Min dialect can be divided into five main sub-dialects: (1) Mindong dialect represented by Fuzhou dialect; (2) Minnan dialect represented by Xiamen dialect; (3) Puxian dialect represented by Putian dialect; (4) The central Fujian dialect represented by Yong 'an dialect; (5) Northern Fujian dialect represented by Jian 'ou dialect. Among them, Minnan dialect has the greatest influence.
Minnan dialect is also called Minnan dialect, and some people call it Heluo dialect or Fulao dialect. It was represented by Quanzhou dialect in the early days, and now it is represented by Xiamen dialect. But the influence of Quanzhou dialect is still great. Liyuan Opera, an early drama in southern Fujian, still uses Quanzhou dialect as the standard pronunciation.
Minnan dialect is divided into narrow sense and broad sense. In a narrow sense, it refers to Minnan dialect spoken in southern Fujian and Taiwan Province Province; Broadly speaking, it refers to the Minnan language spoken in southern Fujian, Taiwan Province Province and other regions and countries. There are more than 60 million people who speak Minnan in the world, which are distributed in many regions and countries at home and abroad. It can be seen that Minnan dialect is a Chinese dialect that transcends regional boundaries, provincial boundaries and national boundaries. According to its extensive Minnan language, the specific distribution is as follows:
Fujian and Taiwan tablets
They are mainly distributed in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Datian and Youxi in the south of Fujian, Longyan and Zhangping in the west, and most areas of Taiwan Province Province, such as Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, Miaoli, Keelung, Nantou, Pingtung, Changhua, Hualien, Chiayi, Yilan, Yunlin, Taitung, Hsinchu and Penghu. The user population is nearly 30 million.
Chaoshan tablets
It is mainly distributed in Shantou, Chaozhou, Chenghai, Chaoan, Raoping, South Australia, Puning, Huilai, Chaoyang, Jieyang, Jiedong, Jiexi, Liuhe, Shanwei, Lufeng and Haifeng in the eastern part of Guangdong Province. Chaozhou dialect was represented in the early days, and now Shantou dialect is represented. The user population exceeds 6.5438+million.
Leizhou tablets
Mainly distributed in Zhanjiang, Haikang, Xuwen, Suixi, Lianjiang, Maoming, Wuchuan, Dianbai and other counties and cities in Leizhou Peninsula in southern Guangdong. Represented by Haikang dialect. The user population exceeds 4 million.
Hainan tablets
It is mainly distributed in Haikou, Qiongshan, Wenchang, Tunchang, Qionghai, Ding 'an, Wanning, Chengmai, Changjiang, Dongfang, Ledong, Lvshui, Baisha, Yaxian, Baoning, Qiongzhong, Lingao and Danxian in Hainan Province. Wenchang dialect was represented in the early days, and now Haikou dialect is represented. The user population exceeds 4 million.
Hong kong and Macao movies
Distributed in Hong Kong and Macau. There are hundreds of thousands of users.
Foreign film
Overseas Chinese are mainly distributed in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia, with a population of at least 6.5438+million. It is estimated that the number of overseas Chinese in Asia, Europe and other countries in the United States who speak Minnan is not small, and it is impossible to make specific statistics due to data constraints.
In addition, about 6.5438+0.4 million people in Wenzhou, Cangnan, Pingyang, Taishun, Dongtou and other counties and cities in Zhejiang speak Minnan dialect. About 400,000 people in Guangrao, Guangfeng, Yushan and other cities and counties in Jiangxi speak Minnan dialect. Nearly 300,000 people in Liuzhou, Pingnan, Pingle, Luchuan and other cities and counties in Guangxi speak Minnan dialect. Some places in Sichuan and Jiangsu, Fuding and Xiapu in northern Fujian, Yong 'an, Sanming and Shaxian in central Fujian also speak Minnan dialect.
The formation of Minnan dialect is of great interest to linguists and scholars, and it is also a hot topic in academic research in recent years. Although there are different views on the formation of Minnan dialect sooner or later, they all think that it is mainly formed by social differentiation and people's migration. According to research, before the Han Dynasty, there lived a Fujian-Guangdong minority in southern Fujian. Like other areas in Fujian, few Han people from the Central Plains set foot here. Han people from the Central Plains entered Fujian on a large scale, which was the occasion of the "Five Chaos in China". In the second year of Yongjia in Jin Dynasty (308), the Central Plains was in chaos due to the war. In order to avoid war, "it is like eight Fujian families" ("Three Mountains"). The Han people who entered Fujian this time settled in Jianxi and Futunxi basins, the lower reaches of Minjiang River and Jinjiang basin. According to Sanshan records, when Jinjiang County was enfeoffed (in 282), there were more than 3,800 households, with more than 65,438 people +0.8 million people. After Yongjia Uprising, the population more than doubled. At this time, the Han nationality has become the main body of Fujian residents. The Chinese brought by these Han people from Zhongzhou (now Henan) should be the basis for the formation of Minnan language, reflecting the characteristics of Chinese before Sui and Tang Dynasties. The second large-scale entry of Han people from the Central Plains into Fujian was after the Tang and Five Dynasties. In 669, the Tang Dynasty sent 123 generals headed by Zheng Chen and Chen Yuanguang from Gushi County, Gwangju (present-day Henan Province) south to "levy foreigners". These Han people later settled in southern Fujian and developed Zhangzhou. They brought Zhongzhou dialect in the 7th century, which reflected the characteristics of Chinese in Sui and Tang Dynasties. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Chao and Wang of Zhongzhou led a large number of soldiers and horses into Fujian, and then proclaimed themselves emperor in Fujian. The Zhongzhou dialect of 10 century brought by them also had a great influence on Fujian dialect, including Minnan dialect. By the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, these multi-source and multi-level language features had been integrated into a stereotyped Minnan language system. After the Song Dynasty, Minnan dialect spread to Guangdong, Chaoshan Plain and Leizhou Peninsula, and some landed in Hainan Island. Taiwan Province Province and Fujian Province are separated by a water. As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, people from the coastal areas of Zhangzhou came across the sea to Taiwan Province Province. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of people traveled to Taiwan Province Province, especially after Zheng Chenggong went to Taiwan Province Province, he brought Minnan dialect and Minnan dialect customs to Taiwan Province Province. Obviously, Minnan is the birthplace of Minnan dialect.
Because there are many ancient Chinese preserved in Minnan dialect, it is called "the living fossil of language" by academic circles. These "living fossils" are of great significance to the construction of China ancient sounds, the interpretation of ancient books and the study of China history. For example, Qian Daxin's assertions about ancient Chinese phonetics, such as "no light lip sound" and "no tongue sound", can be found in Minnan dialect. Therefore, Minnan language has always been valued by linguists at home and abroad.