhangzhou and Quanzhou speakers talk, they often
use Mandarin to avoid confusion.
There are cases of Quanzhou speakers who moved to Zhangzhou and
vice versa who got so confused by the differences that they stopped
speaking both languages. There are South Malayland Hokkien
speakers who have been listening to both Zhangzhou and Quanzhou
for years and still find both of them quite hard to understand.
Diaspora, Nusantaran, or Overseas Hokkien is made up of all Hokkien
spoken outside of China.
It is a language in trouble, as young people everywhere in the
diaspora switch to Mandarin, and many children are not learning
Hokkien. Technically, Taiwanese is included in Overseas Hokkien, but
since it is merely a dialect of Amoy, we put it under Amoy instead.
50 years ago, we could learn interesting things about Overseas
Hokkien forms spoken in Jakarta, Yangoon, Bandung, Phuket, Trang,
Cebu, and possibly Palembang and Surabaya. Now Hokkien may be
extinct in Yangoon and Surabaya and is in trouble in Phuket, Bandung
and Cebu (Kirinputra 2014).
Overseas Hokkien could be seen as being composed of two main
groups (Kirinputra 2014).
The first group, called Eastern Hokkien, is in the north and is spoken
in Taiwan and the Philippines (Kirinputra 2014).
The second group, which we shall call Malayland Hokkien for lack of a
better term, is spoken in Malaysia and in Indonesia in Sumatra and
Kalimantan. Malayland is heavily laced with Teochew (Kirinputra
2014).

Hokkien in Malaysia. Northern Malayland (Penang) Hokkien is

spoken in the north, and Southern Malayland Hokkien
(Singaporean, Klang or Medan) is spoken in the South.

Malayland is split into two languages, Southern Malayland Hokkien

and Northern Malayland Hokkien.
Northern Malayland Hokkien was formerly spoken in Northern
Malaysia from Taiping along the coast formerly all the way to Phuket,
Thailand but is now spoken for the most part only to Penang and over
to Terangganu in Malaysia and in Medan and other places in Northern
Sumatra in Indonesia (Kirinputra 2014). It is spoken in Kedah,
Penang, Terranganu, Medan, and Perak in Malaysia and in a few
places in Thailand and Burma, where it is dying out.
Nothern Malayland is based on Zhangzhou with some Amoy mixed in,
but for formal speech, Xiamen is still used. Northern Malayland is still
spoken up into Thailand towards Phuket and in the Burmese
Panhandle all the way to Rangoon, however the language is dying out
badly in the region. Northern Malayland is still spoken in Surat Thani
on the east side of the peninsula in Thailand by a few older speakers.
On the Phuket side of the peninsula facing the Indian Ocean, it has
been decimated.
Hokkien is still widely spoken on the Thai border with Malaysia in
Bukit Kayu Hitam and Sadao. The Hokkien here seems to be a
mixture of Northern Malayland and Southern Malayland Hokkien.
The language is also referred to as Penang Hokkien or Medan
Hokkien, after the very similar dialects spoken in those cities.
Penang sounds a lot like the Longhai dialect of Zhangzhou, in
particular the Haikang dialect spoken in the city of Haikang, but it is
no longer intelligible with the Haikang from which it is derived
because Haikang still uses a lot of older Zhangzhou words that have
fallen out of Penang. Penang intelligibility of Zhangzhou proper is
close to zero. Also Penang is full of Malay loans that Haikang speakers
cannot understand. Penang speakers have only 70% intelligiblilty of
Amoy, and they cannot understand Taiwanese at all.
Speakers of Northern Malayland have a hard time understanding the
Southern Malayland Hokkien spoken in Klang and Malacca (Kirinputra
2014). Southern Malayland Hokkien speakers in general say they
cannot understand Penang.
Northern Malayland is more of a Zhangzhou variety in terms of its
accent. It is also heavily creolized, with a lot of Malay and Thai
embedded deeply in the language. The differences between the two
Malayland Hokkien languages are as great as between Hokkien and
Teochew. Intelligibility between the two may be as low as 50%.
Baba is a heavily-creolized dialect spoken on Penang Island. It is
widely spoken.
Burmese Hokkien looks very much like Penang because many
speakers came from Penang to Rangoon. Speakers are mostly elderly,
and the language is dying out.
Butterworth, spoken in Butterworth just across the strait from Penang
Island, actually has significant differences in tones with Penang Island
Hokkien.
Lower Perak is spoken in the southern regions of Perak state in
Malaysia.
Penang Island is the name for the dialect spoken on the island. It is
broken into two subvarieites. Hokkien is still very widely spoken in
Penang, and it is possible to go through your entire day speaking
nothing but Hokkien.
Sin Khek is a a more pure dialect spoken on Penang Island.
Terangganu spoken in northeastern peninsular Malaysia is different
from the Penang standard.
Nothern Malayland Hokkien still has 1.5 million speakers.
Kelantan, Kelantanese or Kelantan Peranakan Hokkien is
spoken in the Malay state of Kelantan. It is wildly creolized with Malay
and is probably not intelligible with any other form of Hokkien.
Kelantanese is still widely spoken. Other than the vast amount of
loans, it looks a lot like Penang. Speakers in Kelantan, Kuching and
Penang came to Southeast Asia much sooner than the Southern
Malayland Hokkien speakers. Perhaps this is why Penang-type
variants are so heavily-creolized – they have simply been in the area
much longer, so they had much more time to accumulate Malay loans.
Nevertheless the Hokkien variety situation in Kelantan is poorly
understood, and there are said to be two different types of Hokkien
spoken in this area, Kelantan A and Kelantan B (Kirinputra 2014).
The variety of Hokkien spoken in Kuching, Sarawak, Kuching, is also
very different and resembles Kelantan.
Southern Malayland Hokkien encompasses Southern Malaysia from
Johor up to Kelantan in the cities of Selangor, Klang, Malacca, Muar,
Tangkak, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Pontian, Singapore, Riau, the Riau
Islands, and Johor Bahru.
In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Southern Malayland Hokkien and
Northern Malayland mix, and it is difficult to say which language is
being spoken here, but Kuala Lumpur Hokkien and Malaccan Hokkien
are best put into Southern Malayland Hokkien.
Speakers in one Indonesian city speak a Jinjiang variety that is close
to the rest of Indonesian Hokkien, but their Jinjiang variety is very
different from the Jinjiang spoken in the Philippines. The Jinjiang
varieties in both places took independent trajectories. Indonesian
Hokkien speakers mix a lot of Indonesian in with their Hokkien.
There are also a few speakers of an Anxi Quanzhou variety all the way
up in Penang in the Northern Malayland zone. Nothern Malayland
speakers find them hard to understand.
There are some speakers of Amoy/Hui'an mixed varieties in Malaysia,
but they find most other types of Hokkien hard to understand.
Southern Malayland is less creolized than Northern Malayland, if it is
creolized at all. Southern Malayland is more of a Xiamen variety, while
Northern Malayland is a type of Zhangzhou. Southern Malayland lies
between Northern Malayland and Taiwanese on the continuum.
Southern Malayland speakers generally cannot understand any other
type of Hokkien, although they can apparently understand Philippines
Hokkien.
Bagansiapiapi or Bagan is a very pure dialect of Southern Malayland
Hokkien spoken in Bagansiapiapi in Riau on the east coast of
Sumatra, Indonesia. They can understand Medan speakers, but
Medan speakers cannot understand them.
It has avoided the Mandarinization of Hokkien that is occurring
elsewhere. It also lacks influence from Cantonese and Teochew and
has fewer loans from Austronesian and English compared to
neighboring Southern Malayland or Philippines Hokkien speakers
(Kirinputra 2014). They speak a Tong'an variety. Bagan speakers
cannot understand Quanzhou or Zhangzhou.
While a relatively pure dialect, younger Bagan speakers mix a lot of
Indonesian in with their Bagansiapiapi, while speaking the purer
dialect mostly with older people. There are only a few thousand
speakers remaining, and the language seems to be on its way out.
Bagansiapiapi is intelligible with Philippines Hokkien. Much of the good
intelligibility between Bagansiapiapi and Taiwanese and Amoy seems
to be due to bilingual learning. They understand Taiwanese better
than Amoy since Taiwanese speakers speak more slowly than Amoy
speakers.
Bangkok, the Southern Malayland dialect spoken in Bangkok, contains
Malay loans (Kirinputra 2014). This dialect also seems to be dying
out. This seems to imply a large trading community involving Saigon,
Bangkok and Malayland which exchanged words via different speech
forms (Kirinputra 2014).
Klang is recognized as a specific dialect, and Hokkien is still very
widely spoken here.
Johor is farily close to Klang. Hokkien is very widely spoken here.
Muar is spoken in Muar, Johor. They speak an Anxi variety.
Indonesian Hokkien is spoken in Indonesia in several places.
Riau, spoken in the state of Riau, is very close to Singapore Hokkien.
Saigon, the moribund Southern Malayland dialect still spoken by a few
people in Saigon, is another very pure type of Hokkien (Kirinputra
2014).
Selangor, the variety spoken in Selangor, is best described as a
Southern Malayland Hokkien dialect, as they cannot understand
Penang well. Hokkien is still very widely spoken in Selangor.
Singapore Hokkien is the version of Southern Malayland Hokkien
spoken in Singapore and is based on Amoy, and possibly even more
on Jinmen, but speakers also came from Tong'an, Zhangzhou,
Quanzhou, Anxi, and Hui'an. It is similar to Taiwanese, but Singapore
Hokkien speakers can no longer understand Taiwanese well, though
they have partial understanding of it. For instance, they have only 30-
40% intelligibility with Yilan Taiwanese Hokkien.
A Singapore Hokkien speaker, if immersed in Taiwan, could pick up
Taiwanese fairly quickly, within three months.
Singapore Hokkien has been isolated from Taiwanese for quite some
time, so it has retained older features that are losing ground in
mainland Hokkien varieties. Word-final unvoiced stops p, t and k and
starting to be lost in Zhangzhou on the mainland and replaced with a
glottal stop, whereas in Singapore Hokkien, they are still preserved.
Many Malay, Cantonese and Teochew words have gone into Singapore
Hokkien which hinder understanding with Taiwanese speakers.
Mutual intelligibility between Singapore Hokkien and Hokkien Proper is
~55%. Singapore Hokkien is no longer intelligible with Amoy in China.
Nevertheless, Southern Malayland speakers still use Xiamen for
formal speech.
Singapore Hokkien speakers, even the older ones, now mix a lot of
Mandarin, English, and Malay in with their speech. They have been
isolated from the main Hokkien-speaking communities in Amoy and
Taiwan for so long that they have lost many of the subtler aspects of
the language spoken in these areas. Singapore Hokkien has withered
into a weakened and corrupted version of the more pure Hokkien
spoken in Taiwan and Fujian. Further, the language has changed a lot
since the Singapore Hokkien speakers left the region, and Singapore
Hokkien have not kept up with the continuously evolving Hokkien
language spoken in the Hokkien homeland.
Singapore Hokkien has also become so heavily admixed with Teochew
that it is more properly seen as Hokkien-Teochew than Hokkien
Proper.
All dialects of Southern Malayland spoken in Nusantara are mutually
intelligible.
Banlam-ue, Banlamhue, Binamhue, Lanlang-ue, Minnanhua, or
Philippines Hokkien is the version of Southern Malayland spoken in
the Philippines. Lanlang-ue means “our language.” Minnanhua is the
name of this language in Mandarin (Kirinputra 2014). It derives from
Quanzhou, mostly from the Jinjiang and Sheshi dialects on the
outskirts of Quanzhou but also from Nan'an. A Standard Philippines
Hokkien has evolved based on a Jinjang/Amoy mix.
Philippines Hokkien is not readily intelligible with Standard Hokkien.
Speakers came to the Philippines long ago, so their Hokkien contains
many old words that have fallen out of other Hokkien varieties.
At present, it is not intelligible with Quanzhou or Xiamen. Philippines
Hokkien speakers claim that they can only understand about 70% of
Taiwanese television. In general, Philippines Hokkien speakers say
that speakers of other Hokkien varieties find Philippines Hokkien hard
to understand. Singapore Hokkien seems to lack full intelligibility of
Philippines Hokkien, although intelligibility is quite high. It is too much
of a pure Quanzhou variety for Singapore Hokkien speakers to
understand, as Singapore Hokkien speakers have a hard time
understand pure Quanzhou. In fact, Philippines Hokkien seems to be a
near-perfect fossilization of Quanzhou from the late 1800's.
Despite intelligibility issues, Philippines Hokkien and Taiwanese have a
very similar lexicon. The lexicons of both are similar to Amoy speech.
Apparently the Amoy-Luzon-Taiwan trade route produced a
convergence in the lexicons of these varieties (Kirinputra 2014).
Philippines Hokkien is full of Tagalog words.
Philippines Hokkien is spoken in Manila, Cebu, Zambaonga, Sulu, and
Jolo. Cebu and Jolo Islands were part of an important route for
smuggling goods into the Philippines for centuries. Most of the
smugglers were Hokkien Chinese. Philippines Hokkien is still widely
spoken on Sulu, in Zamboanga, and in the Binondo region of Manila.
The situation with Jolo is not known.
Cebu, spoken on Cebu, is in bad shape, with few speakers left.
Jolo, spoken on the far southern island of Jolo, resembles Cebu.
Manila, spoken in the capital, is the dialect on which Standard
Philippines Hokkien is based.
Sulu, the dialect on Sulu Island, is different from the rest of
Philippines Hokkien, sounding more like Amoy and Taiwanese with a
trace of Singapore.
Zamboanga differs from Manila Hokkien in that it has more Spanish
and Chavacano borrowings and fewer Tagalog words.
All Philippines Hokkien dialects are mutually intelligible, and they are
all quite similar, having converged on a standard in the same way that
Taiwanese Hokkien dialects have.

Classification
Amoy, Anxi, Baba, Bangkok, Bagansiapiapi, Burmese, Butterworth,
Cebu, Changtai, Dehua, Dongfu, Dongshan, Gaoxiong, Guanku,
Hua'an, Haicang, Hui'an, Indonesian, Jimei, Jingcheng, Jinjiang,
Jinmen, Johor, Jolo, Kelantan, Kelantan A, Kelantan B, Klang, Kuching,
Literary, Longhai, Longmen, Lower Perak, Lugang, Manila, Medan,
Myanmar, Nan'an, Nanjing, Northern Malayland, Penang, Penang
Island, Philippines, Pinghe, Quangang, Quanzhou, Riau, Saigon,
Selangor, Shin Kek, Shishi, Shuishang, Singapore, Southern
Malayland, Sulim, Sulu, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei City, Taiwanese,
Terangganu, Tong'an, Woshan, Xiang'an, Yilan, Yinchuan, Yongchun,
Yunxiao, Zamboanga, Zhangpu, Zhangzhou, and Zhao'an are all part
of Hokkien, which has 71 varieties, 11 of which are separate
languages.
There are 30 million speakers of the Hokkien languages.

Southern Min: Zhenan Min

Zhenan or Zhejiang Min, a major split in Min Nan, spoken in

pockets in Yixing, Anji, and Linan in Southern Jiangsu, in Wenzhou
and Changxing in Southern Zhejiang Province around Pingyang and
Cangnan, and in the Zhoushan Islands, is a separate language.
Speakers are found in Anhui Guangde, Nigguo, Langxi, the eastern
part of Wuhu, Jiangxi Shangrao, Yushan Island, and Guangfeng
County, in addition to Pucheng on the northern border of Fujian.
These speakers moved north from Fujian as early as the Tang Dynasty
from 618-907. New waves of Fujian immigrants came during the
Southern Song Dynasty from 1187-1279. Many more came as a result
of a migration of Hokkien speakers from Hui'an, Jinjiang, Quanzhou,
Nan'an, Xiamen, and Jinmen to the area in middle of the Ming
Dynasty about ~500 years ago due to pirate attacks and civil wars in
the region they fled from. Once they arrived at their new home, high
waves prevented them from returning, so they decided to make their
new homes here in the north.
Zhenan Min is influenced by Eastern and Northern Min and has limited
intelligibility with other Min languages. In the area around Wenzhou, it
has come under heavy Wenzhou Wu and Manhua Wu influence.
Zhenan Min is still confused with Hokkien in casual descriptions.
Intelligibility among Zhenan Min varieties is not known.

Zhejiang
Baizhang is spoken as a dialect island in the south of Taishan County.
It has come under severe influence from Luoyang Wu and Manhua. It
is presently near extinction. Baizhang appears to be a dialect of
Jujiang.
Cagnan is spoken in Cagnan County in Wenzhou Prefectural Level
City. It is actually the principal language of Cagnan County along with
Manhua and Cagnan Wu, having converged significantly both
languages. This is often considered to be a Hokkien language, but it is
really Zhenan Min.
Dongtou, with 52,000 speakers, is spoken in Dongtou County in
Wenzhou Prefectural City on an island off the coast of Wenzhou. This
language is a result of Fujian Hokkien speakers who migrated to the
area recently. This variety is often thought to be Hokkien, but actually
it is Zhenan Min.
Jujiang is spoken in Taishan County near the Manhua-speaking area.
Pingyang Aojiang is spoken in Pingyang County in Wenzhou
Prefectural City. It has 243,000 speakers. This variety is also often
listed as Hokkien, but it is really Zhenan Min.
Ruoshan has heavy Wu influence.
Taishun has 14,000 speakers.
Yuhuan is also often considered to be a Hokkien language, but it is a
part of Zhenan Min instead.

Jiangsu
Yixing is spoken in Yixing County in southern Jiangsu. In Yixing
County, half the population speaks Zhenan Min.

Classification
Anhui Guangde, Anji, Baizhang, Beigang, Cagnan, Changxing,
Dongtou, Fenwenxiang, Guangfeng, Jiangxi Shangrao, Jingning,
Jujiang, Kengkou, Lake, Langxi, Lengkeng, Lengkugang, Lianjiang,
Linan, Liyang, Ni Island, Nigguo, Ningde, Northern Rui'an, Peng River,
Pengxi, Pingyang Aojiang, Ruoshan, Sanyang, Shengshi Island,
Shiyang, South Cangnan, Taishun, Wenling Shitang, Wuhu, Yixing,
Yuhuan, and Yushan Island are all part of Zhenan Min, a single
language which has at least 38 dialects.
There are 848,000 speakers of Zhenan Min.

Hakka
Hakka is an extremely diverse group of Chinese languages spoken in
Southern China. There may be up to 1,000 varieties in Hakka. Hakka
is very different from all other forms of Chinese. Although Southern
Min and Hakka are said to be close, Taiwanese Hokkien can
understand only 1% of even Taiwanese Hakka.
It is not only spoken by the Han, but it is also spoken heavily in China
by some ethnic minorities, especially the She. 99% of the She people
now speak varieties of Hakka. The other 1% speak Hokkien. These
varieties are very different from the nearby Hakka variety from which
they arose because they are mixed in with layers of Cantonese, Gan,
Wu, and Min, in addition to the Hmong-Mien She language substrate.
Each She Hakka variety is probably a separate language. There are
over a dozen different Sinitic varieties that the She speak, and most
of them are Hakka languages. So there may be up to 12 different She
Hakka languages.
The variety situation with Hakka is quite confused and somewhat
contradictory. Some speakers report adequate intelligibility between
varieties, while others report difficulty. There are also reports of great
diversity and difficult intelligibility even from village to village in
Southwestern Fujian, Gannan County in Jiangxi, and Northern
Guangdong. Intelligibility testing could clear up some of the
confusion.
In general, it is widely reported that Hakka speakers cannot
understand the Hakka of other counties and in some places even
other villages in the same county. So a good rule of thumb is that
there is at least one Hakka language in every county where Hakka is
spoken in China. This rule was generally followed below, with
exceptions anywhere that the rule was proven false. Hakka varieties
are extremely fragmented compared to Mandarin varieties.

Fujian
There are 5 million Hakka speakers in Fujian. Hakka speakers'
presence in Fujian dates back to a very early time. Fujian was
populated by Hakka speakers at the end of the Tang Dynasty in 900
as waves of Hakka speakers moved from the northern plains down
through Hunan and Jiangxi all the way to Fujian. Southwestern Fujian,
along with Jiangxi and Hunan are considered to be the heartlands of
the oldest population of Hakka speakers. Consequently the Hakka
spoken here is extremely diverse and in some counties, up to 14
different completely separate Hakka languages are spoken and there
is difficult communication from county to county if not from village to
village.

Northwestern Fujian
Fu'an Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in the county-
level city of Fuan in the in Ningde Prefectural City in the Eastern Min
zone. Fuan Eastern Min is spoken in this city.
Fu'an She Hakka is spoken in the county-level city of Fuan in Ningde
Prefectural City alongside Fuan Hakka and Fuan Eastern Min. Fuan
She Hakka is completely different from either language.
Fuding Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in Fuding
County is Ningde Prefectural City in the Eastern Min speaking zone.
Fuding She Hakka is spoken in Fuding County in Ningde Prefectural
City alongside Fuding Hakka and Fuding Eastern Min. It is very
different from either language.
Shunchang She Hakka is spoken in Shunchang County in Nanping
Prefectural City in the Northern Min and Shaojiang Min speaking area.

Western and Southwestern Fujian

Many extremely diverse forms of Hakka are spoken in Southwestern
Fujian. These are the remains of the earliest Hakka speakers who
formed in the area around 500 AD.
Sources say that each Hakka county in Southwestern Fujian speaks
its own variety, and the varieties are far enough apart to make
communication from county to county very difficult. The wildly diverse
Tingzhou Hakka Group is spoken in Southwestern Fujian. A good
conclusion is that all Tingzhou varieties are separate languages.
Within Longyan Hakka, a macrolanguage, in one county, Liancheng
County, many divergent varieties of Hakka are spoken. Whether these
are dialects or separate languages is difficult to determine. Usually
they cannot understand each other at first, but after a while, they
figure out how to communicate with each other. There is significant
enough difficulty in communicating between these villages that a local
Mandarin dialect is used for inter-village communication, suggesting
difficult communication from village to village (Branner 2008). This
suggests that it is valid to split all of the above off into separate
languages.
Changting Hakka is a separate language and a member of the
Tingzhou Group spoken in Changting County in Longyan Prefectural
City in Southwestern Fujian. Despite Meixian being the standard,
Changting preserves more of the original Hakka tones than Meixian
does. This is because Changting is probably related more to the
original Hakka group in Southwestern Fujian and Southern Jiangxi, as
opposed to Meixian, which is a result of a more recent movement out
of the original area in the last 500 years.
Dikeng Tangqian Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Dikeng village in
Tangqian township in Northern Liancheng County in Longyan
Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Dongnancun Xinquan Liancheng Hakka is a separate Tingzhou
language spoken in the Dongnancun village in the township of
Xinquan, located in Liancheng County, part of Longyan Prefectural City
in Southwestern Fujian. There are three Hakka languages spoken in
the township – Dongnancun, Lelian and Linguo (Branner 2008).
Gaoding Juxi Liancheng Hakka is a separate Hakka language
spoken in Gaoding village in Juxi Township towards the south of
Liancheng County in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian
(Branner 2008). Juxi is a beautiful town where people speak different
dialects depending on their last names. For instance, people with the
last name Shen speak differently from people with the last name Luo.
People with different last names also celebrate traditional Chinese
holidays on different days.
Gutian Shanghang Hakka is a separate Tingzhou language spoken
in Gutian township in Shanghang County in Longyan Prefectural City
in Southwestern Fujian.
Hengming Wenheng Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Hengming
village in Wenheng Towship in Liancheng County in Longyan
Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Jiangshe Miaoqian Liancheng Hakka is a separate Hakka language
spoken in Jianshe village in Miaoqian Township in Liancheng County in
Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian. Jianshe and Zhixi
are two separate Hakka languages spoken in Miaoqian (Branner
2008).
Lelian Xinquan Liancheng Hakka is a separate Hakka language
spoken in Lelian village in Xinquan Township, part of Liancheng
County in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian. There are
three Hakka languages spoken in Xinquan, Dongnancun, Lelian and
Linguo (Branner 2008).
Liancheng Hakka is a macrolanguage consisting of 14 different Hakka
languages spoken in a single county in Longyan Prefectural City in
Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Linguo Xinquan Liancheng Hakka is a separate Tingzhou language
spoken in Linguo village in Xinquan Township, which is part of
Liancheng County in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian.
Dongnancun, Linguo and Lelian are the three Hakka languages
spoken in the township (Branner 2008).
Luoyuan She Hakka is an extremely diverse form of Hakka that
differs from all other Hakka. It must surely be a separate language.
Mingxi Hakka is a separate Tingzhou language spoken in a wide
north-to-south strip just to the west of the main Hokkien-speaking
region in Fujian.
Nanban Zhangwu Liwu Changting Hakka is actually spoken in
Changting County, part of Longyan Prefectural City, in Zhangwu
village in Liwu Township three miles west of far Northern Liancheng
County in Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Ninghua Hakka is a separate Tingzhou language spoken in Ninghua
County in Sanming Prefectural City in Western Fujian.
Puxi Dongxiduan Quxi Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Quxi
Township in Northwestern Liancheng County 10 miles southeast of
Liancheng in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian
(Branner 2008).
Qiaotou Quxi Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Qiaotou village in Quxi
Township, located in Northwestern Liancheng County 10 miles
southeast of the city of Liancheng in Longyan Prefectural City in
Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Shanghang Hakka is a separate Tingzhou language spoken in
Shanghang County in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern
Fujian.
Shangjian Zhenbian Sipu Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Sipu
township in the far north of Liancheng County in Longyan Prefectural
City in Southwestern Fujian.
Shengxing Xuanhe Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Shengxing
village in Xuanhe township in Liancheng County in Longyan
Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian.
Wangcheng Pengkou Liancheng Hakka is a separate Tingzhou
language spoken in Wangcheng village in Pengkou Township, which is
located in Liancheng County, part of Longyan Prefectural City in
Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).
Wuping Hakka is spoken in Wuping County in Southwestern Longyan
Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian.
Yongding Hakka is a separate language within Tingzhou spoken in
Yongding County in Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian.
Zhixi Miaoqian Liancheng Hakka is a separate Hakka language
spoken in Zhixi village in Miaoqian Township in Liancheng County in
Longyan Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian. There are three
separate languages spoken in Miaoqian, Jianshe and Zhixi (Branner
2008).
Zhuyu Gechuan Liancheng Hakka is spoken in Zhuyu village in
Gechuan Township in Northern Liancheng County in Longyan
Prefectural City in Southwestern Fujian (Branner 2008).

Southern Fujian
Hakka is spoken in a few places in the south of Fujian near where the
south end of the Hokkien zone meats the north end of the Teochew
zone and you have strange Southern Min languages that are mixtures
of Hokkien and Teochew and are sometimes hard to place in one
category or the other.
The same movement that resulted in a large Hakka settlement in
Southeastern Guangdong in the Teochew zone is probably responsible
for these few Fujian outliers right across the Fujian border. These
Hakka languages are mostly unclassified like the Southeastern
Guangdong Hakkas, probably due to their diverse nature and strong
Min influences.
Zhao'an Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in the
Zhangzhou region in Zhao'an, where a Zhangzhou Min variety heavily
affected by Teochew is spoken.
Zhao'an Xiuzhuan Hakka is a separate language, no doubt spoken
in the same area as Zhaoan proper.

Guangdong
There are 21 million Hakka speakers in Guangdong. Guangdong is
usually seen as the Hakka heartland, but Hakka speakers moved into
Guangdong at a relatively later date after the fall of the Song Dynasty
in 1300. Previously, Hakka speakers had only inhabited Southern
Jiangxi and Southwestern Fujian and Southern Hunan, where they
arrived by 900 or in some cases by 400. This later expansion proved
very successful, with settlements like Meixian being so successful that
it later become known as the Hakka heartland.

Central Guangdong
Conghua Hakka is spoken in the Conghua District, a county-level
city in Guangzhou Prefectural City. It connects the Pearl River Delta
where Cantonese is the main language with the mountainous area of
Guangdong where Hakka is heavily spoken to the north.
Zengcheng Hakka is spoken in Zengcheng, a county-level district in
Guangzhou Prefectural City to the south of the Conghua District.
Zengcheng is far away from the city center, so people there consider
themselves different from Guangzhou people.

Eastern Guangdong
This area is considered to be the Hakka Heartland due to the presence
of Meixi, the unofficial capital of the Hakka speaskers, although the
area was only settled 500 years agao as a late movement from the
main Hakka zone in Southwestern Fujian.
Changlin is spoken in Changlin village in Tangnan town in Fengshun
County.
Chitan may be a dialect of Dapu Hakka.
Dapu, Taipo or Taipu Hakka, while close to Meixian, is a separate
language. Its phonoloy is quite different form Meixian's. It is spoken
in Dapu County. Dapu was the basis for Taichung Dongshi Hakka
spoken in Taiwan. Actually, Donshi was derived directly from Chitan
Hakka spoken by the founder of the Hakka community in the county.
However, Donshi is now very different from Chitan.
Fengshun or Banshan Hakka is a separate language spoken
Fengshun County. Fengshun is on the border of Fujian and has come
under heavy Teochew influence.
Jiaoling Hakka is a separate Hakka language, spoken in Jiaoling
County.
Meixian (formerly Jieyang) is spoken in Mei County. Meixian Hakka
is the Hakka version used as Standard Hakka. It is understood by
75% of Hakka speakers, so it is often used for communicating with
Hakkas who speak other Hakka languages. Meixian was chosen as the
standard because the region where it is spoken is one of the major
strongholds of Hakka language and culture. In addition, it has
preserved most of the original Hakka phonology and has less
influence from Cantonese and Hokkien.
Varieties of Meixian are spoken in many places in Asia outside of
mainland China. They are spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and
Taiwan. It is commonly held that all of the varieties of Meixian spoken
outside of the Chinese mainland are mutually intelligible, that is just
not true. For instance, Taiwanese Hakka is said to be exactly the same
as Meixian Hakka, however there is poor intelligibility between the
two.
Pingyuan Hakka, although close to Meixian, is actually quite
different from it and must be a separate language. It is spoken in
Pingyuan County.
Rumei Hakka, spoken in Rumei County, is a separate language.
Wuhua Hakka is a full language spoken in Wuhua County. Wuhua is
a huge split in Meixian-type Hakkas or the Jieyang subgroup (JYS).
They are split between Wuhua types and JYS types.
Xingning Hakka is close to Wuhua and Dapu. It is spoken in
Xingning County. Xingning is only 40 miles east of Meixi, but the
phonology is quite different.
 Northeastern Guangdong
This group may also include the remains of some of the earliest Hakka
speakers to arrive in Guangdong around 900.
In Northestern Guangdong, there may be many different Hakka
languages, since varieties tend to differ from village to village, and
in many cases, communication is difficult between villages.
Boluo Hakka is spoken in Boluo County in Huizhou Prefectural City.
Chetian Hakka is a type of Longchuan Hakka with heavy Teochew
and Cantonese influence. Chetian is a Bendihua language.
Heping Hakka is spoken in Heping County in Heyuan Prefectural
City. Hakka is spoken by the majority of people here. This is a
Bendihua language.
Heyuan Hakka is spoken in Heyuan Prefectural City. It is not
intelligible with Boluo. Heyuan is distant from other Hakka. It is so
different that people in Hunan describe Heyuan varieties spoken there
as not even Hakka but similar to Hakka. Heyuan is a Bendihua
language.
Huangbu Hakka is a separate Longchuan Hakka language with a lot
of Teochew and Cantonese influence. Huangbu is a Bendihua
language.
Huicheng Hakka is spoken in Huicheng County in Huizhou
Prefectural City.
Longchuan Hakka is a separate language spoken in Longchuan
County in Heyuan Prefectural City that is quite distant from other
Hakka, with poor intelligibility with other Hakka varieties. Longchuan
has five different varieties, Huangbu, Sidu, Chetian, Huicheng, and
Tuocheng. Longchuan has heavy Cantonese and Teochew influence. It
is mostly spoken in Huicheng District and Bolou County. Diversity is
great within Longchuan, and varieties differ from village, with difficult
intelligibility from village to village. Longchuan is a Bendihua
language.
Sidu Hakka is a type of Longchuan Hakka that is close to Tuocheng.
Sidu has 18,000 speakers. Sidu is a Bendihua language.
Tuocheng Hakka is a type of Longchuan Hakka that is close to Sidu.
Tuocheng is a Bendihua language.
Zijn Hakka is a separate language, spoken in Zijn County in Heyuan
Prefectural City. Zijn is a Bendihua language.

Northern Guangdong
This group may be the remains of the earliest Hakka speakers in
Guangdong who came around 900.
The Yuebei Group of Hakka is highly divergent. This group is spoken
in the Prefectural Level City of Qingyuan in Northcentral Guangdong.
The main language here is Cantonese. The city itself is on a plain, but
it is surrounded by mountains.
Fogang Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Fogang
County.
Lechang Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Lechang
county-level city in Northwestern Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Nanxiong Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Nanxiong
county-level city in Northeastern Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Ruyuan Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Ruyuan
County in Western Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Shixing Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Shixing
County in Eastern Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Shuiyan Xinfeng Hakka is spoken in Shuiyan township in Xinfeng
County about 10 miles north of the city of Xinfeng in Shaoguan
Prefectural City. This is a Bendihua language.
Wengyuan Hakka, is a separate Yuebai language spoken in
Wengyuan County in Southern Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Wujing Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Wujing
township in Nanxiong county-level city in Qingyuan Prefectural City.
Xinfeng Hakka is a separate Yuebai language spoken in Xinfeng
County in far Southern Shaoguan Prefectural City.
If the hypothesis that all members of Yuebai are separate languages
is true, then Liannan Hakka, Lianshan Hakka, Lianzhou Hakka,
Yangshan Hakka and Yingde Hakka are all separate languages.

Northcentral Guangdong
Hakka is spoken here and there in South-Central Guangdong in the
Cantonese zone. Most of these Hakka varieties have come under
severe Cantonese influence. These Hakka speakers may be a result of
a late movement from Meixian to Southern Guangdong 300 years
ago.
Bao'an Hakka, located near Hong Kong in Shenzen Prefectural City,
is a separate language. However, it is close to Hong Kong. 56% of
Shenzen speaks Hakka. There are over 100 Hakka villages in the
area.
Dongguan Hakka appears to be a separate language.
Dongguan Qingxi Hakka is a separate Hakka language spoken in
Dongguan Prefectural City.
Huidong Hakka is a separate language spoken along the coast north
of Hong Kong in Huidong County, part of the Prefectural Level City of
Huizhou. Huidong is a Bendihua language.
Huiyang Hakka is a separate language spoken in the Huiyang
District of the Prefectural City of Huizhou near Shenzhen. Huiyang has
heavy Cantonese influence. Most people in Huizhou are Hakka
speakers. Huiyang is close to Bao'an.
Huizhou Hakka is in its own group of Hakka, so it must be a
separate language. Huizhou is heavily spoken in Huizhou Prefectural
City. Huizhou is not intelligible with Moiyen, Dapu, Hopo, or
Taiwanese. Huizhou is the classic Bendihua language.
Longmen Hakka is spoken in Longmen County in Northern Huizhou
Prefectural City.
Sanxiang Hakka, spoken in Zhongshan Prefecture west across the
bay from Hong Kong, is different from all other Hakka. It is a separate
language.
Sin On is very close to Dongguan and may be a Dongguan dialect.

Southeastern Guangdong
Hakka is spoken in a number of areas in Southeastern Guangdong
around Teochew speakers. Most of these Hakka varieties are
unclassified, which shows that they are quite diverse. They have come
under serious influenced of Teochew and in some cases, Cantonese.
They came from the Meixian area 300 years ago.
Banshan Hakka is spoken in Jindengzhan village in Tangnan
township in the Chengkang District, where Teochew is spoken.
Banshan is a dialect island surrounded by Teochew and may have
significant Teochew influence. Banshan is probably a separate
language.
Chaoshan She Hakka is spoken by the She people. They live in the
Phoenix Mountains in Chao'an County in Chaozhou Prefectural City.
The language has had heavy contact with Teochew. This is a separate
language, unintelligible with other She Hakka languages and Teochew.
Chaoyang Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in the
city of Chaoyang that has a lot of Teochew influences.
Jiexi Hakka is spoken in Jiexi County, so it is a separate language.
Jiexi has deep Teochew influences.
Haifeng Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in Haifeng
County in Shanwei Prefectural City that has heavy influences from
Hailufeng Min.
Hailufeng Hakka is a macrolanguage made up of three languages,
Haifeng, Lufeng and Luhe, spoken next to each other in Haifeng,
Lufeng, and Luhe Counties in Shanwei Prefectural City. All three are
spoken in separate counties, so each is probably a separate language.
This is a Hakka group with heavy influence from Hailufeng Min.
Hopo, spoken in the city of Jiexi, is not intelligible with Dabu, Hailu, or
Meixian. Hopo has deep influence from Teochew because it is located
right next to the Teochew area. Hopo is probably a Jiexi dialect.
Huilai Hakka is thought to be a dialect of Hopo, but Huilai and Hopo
are sometimes referred to as different varieties, so it may be a
separate language.
Liongkeng is a dialect of Choasan She.
Lufeng Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in Lufeng
County in Shanwei Prefectural City. Lufeng is heavily influenced by
Hailufeng Min.
Luhe Hakka is an unclassified Hakka language spoken in Luhe
County in Shanwei Prefectural City that has heavy Hailufeng Min
influences. In Luhe County, most people speak Hakka.
Jieyang Hakka is an unclassified separate Hakka language spoken in
the city of Jieyang that has a lot of Teochew influences.
Puning Hakka is an unclassified Hakka variety with heavy influence
from Puning Teochew.
Raoping Hakka is an unclassified separate Hakka language spoken
in the city of Raoping with a lot of influences from Teochew.

Southwestern Guangdong
Hakka is spoken in a few dialect islands here and there along the
Southeastern Guangdong coast. All of these Hakka varieties are
unclassified, which implies that they are highly divergent. These
varieties are very poorly known and have probably come under severe
Cantonese influence. These speakers arrived here from the Meixian
area 200 years ago.
Dianbai Hakka is spoken in Dianbai County in the far south of
Guangdong in the Leizhou Min speaking zone. Hakka is spoken in the
far north of the county in the Xiadong District in a few villages and in
the Daya, Guanzhou, Huangling, Luokeng, Nahuo, Shalang, and
Wangfu Districts.

Guangxi
Hakka is also spoken in the north, south and east of Guangxi. There
are 4.6 million Hakka speakers in Guangxi. They arrived in Northern
Guangxi 300 years ago from the Meixian area. Nevertheless, there are
now many differences between Meixian Hakka and Guangxi Hakka.
Language to language comparisons show up to 11 major and 100
total differences between Meixian and Guangxi Hakka.

Eastern Guangxi
Mengshan Xihe Hakka is spoken in Eastern Guangxi. Mengshan
Xihe is a separate language.

Southern Guangxi
Hakka in Southern Guangxi has been significantly affected by
Southwestern Mandarin. It also seems to be developing its own
regional Guangxi Hakka vocabulary. These speakers came from the
Meixian area 200 years ago.
Binyang Hakka is a separate language spoken in the city of Binyang.
They are Meixian speakers who came to Guangxi 400 years ago. The
language is now very different from Meixian. It is quite probably a
separate language.
Fengchangguang Hakka must be a separate language. They
originally came from Dapu, but it is very different from Dapu now. A
study found over 100 differences between Fengchangguang Hakka
and Meixian. In addition, the study found that Guangxi Hakka was
developing its own vocabulary.
Mashan Old Naxing Hakka is spoken in Mashan Old Naxing village.
It is located far from other Hakka and has come under the influence
of other Sinitic and non-Sinitic languages such that it is now very
different. It is surely a separate language.
Pinxiang Hakka is a separate language spoken in Liujin village in
Xiashi Township in Pingxiang City in Chongzhuo Prefectural City in
Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern Guangxi in the border with
Vietnam.
Yulin Hakka is a separate Hakka language spoken in Xing Ye Xian
village in the city of Yulin in Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern
Guangxi.

Hainan
Hakka speakers first arrived in Hainan from the Meixian area in 1800,
with many more arriving while fleeing the Hakka-Cantonese wars in
Guangdong in the 1860's.
Danzou Hakka is s a distinct type of Hakka is spoken by 2,000
Hakkas in spoken in four different varieties in four different villages
near the Songtou Reservoir in far southwestern corner of the city of
Danzou on Hainan. It is unintelligible with Mainland Hakka, although it
resembles Meixian. Formerly they were spread out a lot more around
the island, but after the reservoir was built, they moved over near it.

Hong Kong
Hakka speakers began arriving in Hong Kong anywhere from 150-375
years ago. The earliest arrivals came from Huiyang 375 years ago.
The latest arrivals came from the Fujian Hakka zone 150 years ago.
They mostly came from the Meixian area 200 years ago.
In 1921, reports said that Hakka was one of the three major
languages of Hong Kong, and it was subdivided into various varieties
that differed considerably with each other. Hakka is seriously
endangered in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has 1.25 million Hakka, but
only 6,000 speak the language anymore.
Dongguan Hong Kong is spoken near Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Hakka is not intelligible with the Taiwanese, Dabu, or
Meixian. It is spoken in the New Territories in Sam Tung Uk and Yim
Tin Tsai Villages on the Sai Kung Peninsula, in Hoi Pa Village in Tsuen
Wan, in Shatin, in Taipo, in Shataukok, in Sai Kung Yam Tin Chi, in
Island Bridge, in Ho Sheung Heung, in Yen Kong, in Ebara, in Shujian
Village in Southern Yuen Long, and in Eastern Yuen Long.
Many Hong Kong varieties are similar to the Hakka spoken around
Huiyang in Eastern Guangdong. This group moved from that area to
Hong Kong as the beginning of the Qing Dynasty 375 years ago. By
1700, they had built more than 400 Hakka villages in the Hong Kong
area.
Despite the fact that Hong Kong varieties seem most similar to Hakka
varieties spoken in Eastern and Northeastern Guangdong, many Hong
Kong Hakka also trace their origins to Guangxi.
Shataukok Hakka is spoken in Shataukok in the rural area of the
New Territories. It is different from the rest of Hong Kong, and
evidence indicates that Shataukok may indeed be a separate
language. Shataukok has a number of dialects within it, and they are
different, but they may be more or less mutually intelligible. However,
the MI is difficult to characterize, as it is said that speakers of other
dialects can “get the gist” of what the other speakers are saying.
“Getting the gist” of a dialect usually implies less than 90%
intelligibility.
Shujian Hakka is spoken in Shuijian Village in the southern part of
Yuen Long. It is completely different from the rest of Hong Kong. They
moved to Hong Kong from Western Fujian 150 years ago. Shujian is
said to be similar to Boluo Hakka in Northeastern Guangdong, but this
has not been proven.
Shujian is best seen as a separate language, completely apart from
the rest of Hong Kong. This language is now spoken only by older
people who are ashamed of their language and generally refuse to
speak it with outsiders.
Taipo is a Hong Kong dialect spoken in the village of the same name
in Hong Kong.
Wakia is a Hong Kong dialect also spoken in Hong Kong.

Jiangxi
There are 12.5 million Hakka speakers in Jiangxi, the second largest
population outside of Guangdong. Jiangxi is home to the oldest
population of Hakka speakers. This group moved south from the
northern plains down into Hunan and Jiangxi starting in 400. More
moved in after the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 900.
Southern Jiangxi Hakka is among the most diverse Hakka of all, with
each county having its own Hakka language and difficult intelligibility
from county to county if not from village to village. Hakka in Southern
Jiangxi seems related to Southern Gan and both seem to have a
common root. Hakka speakers here are heavily interspersed with Gan
speakers and the two languages have intermingled quite a bit.
In Southern Jiangxi, the Ninglong or Gannan Group of Hakka is
spoken. It is extremely diverse compared to the Hakka of Guangdong
and Fujian. Ninglong Hakka varieties differ even from village to
village.
With Ninglong, we may be dealing with a situation of many different
languages, as with Wu, Hui, Tuhua, and Xiang. In fact, it is possible
that with Jiangxi Hakka, we may be dealing with every Hakka variety
being a separate language.
Ninglong was formerly split in two major subgroups, Bendi (Locals)
and Keji (Immigrants). Bendi varieties are some of the most divergent
Hakka varieties of all, while Keji varieties are more traditional, having
moved out of the core Meixian area 350 years ago.
Bendi varieties are sometimes referred to as “Paleo-Hakka.” These
seem to be the remains of the first speakers of Hakka which
developed in the Southern Highlands around 500 AD. The later Hakka
varieties mostly moved out of the core Hakka area of Northern
Guangdong, Southern Jiangxi and Southwestern Fujian only 350 years
ago, so they are less diverse.
The hypothesis is that all members of Ninglong Hakka in Southern
Jiangxi are separate languages.

Northern Jiangxi
Hakka speakers migrated to this area from the Meixian area 300
yearas ago.
Dageng Hakka is spoken 10 miles north of the city of Yushan in
Yushan County, located on Shangrao Prefectural City in far
Northeastern Jiangxi.
Fengxin Hakka is a separate language, a member of the Tonggu
Group spoken in the northern part of Yichun Prefectural City in
Northwestern Jiangxi.
Jing'an Hakka is a separate language, a member of the Tonggu
Group spoken in Jing'an County in the northeastern part of part of
Yichun Prefectural City in Northwest Jiangxi.
Tonggu Hakka, spoken in Tonggu County in the northeastern part of
Yichun Prefectural City in Northwestern Jiangxi, is a member of a
completely separate group of Hakka, the Tonggu Group of Hakka, so it
must be a separate language. Tonggu speakers came from Wuhua a
while back. Tonggu is a huge group of highly diverse Hakka languages
spoken in the northern part of Jiangxi and in Hunan far outside of the
main Hakka area. Most if not all Tonggu varieties are probably
separate languages.
Wanzai Hakka is a separate language, a member of the Tonggu
Group spoken in Wanzai County in Eastern Yichun Prefectural City in
Northwestern Jiangxi.
Yifeng Hakka is a member of the Tonggu Group spoken in Yifeng
County in Central Yichun Prefectural City in Northwestern Jiangxi.

Southern Jiangxi
Anyuan Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in Anyuan
County in Southern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southern Jiangxi.
Dingnan Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in Dingnan
County Southern Guanzhou Prefectural City in far Southern Jiangxi.
Hechang Hakka is spoken in Hechang Township in Nankang District
in Eastern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southwestern Jiangxi.
Longnan Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in Longnan
County in Southern Guanzhou Prefectural City in far Southern Jiangxi.
Ningdu Hakka is a separate language, part of Ninglong spoken in
Ningdu County in Northern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southern
Jiangxi.
Quannan Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in
Southwestern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southern Jiangxi.
Ruijin Hakka is a part of Ninglong Hakka spoken in Ruijin County in
Eastern Guangzhou Prefectural City in Southern Jiangxi. It is very
different and is a separate language.
It looks a lot like Gan and in fact is thought to be transitional to Gan
(Sagart 1998).
Shicheng Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in
Shicheng County in Northeastern Guanzhou Prefectural City in
Southeastern Jiangxi.
Xinfeng Tieshikou Hakka is a member of the Ninglong Group and a
separate language spoken in Xinfeng County by 90% of the
population in Southern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southern Jiangxi.
Xingguo Hakka a separate language that is part of the Ninglong
Group spoken in Xingguo County in Northern Ganzhuo Prefectural City
in Southern Jiangxi.
Xunwu Hakka is a separate Ninglong language spoken in Xunwu
County in Southeastern Guanzhou Prefectural City in Southeastern
Jiangxi.
Yiqian Hakka is a Ninglong language spoken in Yiqian Township in
Guangfeng County in far Southern Fuzhou Prefectural City in East-
Central Jiangxi. Gan is heavily spoken here.
Yongfeng Hakka is a Ninglong language spoken in Yongfeng County
in Ji'an Prefectural City in Central Jiangxi.

Sichuan
Hakka speakers immigrated to Sichuan a long time ago.
In the mid to late 1600's, Sichuan was ruled by a murderous ruler
who set up the Xi Empire there. It only lasted for several decades
before it fell apart. Towards the end, paranoid or outside rebellions,
he said that all of his subjects were traitors and went about
massacring them. His massacres are said to be some of the worst in
Chinese history. When he was done, he had murdered 1/3 of
population, including men and women.
A massive famine and disease epidemic followed this depopulation,
and even more people fled the area. Chengdu was a ghost city with
tigers roaming the streets. The few survivors were often attacked by
tigers. In 1670, the Manchus conquered the Xi Empire. The Emperor
noticed that the Hakka were living in an impoverished state in
Guangdong so he asked them to repopulate Sichuan. So the Hakka
dialect islands in Sichuan date from 200-350 years ago.
Six Hakka varieties – Longtanshi Hakka, Longcheng Hakka, Yilong
Hakka, Huanglianguan Hakka, Panlong Hakka, Xindu Hakka,
and are the main Hakka islands in Sichuan. Although they have
commonalities, they are all also quite different. Quite probably all of
them are separate languages.
Chengdu Hakka is spoken in Chengdu, Sichuan. It is quite different
from other forms of Hakka and has poor intelligibility with other
forms. At the moment, Hakka is the main means of communication in
the Jinjiang, Jinniu, Chenghua, Longquanyi, Xindu, and Qingbaijiang
Districts in Chengdu.
Longcheng Hakka is spoken in Longcheng by Hakka who immigrated
there a long time ago. It has since come under heavy influence from
Longcheng Southwestern Mandarin.
Longtanshi Hakka speakers came from Mei County in Guangdong
long ago, but now Meixian and Longtanshi are very different. It
resembles Wuhua and Xingning more and has since come under
heavy influence from Chengdu Southwestern Mandarin.
Yilong Hakka speakers came to Sichuan 200 years ago.
Hakka varieties are also spoken in various other places in Sichuan
such as Longwang, Sansheng, Shibantan, Shiling, Taixing, Tianhui,
and Xihe, all spoken in the named locations. All have come under
heavy influence from Southwestern Mandarin.
There are 3.8 million Hakka speakers in Sichuan.
 Taiwan
Hakka speakers began arriving in Taiwan with the fall of Ming Dynasty
in the late 1600's, when impoverished Hakka speakers in Guangdong
moved into Sichuan, Taiwan and other places, but most of them came
200 years ago in the early 1800's. They continued to trickle in until
1900, when the Japanese banned further immigration from China.
Most Hakka speakers in Taiwan are part of a group that arrived 200
years ago.
Taiwanese Hakka has been spoken on Taiwan for a very long time,
though the language has gone into a serious decline. In general,
speakers of other kinds of Hakka find to be hard to understand,
possibly due to Southern Min influence. Hakka speakers make up only
5% of the population of Taiwan. Almost all are proficient in Mandarin
or Hokkien, and there are few monolinguals left.
However, as of 2001, it was still easy to find fluent speakers of Sixian,
Hailu and Raoping. Most speakers are older, but speakers in their 30's
were not unusual (Opper 2009-2010).
Sixian, Hailu, Dongshi or Dapu Taiwanese Hakka, and Raoping and are
the main varieties spoken on Taiwan. It was reported earlier that
Sixian, Dongshi and Hailu were not mutually intelligible, hence the
necessity of creating the mixed Gaoxiong Taiwanese Hakka koine in
order that these three varieties could communicate with each other.
The koine was reportedly not mutually intelligible with Sixian,
Dongshi, or Hailu either, but if learned, could be used to communicate
with the other varieties.
However, new research indicates that as of 2001, Sixian, Hailu, and
Raoping Taiwanese Hakkas were mutually intelligible (Opper 2009-
2010).
Dongshi or Dapu Taiwanese Hakka speakers came from Dapu
County, Guangdong.
Fengshun or Fengcheng Taiwanese Hakka is also spoken in
Taiwan. Fengshun came from Fengshun and Jieyang Counties in
Guangdong. Fengshun still has a few speakers left on Taiwan. This is a
separate language since it is a separate language in China. Fengshun
is hard for other Taiwanese Hakka speakers to understand.
Hailu comes from Huizhou Prefecture. Hailu is a Bendihua dialect.
Jiexi Taiwanese Hakka is another Hakka that is still spoken here
and there in Taiwan. Jiexi is a county in Guangdong and a full
language there, so it may be one here too.
Raoping is apparently mutually intelligible with Sixian and Hailu
according to new research as of 2001 (Opper 2009-2010). Raoping
speakers came from Chaozhou Prefecture, specifically Raoping and
Huilai Counties, in Guangdong.
Sihai is the name of the present koine, a combination of Sixian and
Hailu, the two most widely spoken dialects.
Sixhai Taiwanese Hakka used to be spoken on Taiwan but is now
extinct. It was a separate language.
Sixian (Four Counties) is currently the most widely spoken Hakka
dialect in Taiwan. The name came from the four Guangdong counties
of Rumei, Wuhua, Jiaoling, and Pingyuan. But Sixian speakers
generally came from Jiaoling, so Sixian currently resembles Jiaoling
more than Meixian. Nevertheless, Sixian is said to be very close to
Meixian. Despite that, intelligibility between Sixian and Meixian is
poor.
Sixian is divided into two main dialects, Miaoli and Liudui. The
differences between the two are so significant that Sixian speaking
contests for young people have been broken up into separate Miaoli
and Luidui contests.
However, if Sixian, Raoping, and Hailu are mutually intelligible, Sixian
cannot be unintelligible inside of itself. The situation is confused.
Taoyuan, Xinzhu, Zutian, and Gaoxiong (Opper 2009-2010) are all
dialects of Sixian. All of these dialects are mutually intelligible. Guanxi
Sixian shows considerable influence from Hailu.
Tingzhou Taiwanese Hakka is extremely different and is surely a
separate language. Tingzhou comes from the Changting, Ninghua,
Qingliu, Guihua, and Liancheng Counties of Tingzhou Prefecture in
Fujian. Tingzhou and Zhao'an are the two most divergent Hakka
languages on Taiwan. Tingzhou is hardly spoken anymore and may be
extinct on Taiwan.
Western Fujian Taiwanese Hakka, was formerly spoken on Taiwan
but is now extinct. It was probably a separate language.
Wuhua Taiwanese Hakka is spoken in patches in Taiwan. As Wuhua
is a full language in China, it is in Taiwan also.
Wuping Taiwanese Hakka is another Taiwanese Hakka that is still
spoken here and there in Taiwan. Since Wuping is a full language in
China, it is one here in Taiwan also.
Xihai is still spoken in the north of Taiwan.
Xingning Taiwanese Hakka is still spoken in a few places. It is a
separate language because it is a separate language in China.
Yangmei is a dialect of Hailu (Opper 2009-2010).
Yongding Taiwanese Hakka is said to be extinct on Taiwan, though
it still has a few speakers. Yongding is surely a separate language.
Yongding speakers came from Yongding, Shanghang, and Wuping
Counties of Tingzhou Prefecture of Fujian near Zhao'an.
Zhangzhou Taiwanese Hakka, was formerly spoken on Taiwan. It is
now extinct. It was no doubt a separate language.
Zhao'an Taiwanese Hakka is very different and must be a separate
language. Zhao'an came from the Zhao'an, Pinghe, Nanjing, and
Hua'an Counties of Zhangzhou Prefecture in Fujian. Zhao'an cannot
understand the other Hakka varieties on Taiwan.
There are 4.6 million Hakka speakers in Taiwan.

Zhejiang
There are also some Hakka speakers in the far south of Zhejiang
around Taishan County. They have come under the heavy influence of
Wu, Zhenan Min and Manhua.
Jingning She Hakka is very different from the Hakka varieties
around it.
Taishun Hakka is spoken in Taishun County, but it has only 1,600
elderly speakers.
Taishun She Hakka is spoken by the She minority in that county. It
is very different from Taishun. It has 2,600 speakers.
There are 1 million Hakka speakers in Zhejiang.

Overseas
Overseas Hakka is a group of Hakka languages spoken outside of
China and Taiwan. There are 5 million Hakkas living overseas, mostly
in Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Burma, Singapore, Vietnam,
Indonesia, Central America, and the UK. Most Overseas Hakka
speakers in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Americas came 120 years
ago around 1900.

India
Calcutta Hakka is a Meixian variety spoken in a part of Calcutta.
Calcutta Hakka run many tanning factories in the area and have
gotten quite rich via running these factories.

Indonesia
Most Hakka speakers in Indonesia came 120 years ago around 1900.
Most elderly Hakka speakers in Belitung and Singkawang are Hakka
monolinguals who cannot speak Bahasa Indonesia at all. These elderly
speakers have to bring interpreters with them when they go to the
doctor. Although some Indonesian Hakka speakers speak a very pure
Hakka, these are mostly the oldest generation. The younger
generations speak a language that is very heavily adulterated with
Indonesian languages.
Bangka Island Indonesian Hakka, spoken on Bangka Island in
Indonesia, has diverged so radically with its tones that it is now a
separate language, as speakers of other Indonesian Hakka varieties
say they cannot understand Bangka Island speakers. It's actually a
Hakka creole, a Hopo language that is heavily mixed with Malay.
Belitung (Ngion Voi) Indonesian Hakka is spoken mostly on
Sumatra and Borneo. Belitung is characterized by a soft way of
speaking and is mostly derived from Meixian speakers. Belitung
cannot understand Kun Dian, but Kun Dian can understand Belitung.
East Timor Hakka is a variety of Meixian spoken in East Timor.
Indonesian Hailu Hakka is spoken somewhere in Indonesia.
Jakarta Hakka is a variety spoken in Jakarta. They were originally
Meixian speakers who later mixed with Kun Dian, Belitung and Bangka
speakers.
Kun Dian Hakka is spoken in Borneo. Kun Dian is the largest Hakka
group in Indonesia. Most live at Pontianak and Singkawang, where
they speak two different mutually intelligible varieties, and but they
have spread all over Indonesia. Kun Dian is also spoken in Jakarta,
Medan and Surabaya. It has 80% intelligibility of Sabah (Longchuan)
Malay Hakka and Hong Kong. Belitung and Bangka Island say they
cannot understand Kun Dian, but Kun Dian speakers say they can
understand the other two for the most part.
Pontianak is a Kun Dian dialect. It was originally a type of Hopo or
Huizhou that has been influenced by Teochew, Malay and Dayak
languages.
Singkawang is a Kun Dian dialect that was originally a type of Jiexi
that later mixed heavily with Hopo along with some Huilai and Wuhua.
There are 1.5 million Hakkas in Indonesia speaking three different
Hakka languages.

Jamaica
Jamaican Hakka is a type of Hakka is still spoken in Jamaica by Hakka
people who arrived there in starting in 1850, with most arriving in
1900. Little is known about it, but it may be quite different. It is not
intelligible at all with Taiwanese Hakka, but it sounds a lot like
Malaysian and Indonesian Hakka. Jamaican Hakka is exactly the same
as Pontianak Hakka spoken in Indonesia, hence it is a dialect of
Pontianak. Jamaican is a Huizhou variety.
There are 4,000 Hakka speakers in Jamaica.

Malaysia
Most Hakka speakers came to Malaysia from the Meixian area 120
years ago around 1900.
In the late 1800's, there were Hakkas speaking Yongding, Fengshun,
and Jengcheng Hakka varieties from Guangdong in Singapore,
Penang, Malacca, and Tel Anson on the Malay Peninsula. It is not
known whether these varieties are still spoken. Most Hakka varieties
in Malaysia are full of Malay loans. Malay Hakka is not intelligible with
Taiwanese Hakka.
There are also some Hakka speakers around Ipoh, Perak (in Beruas
and Pusing), Pulai, Raub, Kuala Krai, Sitiawan, Selangor, Serambam
(where there are many speakers), and Kuala Lumpur on the Malay
Peninsula.
Beraus Hakka, spoken in Beraus, is apparently not readily intelligible
with Pusing Hakka, though it is close to it. This is a Longchuan
variety.
Kuala Lumpur Dapu Hakka is very different from the Dapu spoken
in China. It is now heavily creolized with Malay. It is quite probably a
separate language. It is heavily spoken in the Serdang and Ampang
regions of the capital.
Kuala Lumpur Huizhou Hakka is a Huizhou variety spoken in Kuala
Lumpur. Hakka speakers live in the central city in Kuala Lumpur.
Ho Po Hak Hakka is the Hakka variety spoken in Kunming, Kuching,
and Miri in Sarawak in Malaysia and is similar to Hopo. Ho Po Hak is
very different from the Hakka spoken in Sabah, Malaysia. Although Ho
Po Hak speakers make up 70% of the Sarawak Hakka population,
there are speakers of other Hakka varieties in Sarawak also.
Ipoh Hakka is spoken in Ipoh.
Penang Hakka is a Huiyang variety still spoken in Penang. It is not
known how close this is to Sabah Hakka, which is also derived from
Huiyang.
Perak Hakka is a Meixian variety spoken in Perak, while those in
Beruas and Pusing speak a Longchuan language.
Pulai Hakka is spoken in Pulai in the far south of Kelantan. Pulai
Hakka cannot understand any Taiwanese Hakka. They arrived in the
1600's to early 1700's to mine gold. Intelligibility with the rest of
Malaysian Hakka is not known.
Pusing Hakka is not intelligible outside the city of Pusing. This is a
Longchuan variety.
Sabah Hakka is still widely spoken on Sabah. The majority (57%) of
the Chinese in Sabah are Hakka. Many arrived in the 1860's fleeing
the massacres perpetrated by the Manchus following the failed Taiping
Rebellion. This group settled in Sandakan. Others were brought from
Longchuan County, Guangdong to Kudat in 1882 as laborers by the
North Borneo Chartered Company. Sabah Hakka looks like Huiyang
and Bao'an spoken around Shenzen. The main Hakka centers in
Sabah are the cities of Sandakan, Kudat, Kota Kinabalu, and Tawau.
Intelligibility with Huiyang, Bao'an and Longchuan in China is not
known.
Sarawak Hakka has speakers of Dapu, Fengshun, Huizhou, Bao'an,
Dongguan, Lufeng, Wuhua, Meixian, and Yongding. These speakers
probably cannot be classed as Ho Po Hak. So Sarawak Dapu Hakka,
Sarawak Fengshun Hakka, Sarawak Huizhou Hakka, Sarawak Bao'an
Hakka, Sarawak Dongguan Hakka, Sarawak Lufeng Hakka, Sarawak
Wuhua Hakka, Sarawak Meixian Hakka, and Sarawak Yongding Hakka
are all spoken in Sarawak.
Taiping Hakka is a Hakka variety spoken in the city of Taiping in
Northern Malaysia. There are many different different types of Hakka
spoken in this city alone. We will call these Taiping Hakka A and
Taiping Hakka B until we get more information.
There are 1.25 million Hakkas in Malaysia speaking at least two
different Hakka languages.

Singapore
In Singapore, most Hakkas speak Meixian and Dapu varieties.
Intelligibility of Singapore Hakka with other Malaysian Hakkas or the
Chinese Hakkas they are derived from is not known. Hakka speakers
came to Singapore in large numbers 120 years ago around 1900.
Singapore Dapu Hakka is a variety of Dapu spoken in Singapore.
Singapore Meixian Hakka is a variety of Meixian spoken in Singapore.
There are 200,000 Hakka speakers in Singapore.

Thailand
Banshan Hakka is based on Fengshun, Meixian, and Jiexi. Although
it has been affected by Teochew influence in Bangkok, Bangkok is still
a relatively pure type of Hakka. Nevertheless, it has undergone
dramatic changes compared to the original language. It is probably a
separate language. It now has mostly elderly speakers.
There are 550,000 Hakka speakers in Thailand.

Vietnam
Ngái Hakka is spoken by a group of Tanka fisherpeople in Vietnam
called the Ngái. It is a small group of only 1,000 speakers. This Hakka
language no doubt is quite different due to contact with Vietnamese,
and it is probably a separate language.
However, there are 150,000 Hakka speakers in Vietnam, and there
must be other Hakka lects spoken by them, but we know nothing
about them.

Classification
Belitung, Hong Kong, Huizhou, Jamaican, and Kuala Lumpur Huizhou
are members of the Huizhou Group of Hakka, which has five varieties.
Anyuan, Dingnan, Hechang, Longnan, Ningdu, Quannan, Ruijin,
Shicheng, Xinfeng Tieshikou, Xingguo, Xunwu, Yiqian, and Yongfeng
are in the Ninglong Group of Hakka, which has 13 varieties, all
separate languages.
The Tingzhou Group of Hakka has two subgroups: Mingxi and
Liancheng.
Changting, Mingxi, Nanban Zhangwu Liwu, Ninghua, Qingliu, Sarawak
Yongding, Shanghang, Taiwanese Tingzhou, Taiwanese Yongding,
Xinquan, and Yongding are all part of the Mingxi Group of Tingzhou,
which has 11 varieties, all separate languages.
Dikeng Tangqian, Dongnancun Xinquan, Gaoding Juxi, Hengming
Wenheng, Jiangshe Miaoqian, Lelian Xinquan, Linguo Xinquan, Puxi
Dongxiduan Quxi, Qiaotou Quxi, Shangjian Zhenbian Sipu, Shengxing
Xuanhe, Wangcheng Pengkou, Zhixi Miaoqian, and Zhuyu Gechuan
are all members of the Liancheng subgroup of Tingzhou, which has 14
varieties, all separate languages.
Tonggu and 33 others are members of the Tonggu Group of Hakka,
which has 34 varieties.
Lechang, Liannan, Lianshan, Lianzhou, Nanxiong, Renhua, Ruyuan,
Shixing, Wengyuan, Yingde, and Yangshan are members of the Yuebei
Group of Hakka, which has 11 varieties.
The Yuetai Group of Hakka is split into four groups: Jiaying, Shaonan,
Xinghua, and Xinhui. The Yuetai Group of Hakka has 58 varieties.
Belitung, East Timor, Gaoxiong, Jakarta, Jiaoling, Liudui, Meixian,
Miaoli, Perak Meixian, Pingyuan, Sarawak Meixian, Sihai, Singapore
Meixian, Sixian, Taoyuan, and Xinzu are members of the Jiaying
subgroup of Yuetai, which has 15 varieties.
Qujiang, Shaoguan, and Yingde are members of the Shaonan
subgroup of Yuetai, which has three varieties.
Chitan, Dapu, Dongguan, Fengshun, Hanshan, Kuala Lumpur Dapu,
Sarawak Dapu, Sarawak Dongguan, Sarawak Fengshun, Sarawak
Wuhua, Sin On, Taichung Dongshi, Taiwanese Fengshun, Taiwanese
Xingning, Taiwanese Wuhua, Wuhua, Xingning, and Zijin are members
of the Xinghua subgroup of Yuetai, which has 18 varieties.
Xinghua Yuetai has 3.4 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Bao'an, Bangka Island, Chaoyang, Conghua, Fogang, Hopo, Ho Po
Hak, Huidong, Huilai, Huiyang, Jamaican, Jiexi, Kun Dian, Penang,
Pontianak, Qingyuan, Sabah Huiyang, Sarawak Bao'an, Sarawak
Lufeng, Singkawang, Xinfeng, and Zengcheng are in the Xinhui
subgroup of Yuetai, which has 21 varieties.
Xinhui Yuetai has 2.4 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Beraus, Boluo, Chetian, Dongyuan, Heping, Heyuan, Huangbu,
Huicheng, Lianping, Longchuan, Shujian, Sidu, and Tuocheng are
members of the Yuezhong Group of Hakka, which has 12 varieties.
The Yugui Group of Hakka has 43 varieties.
Binyang, Chaozhou, Chengdu, Dayu, Fengchangguang, Fu'an, Fu'an
She, Haifeng, Hainanese, Huanglianguan, Jieyang, Longchang,
Longtanshi, Longwang, Longyan, Lufeng, Luhe, Manshan Old Naxing,
Mengshan Xihe, Nanjing Qujiang, Ngái, Panlong, Pinxiang, Puding,
Raoping, Sansheng, Shibantan, Suixi, Shiling, Taiping A, Taiping B,
Taixing, Tianhui, Xindu, Xihai, Xihe, Yilong, Yulin, Zhaoan, and Zhaoan
Xiuzhuan are unclassified. There are 36 unclassified varieties of
Hakka.
There are 12 major Hakka groups and 237 Hakka varieties. Others
claim that there are over 1,000 Hakka varieties spoken in China.
There are 45 million Hakkas in the world and 30 million speakers of
the Hakka languages.

Xiang
Xiang is an extremely diverse group of Chinese languages mostly
spoken in Henan Province, but also in Sichuan, and a bit in Guangxi
and Chongqing. According to good sources, there is a tremendous
amount of linguistic diversity in Western Hunan, and most of it
probably involves Xiang varieties, where most if not all of the main
varieties are not mutually intelligible.

The Changyi Group of Xiang

All Changyi languages are spoken in Hunan.
Changsha Xiang has only only 47% intelligibility of Shuangfeng
(Cheng 1997). It is spoken in Changsha Prefectural City in
Northwestern Hunan. Changsha is prestige Xiang language.
In fact, Changsha itself is divided into multiple languages in the city
itself. We do not know how many there are, but we know that they
exist. For the moment, we shall add Changsha as a macrolanguage
and divide it into at least two separate languages spoken in the
prefectural city, one of which is Wugang.
Ningxiang Xiang is a Xiang macrolanguage spoken Ningxiang County
in Changsha Prefectural City. It is very different from Changsha.
The Xiang in Ningxiang County is split into two separate varieties,
North Ningxiang and South Ningxiang. The differences between the
two are great. Upper Ningxiang looks more like a Lianyuan dialect,
and Lower Ningxiang looks more like a Changsha dialect. Both
Lianyuan and Changsha are Changyi languages.
Beyond that, Ningxiang is split into four major divisions – Chengguan
Xiang, Huaminglou Xiang, Liushahe Xiang, and Shuangjiangkou Xiang.
Liuyang Xiang is a Xiang macrolanguage spoken in Liuyang county-
level city in Changsha Prefectural City near the Jiangxi border. Liuyang
is split into five divisions – North Liuyang Xiang, South Liuyang Xiang,
West Liuyang Xiang, East Liuyang Xiang, and Liuyang City Xiang.
South and East cannot understand each other. On closer observation,
none of the Liuyang varieties are intelligible with each other. A
Liuyang koine was created in recent years that is understandable to
speakers of all Liuyang languages.
Even within this classification, each of the five Liuyang languages has
multiple dialects. Each village has its own dialect of Liuyang.
In the city of Yiyang, three Chinese varieties are spoken. One is a
Changyi Xiang language, another is a Luoshao Xiang language, and a
third is Luoyang Southwest Mandarin. All are separate languages.
Henghshan Xiang is a Xiang macrolanguage with vast dialectal
divergence divided by Mount Hengshan.
There are two Hengshan varieties on either side of the mountain –
one in the southeast and another in the northwest - that are very
different and must be separate languages.

Hunan
Baishi Xiang, a separate Changyi language spoken near the city of
Xiangtan, is very different.
Changsha City Xiang is a good name for one of the Changyi
languages in the city of Changsha in Changsha Prefectural City. The
first language is Wugang. There are at least two Xiang languages
spoken in Changsha Prefectural City. Furthermore, there are
significant differences between the Changsha in the city of Changsha
and the Changsha in the surrounding countryside.
Chengguan Xiang is a separate Changyi language spoken in
Ningxiang County in Changsha Prefectural City, one of the four
divisions of Ninxiang.
East Liuyang Xiang is spoken on the east side of the city of Liuyang
in Liuyang Prefectural City. It is a separate Changyi language, not
intelligible with South Liuyang Xiang.
Guzhang Xiang or Sikehua is a Sinitic language spoken in Guzhang
County that has traditionally been considered a Hakka language. New
analysis indicates that it is actually a type of Changyi Xiang.
Considering the strong Hakka influence, this must be a separate
language.
Hengyang Xiang is a separate Changyi language. There is significant
dialectal diversity in Hengyang.
Houshan Xiang is a separate Changyi Xiang language spoken on the
northwest side of Mount Hengshan in Hunan. It is very different from
Qianshan Xiang, which is spoken on the southeast of the mountain.
Huaminglou Xiang is a separate Changyi language spoken in
Ningxiang County in Changsha Prefectural City in Hunan and one of
four divisions of Ningxiang.
Jiashanqiang Xiang is a separate Changyi Xiang language spoken in
Hunan in a transitional area in the center of Mount Hengshan
containing features of both Houshan on the northwest of the
mountain and Qianshan Xiang on the east. There are 354 villages in
the Hengshan Mountain area.
Lianyuan Xiang is a separate Changyi Xiang language spoken near
Xiangtan in Hunan. Lianyuan has quite a few dialects in it.
Liushahe Xiang is a separate Changyi language spoken in Ningxiang
County in Changsha Prefectural City in Hunan. This is one of four
Ninxiang languages.
Liuyang City Xiang is a separate language spoken in the city of
Liuyang in Hunan , the koine that has developed recently to allow all
Xiang speakers in Liuyang to talk to each other.
Liling Xiang is also spoken around Xiangtan in Hunan and must be a
separate language.
North Liuyang Xiang is also a separate language, as all Liuyang
languages are mutually unintelligible.
Qianshan Xiang is a separate Xiang language spoken on the
southeast side of Mount Hengshan in Hunan. It is very different from
Houshan spoken on the northwest of the mountain.
Shaodong Xiang is a separate Xiang language spoken in Hunan in
Shaodong County, which borders Hengyang County. There are
transitional dialects between the Hengyang and Shaodong languages
on the border of the two counties.
Shaoshan Xiang is another separate Xiang language spoken near
Xiangtan in Hunan. Shaoshan has a number of dialects within it.
Shuangjiangkou Xiang is a separate language spoken in Ningxiang
County in Changsha Prefectural City Hunan, one of four divisions in
Ningxiang.
South Liuyang Xiang is a separate language spoken on the south
side of the city of Liuyang in Liuyang Prefectural City in Hunan, not
intelligible with East Liuyang Xiang.
West Liuyang Xiang is also a separate language spoken on the west
side of in the city of Liuyang in Liuyang Prefectural City in Hunan,
unintelligible with the rest of the Liuyang languages.
Wugang Xiang is a separate language spoken in the city of
Changsha in the Prefectural City of Changsha in Hunan, one of at
least two Xiang languages spoken in the city of Changsha.
Xiangtan Xiang, a separate Xiang language spoken in the city of
Xiangtan in Hunan, was the language of Mao Zedong. Mao was noted
for speaking a notoriously difficult Xiang language, about which it was
said, "No one can understand it." Of the people around him, only his
secretary could understand him when he spoke Xiang. Xiangtan itself
is internally diverse, with differences between the varieties of the city
of Xiantan itself and rural areas.
Yueyang Xiang is a separate Changyi Xiang language spoken in the
city of Yueyang on the shores of Dongting Lake in Hunan, a famous
tourist attraction.
Yiyang Changyi Xiang is the Changyi language spoken in the city of
Yiyang in Hunan, and it must be a separate language.

The Jixu Group of Xiang

All of the Jixu varieties are spoken in Hunan.

Hunan
Jishou Xiang appears to be a separate language. It is unintelligible
outside of the region.

The Luoshao Group of Xiang

Most Luoshao varieties are spoken in Henan, but there are a few
Luoshao islands in Guangxi.

Guangxi
There are also a few Luoshao Xiang islands spoken in Guangxi.
Quanzhou Xiang is a separate Xiang language in Guangxi as a
Luoshao Xiang island. It has extreme differences with Hunan Luoshao
languages like Shuangfeng.
 Hunan
Gantang Xiang, spoken in only one town in Shuangfeng County, is
probably different enough to be a separate language.
Lingshuijiang Xiang, spoken by 300,000 people in Lingshuijiang
County, is a separate language, as each county in the Xiang region
has its own Xiang language.
Shuangfeng Xiang is a separate language spoken in Shuangfeng
County. Shuangfeng is also very different within itself, as the
vocabulary changes every 10 miles or so. In addition, the Xiang
varieties of surrounding counties are all quite different from
Shuangfeng.
Yiyang Luoshao Xiang is the Luoshao language spoken in Yiyang
and must be a separate language, as it is in a different Xiang group
than the Changyi language spoken in Yiyang.

The Shuitang Group of Xiang

The small Shuitang group is spoken in Southwestern Hunan on the
border of Southeastern Guangxi.
Shuihui Xiang and Suantang Xiang are both spoken in Southwestern
Hunan on the border with Southeastern Guangxi in regions where
Hmong and Dong people have been living for many years.
Consequently, a lot Hmong and Dong influences went into both over
time. Later on, Southwestern Mandarin become widely spoken in the
region, and both varieties were even reclassified as Southwestern
Mandarin varieties. But neither language is Mandarin. Instead, they
look much more like Xiang.
Suantang Xiang itself is very different. It is spoken by 80,000 Hmong
in the towns of Baibu, Dabaozi, Dihu, and Sanquiao in Jingzhou and
Huitong Counties in Hunan and in Tianzhou County in Guizhou. It has
Southwest Mandarin and Xiang elements along with Hmong and Dong
influences. Suantang is so different that it is controversial whether it
is Southwestern Mandarin or Xiang, but the best analysis seems to be
that it is a Xiang language.
Clearly Shuihui Xiang and Suantang Xiang are separate languages.
Suantang Xiang itself has great differences, and the current
suggestion is that it should be split into two on the basis of
vocabulary, tones, etc. This would give us two separate Suantang
Xiangs.

Hunan
Shuihui Xiang is so different that it is recommended to split it from
Luoshao into its own group with Suantang Xiang. It was member of
Luoshao Xiang, but it is so different that the new recommendation is
to split it off with Suantang into a new Xiang branch containing only
those two languages.
Suantang Xiang is one Shuantang language. It differs significantly
enough from the rest of the language to justify a split.
Suantang Xiang B is another Shuantang language that differs
dramatically enough from Suantang A to justify a split as a separate
language.

The Unclassified Group of Xiang

Chongquing
Tongnan Xiang is a separate unclassified Xiang language spoken in a
Xiang dialect island the towns of Chadian, Longxing, Minzhu, Mengzi,
Liaojiachanggou, and Guxi northeast of Tongnan. One theory is that
this is a relict of Old Huguang Dialect. Hougang was a region in China
around 1600 that later became Hunan and Henan Provinces. Xiang is
heavily-spoken in Hunan, so perhaps this island is a relict of old
Huguang speech.

Hunan
Shamuqiao Lengshuitan Xiang, formerly classed as a Tuhua, is
now thought to be a Xiang language. It has influences from Huaquio
Dong'an Tuhua and Lingling Mandarin.

Sichuan
Xiang is also spoken in a few islands in Sichuan.
Huangxu Xiang, an unclassified Xiang island in the Southwestern
Mandarin-speaking city of Deyang in Sichuan, is very different from
the rest of Xiang and must surely be a separate language.
 Shaanxi
Ankang Xiang is a little-known unclassified Xiang dialect island in
Ankang Prefectural City in Shaanxi. This region has seen a great deal
of immigration from the south in the last 1,000 years. This is surely a
separate language.

Classification
Anhua, Anxiang, Baishi, Cenyang, Chengguan, Changsha City, East
Liuyang, Guzhang, Hengdong, Hengnan, Hengyang, Hetong,
Hongjiang, Houshan, Huaminglou, Jiashanqiang, Lianyuan, Liling,
Liushahe, Liuyang City, Miluo, Nanxian, North Liuyang, Pingjiang,
Qianshan, Shaodong, Shaoshan, Shuangjiangkou, South Liuyang,
Taojiang, Wangcheng, West Liuyang, Wugang, Xiangtan, Xiangyin,
Yiying Changyi, Yuanjiang, Yueyang, and Zhuzhou are members of the
Changyi Group of Xiang, which has 39 varieties.
Anhua, Chengbu, Donkou, Gantang, Guanyang, Lianyuan,
Lingshuijiang, Longyui, Loudi, Mayang, Qidong, Qiyang, Quanzhou,
Shaoyang, Shuangfeng, Wugang, Xiangxiang, Xingan, Xinhua,
Xinning, Yiying Luoshuo and Ziyuan are members of the Luoshao
Group of Xiang, which has 22 varieties.
Shuihui and the Suantangs are members of the Shuitang Group of
Xiang, which has three members.
Baojing, Chenxi, Huayuan, Jishou, Jixi, Xupu, and Yuanling are
members of the Jixu Group of Xiang, which has seven varieties.
Ankang, Anxian, Fengan, Fengxi, Huangxu, Jiangyou, Jianyang,
Jintang, Lianping, Mianyang, Mianzhou, Santai, Tongnan, Weiyuan,
Yibin, Yilong, and Zizhong are unclassified. 17 Xiang varieties are
unclassified.
Xiang is composed of 88 varieties. Most or possibly all of them are
separate languages.
The Xiang languages have 50 million speakers (Olson 1998).

Wu
Wu is a major group of diverse Chinese languages that is divided into
Northern Wu and Southern Wu. Wu is spoken mostly in all of
Zhejiang, Southern Jiangsu and Shanghai. It is also spoken in Eastern
Anhui, a few of places in and Northeastern Jiangxi, and in a single
location in Northern Fujian. Wu varieties are extremely diverse,
especially in the mountainous areas of Zhejiang and Eastern Anhui.
The Wu languages are well known for their tonal complexity. They
exhibit the most complex tone sandhi in the world and their citation
tones have a bewlidering complexity.
In general, the Wu varieties are mostly separate languages; however,
a few are merely dialects of other Wu varieties. The northern varieties
in Southern Jiangsu are much less diverse than the southern ones,
but Northern Wu is also quite diverse, with most varieties being
separate languages, also in some cases, they are not very far apart.
For instance, in the Taizhou Prefecture region, there are between four
and five mutually unintelligible Wu varieties across a 12 mile area. In
Zhejiang, the mountains go all the way down to the sea, so there are
few flat areas where language can spread out and become mutually
comprehensible.

Northern Wu

Taihu Wu

The Hujia Group of Taihu Wu

The Hujia Group is spoken mostly in Jiangsu and Shanghai and to a
lesser extent in Zhejiang.
Several varieties are spoken in the suburbs of Shanghai. Reports vary,
but Shanghai residents generally report that these varieties are not
mutually intelligible with Shanghainese (Gilliland 2006). Shanghai
suburbs varieties are generally not fully mutually intelligible. These
varieties spoken in the suburbs of Shanghai are closer to the Old
Shanghainese, which is quite a bit different from the New
Shanghainese spoken in the city center nowadays.
 Jiangsu
Jiangyin Wu is spoken in Jiangyin County in the north of Wuxi
Prefectural City. It is related to Changzhou and has high intelligibility
with Changzhou to the west and Wuxi to the south. It has some
definite differences with Suzhou. As you move south from Jiangyin,
Jiangyin starts sounding more like Wuxi, so we may be dealing with a
dialect continuum here.
Claims that Jiangyin is intelligible with not only Wuxi and Changzhou
but also with Suzhou and Shanghai are false. It is closest to Wuxi,
and it is not even fully intelligible with that language. Jiangyin is a
separate Hujia language because it cannot be understood outside the
city. Many older people still speak only Jiangyin.
Kunshan Wu is a Hujia variety spoken in the “floating city” of Kunshan
in Suzhou Prefectural City located east of Suzhou city between
Suzhou and Shanghai. It is still very heavily-spoken by all age groups
in the city. It seems to be intelligible with Suzhou.
Suzhou Wu is a separate Hujia language spoken only in the city
proper and its suburbs, although the Suzhou Prefectural City
administrative area is large. Suzhou city dwellers say that people in
the suburbs have a rural or “hard” accent, while the speech of Suzhou
city is called “soft.” Suzhou is presently divided into two sets of
speakers, one over 50 and another under 50. Differences between
age groups in Suzhou were noted as early as the 1930's. Suzhou is
still very widely spoken in the area.
Suzhou is 70% similar to Shanghaihua. That is not enough for full
intelligibility. Shanghainese find Suzhou to be incomprehensible. The
differences between Suzhou and Shanghainese are much greater than
between suburban Shanghai languages. A Shanghainese speaker
would need a few months in Suzhou to learn Suzhou. This is about
the same as the difference between Castilian-Catalan and Castilian-
Asturian.
Suzhou is more complex phonologically and tone-wise than
Shanghainese, so it is harder to learn. Even native Suzhou speakers
have problems with the tones sometimes. Further, tone sandhi in
Suzhou is quite complex.
Tongxiang Wu is probably a separate Hujia language spoken in the
city of Tongxiang in Jiaxing Prefectural City in Jiangsu. Tongxiang is
80% similar to Shanghaiese, but that is probably not enough for full
communication, as Suzhou and Shanghaiese are 70% similar, and
Shanghaiese speakers find Suzhou incomprehensible. Intelligibility
with Suzhou is unknown.
Wuxi Wu is a separate Hujia language spoken in Wuxi Prefectural
City in Jiangsu. Wuxi is spoken in two areas, referred to as East
Mountain and West Mountain. East Mountain refers to the city of
Dongshan, and West Mountain refers to the city of Wuxi. Wuxi is not
intelligible with Changzhou or Suzhou and is only 20% similar to
Shanghainese. Wuxi can understand Shanghainese, but that is no
doubt due to bilingual learning. Shanghainese do not understand Wuxi
well.
Yixing Wu, spoken in the south of Wuxi Prefectural City in Jiangsu, is
probably a separate Hujia language. It is spoken 30 miles south of
Wuxi city, and it is about as far away from Wuxi as Jiangyin is, and
Jiangyin is a separate language.
Zhangjiagang Wu is a Hujia variety spoken in Zhangjiagang County in
the far north of Suzhou Prefectural City in Jiangsu. It is said to be
fully intelligible with Suzhou.

Shanghai
Baoshan Wu is spoken in the suburbs of Shanghai. It is not
intelligible with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006).
Chongming Wu, spoken on Chongming Island in the suburbs of
Shanghai, is not intelligible with Shanghainese.
Fengxian Wu is spoken in the Shanghai suburbs and is not
intelligible with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006). It is not fully intelligible
with Jiading. Intelligibility between the two may be ~70%.
Jiading Wu is spoken in the Shangshai suburbs and is not intelligible
with Shanghai (Gilliland 2006). It can be learned by a Fengxian
speaker in only a few weeks' exposure.
Jinhui or Dônđäc Wu is spoken in the town of Jinhui in the Fengxian
District of Shanghai. It is not intelligible with Shanghaiese or with
other suburban Shanghai varieties. Jinhui is noted for having more
vowels than any other language, 20 phonemic vowels. It also has a
very unusual consonant inventory. It has the most complex phonemic
inventory of any language on Earth. Jinhui has 100,000 speakers.
Jinshan Wu is another Wu language spoken in the suburbs of
Shanghai that is not intelligible with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006).
Lusi or Tongdong Wu, spoken in the town of Lusi in Qidong County,
is not mutually intelligible with Qidong. It is very widely spoken in the
city. In recent years, many have become bilingual in Qidong Wu.
Nanhui Wu is spoken in the Shanghai suburbs and is not intelligible
with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006). This was formerly a separate
district called the Nanhai District, but recently it was disssolved and
folded into the Pudong District. There is extenstive reconstruction
going on the area in the creation of the New Nanhai District.
Pudong Wu, the older form of the Shanghai language, is still spoken
in the Pudong District of the city, but it is dying out. There is a
question of whether or not it is mutually intelligible with
Shanghainese, but Shanghainese speakers seem to feel it is not
mutually intelligible (Gilliland 2006).
Qingpu Wu is spoken in the Shanghai suburbs and is not intelligible
with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006).
Shanghainese Wu is the Wu standard. Many speakers in the
suburbs of Shanghai say that they can understand Shanghaiese well
but not the other way around.
The reason for this is complex. About 100 years ago, Suzhou became
a very prestigious language in Shanghai and was widely spoken there.
However, in the past century, many immigrants came to Shanghai
from other parts of China. In particular, many speakers of Ningbo
came to Shanghai. Ningbo is quite a bit different from either
Shanghainese or Suzhou.
With speakers of Ningbo, Suzhou, and Shanghainese all present in the
city in large numbers, a koine needed to develop. Shanghainese was
chosen as the koine, and because speakers of three different
languages were communicating, Shanghainese got dramatically
simplified phonologically in order for it to be better understood by
everyone. Hence, Shanghainese has evolved in a highly simplified
form of Taihu. This is why many speakers of nearby Wu languages say
that they can understand Shanghainese but not the other way
around.
Songjiang was the original Shanghaiese language, having been
formed in the area 700 years ago. In 1843, Shanghai was forced to
open its port, and the language changed again. Many migrants poured
in from Suzhou and later from Ningbo in Zhejiang, and Suzhou and
Ningbo influence added to the Old Jixiang to create modern
Shanghaiese.
Songjiang Wu, spoken in the Shanghai suburbs, is not intelligible
with Shanghaiese (Gilliland 2006). Songjiang is the leftover of the
original Shanghai language that formed in the area 700 years ago. It
still resembles the Ming-era Jiaxing variety. Songjiang was also called
Old Jixiang. Songjiang was de facto Shanghaiese until the city opened
up in 1843.

The Piling Group of Taihu Wu (Northwestern Wu)

The Piling Group is spoken in Jiangsu. Haimen is a city of 1 million
situated on Hainan Island.

Jiangsu
Changzhou Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in Changzhou
Prefectural City. Changzhou and Wuxi have high but not full
intelligibility. Changzhou and Wuxi are part of a dialect chain in which
eastern Changzhou speakers can communicate with western Wuxi
speakers, but as one moves further east into Wuxi or west into
Changzhou, intelligibility drops off. It is best then to split Wuxi and
Changzhou into separate Piling languages. Changzhou itself has
considerable dialectal divergence, though apparently all dialects are
mutually intelligible.
Changzhou is the most orthodox Taihu language. It has eight tones,
and compared to Suzhou, it is many more sounds and a lot more
traditional vocabulary. Changzhou has 3 million speakers.
Danyang Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in Southern
Danyang County south of the Yangtze River in the west of Jiangsu.
The language looks more Wu in the south of the county and more like
Jianghuai Mandarin in the north. Danyang Wu does not look like a
typical Wu language and its tone sandhi is very different. Danyang is
very divergent due to extreme Jianghuai influence. There are many
dialects within Danyang, but in general, they are mutually intelligible.
Haimen Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in the city of
Haimen in Nantong Prefectural City in Jiangsu. It is not intelligible
with the other Haimen language spoken in the city.
Haimen Wu A is a separate Piling language the other language
spoken in the city of Haimen in Jiangsu. It is not intelligible with
Hainan B.
Nantong City Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in Nantong
city in Nantong Prefectural City in Jiangsu. It is spoken in the
Chongchuan and Gangzha Districts in the city center.
Qidong Wu, spoken in the city of Qidong in Nantong Prefectural City
in Jiangsu, is a separate Piling language.
Rudong Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in Nantong
Prefectural City in Jiangsu.
Taixing Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in in Taixing in
Taizhou Prefectural City in the far north of the Wu zone north of the
Yangtze River in Central Jiangsu. It was formerly part of a separate
subgroup of Wu called Huainan Wu. Huainan means south of the Huai
River. Huainan Wu is very ancient, having been formed in the region
from Old Chinese from 750-500 BC.
Tongzhou Wu is a separate Piling language spoken in Nantong
Prefectural City in Jiangsu.
 Topographical map of Zhejiang Province shows the extremely mountainous nature of the province
which has resulted in extreme diversity of Wu varieties. The only level areas are at the very far north of
the province. In general, Wu varieties in Zhejiang are highly diverse. Map also shows the location of
many Wu varieties in Zhejiang.

The Hangzhou Group of Taihu Wu

Hangzhou is spoken in Zhejiang. Hangzhou is the only member of the
Hangzhou Group.
 Zhejiang
Hangzhou Wu is reportedly much different from the varieties of
Shanghainese, Ningbo, etc. to the northeast and is not intelligible with
Shanghainese, nor with Suzhou. Hangzhou has 1.2 million speakers.
Nevertheless, Hangzhou appears to be dying out in Hangzhou
Prefectural City, as only older people seem to speak the language
anymore. Hangzhou is 40% similar to Shanghainese. Hangzhou is not
intelligible at all with Huzhou and especially Deqing, contrary to
claims.

The Linshao Group of Taihu Wu

The Linshao Group is spoken in far northern Zhejiang around the city
of Hangzhou. As it is spoken in a region that is quite mountainous,
and the most divergent Wu lects of all are spoken in the mountainous
areas of Zhejiang, a good guess is that all of Linshao are separate
languages.

Zhejiang
Cixi Wu is spoken in Cixi county-level city on the southern shores of
Hangzhou Bay in the far north of Ningbo Prefectural City. It has the
odd whispery voice feature. As the only Linshuo variety that has
whispery voice, Cixi is quite probably a separate language.
Fuyang Wu is a separate Linshuo Wu language spoken in the
mountains along the Fuchun River in the Fuyang District in
Northwestern Hangzhou Prefectural City.
Jiande Wu is a separate Linshao language spoken in the high
mountains of Jiande county-level city in Southern Hangzhou
Prefectural City. It is most probably a separate Linshuo language.
Lin'an Wu is probably a separate Linshuo language. It is spoken in
the mountains of Lin'an District of Northern Huangzhou Prefectural
City.
Nanyang Wu is a separate Linshuo language spoken in the
mountains in the Southern Xiaoshan District in Northwestern
Hangzhou Prefectural City. It differs from other Xiaoshan Wu varieties.
Shangyu Wu is a separate Linshuo Wu language spoken in the
mountains along the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay between Yuyao
and Shaoxing.
Shaoxing Wu is a separate Linshuo language spoken in the city of
Shoaxing in the mountains at the far western end of Hangzhou Bay in
Zhejiang. It has been used for Wu operas. There are 633,000
speakers. Shaoxing is very ancient, dating all the way back to Chu Old
Chinese, spoken from 500-250 BC.
Shengxian Wu is a separate Linshuo language spoken in Shengzhou
County high in the mountains south of Huiji Mountain in Central
Zhejiang.
Shengxian has eight tones (Zhu & Rose 1998).
Tonglu Wu is a separate Linshuo Wu language spoken high in the
mountains along the Fuchun River in Tonglu County in Huangzhou
Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Tonglu has eight tones (Zhu & Rose 1998).
Xiaoshan Wu is a separate Linshuo Wu language spoken in the
mountains in Xiaoshan District in Hangzhou Prefectural City in
Zhejiang.
Xincheng Wu is a separate Linshuo language spoken in Zhejiang.
Yuyao Wu is a separate Linshuo language spoken in Yuyao County in
the north of Ningbo Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Zhuji Wu is a separate Linshuo Wu language spoken high in the
mountains in south of Hangzhou in Zhejiang.

The Taioxi Group of Taihu Wu

The Taioxi Group is spoken in the far north of Zhejiang on the
southern border of the Hujia Group near Hujia languages like Jiaxing
and Haining. Taioxi is mostly spoken in the mountains on the edge of
the plain that covers the northern peninsula that forms the northern
shore of Hangzhou Bay. It is also spoken in one place over the border
in Anhui.

Anhui
Guande Wu is spoken in Eastern Anhui. It is closely related to
Huzhou Wu. The area is extremely mountainous. As is the case with
most Anhui Wu varieties, Guande Wu, now called Old Guande, is
losing ground to a Jianghuai Mandarin variety known as New Guande.
As it is spoken in a completely different province full of the most
divergent Wu varieties around, Guande is quite probably a separate
language despite its close relations with Huzhou. Also Huzhou can
only be understood for 30 miles from the city center, and Guande is
further away than that.

Zhejiang
Anji Wu is definitely a separate Taioxi language. Anji County was
very isolated from Huzhou Prefectural City until the mid-1990's when
a new highway was built. The region is very mountainous and is
known for its bamboo crop. This is a major area of ecotourism and
sustainable development. Huzhou can only be understood for 30 miles
from the city, and Anji is farther away than that.
Changxing Wu is spoken in Changxing County in far Northwestern
Zhejiang to the west of Huzhou Prefectural City. The region is fairly
mountainous. Also Huzhou can only be understood for 30 mles
outside the city and the city of Changxing is 30 miles away, and much
of the county is further away than that. Changxing is a separate Taioxi
language.
Deqing Wu must be a separate Taioxi language. It is spoken in
Dexing County in Huzhou Prefectural City. The region is fairly
mountainous and no doubt Dexing is a separate language. Deqing is
an old city in Huzhou, having been built 1,700 years ago. The speech
in Deqing is very different from the speech in the city of Huzhou. Also
Huzhou can only be understood for 30 miles outside the city, and
Deqing is farther away than that.
Huzhou Wu is apparently a separate Taioxi language, spoken in
Huzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang. It is still very widely spoken by
all ages in the city. Huzhou is the prestige variety of Tiaoxi. Huzhou
cannot be understood outside of Huzhou Prefectural City, contrary to
reports.

The Yongjiang Group of Taihu Wu

The Yongjiang Group is spoken in far Northeastern Zhejiang around
Ningbo and in the Zhoushan Islands. There are claims that Yongjiang
Wu varieties are very closely related and are better seen more as
accents than dialects, differing only in some phonoloy and lexicon.
This implies that they are all mutually intelligible. However, Fenghua,
Xiangshan, and Yinzhou Counties in Ningbo Prefectural City are very
mountainous, and the mutual intelligiblity of these varieties with the
rest of Yongjiang is dubious.
Although Daishan and Dinghai are only separated by a strait, their
phonologies are differ significantly.

Zhejiang
Daishan Wu is spoken on Daishan County on Daishan Island in the
Zhoushan Archipelago. Daishan has some Min influences related to
maritime immigration from Fujian in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Daishan has a significantly different phonology and vocabulary from
Dinghai on Zhoushan Island, so it may well be a separate Yongjiang
language. The reason for the different phonology and vocabulary has
to do with the Fujian immigrants who came to Daishan.
Dinghai Wu is spoken in the Dinghai District on the western half of
Zhoushan Island in the Zhoushan Archipelago. It is probably a
separate Yongjiang language, as its phonology differs significantly
from Daishan's and it has the odd whispery voice feature. Having this
odd feature may make Dinghai a separate Yongjiang language.
Fenghua Wu is spoken in the mountainous Fenghua District
southwest of Ningbo city in Ningbo Prefectural City. It has the odd
whispery voice feature. The odd whispery voice and the very
mountainous terrain may be enough to make Fenghua a separate
Yongjiang language.
Ningbo Wu is a separate Yongjiang language spoken near the coast
by the Zhoushan Archipelago. It close to Shanghainese, and Ningbo
speakers can learn Shanghaniese in two months. This is because
many Ningbo speakers moved to Shanghai in the past 100 years after
the Taiping Rebellion, and Ningbo became a prestige language in
Shanghai in the first part of the 20th Century, so Shanghaniese has a
lot of Ningbo influence in it.
Putuo Wu is a Yongjiang variety spoken on Putuo County on the
eastern half of Zhonghsan Island in Zhejiang.
Sheshi Wu is a Yongjiang variety spoken in Sheshi County in the
Sheshi Islands in the Zhoushan Archipelago of Zhejiang.
Xiangshan Wu is spoken in mountainous Xiangshan County to the
south of Ningbo city in Ningbo Prefectural City in Zhejiang. This is an
area where mountains go right down to the coast. Xiangshan has the
odd whispery voice feature. The odd whispery voice feature and the
very mountainous terrain may make Xiangshan a separate Yongjiang
language.
Yinxian Wu is spoken in the Yinzhou District south of Ningbo city in
Ningbo Prefectural City in Zhejiang. The area is very mountainous,
and the mountains go all the way down to the sea. The area is
heavily-forested, and there are a number of parks in the region. Most
of the other Yongjiang varieties in this area with this sort of
geography are separate languages, so Yinxian is probably one too.
Zhenhai Wu is spoken in rural Zhenhai County, located on the coast
12 miles northeast of Ningbo city in Ningbo Prefectural City in
Zhejiang. Zhenhai has many odd features, including modal voice,
tense voice, harsh voice, whisper, whispery voice, and growl. Zhenhai
also has extensive tone sandhi, so the actual shape of its tones can
vary considerably. The growl is found only in Zhenhai Wu among
Chinese languages, and in fact, it is found nowhere else on Earth
other than some Khoisan languages, making it truly a bizarre feature.
Considering the astounding number of odd voicing features, Zhenhai
is quite probably a separate Yongjiang language.
Zhoushan Wu is spoken in the city of Zhoushan on Zhoushan Island
off the coast of far Northeastern Zhejiang. Although Zhoushan and
Ningbo are said to be fully intelligible, this is not the case, as
Zhoushan lacks full intelligibility of Ningbo, so it is a separate
Yongjiang language .

Unclassified Taihu Wu
Jinxiang Wu is a separate Wu language with Mandarin influences.
This is a Taihu (Northern Wu) outlier spoken far to the south of the
Taihu region in the Wenzhou area in Cagnan County in Zhejiang
around Zhenan Min speakers.

The Taizhou Group of Wu

Taizhou Wu is a major split in Wu. All Taizhou languages are spoken in
Zhejiang.
It is centered around the Prefectural City of Taizhou in Eastern
Zhejiang and is composed of many separate varieties, all of which are
separate languages.
There are 4-5 mutually unintelligible Wu varieties spoken in Taizhou
Prefectural City's metropolitan area alone. This is a region that is only
12 miles across. Three of these languages are Huangyan Wu,
Jiaojiang Wu and Luquiao Wu, but the names of the other two are not
known. The area has split into so many mutually unintelligible
languages mostly due to terrain.

Zhejiang
Huangyan Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the
Huangyan District of Taizhou Prefectural City, which is now only a 10
minute bus ride from Taizhou, but the highway was only built recently,
and there is a huge mountain between both cities.
Jiaojiang Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the Jiaojiang
District along the coast of Taizhou Prefectural City, now only a 10
minute bus ride from Taizhou, but there is a huge river separating
them, and it could be crossed only by boat until a ferry was built in
the 1990's.
Linhai Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in Linhai county-
level city along the coast and inland high in the mountains in Taizhou
Prefectural City, which is now only 20 minutes away from Taizhou
since a new expressway was recently built that involved blasting
through a few mountains that previously had separated the cities.
Luquiao Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the Luquiao
District along the coast of Taizhou Prefectural City.
Ninghai Wu is spoken in the city of Ninghai high in the mountains in
the far south of Ningbo Prefectural City. It is so different from Ningbo
that it is in a totally separate Wu group.
Sanmen Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in Sanmen
County along the coast in the north of Taizhou Prefectural City.
Taizhou Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the
metropolitan area of Taizhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Taizhou Wu A is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the
metropolitan area of Taizhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Tiantai Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in Tiantai County
high in the mountains in the north of Taizhou Prefectural City south of
Tiantai Mountain in Central Zhejiang. Tiantai has eight tones, and it
even has creaky voice (Zhu & Rose 1998).
Wenling Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the county-
level city of Wenling along the coast of Taizhou Prefectural City in
Zhejiang.
Xianju Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in the eastern part
of Taizhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Yuhuan Wu is a separate Taizhou language spoken in Yuhuan
county-level city along the coast in Taizhou Prefectural City in
Zhejiang.

Southern Wu

The Oujiang Group of Wu

Most of Oujiang Wu is spoken in Zhejiang, with one outlier spoken in
Anhui.
The Ouijiang Group of Wu is extremely divergent, and all members
are separate languages. In fact, this is the most diverse group in all of
Wu. It is not understood outside of Wenzhou, and it is not even
intelligible within itself. Wenzhou, instead of being a single language,
is instead of family of partially mutually unintelligible varieties. See
more evidence for that here.
Since there are 11 different cities and counties in Wenzhou, and the
language changes every five miles or so, it would be logical to assume
that there are 11 separate languages within Wenzhou. However,
closer analysis reveals at least 14 languages within Wenzhou.
So we should then split off at least one Wenzhou language for each
major division of Wenzhou City.
Manhua Wu or Mayo, a macrolanguage, is quite different. It is spoken
around Cangnan and Wuzhou Prefectural City in Northern Zhejiang on
the southern coast of Wuzhou Prefectural City in about five townships.
The word man literally means “barbarians.”
There is a controversy over whether or not Manhua is Macro-Min or
Macro-Wu. It is probably Macro-Wu based on phonology, and it also
shares some similar Min-like traits with other Wu varieties such as
those in the Chuqu group. Some think it originated in a Southern Min
dialect that came under the influence of a non-Sinitic language. Word
order is completely different from Chinese word order. However, the
word order is changing under the influence of Mandarin, and many
younger people are using a more Mandarin word order.
Some theories think it has Proto-Vietnamese, Austronesian, and She
influences. The major components seem to be Old Cantonese, Old
Chinese, and Mandarin. Some also suggest Northern Min, Eastern Min,
Southern Min, and especially Wu influences.
A good guess would be that this is a Sinicized version of Manjiang
Eastern Min.
Within Manhua Wu, there is a northern group spoken in the town of
Yishan, and a southern group spoken in the towns of Qianku and
Jinxiang.
Manhua Wu has 200,000-400,000 speakers.

Anhui
Shexian Wu is a separate language, an Oujiang outlier spoken in
Eastern Anhui.

Zhejiang
Cangnan Wu, spoken in Cagnan County along the coast of Wenzhou
Prefectural City, is a separate Oujiang language.
Chu River Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in Wencheng
County in Wenzhou Prefectural City. It is closely related to Wencheng
Wu.
Dongtu Wu, spoken on Dongtu Island in the Dongtu District of
Wenzhou Prefectural City, is a separate Oujiang language.
Jinxiang Manhua Wu is a Manhua Wu language spoken in Jinxiang
in Cangnan County in Wenzhou Prefectural City. Jinxiang and Qianku
Manhua Wu are not mutually intelligible, so Jinxiang is a separate
language.
Leqing Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in Yueqing County
in the north of Wenzhou Prefectural City.
Longwan Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in the Longwan
District along the coast of Wenzhou Prefectural City.
Lucheng Wu is a separate Oujiang language, the standard version of
Wenzhou, spoken in the Lucheng District in Wenzhou Prefectural City
by 1 million people.
Luoyang Wu is a separate Oujiang language best seen as a southern
extension of Yesou Wu that is spoken in the town of Luoyang in
Cangnan County in Wenzhou Prefectural City. Luoyang is influenced by
Manjiang Eastern Min.
Liqu Wu is a separate Oujiang Wu language related to Luoyang
spoken in Quiaodunzen in Cangnan County in Wenzhou Prefectural
City in Zhejiang.
Northern Yueqing Wu is a separate Oujiang language, spoken in
the northern part of the Yueqing County in Wenzhou Prefectural City
in Zhejiang. It is separated from the rest of the city of Yuequing by
Yangdang Mountain.
Ouhai Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in the Ouhai
District in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Pincheng Wu, a separate Oujiang language spoken in Pingcheng
County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang, is related to Ru'ian
(Rose 2006).
Pingyang Manhua Wu is another Manhua language spoken Pingyang
County along the coast in Wenzhou Prefectural City in the far
southeast of Zhejiang. It has significant Min influences.
Qianku Manhua Wu is the standard for Manhua Wu. Although the
internal differences in Manhua Wu are not great, the differences are
great enough to impede mutual intelligibility. It is spoken in far
Southern Zhejiang in the city of Qianku in Cangnan County in
Wenzhou Prefectural City.
Qingjiang Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in the city of
Qingjiang along the coast of Northern Yueqing County where the
Qingjiang River empties into Yueqing Bay in Wenzhou Prefectural City
in Zhejiang near the northeastern border of the Oujiang area where it
abuts on the Taizhou area to the east (Rose 2006).
Qingtian Wu (Christiansen 2005) is a separate Oujiang language
spoken in Qingtian County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang
inland from Wenzhou city.
Rui'an Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken by 1 million people
in the city of Ru'ian in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang to the
south of Wenzhou city. Rui'an has eight tones.
Taishun Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in Taishun
County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang that has significant
Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Wencheng Wu (Christiansen 2003), spoken in Wengcheng County in
Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang, is a separate Oujiang language.
It is very different from the rest of Oujiang. It is so different that
there are questions about whether it was always Oujiang or whether it
was another language that came under the influence of Oujiang (Rose
2006).
Wenxi Wu is a separate Oujiang language. It is spoken in one town
in Qingtian County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang to the
west of Wenzhou city.
Wujiang Wu is a separate Oujiang language that has come under
serious influence of Luoyang Wu. It is spoken in the far south of
Zhejiang.
Xiangjiang or Xiangyang Wu is a separate Oujiang language
spoken in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang nine miles east of
Wenzhou city (Rose 2006).
Yishan Manhua Wu is spoken very heavily in the town of Longgang
in Cangnan County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang. It must
be a separate language due to its distance from the other two Manhua
Wu varieties.
Yueqing Wu is spoken in Yueqing County along the coast in Wenzhou
Prefectural City in Zhejiang 15 miles northeast of the city of Wenzhou,
is a Oujiang separate language, as the variety in the north is not
intelligible with the language in the south of the county (Rose 2006).
Yongjia Wu is a separate Oujiang language spoken in Yongjia County
in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang eight miles north of the city of
Wenzhou (Rose 2006).. If you go five miles in any direction in
Wenzhou, there's a new variety, and it's hard to understand people.
Yesou Wu is an aberrant Oujiang Wu language spoken in Cangnan
County in Wenzhou Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
 The Wuzhou Group of Wu
Wuzhou is highly divergent, much more so than Taihu Wu. A single
county, Yiwu, contains 18 separate languages, all mutually
unintelligible. Wuzhou Wu consists of at least 30 languages.

Zhejiang
Dongyang Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in the county-
level city of Dongyang in Northern Jinhua Prefectural City (Ballard
1989).
Fangyan Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken to the east of
Yongkang Wu (Ballard 1989) in Jingtan County in Lishui Prefectural
City.
Jinhua Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Jinhua
Prefectural City. (Ballard 1989).
Jinhua Xiaohuang Wu, is another separate Wuzhou language
spoken in Jinhua Prefectural City.
Lanxi Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Lanxi county-
level city in Northern Jinhua Prefectural City.
It has 660,000 speakers (Rickard 2006).
Longyou Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Longyou
County in the far east of Quzhou Prefectural City.
It has some Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Maodian Wu is one of the Yiwu languages, one of 18 different Wu
languages spoken in Yiwu alone. It is spoken at the southern tip of
Yiwu county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City. Maodian has nine
tones.
Pan'an Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Pan'an County
in Northern Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
It has has strong Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Pujiang Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Pujiang
County high in the mountains in the north of Jinhua Prefectural City in
Central Zhejiang. Pujiang has eight tones (Zhu & Rose 1998).
Tangxi Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken a bit to the
southwest of Jinhua and to the east of Longyou in Zhejiang (Ballard
1989).
Wuyi Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Wuyi County in
Southern Jinhua Prefectural City in Zhejiang (Lam 2005).
Yiwu Wu is one of the Yiwu languages. It is spoken in Yiwu county-
level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu A is a separate Wuzhou language, one of 18 spoken in Yiwu
county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu B is one of 18 separate Wuzhou languages spoken in Yiwu
county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu C is a separate language spoken in Yiwu county-level city in
Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu D is one of the 18 separate Yiwu languages spoken in Yiwu
county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu E is a separate Wu language spoken in Yiwu county-level
city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu F, a separate language, is one of 18 Wuzhou languages
spoken in a single county-level city in Yiwu in Jinhua Prefectural City
in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu G is a Wuzhou language spoken in Yiwu county-level city in
Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang, one of 18 Wu languages
spoken there.
Yiwu Wu H is a separate language, a Yiwu Wu language spoken in
massively splintered Yiwu county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City
in Central Zhejiang, where 18 different Wu languages are spoken.
Yiwu Wu I is one of 18 different Wu languages spoken in Yiwu
county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu J is one of the 18 separate Wuzhou languages spoken in
Yiwu county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu K is a language that is part of Yiwu Wu, a Wuzhou
subgroup consisting of 18 separate languages spoken in a single
county-level city, Yiwu, in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu L is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in very
mountainous Yiwu county-level city in in Jinhua Prefectural City
Central Zhejiang, one of 18 different Wu languages spoken in that one
county.
Yiwu Wu M is one of the massively splintered Yiwu Wu languages
spoken in Yiwu county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central
Zhejiang, where an incredible 18 different Wu languages are spoken
in a single county-level city.
Yiwu Wu N is one of the 18 different Wu languages spoken in Yiwu
county-level city in Jinhua Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu O, a separate Wuzhou language, is one of 18 different
Wuzhou languages spoken in a single county-level city, Yiwu, in
Jinhua Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Yiwu Wu P is a Wuzhou Wu language, one of 18 different languages
spoken in extremely diverse Yiwu county-level city in Jinhua
Prefectural City in Central Zhejiang.
Yongkang Wu is a separate Wuzhou language spoken in Yongkang
County in Jinhua Prefectural City (Ballard 1989).

The Chuqu Group of Wu

Chuqu Wu is split into two subgroups, Chuzhou Wu and Longqu Wu. It
contains contains 23 varieties, all separate languages. Some members
of this group extend south beyond Zhejiang into Northeastern Jiangxi
and Northern Fujian. We are going to cautiously classify almost of
Chuqu Wu as separate languages, since it is much more divergent and
much less mutually intelligible than Taihu Wu, and Taihu Wu itself has
low internal intelligibility.

The Chuzhou Group of Chuqu Wu

Chuzhou Wu is spoken in the far south of Zhejiang. Xuanping Wu is
a Chuzhou language.

Zhejiang
Hedi Wu is a separate Chuzhou language similar to Manjiang Eastern
Min spoken in the town of Hedi in Qingyuan County in Eastern Lishui
City.
Jingning Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in Jingning She
Autonomous County in the high mountains in Southern Lishui City.
There are many She people living here.
It has significant Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Jinyun Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in the high
mountains of Jinyun County in far Northeastern Lishui Prefectural City.
Lishui Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in the high
mountains far inland in Lishui Prefectural City.
It also has a deep Min layer in the language (Ballard 1989).
Longquan Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in the high
mountains in Longquan County in Western Lishui Prefectural City.
It has significant Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Qingyuan Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken high in the
mountains in Qingyan County in Eastern Lishui Prefectural City.
Songyang Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in the high
mountains of Songyang County in Central Lishui Prefectural City.
It has significant Min influences (Ballard 1989).
Suichang Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in the high
mountains of Suichang County in the far northwest of Lishui
Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Yunhe Wu is spoken a separate Chuzhou language in Yunhe County
in the center of Lishui Prefectural City in Zhejiang.
Zaicheng Wu is a separate Chuzhou language spoken in Zaicheng,
the county seat of Lishui Prefectural City in Zhejiang. Zaicheng is
dying out, now spoken mostly by older people over 60 who use it
among their family members. Lishui is on the border of Jianghuai
Mandarin and Wu. A dialect of Jianghuai has been spoken in the city
for the last 100 years and is now replacing Wu. All of the areas
surrounding Zaicheng are Wu-speaking (Guo 2006).

The Longqu Group of Chuqu Wu

Longqu Wu is spoken mostly in Southwestern Zhejiang but also in
Northeastern Jiangxi, Northern Fujian, and Jiangsu. Pucheng Wu has
two dialects, Nampo and North Dabei. It is so diverse that some say it
is a language isolate and is not even a part of Wu (Norman 1988). It
is spoken outside of the general Wu region in far Northern Fujian.
Pucheng has six different dialects, and all are quite different in terms
of voicing, devoicing, and tone shifts (Zhengzhang 1984). A good
argument can be made that each one is a separate language, making
Pucheng a macrolanguage. Pucheng seems to be a mixture of Wu and
Min similar to Manhua Wu and Manjiang Eastern Min.
Pucheng is an excellent example of the theory of Wumin or of an
ancient link between Northern Min languages (where Min refers to the
Min languages spoken in the northern part of the Min-speaking region
and not to broad Southern Min) and Southern Wu (Ballard 1989).
Deep connections that cannot be attributed to borrowing have been
shown between Southern Wu and Northern Min languages, in
particular Northwestern Min or Minjiang Min. The suggestion here is
that there was once an ancient language something like Wumin or the
Min languages of the north combined with Southern Wu. It is from
this common source that Southern Wu and the Min languages of the
north rose (Ballard 1989).
This theory also notes the extreme differences between Northern Wu
and Southern Wu, which seem to have different geneses. Whatever
Northern Wu is, it did not seem to derive from this ancient Wumin
language. Instead it developed in the north and then later imposed
itself on the Southern Wu languages, giving them what we now see as
a Wu layer. The theory also suggests that Southern Min and the
northern Min languages also had different geneses: the Northern Min
languages from this Wumin language and Southern Min via something
else, possibly influences from the Yue or other languages of Southern
China (Ballard 1989).
What is important to note here is that typological similarities used to
create and divide language families do not necessarily imply a
common origin at all. Instead, what is shown is that at one time, one
of the related languages may have imposed itself on the other as a
superstraturm. Typological similarity shows familial relationship, but it
does not necessarily imply monogenesis (Ballard 1989).
As an additional piece of evidence for a Min-Wu special relationship,
another theory in Chinese linguistics divides Chinese languages in
Southern China into eastern and western languages. Min and Wu are
eastern languages and Xiang, Gan and (somehow) Cantonese are
western languages.
 Fujian
Nampo Wu is a Pucheng Wu language spoken in Northern Fujian. It
is extremely divergent (Zhengzhang 1984).
North Dabei Wu is another Pucheng Wu language spoken in
Northern Fujian around Pucheng. It is also very divergent
(Zhengzhang 1984).
Pucheng Wu A is a separate Pucheng Wu language spoken around
Pucheng in Northern Fujian. It is highly divergent (Zhengzhang 1984).
Pucheng Wu B is a highly divergent Pucheng Wu language spoken in
Northern Fujian around Pucheng (Zhengzhang 1984).
Pucheng Wu C is another very divergent Pucheng Wu language
spoken in the far north of Fujian near Pucheng (Zhengzhang 1984).
Pucheng Wu D is yet another divergent Pucheng Wu language
spoken in far northern Fujian near Pucheng (Zhengzhang 1984).

Jiangxi
Dexing Wu is a separate Lonqu language spoken in Dexing county-
level city in Shangrao Prefectural City.
Geyuan Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in Hengfeng
County in Shangrao Prefectural City. Nevertheless, it is completely
different from all surrounding Sinitic varieties, and it must be a
separate language. Until recently, speakers were not even sure they
were speaking a Wu language.
Guangfeng Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in Guangfeng
County in Shangrao Prefectural City.
Shangrao City Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in
Shangrao Prefectural City. This language is apparently spoken in the
city itself as sopposed to the surrounding county where Shangrao
County is spoken..
Shangrao County Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in
Shangrao County in Shangrao Prefectural City. This language is
presumably spoken in the surrounding county as opposed to the city
itself, where Shangrao City is spoken.
Yushan Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken Yushan County in
the far west of Shangrao Prefectural City in Jiangxi.
 Zhejiang
Changshan Wu is spoken in Changshan County in Central Quzhou
Prefectural City in Southwestern Zhejiang on the border of Jiangxi.
Jiangshan Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in Jiangshan
County in far Southern Quzhou Prefectural City.
Kaihua Wu is a separate Longqu language spoken in Kaihua County
in far Western Quzhou Prefectural City.
Quzhou Wu is a separate language within Longqu spoken in Quzhou
Prefectural City .

Unclassified Wu
Nanjing Wu is a separate language. It is close to Shanghainese Wu
but is not fully intelligible with it.

Classification
Taihu Wu is composed of 81 varieties, most of which are separate
languages. It contains seven subgroups.
Baoshan, Canlang, Changsha, Changshu, Chengxiang, Chongming,
Fengxian, Haining, Haiyan, Huinan, Jiading, Jiangyin, Jiashan, Jiaxing,
Jinchang, Jinshan, Kunshan, Nanmen, Pinghu, Pingjiang, Pudong,
Qingpu, Shanghai, Songjiang, Suzhou, Taicang, Tailun, Wunang,
Wujiang, Wuxi, Xishan, Yixing, and Zhangjiagang are all members of
the Hujia Group of Taihu, which contains 33 varieties, most of which
are separate languages.
Changzhou, Danyang, Gaochun, the Haimens, Jingning, Jintan, Lishui,
Lusi, Liyang, Nantong City, Qidong, Rudong, Shazhou, Taixing, Wuhu,
and Wujin and are in the Piling Group of Taihu, which has 17 varieties.
Piling has 8 million speakers.
Hangzhou is a member of the Hangzhou Group of Taihu, of which it is
the only member.
Changle, Cixi, Fuyang, Jiande, Lin'an, Shangyu, Shaoxing, Shengxian,
Tonglu, Xiaoshan, Xinchang, Yuyao, and Zhuji are in the Linshao
Group of Taihu, which contains 13 varieties.
Anji, Changxing, Deqing, Huzhou, and Yuhang are members of the
Taioxi Group of Taihu, which has five varieties.
Daishan, Dinghai, Fenghua, Ningbo, Putuo, Shengxian, Xiangshan,
Yinxian, Zhenhai, and Zhoushan are in the Yongjiang Group of Taihu,
which contains 10 varieties.
Yongjiang has 4 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Guangde, Jinxiang, and Lanxi are in the Unclassified Group of Taihu,
which has three varieties.
Taihu has 47 million speakers.
Huangyan, Jiaojiang, Leqing, Linhai, Luqiao, Ninghai, Sanmen, the
Taizhous, Tiantai, Wenling, Xianju, and Yuhuan are members of the
Taizhou Group of Wu, which has 13 varieties, all separate languages.
Cangnan, Chu River, Dongtou, Hedi, Jinxiang Manhua, Leqing, Liqu,
Longwan, Luoyang, Northern Yueqing, Ouhai, Pingyang, Quianku
Manhua, Qingjiang, Qingtian, Ruian, Shexian, Taishun, Wencheng,
Wenxi, Wenzhou, Wujiang, Xiangyang, Yishan Manhua, Yesuo,
Yongjia, and Yueqing are in the Oujiang Group of Wu, which contains
28 varieties, most of them separate languages.
Dongyang, Jiande, Jinhua, Jinhua Xiaohuang, Jinyun, Lanxi, Longyou,
Pan'an, Pujiang, Tangxi, Wuyi, the Yiwus, and Yongkang are all
members of the Wuzhou Group of Wu, which contains 30 varieties, all
of which are separate languages.
Wuzhou has 4 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Chuqu Wu has two subgroups, Chuzhou Wu and Longqu Wu. Chuqu
Wu contains 26 separate varieties, almost all separate languages.
Jingning, Lishui, Longquan, Nampo, North Dabei, the Puchengs,
Qingyuan, Songyang, Suichang, Taishun, Xuanping, Yunhe, and
Zaicheng are in the Chuzhou group of Chuqu, which contains 16
varieties, almost all separate languages.
Chuzhou has 1.5 million speakers.
Changshan, Dexing, Geyuan, Guangfeng, Jiangshan, Kaihua, Quzhou,
Shangrao City, Shangrao County, and Yushan are members of the
Longqu Group of Chuqu, which has 10 languages.
Lonqu has 5 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Southern Wu has 18 million speakers.
Guangde, Lanxi, and Nanjing are in the Unclassified Group of Wu,
which has three members.
There are 178 varieties of Wu. Some say that there are hundreds of
mutually unintelligible languages inside of Wu alone.
The Wu languages have 85 million speakers (Olson 1998).

Huizhou/Hui

Hui, Huizhou, or Huianan is a major group of many different Chinese

languages with wide internal variation. There is a possibility that all
Hui varieties are separate languages. Hui is spoken in the historical
area of Huizhou, located mostly in Southeastern Anhui but also partly
in Jiangxi and a tiny bit in Zhejiang. The area is very mountainous,
leading to strong differentiation among the varieties. Every county in
the area has its own Hui version unintelligible to outsiders. The
classification below will assume that each county-level variety of Hui
is a separate language. In fact, there is a very good probability that
each major Hui dialect is a separate language.

The Jingzhan Group

The Jingzhan Group is spoken in Anhui and Jiangxi.
Chilingkou Hui, spoken in Chiling, Qimen County, Anhui, is a
separate language.
Jingde Hui is a separate Jingzhan language spoken in Anhui.
Meixi Xiang Hui is a separate Jingzhan language spoken in Meixi,
Jiangxi.
Ningguo Hui is a separate language spoken in Nigguo County in
Anhui.
Within Qimen County in Anhui itself, there are six different Hui
varieties with low intelligibility between them. We are talking about
six different languages here. One of them is Chilingkou.
The others we will just call Qimen Hui A, Qimen Hui B, Qimen Hui
C, Qimen Hui D, and Qimen Hui F.
Shitai Hui, spoken in Shitai County, Anhui, is a separate language.

The Jishi Group

The Jishi Group is spoken in Anhui.
Shexian A is one language that is spoken in the Shexian area of
Anhui. It is not intelligible with Shexian B.
Shexian B is the other language that is spoken in the same area of
Anhui. It is not intelligible with Shexian A. that we will only call
Shexian Hui A and Shexian Hui B for now.
Jixi Hui is a separate language.
Hongmen Hui is a separate language.

The Qide Group

The Qide Group is spoken in Jiangxi and Anhui.
Dexing Hui, spoken in Jiangxi, is a separate language.
Dongzhi Hui, spoken in Dongzhi County, Anhui, is a separate
language.

The Xiuyi Group

The Xiuyi Group is spoken in Anhui and Jiangsxi.
Tunxi Hui, spoken in the Tunxi District of Anhui, is a separate
language.
Wuyuan Hui, spoken in Jiangxi, is a separate language.
Xiuning Hui, spoken in Xiuning County in Jiangxi, is a separate
language.

The Yangzhou Group

The Yangzhou Group is spoken in Western Zhejiang and a bit in
Jiangxi. It is interesting because there is controversy whether these
are Wu or Hui languages. Careful examination reveals that they
cannot be subsumed under Southern Wu due to their great
divergence from it, despite having some similarities with Wu. Some
authors feel that they are Hui-Wu merged varieties, and their
similarity with both is given as a reason for merging Wu and Hui into
a supergroup.
While it is best to classify them as Hui, they are much different from
most Hui varieties.
Chun'an Hui is a separate language. It is spoken in Chun'an County
in Jiangxi. Chunan is very diverse.
Suian Hui is a separate language within Yangzhou. It is spoken in
Western Zhejiang and is very diverse.
Shouchang Hui is a separate language within Yangzhou spoken in
Western Zhejiang. It is extremely diverse.
Jiande Hui is a separate language in Yangzhou. Jiande has some
differences between it and Shouchang. It is also spoken in Western
Zhejiang.

Unclassified
Xidi Hui, spoken in a village at the foot of Huangshan Mountain in
Anhui, is a separate language. Xidi is unintelligible even to villages a
few miles away.

Classification
Huangshan, Tunxi, Wuyuan, Xiuning, and Yixian are members of the
Xiuyi Group of Hui, which has five varieties.
Chilingkou, Jingde, Meixi Xiang, Ningguo, the Qimens, and Shitai are
members of the Jingzhan Group of Hui. Jingzhan has 11 varieties, all
separate languages.
Hongmen, Jixi, the Shexians, and Taicun are members of the Jishe
Group of Hui. Jishe has five varieties.
Dexing, Dongzhi, Fuliang, and Zeichun are members of the Qide
Group of Hui. Qide has four varieties.
Chunan, Jiande, Shouchang, and Suian are members of the Yangzhou
Group of Hui. Yangzhou has four varieties, all separate languages.
Xidi is unclassified.
There are 29 different Hui varieties, at least 24 of which are separate
languages.
The Hui languages have 3.2 million speakers.

Cantonese
 Map of the Cantonese and Ping languages. Ping is in yellow and light orange.
The rest is Cantonese. Guibei or Northern Ping is in yellow. Guinan or
Southern Ping is in orange. The different groups of Cantonese are as follows:
The pink group is the Guangfu Group. The dark pink group is the Siyi Group.
The light purple group is the Goulou Group. The dark green group is the
Quinlian Group. The light green group is the Yongxun Group. The dark purple
group is the Gaoyang Group. The blue group is the Wuhua Group. The Danzou
group is off the map to the south on Hainan. The Liangjiang Group is not
shown but would be the part of the blue group separated from the rest in the far
west of Guangdong.

Cantonese is a major language group spoken in the south of China.

Cantonese speakers are said to be a mix between the Yue people and
the Han. They have great pride in their speech which is closer to
ancient Chinese than Mandarin.
Some Cantonese activists denounce Mandarin as a pidgin language
spoken by Manchu and Mongol invaders glommed onto the Chinese of
the people they conquered.
Various attempts are utilized to determine intelligibility between
varieties of Chinese. They vary in efficacy, as the following shows.
Attempts to determine intelligibility through the use of complex
lexical, tonal, grammatical and phonological formulae produce results
that are excessively high in terms of percentage of intelligibility.
A better method is presented in which sentences in other varieties,
say Varieties B and C, are played to speakers of Variety A, and
speakers of Variety A are asked to give the basic meaning of the
Variety B and C sentences played to them. A sentence is recorded as
correct if the basic meaning was ascertained (Szeto 2000).
By this better method, Standard Cantonese has only 31.3%
intelligibility of Siyi, 7.2% of Hakka, 2.7% of Teochew and 2.5% of
Xiamen (Szeto 2000). This paper also highlights the very important
role morphological and syntactic differences play in intelligibility, even
apart from phonology and other factors.
In contrast, the more complex method through the use of complex
lexical, tonal, grammatical and phonological formulae not relying on
actual informants gives false positives. By this method, Cantonese
has 54.7% intelligibility of Hakka, 47.45% of Teochew, and 43.5% of
Hokkien. This method falsely overestimates the intelligibility of Hakka
by 7.6X, of Teochew by 16.1X and of Hokkien by 19X.
Standard Cantonese is traditionally said to have nine tones, but
phonemically there are only six tones, since the last three are just
three of the first six with a voiceless stop consonant on the end.
These are often called entering tones in traditional Chinese
scholarship. Entering tones disappeared from most Mandarin varieties
about 800 years ago due to the influence of invading Mongols
speaking Turkic languages but are still present in Cantonese, Hakka
and Min. The original entering tones of Middle Chinese have merged
into other tones or into Mandarin's four tones. Traditional Chinese
tones or contour tones end in a vowel or a nasal. However, in
Standard Cantonese, the entering tone has retained its original short
and sharp character from Middle Chinese, so in a sense, it has a
different sound quality.
One of the most well-known divisions in Cantonese is Yuehai.
The other major divisions of Cantonese are Goulou and Yongxun,
found in the watershed of the Pearl River, and Siyi, Gaoyang, Wuhua,
and Quinlian.

The Yuehai Group

Yuehai contains four divisions: Guangbao, Guangfu, Sanyi, and
Zhongshan.
 The Guangbao Group of Yuehai
The Guangbao Group of Cantonese is spoken mostly east of the Pearl
River Delta in Shenzen and Dongguan Prefectural Cities and in Hong
Kong. It consists of Danija Cantonese, Dapeng Cantonese, Gashiu
Cantonese, Hainanese Danija Cantonese, Namtou Cantonese, Raoping
Cantonese, and Xiangzhou Cantonese.
Danija Cantonese is a Cantonese macrolanguage spoken by the Tanka
fisherpeople who live on boats off the coast of Guangdong, Guangxi,
and Zhejiang.
One theory is that the languages of the Tanka are very archaic
languages from old Chinese, before Hakka and Cantonese had even
formed yet. They may share this archaic character with Danzou
speakers in Hainan, Ping, and the Tuhua languages of Hunan and
Guangdong. As early as 800, scholars reported that the Tanka spoke a
different language than the Chinese people. They may be the
remnants of a seagoing pre-Han group.
The Tanka are descended from local fisherpeople who took to the sea
to flee wars from 300-600, so their languages may indeed go back
that far. There are some indications of a Tai layer in some Tanka
languages. Wherever they live, Tanka speak very different languages
than the local Chinese.
Dapeng Cantonese is spoken on the Dapeng Peninsula in Hong Kong
in Dapeng, Shenzen, Tai Kok, and Tung Ping Chau on the Ping Islands.
It has been very heavily influenced by Hakka. It is so different that it
must be a separate language. The latest thinking is that this is a form
of Junhua or Military Language, a mixed language that remains
unclassified but is made up of various combinations of Hakka, Gan,
Cantonese, Min Nan, or Japanese. It has only 6,000 remaining
speakers.
Dongguan Danija Cantonese is similar to Dongguan but is
nevertheless probably distinct, as Tanka languages differ markedly
from local languages everywhere they are spoken. It is now almost
extinct with only a few elderly speakers.
Gashiau Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong by a group of
fisherpeople related to the Tanka. This language is related to
Danija/Weitou but is not intelligible with it.
Hainanese Danija Cantonese, spoken by the Tanka on Hainan, is a
separate language. Over the years, it evolved to be drastically
different from the surrounding languages. There are 10,000 Tanka
living in the city of Sanya in Hainan. Lately there are plans to turn the
city into a tourist attraction, and many of the low income areas where
they Tanka are living are getting bulldozed.
Hong Kong Danija Cantonese is spoken by a group of Tanka
fisherpeople in Hong Kong in Aberdeen and Taio to the north of the
Hokkien-speaking Tanka area in Hong Kong. These are former Hakka
and Hokkien speakers who switched to Cantonese. They have been in
the area for 200 years. There are suggestions that they are from the
Panyu Region, but this is not proven.
Early reports indicate that Guangzhou speakers regarded Tanka
speech as an utterly foreign language. There are significant
phonological differences between Hong Kong Danija and Guangzhou,
and in addition, there is a lot of specialized lexicon related to fishing.
Namtou Cantonese is spoken in the Namtam area of Nantou and in
Yuen Long in Shenzen by 5,000 people. It is not fully intelligible with
Guangzhou.
Raoping Cantonese, spoken by Tanka fisherpeople in Northern
Guangdong, is probably a separate language. It has come under
extreme influence of Raoping Teochew because it is spoken in the
Raoping-speaking area. In addition, the speakers hate their own
language, so it is rapidly dying out.
Satinese Cantonese is spoken by Tanka fisherpeople in Zhongshan
in Guangdong in the towns of Namtau, Wongpo, Fausa, Manchung,
Gonghau, Tungsing, Tungfung, Siulaam, Wanglan, Salong, Panfu,
Sanwan and Tanchau. It differs dramatically from Guangzhou. It has
some similarities with Shunde.
Tung Ping Chau is a a Dapeng dialect spoken in Hong Kong that is
highly endangered.
Xiangzhou Cantonese is a Danija variety spoken by Tanka
fisherpeople in Xiangzhou County in Guangxi.

The Guangfu Group of Yuehai

The Guangfu division of Yuehai consists of Bao'an Cantonese,
Conghua, Dapo, Dongshan, Dongguan Cantonese, Guangzhou
Cantonese, Guangcheng, Foshan, Hong Kong, Houjie, Huizhou
Cantonese, Humen, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Malaysian
Cantonese, Nishimura, Panyu Cantonese, Sabah, Shunde Cantonese,
Vietnamese Cantonese, Weitou Cantonese, Wenzhou, Wuzhou
Cantonese, Xiguan, and Xiguan Guangzhou.

Guangxi
Wuzhou Cantonese is a very divergent Cantonese language spoken
in Wuzhou Prefectural City in Eastern Guangxi that is very hard for
other Cantonese speakers to understand.

Guangdong
Bao'an Cantonese is a separate language spoken in Shenzen
Prefectural City. The percentage of Cantonese speakers in Bao'an City
is less than in Guangzhou City, possibly 30%.
Conghua or Congzhou is a Guangzhou variety spoken in three
different dialects in Central Guangdong.
Dongguan Cantonese is not intelligible with Guangzhou. It is
spoken in Dongguan Prefectural City. A lot of young people are
forgetting how to speak it under the influence of Guangzhou.
Dongguan is divided into Guangcheng, Houjie, Humen, and Weitou.
The first three are dialects of Dongguan, but Weitou is a separate
language.
Dongshan is a Guangzhou variety spoken in the downtown of the city
of Guangzhou.
Foshan is a Guangzou dialect spoken in Foshan Prefectual City.
Guangcheng is a Dongguan dialect spoken in the Guangcheng
subdistrict of Dongguan Prefectural City.
Guangzhou Cantonese is the basis for Standard Cantonese spoken
in the Guangzhou Prefectural City. Although Putonghua has been
promoted there for a long time, as recently as 15 years ago, teachers
were still teaching classes in Cantonese. It is important to note that
Cantonese is only spoken by 60% of the population even in
Guangzhou Prefectural City, the heart of the Cantonese zone.
Guangzhou dialects spoken in the city of Guangzhou include
Nishimura, Dongshan, and some others.
Hong Kong is a Guangzhou dialect spoken in Hong Kong. There are a
few differences with Guangzhou but not enough to impair
communication.
Houjie is a Dongguan dialect spoken in Houjie Township to the north
of Humen in Dongguan Prefectural City.
Huizhou Cantonese is a Cantonese language spoken in Huizhou
Prefectural City east of Guangzhou to the northeast of Dongguan City
and to the west of Shanwei City. This is part of the Pearl River Delta.
Huizhou has very heavy Hakka influence such that it is probably a
separate language.
Humen is a Dongguan dialect spoken Humen Township on the east
side of the Pearl River.
Macao is a Guangzhou dialect spoken in Macao that is fully intelligible
with Guangzhou.
Nanhai is a Shunde Cantonese dialect, as the two are mutually
intelligible.
Nishimura is a Guangzhou variety spoken by a few old people in the
Nishimura neighborhood in Guangzhou city, but it is going extinct.
Panyu Cantonese is definitely a separate language (Chan 1981).
Panyu is spoken in Xiaolan and Huangpu towns in Zhongshan
Prefectural City.
Sabah is a Guangzhou dialect, a very pure form of Cantonese spoken
in Sabah in Malaysia. It resembles Standard Cantonese so much that
the speaker community is called Little Hong Kong.
Shek Pik Cantonese is a separate Waitou language, unintelligible to
Shui Hau Waitou speakers. Shek Pik village on Lantau Island was
inundated by a reservoir in 1961. Shek Pik is now nearly extinct.
Shunde Cantonese is spoken in the towns of Daliang, Longjiang,
Ronggui, and Beijiao. It is said to be almost the same language as
Panyu, but that seems dubious as a report from 1962 indicated that
Panyu was the standard for the area, and Nanhai and Shunde differed
dramatically from the Panyu standard language.
Shui Hau Cantonese is a separate language within Waitou,
unintelligible with Shek Pik Waitou.
Waitou Cantonese is spoken mostly by older people in Hong Kong's
inland rural New Territories in walled villages (Wai means walled). The
name Waitou Wa means “Village Cantonese.”
It is spoken in the New Territories in Fanling, Fanling Po Tsuen, Kam
Tin, Kau Sai, Lam Tsuen, Ping Shan, Pinghu, Shantin, Shek Pik,
Sheung Shui, Shui Hau, Songgang, Tai Tau Leng, Taipo, Tam Chung
Tsuen, and Yan Gang, in Shenzen in the Bao'an District, in Akao,
Fukuda, Gangxia, Huanggang, Shangsha, Xiasha, Xinzhou, and Yuen
Long, in the Longgang and Nanshan Districts, and in parts of Nantou.
It is also spoken inland by farmers.
Guangzhou-Waitou intelligibility is not full, with only 85% intelligibility
even with careful listening. Waitou varieties can differ greatly. On
rural Lantau Island in the New Territories, Shui Hau Waitou speakers
are not able to understand Shek Pik Waitou.
Wenzhou is a Guangzhou dialect.
Xiguan is a Guangzhou dialect spoken in the suburban areas of
Guangzhou Prefectural City. It has a few differences with Guangzhou
but presumably not enough to impair communication. It spoken
mostly by the older people now. The dialect is dying out.
Xiguan Guangzhou, is the Guangzhou dialect now spoken in
Guangzhou by young people who have given up the actual Xiguan
dialect. Xiguan Guangzhou is just Guangzhou with a Xiguan accent as
opposed to being an actual dialect of Guangzhou.

Malaysia
Ipoh is a Malay Cantonese dialect has been affected by Hakka in its
phonology.
Kuala Lumpur is a Malay Cantonese dialect that has a lot of has more
British loans. Cantonese is the most commonly spoken Chinese
language around Kuala Lumpur.
Malay Cantonese is also quite different from Guangzhou Cantonese
speakers who talk to Malay Cantonese speakers say that Malay
Cantonese sounds like a foreign language. Therefore, Malay
Cantonese appears to be a separate language. Malay Cantonese is
mostly spoken in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh, less so in Singapore.
Singaporean is a Malay Cantonese dialect spoken in Singapore. In
Singapore, Cantonese is still the most popular Chinese language in
Chinatown, although Hokkien is the most widely popular non-
Mandarin Chinese language.
Taiping is a Malay Cantonese dialect spoken in the northern city of
Taiping. There are many subsects of Cantonese speakers in the far
northern city of Taiping alone.

Vietnam
Vietnamese Cantonese is quite different from Guangzhou, and
Guangzhou speakers say they cannot understand it very well.

The Sanyi Group of Yuehai

The Sanyi Group of Cantonese consists of Jiujiang, Shawan, and
Xiquiao. It is spoken in Foshan Prefectural City. Since it is a separate
category in Cantonese, Sanyi must be a separate language.

The Zhongshan Group of Yuehai

The Zhongshan Group of Cantonese is spoken in Guangxi and is
composed of and Sanjiao and Shiqi.
Shiqi Cantonese, a Zhongshan language spoken in the city of Shiqi,
cannot be understood by Guangzhou speakers, but Shiqi people can
understand Guangzhou. Shiqi is spoken in the urban areas and
Sanjiao is presumably spoken in the rural areas. Whether Shiqi and
Sanjiao are mutually intelligible is not known.

The Danzou Group of Cantonese

The Danzou Group of Cantonese is spoken in Hainan and consists of
Changjiang, Danxian, and Ledang.
Changjiang is a dialect of Danzou probably spoken in the south of
Hainan. It is fully intelligible with Danxian.
Danxian is a Danzou dialect spoken in the city of Danzou. It is
intelligible with Changjiang.
Danzou Cantonese is spoken in Northwest Hainan and on the
southern coast of Hainan. In Danzou it is spoken by the Lingao
people. Danzou is related to the Lingao language. There are three
varieties of Danzou spoken there, Changjiang, Danxian, and Ledong,
and they cannot be understood by others.
Lately, linguists are referring to Danzou as a Min language, but that
seems wrong. It is utterly unintelligible with Hainanese Min, but
Cantonese speakers say it sounds somewhat Cantonese.
Nevertheless, Cantonese speakers cannot understand Danzou at all.
Danzou Cantonese is mostly spoken in the city of Danzou to the west
of Haikau in the far north of Hainan. It is also spoken in a city in the
south. The dialect spoken in the south is exactly the same as the
Danzou spoken in Danzou City. Most residents of Danzou city speak
either Danzou or Putonghua. Hainanese Min is hardly spoken there,
despite the fact that it is spoken by 80% of Hainanese. Danzou is also
spoken in Ledong.

The Gaoyang Group of Cantonese

The Gaoyang Group of Cantonese is a division of Cantonese that is
composed of Dianbai, Gaozhou, Maoming Cantonese, Xinyi,
Yangchun, and Yangjiang. It is spoken in far Southwestern
Guangdong on the coast.
Dianbai is spoken in Dianbai County in the Yangjiao District, in most
of Bohe Township, and in a few villages in the Qijing District.
Maoming Cantonese is an extremely diverse Cantonese language
that must be a separate language. Intelligibility of Maoming with the
rest of Gaoyang is not known.

The Goulou Group of Cantonese

The Goulou Group of Cantonese is separate from all of the rest of
Cantonese and is linked with Ping and Tuhua. It is made up of Bobai,
Beiliu, Cangwu, Cenxi, Deqing, Ertang, Fengkai, Guangning, Guigang,
Guixian, Huaiji, Lianshan, Luchuan, Luoding, Mengshan, Rongxian,
Shanglin, Shuishan, Sihui, Tengxian, Yangshan, Yongjiang, Yulin
Cantonese, and Zhaoping. This group is spoken in Northern and
Eastern Guangxi in Guilin, Yulin, and Wuzhou Cities far inland from
the rest of Cantonese.
This group represents the oldest layer of Cantonese going all the way
back to Proto-Cantonese. Proto-Cantonese began in the Qin Dynasty
in 200 BC. Large waves of immigrants from Northern China moved
into the area for the next 600 years. In the process, many Yue or
native people were Sinicized. Many were speakers of Zhuang and
other Tai languages. In 400 AD, Lianshan became the center of an
independent state in Southern China.
All of these processes continued through the Song Dynasty from 900-
1200, resulting in the creation of the Cantonese language. Wuzhou
and its rural areas, Lianshan, the Yongjiang and Wujiang River Basins
are the areas where the oldest layers of Proto-Cantonese and Old
Cantonese remain today. Since these Cantonese varieties are so
archaic, they are hard for other Cantonese speakers to understand
and often regarded by these speakers as strange or odd speech
varieties
This same process of retention of archaic Proto-Cantonese features is
probably what resulted in the Ping language, and Ping is often
confused with Goulou Cantonese and Ping and Goulou are sometimes
spoken side by side in the region.
Bobai is spoken in Bobai south of Yulin. It is a dialect of Yulin.
Ertang is spoken in Pingle County in Guilin Prefectural City in far
Northern Guangxi. Speakers arrived from Yunfu County in Yunan
Prefectural City in Eastern Guangdong on the Guangxi border 100
years ago. It has been heavily influenced by Ping.
Shuishan is spoken in Pingle County Guilin Prefectural Cityin far
Northern Guangxi. Speakers arrived 100 years ago from Yangshan
County in Yunan Prefectural City in Eastern Guangdong bordering
Guangxi. It has a lot of Ping influence.
Xingye Cantonese is spoken in Xingye County in Yulin Prefectural
City, but it is not Yulin. It is closer to Wuzhou, but it is not Wuzhou.
Instead it is closer to some Wuzhou County rural varieties such as
Cenxi in the city of Cenxi in Wuzhou.
Yangjia is a Goulou variety spoken in Yongjia village in Daxu Township
of Linguan County in Guilin Prefectural City near Ertang and Shuishan.
Speakers also came from Yunan Prefectural City in Guangdong 100
years ago.
Yulin Cantonese is a representative language in Goulou Cantonese
and is the existing form of Chinese that is closest to Old Chinese. It is
spoken in Southeastern Guangxi. Yulin and Baobai are mutually
intelligible, but they are not intelligible with the rest of Goulou.
 The Haihua Group of Cantonese
The Haihua Group of Cantonese consists of only Lianjiang Cantonese.
Lianjiang Cantonese is spoken in the city of Lianjiang in far Western
Guangdong. It is the only member of a separate group of Cantonese,
so it must be a separate language.

The Quinlian Group of Cantonese

The Quinlian Group of Cantonese is a division of Cantonese spoken in
the Guangxi coastal areas on the southern coast of China in the
prefectural cities of Qinzhou, Beihai, and Fangchenggang.
The group is divided into urban varieties which share a high degree of
mutual intelligibility with each other and even with other urban
varieties in the Yongxun and Gaoyang Groups but have poor
intelligibility with the rural varieties. The reasons for the higher
mutual intelligibility with urban varieties even outside of the group
may be due to the cities themselves, even outside of known groups,
being closer to each other than they are to rural varieties even within
the same group. This may have to do with histories of intense trade
between cities even outside of groups which made brought the
Cantonese varieties spoken in those cities closer together.
The rural varieties are split into three major groups: Lianzhou
Cantonese, Lingshan, and Xiaojiang. The rural varieties have poor
intelligibility with the urban varieties.
The urban varieties consist of Dongcheng, Fangcheng, and Qianzhou.
Beihai is a Quinlian variety very widely spoken in Beihai Prefecture in
the area around Nanning as the major language. It is not known
whether this is an urban or rural variety. Beihai itself has five separate
dialects within it: Beihai A, Beihai B, Beihai C, Beihai D, and Beihai E.
Behai is not intelligible with Lianzhou.
Hepu, spoken in Hepu in Behai City, was thought to be a dialect of
Lianzhou, but it is probably not intelligible with it, as it is quite
different. It has undergone independent development as a result of
complex migration patterns in Hepu.
Lianzhou Cantonese has a Ping base with some Min and quite a bit
of Hakka blended in. It is spoken in Hepu County in Behai Prefectural
City where it is one of the most widely spoken languages, the
southern part of Pubei County in Qianzhou City, and the coastal areas
of Qianzhou. Lianzhou is so different from the rest of Quinlian that it
must be a separate language. It has such heavy substratum of the
ancient Yue language that it has poor intelligibility with the rest of
Quinlian. The Hakka influence is so strong that this language is often
thought to be a Hakka language. Rural Quinlian Cantonese and Behai
have poor intelligibility of Lianzhou.
Lingshan is a Rural Quinlian variety spoken in the countryside of
Qinzhou Prefectural City in Lingshan and Pubei Counties. The prestige
dialect of Lingshan is spoken in the township of Nahe.
Longmen is a dialect of Lianzhou or possibly a Xiaojiang–Lianzhou
transitional variety.
Rural Quinlian Cantonese would be a reasonable name for
Lingshan and Xiaojiang, as Lianzhou is a separate language. Lingshan
and Xiaojiang are not intelligible with Lianzhou.
Urban Quinlian Cantonese is a good name for the urban varieties
consisting of Dongcheng, Fangcheng, Lingshan, and Qianzhou. All of
these may be mutually intelligible.
Xiaojiang is a variety of Rural Quinlian spoken in Pubei.

The Siyi Group of Cantonese

The Siyi or Sze Yup Group of Cantonese is a huge group of Cantonese
varieties spoken in the part of the Pearl River Delta to the south of the
Guangzhou area. Siyi Cantonese is the language of the Four Counties:
Enping, Kaiping, Taishan, and Xinhui. Researchers have found 664
different Siyi varieties in the Pearl River Delta area alone. 194 of them
were similar, but another 442 of them were quite different. Since it is
mostly Siyi varieties that are spoken in this area, this implies that
there may be up 664 different varieties in Siyi alone.
Siyi has very low intelligibility with Guangzhou, 10-20%.
150 years ago, there were fewer but still significant differences
between Siyi and Sanyi (what later came to be known as Standard
Cantonese), but Siyi was disparaged as a "hill dialect" of poor
farmers, while Sanyi was elevated as the prestige language of the
cultured and cosmopolitan. This is why Sanyi became the Standard
Cantonese language. Siyi speakers incorporated this negative view
into their self-image even to the point where they held overseas
meetings meeting in Sanyi.
Baisha is a dialect of Taishan Cantonese spoken in Bei Hou.
Enping Cantonese, spoken in Enping County, cannot understand
some other Siyi varieties. Therefore, Enping is a separate language.
Gee is a dialect of Kaiping.
Heshan is a dialect of Xinhui Cantonese.
Hetang Cantonese, spoken in Xinhui, is very divergent and has
many strange features not found in other Siyi varieties. Doubtless it is
less than fully intelligible with other Siyi varieties.
Kaiping Cantonese, spoken in Kaishan County, is not fully intelligible
with Enping until they get used to each others' sounds. Kaiping is so
different from Taishanese that it is hard to imagine how they can
communicate well, though there is partial intelligibility. There are
many different dialects inside of Kaiping alone, and pronunciation
varies almost from neighborhood to neighborhood. However, the
dialects seem to be mutually intelligible.

Location of Taishan in Guangdong.

Taishanese, Hoisonese, Hoisan or Toison Cantonese is a

Cantonese macrolanguage spoken north of Macao in Taishan County
where there are 20 townships, and there is a different variety in every
township. Taishanese is the basis for Standard Siyi. As late as the
early 1990's, children in this area were still being taught in the local
Taishanese dialect. Taishanese is still spoken widely in Chinatowns in
the US such as in San Francisco (especially Stockton Street) and in
New York.
The varieties in Taishan County can be quite different.
For certain, there are at least three distinct languages within
Taishanese besides the standard - Taishan Cantonese A, Taishan
Cantonese B and Taishan Cantonese C - and these three have a
hard time understanding each other.
There are clearly at least 17 varieties within Taishan Proper alone.
Each town has its own variety, and in fact, each village has its own
dialect. The main town varieties are Baisha, Beidou, Chixi, Chonglou,
Chuandao, Dajiang, Doushan, Duanfen, Duhu, Guanghai, Haiyan,
Sanhe, Shenjing, Shuibu, Sijiu, Taicheng, and Wencun.
Xinhui is quite different from Taishanese. It is spoken just to the
northwest of Macao to the south of the Taishan area. Xinhui varieties
differ slightly from village to village, but the differences are not great.
When you cross from the Xinhui area north to the Taishan zone, the
difference in the speech is dramatic.

Malaysia
Perak Taishanese is a variety of Taishanese spoken in Perak. There
are also speakers of especially in Perak. Intelligibility with Taishanese
back in China is not known.

The Wuhua Group of Cantonese

The Wuhua Group of Cantonese consists of Huazhou Cantonese,
Wuchuan and Zhanjiang Cantonese. This group is spoken in the far
south of Guangdong along the coast near the Leizhou Min area.
Huazhou Cantonese, spoken next door to Maoming, also cannot be
understood by Guangzhou speakers.
Zhanjiang Cantonese is utterly unintelligible with Guangzhou. They
speak Zhangjiang Min in this area, and the Cantonese has heavy Min
influence, hence it is probably a separate language. Zhanjiang is
spoken in the Leizhou Min area.
 The Yongxun Group of Cantonese
The Yongxun Group of Cantonese consists of Baise Cantonese,
Chongzuo, Fusui, Guiping, Hengxian, Luizhou Cantonese, Nanning
Cantonese, Ningming, Pingguo, Pingnan, Tianyang, and Yongning.
Yongxun is spoken in the far southwest of the Cantonese area in
Guangxi. It is surrounded by Ping speakers, and it is sometimes hard
to tell what is Ping and what is Cantonese here.
Baise Cantonese must be a separate language. It is spoken in the
Yongjiang District in Baise Prefectural City in Western Guangxi. It is
very different, having been influenced heavily by Zhuang speakers.
Luizhou Cantonese has difficult intelligibility with Standard
Cantonese. It is spoken apart from the main group in Luizhou
Prefectural City in Northern Guangxi, so it may be a separate
language.
Nanning Cantonese is more intelligible with Guangzhou than with
any of the Cantonese varieties around it, but whether this intelligiblity
is full or not is not clear. If it has poor intelligibility with related
Cantonese varieties around it, it is hard to see how it would have full
intelligibility with Guangzhou. Nanning is spoken in Nanning
Prefectural City in Central Guangxi.

The Unclassified Group of Cantonese

Ledong Cantonese is an unclassified Cantonese language
spoken on Hainan. It is not part of Danzou Cantonese. It must be
a separate language.
Jimmi Cantonese is an unclassified Cantonese language spoken in
Jilong and Tiechong in Huidong and Erbu and Chishi in Haifeng north
of Hong Kong. The popular notion is that this is a blend of Cantonese,
Hakka, and Min. Hailufeng Min is widely spoken in the area, and
Haifeng Hakka is also spoken. Jimmi varieties appear to be mostly
Cantonese with some Hakka and an even smaller trace of Min. Surely
Jimmi must be a separate language.
Namlong Cantonese, is an unclassified Cantonese language from
the Pearl River area. It is also a separate language or at least it was in
1949. Whether it still exists is not certain, but native speakers must
still be alive.
Yaxian Cantonese is an unclassified Cantonese language spoken in
the city of Yaxian on Hainan.

Classification
Yuehai itself is split into the Guangfu, Zhongshan, Guangbao, and
Sanyi subgroups.
Bao'an, Conghua, Dongguan, Dongshan, Fogang, Foshan, Gaoming,
Gaoyao, Guangzhou, Guangcheng, Hexian, Houjie, Huaxian, Humen,
Hong Kong, Huizhou, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Lechang, Longmen, Macao,
Malayland, Nanhai, Nishimura, Panyu, Qingyuan, Qujiang, Sabah,
Sanshui, Shaoguan, Shenzen, Shunde, Vietnamese, Weitou,
Xianggang, Xiguan, Xiguan Guangzhou, Xinxing, Yingde, Yunfu,
Zengcheng, Zhaoqing, and Zhuhai are members of the Guangfu
Group of Yuehai, which has 43 varieties.
Guangfu has 13 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Jiujiang, Shatin, Shiwan, and Xiquiao are members of the Sanyi Group
of Yuehai, which has four varieties.
Danija, Dapeng, Gashiu, Nanou, and Tung Ping Chau are members of
the Guangbao Group of Yuehai, which has five varieties.
Sanjiao and Shiqi are members of the Zhongshan Group of Yuehai,
which contains two varieties.
The Yuehai Group of Cantonese has 54 varieties.
Baisha, Beidou, Chixi, Chonglou, Chuandao, Dajiang, Doumen,
Doushan, Duanfen, Duhu, Enping, Gee, Guanghai, Guzhen, Haiyan,
Hetang, Heshan, Jiangmen, Kaiping, Sanhe, Shenjing, Shuibu, Sijiu,
Siqian, Taicheng, Taishan, Taishan A, Taishan B, Taishan C, Wencun,
Xinhui and are members of Siyi Cantonese, which has 664 varieties.
There are 3.6 million speakers of Siyi.
Baise, Chongzuo, Fusui, Guiping, Hengxian, Luizhou, Nanning,
Ningming, Pingguo, Pingnan, Tianyang, and Yongning are members of
the Yongxun Group of Cantonese, which has 12 varieties.
Yongxun has five million speakers (Olson 1998).
Dianbai, Gaozhou, Maoming, Yangchun, Yangiang, and Xinyi are
members of the Gaoyang Group of Cantonese, which has six varieties.
Gaoyang has 5.4 million speakers (Olson 1998).
Lianjiang is the sole member of the Haihua Group of Cantonese.
Huazhou, Wuchuan, and Zhanjiang are members of the Wuhua Group
of Cantonese, which has three varieties.
Changjiang and Danxian are in the Danzou Group of Cantonese, which
has two varieties.
Beihai, Beihai A, Beihai B, Beihai C, Beihai D, Beihai E, Dongxing,
Fangcheng, Jianjiang, Hepu, Lianzhou, Lingshan, Nahe, Qianzhou,
Pubei, and Xiaojiang are members of the Quinlian Group of
Cantonese, which has 16 varieties.
Bobai, Beiliu, Binyang, Cangwu, Cenxi, Deqing, Ertang, Fengkai,
Guangning, Guixian, Huaiji, Lianshan, Lianzhou, Liujing, Luchuan,
Luoding, Mengshan, Rongxian, Shanglin, Shuishan, Sihui, Tengxian,
Wuzhou, Yangshan, Yulin, and Zhaoping are members of the Goulou
Group of Cantonese, which has 24 varieties.
Haikang, Ledong, Jimmi, Namlong, Rucheng, Suixi, Xuwen, Yaxian,
and Zhongshan are unclassified. Nine Cantonese varieties are
unclassified.
There are 786 varieties of Cantonese. 44 of them are separate
languages.
The Cantonese languages have 64 million speakers.

Ping/Pinghua

Ping, now recognized as a major split from Cantonese, is composed of

two main splits, Guinan or Southern Ping and Guibei or Northern Ping.
Guinan and Guibei are definitely separate languages. Ping is mostly
spoken in Guangxi, but there are a few speakers in far southwestern
Hunan near where Guizhou, Guangxi and Hunan all come together. A
number of strange mixed-type languages composed of Chinese mixed
with different minority languages that are hard to classify are spoken
in this region.
Liuzhou Prefectural City separates the two Ping divisions. There are
significant different differences between Northern and Southern Ping,
but there are also a few similarities. Guibei has five tones, while
Guinan has eight tones.
Ping has been heavily influenced by the language of the Dong people.
Cantonese has almost no intelligibility of Ping, although Ping has sort
of a Cantonese sound to it.

The Guibei Group of Ping

Guibei Ping is spoken in sporadically in Northern Guangxi around
Guilin Prefectural City and in Hezhou near the Southwestern
Mandarin-speaking area. Guinan sounds similar to Zhuang or Tai
languages. The northern group extends from Guilin south through
Yangshuo to Fuchuan, Zhongshan, and Hexian.
Bendi or Bendihua Ping is a Guibei language that has been heavily
influenced by the Dong language. It is spoken by 20,000 people in
Tongdao Dong Autonomous County in Hunan. They are classified by
the Chinese government as Han, but the speakers see themselves as
a separate ethnic group and not a part of either the Han or Dong
ethnicities. Bendihua has such significant Dong influence that it must
be a separate language.

The Guinan Group of Ping

Guinan Ping is spoken in Southern Guangxi in a contiguous
geographical area around the Prefectural City of Nanning. It is close to
Cantonese, especially the Nanning Cantonese spoken in the same
area. Guibei has some loans from Zhuang.
Nanxiang Ping is only somewhat like Pengma very close by, and it is
probably not intelligible with it. It is spoken in the town of Nanxiang in
Nanning Prefectural City in Guangxi.
Pingma Ping is a Guebei variety spoken around Pengma and Taoxu
in Heng County in Nanning Prefectural City in Guangxi. It is only a bit
like and probably not intelligible with Nanxiang close by. Taoxu is part
of this language. It sounds a lot like Zhuang or other Tai languages. It
also sounds like Cantonese.
 Malaysia
Kwongsai or Malaysian Ping is spoken by Ping speakers who migrated
to Malaysia. They live in Pahang in Bentong, Mentakab, and Raub.
Intelligibility with Chinese Ping is not known.

Classification
Beni, Fuchuan Xiushui, Guanyang Guanyinge, Hezhou Jiudusheng,
Lingui Liangjiang, Lingui Lining, Lingchuan, Longsheng, Pingle,
Quanzhou Wenquiao, Yangshuo Putao, Yongfu Tangbao, Xing'an
Gaoshang, Zhongshan, and Ziyuan Yandong are members of Guibei
Ping, which has 15 varieties, one of which is a separate language.
Baise, Binyang, Chongzuo, Du'an, Fusui, Hengxian, Laibin, Liucheng,
Liujiang, Liuzhou, Longzhou, Luancheng, Mashan, Nanning, Nanxiang,
Pingguo, Pingma, Rong'an, Rongshui, Shanglin, Taoxhu, Tiandong,
Tianyang, Yinshan, and Yongning are members of Guinan Ping, which
has 25 varieties, three of which are separate languages.
Kwongsai and Fuchuan are unclassified. Two Ping varieties are
unclassified.
Ping has 42 varieties, four of which are separate languages.
There are two million speakers of the Ping languages.

Tuhua

Tuhua is a separate branch of Chinese spoken in Northern

Guangdong; Western, Southeastern, and Northeastern Hunan
Province, and parts of Southern Guangxi. It has 132 separate
varieties. Tuhua is not really a language group but a wastebasket
group for various varieties derisively referred to as tuhua - or
"farmer's language."
Initial examination suggests that a number of things.
First of all, that the Tuhua varieties, especially those of Southern
Hunan, are very diverse, possibly as diverse as Wu, Xiang, and Hui.
Many or all of them may well be separate languages. If Tuhua is really
as diverse as Wu, Xiang, and Hui, then quite probably there is a
different Tuhua language spoken in every county. Further, they are
poorly studied and dialectally very diverse. There are many dialects
inside the known Tuhua varieties, and these dialects are often very
different. So there are languages inside even the known Tuhua
varieties.
Further, there appear to be links between the Tuhua varieties of
Southeastern Hunan and Northern Guangdong and the Ping language
of Northern Guangxi, as they border each other. They all appear to be
related and to have descended from a common ancestor.
Tuhua may have originally begun as a Sinicized form of the Yao
language, and many of its speakers are still Yao people. One theory is
that Tuhua is simply an extension of Ping. Another theory is that
Tuhua started out as Middle Gan and then mixed with Cantonese,
Hakka, and Southwestern Mandarin.
Additionally, many Tuhua varieties are starting to splinter recently, as
influences from Hakka, Cantonese, and Southwest Mandarin begin to
affect the younger speakers such that the language of the youngest
speakers is quite a bit different from the language of the older
speakers.

Northern Guangdong
The best known of the Tuhua groups is Shaozhou Tuhua, referred to
here as Shaozhou or Shaoguan Group of Tuhua. Sometimes this name
is used to describe all Tuhua varieties. It is spoken in northern
Guangdong on the border of Hunan, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. Most of
the speakers are in Northern Guangdong, but there are also some
speakers in Southeastern Hunan.
In Guangdong, it is spoken in Qingyuan Prefectural City in Lianzhou
County, Liannan Yao Autonomous County and Lianshan Zhuang and
Yao Autonomous County on the border of Guangxi and in Shaoguan
Prefectural City in Lechang, Nanxiong, Quijang, Renhua, Wujiang, and
Zhenjiang Counties, and in Ruyuan Yao Autonomous County on the
borders of Hunan and Jiangxi. The Tuhua languages spoken in
Shaoguan are collectively called Yuebei Tuhua or Shaoguan Tuhua.
Shaozhou is very different from other Chinese varieties. It consists of
many different varieties which all differ significantly from each other.
Some say that Shaozhou is a branch of Min Nan, while others say it is
related to Hakka. In the last 100 years, the Shaozhou region has been
swamped by Hakka speakers who have flooded into the region.
Shaozhou can be split into four basic groups: Lianshan Tuhua,
Lianzhou Tuhua, which is close to Xiangnan Tuhua in Hunan,
Shaoguan Tuhua, spoken in Shaoguan Prefectural City, and Xiongzhou
Tuhua, which is very close to Hakka.

Liannan Tuhua
Liannan Tuhua is spoken in Liannan Yao Autonomous County in
Qingyuan Prefectural City.

Lianshan Tuhua
Lianshan Tuhua is spoken in Lianshan Yao and Zhuang Autonomous
County in Qingyuan Prefectural City. It is in its own group in Tuhua,
and some put it outside of Shaozou Tuhua altogether. It borders on
Hunan.

Lianzhou Tuhua
Lianzhou Tuhua is a major split in Shaozhou. It is spoken in Lianzhou
County and in Liannan Autonomous Yao County in Qingyuan
Prefectural City in Northern Guangdong on the Hunan border. It is
closely related to Xiangnan Tuhua in Southern Hunan.
Bao'an Lianzhou Tuhua is a separate Lianzhou Tuhua language
spoken in Lianzhou County in Qingyuan Prefectural City (Zhang
2004).
Fengyang Lianzhou Tuhua is a separate Lianzhou Tuhua language
spoken in Lianzhou County in Qingyuan Prefectural City (Zhang
2004).
Xi'an Lianzhou Tuhua is a separate Lianzhou Tuhua language
spoken in Lianzhou County in Qingyuan Prefectural City (Zhang
2004).
Xingzi Lianzhou Tuhua is a separate Lianzhou Tuhua language
spoken in Qingyuan Prefectural City (Zhang 2004).
 Shaoguan Tuhua
Dacun Tuhua is a separate Shaozhou language.
Guitou Tuhua is a also separate Shaozhou language.
In Lechang County in Shaoguan Prefectural City in Northern
Guangdong bordering Hunan, there are five separate Shaoguan Tuhua
languages, Lechang Tuhua, Lechang Tuhua A, Lechang Tuhua B,
Lechang Tuhua C, and Lechang Tuhua D, which are not fully
intelligible with each other.
Longgui Tuhua, spoken in Qujiang County in Shaoguan Prefectural
City, is a separate Shaoguan Tuhua language. Longgui has 2,000
speakers.
Shibei Tuhua is a separate Shaoguan Tuhua language that has heavy
Hakka influence, having been in contact with Hakka for centuries.
Shitang Tuhua is a separate Shaoguan Tuhua language spoken in
Renhua County in Shaoguan Prefectural City. Renhua borders on
Hunan.
Xiangyan Tuhua is a separate Shaoguan Tuhua language that has
only been in contact with Cantonese for a few decades, but it has
been turning more Cantonese lately. It is spoken very close to Shitang
Tuhua in Renhua County in Shaoguan Prefectural City. This area
borders on Hunan.
Zhoutian Tuhua is a separate Shaoguan Tuhua language spoken in
Renhua County in Shaoguan Prefectural City, which borders on Hunan.

Xiongzhou Tuhua
Nanxiong Tuhua, spoken in Nanxiong County in Shauogan
Prefectural City, is a form of Xiongzhou Tuhua that shares a common
ancestor with Hakka. Nanxiong borders Jiangxi. Nanxiong is spoken in
the city itself, but the surrounding area speaks Hakka. Nanxiong is
older than the surrounding Hakka varieties, which expanded into the
area in more recent times. Nanxiong is a classification mystery, as
some say it is a closely related to Min, and others say it is closer to
Hakka (Sagart Undated).
Nanxiong is actually derived from a very early form of Proto-Hakka
which became isolated in the city, cutting them off from the rest of
the Hakka speakers. Therefore, they did not go through the sound
changes that affected the Hakka varieties, including changes that
were caused by contact with speakers of the She language. Betwen
1550 and 1850, many Hakka migrated to the surrounding area from
the Meixian area. Nanxiong is related to Hakka but it is not a Hakka
language, having broken off from Hakka very early in its development
(Sagart Undated).

Southeastern Hunan
In Yongzhou Prefectural City and the western half of Chenzhou
Prefecture in Southeastern Hunan, the Yongzhou or Xiangnan Group
of Tuhua is spoken. The main section of Xiangnan has at least 27
main varieties:
The varieties are Baimangying Jianghua Tuhua, Chengguan Jiangyong
Tuhua, Gangyu Tuhua, Gaofeng Daoxian Tuhua, Guiyang Liuhe Tuhua,
Huasheng Southern Tuhua, Huilongxu Jiangyong Tuhua, Lanjiaoshan
Lengshuitan, Northern Rural Xintian Tuhua, Pinghua Ningyuan Tuhua,
Qidouhua Jiangyong Tuhua, Shangdong Lanshang Tuhua, Shiqishi
Dong'an Tuhua, Shuangpai Lijiaping Tuhua, Songbai Jiangyong Tuhua,
Southern Rural Xintian Tuhua, Sumitang Jianghua Tuhua, Sumitang
Qidouhua Tuhua, Taiping Lanshang Tuhua, Taochuan Jiangyong Tuhua,
Tushi Lanshang Tuhua, Xiacengpu Jiangyong Tuhua, Xianglinpu
Daoxian Tuhua, Xiangyu Tuhua, Xiaojia Daoxian Tuhua, Xiaojiangqiao
Lengshuitan, Xiaopu Jiangyong Tuhua, Xuaqiao Daoxian Tuhua,
Yunshan Jiangyong Tuhua, and Zhangjia Ningyuan Tuhua.
There are four main types represented here:
Dong'an-Lengshuitan is the first type, comprising Gaofeng Dong'an
Tuhua, Huaqiao Dong'an Tuhua, Shiqishi Dong'an Tuhua,
Xiaojiangqiao Lengshuitan, Lanjiaoshan Lengshuitan, Shamuqiao
Lanjiaoshan, and Sumitang Qidouhua Tuhua.
The second type is a Jiangyong-Daoxian type comprising nine
varieties. At least seven of them are clearly separate languages.
The third type is a Southern Rural Xintian Tuhua type.
The fourth type is a Pinghua Ningyuan Tuhua type.
There is also a group of unclassified types in Xiangnan comprising
Gangyu Tuhua, Guiyang Liuhe Tuhua, Huasheng Southern Tuhua,
Northern Rural Xintian Tuhua, Shangdong Lanshang, Taiping Lanshang
Tuhua, Tushi Lanshang Tuhua, Shuangpai Lijiaping Tuhua, Xiangyu
Tuhua, and Zhangjia Ningyan Tuhua.
Baimangying Jianghua Tuhua appears to be quite different, so it is
probably a separate language also.
Chengguan or Shonan Jiangyong Tuhua is spoken Linwu County
in Hunan and also in Jiangxi. Xiang and Eastern Min is also spoken
there in addition to Southwestern Mandarin. It is also called Shonan
Tuhua or even Shonan Ping. Ping and Tuhua are often confused in
local descriptions. Many of them moved to Jiangxi in recent years.
Cushjiang Jiangyong Tuhua, a separate Tuhua language, has nine
dialects.
Gangyu Tuhua is an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua, and it represents
the name of a county, so it is a separate language.
Gaofeng Dong'an Tuhua is a separate language, as it is spoken in
its own district.
Guiyang Liuhe Tuhua is a separate language, as it is an
unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua, and Guiyang is a county in Southeastern
Hunan. There is a great deal of dialectical diversity in Guiyang.
Yantang and Yangshi are two of these dialects.
Huaqiao Dong'an Tuhua is a separate language, as it is spoken in
its own district.
Huasheng Southern Tuhua, is a separate language as it is an
unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua. It is spoken in Yongzhou in the southern
part of the region, and it may have as many as 75 different dialects
inside of it.
Huilongxu Jiangyong Tuhua is the language was the basis for the
famous nishu, "women's script", a secret language of women (Leming
2004), originating from the Shangjiangxu (Xiao River) region of
Northeastern Jiangyong County in Hunan, of which much has been
written lately of the famous Jiangyong women's script referenced
above (Liming 2004). There are 18 women left who can still write the
women's script. The youngest is 80 years old. The script was only
discovered in 1980. It was a secret language that the women used to
speak among themselves to resist the authority of men.
Huilongxu Jiangyong has two dialects.
 Nishu or women's script is on the left, and Chinese characters are on the right.

Jiahe Tuhua is a completely separate Xiangnan Tuhua language,

unintelligible with other varieties. Furthermore, there are huge
dialectal differences within Jiahe that may or may not constitute
separate languages.
Lengshuitan Tuhua varieties appear to represent at least one
language. Lengshuitan has a close relationship to Dong'an Xuaqiao
Dong'an. Lanjiaoshan Lengshuitan Tuhua has at least one dialect,
Shamuqiao Lanjiaoshan. The latest theory is that that Shamuqiao
Lanjiaoshan Lengshuitan Tuhua is a Xiang language.
Linwu Dachong is a form of Xintian Tuhua.
Northern Rural Xintian Tuhua is an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua
that is completely different from Xintian Southern Rural, so it is a
separate language also.
Pinghua Ningyuan Tuhua is a separate language, as it is one of the
four major splits in Xiangnan Tuhua.
Qidouhua Jiangyong Tuhua appears to be a separate language.
Shangdong Lanshang Tuhua must be a separate language as it is
an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua.
Shiqishi Dong'an Tuhua has Xiang and Wu influences. As an
unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua, it must be a separate language.
Shuangpai Lijiaping Tuhua is an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua, and
it represents the name of a county, so it is a separate language.
Songbai Jiangyong Tuhua is closely related to Chengguan
Jiangyong and Sumitang Jianghua, as all are thought to be derived
from a single source. Nevertheless, it seems to be a separate
language.
Southern Rural Xintian Tuhua is a separate language as it is a
major split in Xiangnan Tuhua.
Sumitang Jianghua Tuhua appears to be a separate language.
Sumitang Qidouhua Jianghua Tuhua has a reasonably close
relationship to and Chengguan Jiangyong and Songbai Jiangyong, and
all three are thought to have derived from the same base. Although it
is spoken in the same county as Baimangying Jianghua, it appears to
be completely different, so it must be a separate language.
Taiping Langshang Tuhua is an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua that
also represents the name of a county, so it is a separate language.
Taochuan Jiangyong Tuhua, a separate Tuhua language, has 34
dialects, but there is a lot of uniformity between them.
Tushi Lanshang Tuhua appears to be a separate language as it is
an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua.
Xiancengpu Jiangyong Tuhua is a separate Tuhua language. It has
21 different dialects.
Xianglinpu Daoxian Tuhua must be a separate language, as it is
named after a county.
Xiangyu Tuhua is an unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua, and it represents
the name of a county, so it is a separate language.
Xiaojia Daoxian Tuhua must be separate language also, as it is a
major split in Xiangnan Tuhua.
Xiapu Jiangyong Tuhua appears to be a separate language.
Xintian Tuhua, spoken in Linwu County in Southern Hunan, is a
major split in Xiangnan Tuhua, so it is surely a separate language.
Yunshan Jiangyong Tuhua, is spoken in the township of Yunshan in
Jiangyong County. There are many dialects even within this language
spoken in a single township. Yunshan Jiangyong is transitional
between Chengguan Jiangyong and Xiacengpu Jiangyong.
Zhangjia Ningyan Tuhua is a separate language, since it is an
unclassified Xiangnan Tuhua.
Intelligibility between varieties is not known, but dialectal divergence
within Tuhua varieties is typically great, and some or all of the above
may be separate languages. There are clearly at least 33 different
languages here, and there may be more.
The Xiangnan Tuhuas of Yongzhou and Chenzhou in Southern Hunan
appear to be Gan/Xiang mixed languages.

Western Hunan
The Xianghua Group of Tuhua is spoken in a small area in Western
Hunan away from the rest of the Tuhuas.
Xianghua Tuhua is a completely separate and highly diverse
language that is spoken in Western Hunan far away from the rest of
the Tuhua. Xianghua has six varieties, Chenxi, Guzhang, Luxi, Xupu,
Yongshun, and Yuanling.

Guangxi
One Tuhua variety is spoken as a dialect island in Guangxi.
Luojin Chongshan Tuhua is spoken in Yongfu in Southern Guangxi.
It has a close relationship to Guibei Pinghua. It is clearly a separate
language. It seems to be in a completely separate category of its own
as a Chongshan Tuhua language.

Classification
Lianshan is a member of the Lianshan Group of Tuhua, of which it is
the only member.
The Shaoguan Group of Tuhua is made up of two subgroups,
Shaozhou and Lianzhou. It has 22 members.
Dacun, Guitou, the Lechangs, Liannan, Longgui, Nanxiong, Shibei,
Shitang, Xiangyang, Yangshi, Yangtan, and Zhoutian are members of
the Shaozhou Group of Shaoguan Tuhua, which has 17 members.
Bao'an, Fenyang, Xian, and Xingzi are members of the Lianzhou
Group of Shaoguan Tuhua, which has four members.
Shaoguan Tuhua has 800,000 speakers.
Chenxi, Guzhang, Luxi, Xupu, Yongshun, and Yuanling are members
of the Xianghua Group of Tuhua, which has six members.
Luojin is a member of the Chongshan Group of Tuhua, of which it is
the only member.
Tuhua has 30 varieties.

Unclassified Sinitic

Guangdong
Huping Junhua, spoken by 16,000 people around Hakka speakers in
Wuping County in Zhongshan Prefectural City in Guangdong, is not
understood by the surrounding peoples and is not considered part of
Hakka. The language began in the area in the 1390's when the Ming
Dynasty sent its army to Zhongshan to put down a rebellion. Soldiers
came from all over China and remained in the area after the fighting,
creating a new languages out of all of their languages mixed together
along with local varieties. This is thought to be a Gan language with
Hakka influences.

Hainan
Changjiang Junhua is a Hainanese Junhua language spoken on
Hainan in the city of Changjiang on the northwestern coast of the
island. Considering how splintered Junhua is, this may well be a
separate language.
Changpoxu Danzou Junhua is a Danzou Junhua variety spoken in the
city of Danzou on Hainan.
Danzou is a separate group of unclassified Chinese languages. Danzou
is spoken in the northwest of Hainan, and Hainanese speakers cannot
understand it. It is similar to the languages spoken by the Lingao and
Li people on the island. The best explanation is that Danzou speakers
were formerly speakers of the Lingao language who underwent a
language shift to Sinitic.
Danzou seems to go back far in time. Most trace it back to 500 when
large numbers of soldiers speaking some Sinitic variety were sent to
Hainan. Some say that the soldiers were speaking Proto-Cantonese.
The Sinitic base mixed with Lingao and then later with some Hakka
and Min to form Danzou. This theory attempts to link Danzou to
Hainanese Junhua, positing that Danzou is an outgrowth of Hainanese
Junhua.
Yet the Danzou people speak nine different varieties, including
varieties described as Hakka, others described as Cantonese, and
others described as Mandarin, so obviously there are at least three
separate languages inside Danzou.
To some extent, Danzou looks Hakka more than Min or Cantonese,
but it does not look like any existing Hakka variety. In addition, there
are Hakka speakers on Hainan near Danzou, but Danzou looks
nothing like Hainanese Hakka.
It looks somewhat like Taishanese Cantonese and Linchuan Gan, a
very interesting Gan language that has derived from Early South Old
Chinese, thought to be the base of Hakka and Southern Gan. In this
sense, Danzou may also be a very ancient Sinitic language.
Danzou Cantonese is described under Cantonese.
There is also a theory that there is a Danzou language that is neither
Mandarin, Hakka, Cantonese, or Min. Instead it is a completely
different Sinitic language that is unlike any other Chinese language
and cannot be obviously derived from any mixtures of known Chinese
languages.
Danzou Junhua is a Hainanese Junhua language spoken in the city
of Danzou on Hainan. It is spoken in four different varieties in a small
part of Danzou in the southeastern part of the city.
Dongfang Junhua is a Hainanese Junhua language spoken on the
West-Central coast of Hainan in the city of Dongfang. This may be a
separate language considering how splintered there Junhua language
is even among itself.
Hainanese Junhua appears to be a separate language. Hainanese
Junhua has 100,000 speakers. It is spoken in Sanya, Changjiang,
Danzhou, Zonghe, and Lingao on Hainan. It may be quite variable.
For instance, there are four different main Junhua varieties spoken on
Hainan: Changjiang, Daxian, Dongfang, and Yaxian. Danzou Junhua
has four different varieties: Changpoxu, Nada, Wangwuxu, and
Zhonghexu.
Mai or Maihua is an unclassified Sinitic language spoken by 15,000
people in Sanya in Southern Hainan. It is sometimes classified as
Cantonese, but it also has features of Hakka. Lately, linguists are
referring to it as Min. The best analysis so far says it is a mixture of
Cantonese, Hainanese Min, and Hakka. The best solution is to keep it
unclassified for now. It is not intelligible with other Hainanese
languages.
Nada Danzou Junhua is a Danzou Junhua variety spoken in Danzou on
Hainan.
Yaxian Junhua is a Hainanese Junhua language spoken on Hainan in
the city of Yaxian in the far south of the island. Hainanese Junhua
languages may be as badly splintered as the rest of Junhua, so this
may be a separate language.
Wangwuxu Danzou Junhua is a Danzou Junhua variety spoken in the
city of Danzou on Hainan.
Zhonghexu Danzou Junhua is a variety of Danzou Junhua spoken in
the city of Danzou on Hainan.

Hunan

Badong Yao is an unclassified Chinese language spoken by a Yao

group in Huangyandong, Malindong, and Dazhendong in Huangjin
Ethnic Yao Township in Xinning County in Southwestern Hunan. In this
region of Southwestern Hunan near the borders of Guangxi and
Guizhou, there are a number of languages often spoken by ethnic
minorities that seem to be mixed language made up of mixtures of
Sinitic and ethnic languages or are ethnic minority languages that
have become Sinicized. There is little information about the possible
Sinitic affinities of Badong Yao. Badong Yao is presently endangered.
Baidu Yeheni is spoken in most of Dashiquiao Township in the west,
Baimangying, in some parts of Dalapu and Qiaoxing townships, and in
Heluou and Tuojiang townships in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County
in Yongzhou Prefectural City in Southern Hunan. Baidu Yeheni has
17,000 speakers. Probably a Gan/Xiang mixed language.
Waxiang is an unclassified Chinese language spoken by the Waxiang
ethnic group in in Northwestern Hunan in Luxi, Guzhang, and
Yongshun Counties in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture,
in Zhangjiajie Prefecture-level city, and in Chenxi, Xupu, and Yuanling
Counties. It is nothing like the Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang, Tujia,
and Xo Miao Hmong languages that surround it, and none of them can
understand it. There are 362,000 speakers of Waxiang.
It shares some lexical influences from the Bai language, suggesting a
substratum from the Bai languages. This is either an unclassified
Chinese language or a separate minority tongue, maybe related to
Hmong. Others view it as a Xiang-Hmong mixed language. However,
the general opinion now leans towards this being a Sinitic language.
Wuzhou Yeheni is spoken in Western Tuojiang, Baimangying, Tao
Wei, Xiao Wei, Daxu, and part of Dalapu Township in Jianghua Yao
Autonomous County in Yongzhou Prefectural City in Southern Hunan.
45% of the population speaks Wuzhou Yeheni. This is probably a
Gan/Xiang mixed language.
Yeheni or Pingyao Yaohua is an unclassified Sinitic language spoken
by the Yao people in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County in Yongzhou
Prefectural City in Southern Hunan. It is divided into two different
languages. Jianghua Tuhua varieties are also spoken in the county.
The general impression is that Yeheni may be related to the Yongzhou
Tuhuas, which seem to be Gan/Xiang mixed languages.

Guangxi/Hubei/Hunan
Maojiahua is a language spoken by 200,000 Aoka Hmong in
Southwestern Hunan, in the northeast of Guangxi, and in some areas
of Hubei. In Southwestern Hunan, it is spoken in Suining, Wugang
and Chengbu Counties. In Guangxi, it is spoken in Longsheng and
Ziyuan Counties in the northeastern part of Zhuang Autonomous
Region. The largest populations are in Chengbu, Longsheng, and
Ziyuan. Lately most linguists say that this is a Sinitic language, but
the speakers insist that they do not speak Chinese and they speak
Hmong instead. This is probably a Sinitic language with heavy Hmong
influence. It is not intelligible with other Sinitic languages.
 Taiwan
Taiwanese Junhua is spoken in Taoyuan County and in Luidui in
Pingtung County in Taiwan. It is not the same language as Military
Language elsewhere. This language has heavy Hakka influences, but
it also has Min Nan, Mandarin, and even Japanese influences. Some
say this is a Hakka language. At any rate, it is not intelligible with
other in Taoyuan County and Luidui in Pingtung County in Taiwan.

Various Provinces
Junhua or Military Language is spoken in Taoyuan County and
Luidui in Pingtung County in Taiwan; in Lufeng County in Sanwei
Prefectural City, in Huizhou Prefectural City and around Hakka
speakers in Wuping County in Zhongshan Prefectural City in
Guangdong; in Changjiang, Danzhou, Lingao, Sanya, and Zonghe in
Hainan; in Guangxi; in Fujian, and in other places.
On a Mandarin base, Junhua adds various mixtures of Hakka, Gan,
Cantonese, Taiwanese, or Japanese. It is considered to be an Old
Mandarin language and is normally placed in Southwest Mandarin in a
group called the Junhua Group, which contains four varieties.
But others say that different Military Language varieties are either
Hakka or Gan. Wherever these varieties are spoken, they are not
understood by people nearby. Junhua seems to derive from a lingua
franca spoken by soldiers in the Ming Dynasty Army and was widely
learned and understood by all soldiers at the time. It bears a strong
resemblance to Ming Era Chinese. Military Language is not the same
language in the various areas where it is spoken. The different
varieties of Junhua spoken in different locales are probably not
mutually intelligible at all.

Classification
11 Sinitic languages are unclassified.

Uncertain Affiliation/Possibly Not Sinitic

In the Guangxi-Hunan-Guizhou border region, a number of strange
languages are spoken. Linghua, Waxiang, and Maojiahua are all
spoken by various ethnic groups that nevertheless are generally seen
as Han and not recognized ethnicities because their culture has
become so Hanized over time. All of these languages appear to be
mixtures of Chinese and minority languages. Maojiahua is now
generally recognized as Sinitic, but Lingua is not, and Waxiang is
more controversial, but the consensus now leans towards it being
Sinitic.
Lingling or Linghua is an unclassified language spoken in Taiping in
Pingdeng Township in Longsheng County, in mountainous Zhuang
Autonomous Region of Guangxi, where it is spoken by 20,000 ethnic
Hmong. The area was once only inhabited by tribal non-Han peoples.
In the last 400-500 years, many Han moved into the area and found
themselves a minority among the tribal peoples. Linghua is a result of
the mingling of tribal languages and the Sinitic languages of the
immigrants. It may share similar origins with Ping.
It is spoken by residents as a sort of secret language. Southwestern
Mandarin is used with outsiders. The language is a mixture of Hmong
and Southwestern Mandarin. It is controversial whether this is a
Sinitic language or a Hmong language. At any rate, it is not intelligible
with any other language.

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