Why is Xiamen Amoy?

Xiamen is the atonal pinyin romanization of the characters’ pronunciation in Mandarin. The older English name “Amoy” was based on the same name’s pronunciation in the Zhangzhou dialect of Hokkien, Ēe-mûi.

What is Amoy Chinese?

The Amoy dialect or Xiamen dialect (Chinese: 廈門話; pinyin: Xiàménhuà; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ē-mn̂g-ōe), also known as Amoynese, Amoy Hokkien, Xiamenese or Xiamen Hokkien, is a dialect of Hokkien spoken in the city of Xiamen (historically known as “Amoy”) and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the southern part of Fujian …

Is Min Nan Chinese?

This is spoken mainly in Fujian, Taiwan, as well as certain parts of Southeast Asia. The Quanzhang variety is often called simply “Minnan Proper” (simplified Chinese: 闽南语; traditional Chinese: 閩南語). It is considered the mainstream Southern Min Chinese Language. Linguists tend to classify them as separate Min languages.

Is Han A Chinese Min?

Min-speaking peoples (simplified Chinese: 闽民系; traditional Chinese: 閩民系; pinyin: Mǐn mínxì) are a major subgroup of the Han Chinese (also known as the ethnic Chinese) (115 Million) (Min Chinese).

What is the difference between Amoy and Xiamen?

Both Amoy and Xiamen come from the Chinese name of the city ( Chinese: 厦门; pinyin: Xiàmén; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ē-mûi ); the former is from Zhangzhou Hokkien, whereas the later comes from Mandarin. There are many Minnan (Hokkien) speakers among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia as well as in the United States ( Hoklo Americans ).

When did Xiamen (Amoy) become the principal city of Fujian?

In the late 18th to the early 19th century, Xiamen (Amoy) became the principal city of southern Fujian. Xiamen (Amoy) dialect is adopted as the Modern Standard Minnan.

How many people in China speak Min Chinese?

It is the most populous branch of Min Chinese, spoken by an estimated 48 million people in ca. 2017–2018. In common parlance and in the narrower sense, Southern Min refers to the Quanzhang or Hokkien -Taiwanese variety of Southern Min originating from Southern Fujian in Mainland China.

Is Southern Min the same as Quanzhang?

In the wider scope, Southern Min also includes other Min Chinese varieties that are linguistically related to Minnan proper (Quanzhang). Most variants of Southern Min have significant differences from the Quanzhang variety, some having limited mutual intelligibility with it, others almost none.