Eastern Min or Min Dong (, Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄) is a branch of the Min group of the Sinitic languages of China. The prestige form and most commonly cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian.
Geographic distribution
Fujian and vicinity
Eastern Min varieties are mainly spoken in the eastern region of Fujian Province () of the People's Republic of China, in and near the cities of Fuzhou and Ningde. This includes the traditional Ten Counties of Fuzhou (; Foochow Romanized: Hók-ciŭ Sĕk Ék), a region that consists of present-day Pingnan, Gutian, Luoyuan, Minqing, Lianjiang, Changle, Minhou, Yongtai, Fuqing and Pingtan, as well as the urban area of Fuzhou proper.
It is also widely encountered as the mother tongue of the Matsu Islands, controlled by the Republic of China. Historically, the Eastern Min varieties in the Matsu Islands were seen as a part of the Lianjiang variety. The establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 separated the Matsu Islands from the rest of Fujian, and as communications were cut off between the ROC and the PRC, the specific identity of the Matsu Islands was established. Thus, the varieties of Eastern Min on the Matsu Islands became seen as the Matsu dialect ().
Additionally, the inhabitants of Taishun and Cangnan to the north of Fujian in Zhejiang also speak Eastern Min varieties. To the south of Fujian, in Zhongshan County, Guangdong, varieties classified as Eastern Min are also spoken in the towns of Dachong, Shaxi and Nanlang.
Eastern Min generally coexists with the official language, Standard Chinese, in all these areas. On the ROC, the Matsu dialect is officially recognized as a statutory language for transport announcements on the Matsu Islands. In Fuzhou, there is radio available in the local dialect, and the Fuzhou Metro officially uses alongside Standard Mandarin and English in its announcements.
United States
As the coastal area of Fujian has been the historical homeland of a large worldwide diaspora of overseas Chinese, varieties of Eastern Min can also be found across the world, especially in their respective Chinatowns. Cities with high concentrations of such immigrants include New York City, especially Little Fuzhou, Manhattan, Sunset Park, Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens.
Europe
Speakers of Eastern Min varieties are also found in various Chinatown communities in Europe, including London, Paris and the city of Prato in Italy. In the United Kingdom, a large proportion of the Chinese community is made up of migrants coming from areas of Fujian that speak Eastern Min, principally from rural parts of Fuqing and Changle. In Spain, speakers of Eastern Min from Fuqing and Changle are also common, second to the more dominant Zhejiang community, who speak varieties of Southern Wu such as Wenzhounese.
Japan and Malaysia
Chinese communities within Ikebukuro, Tokyo as well as Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia have significant populations of Eastern Min speakers. Fuzhou communities can also be found in Sitiawan, Perak and Yong Peng, Johor in West Malaysia.
Classification
Eastern Min is descended from Proto-Min, which split from the transition from Old Chinese into Middle Chinese during the Han Dynasty. It has been classified by Pan Maoding and Jerry Norman as belonging to the Coastal Min branch, and is thus closely related to Northern Min.
Norman lists four distinctive features in the development of Eastern Min:
The Proto-Min initial *dz- becomes s- in Eastern Min, as opposed to ts- as in Southern Min. For example, "to sit" is pronounced sô̤i (IPA: ) in colloquial Fuzhou dialect, but tsō (IPA: ) in Xiamen and Taiwanese Hokkien. Eastern Min varieties have an upper register tone for words which correspond to voiceless nasal initials in Proto-Min, e.g. "younger sister" in Fuzhou is pronounced with an upper departing tone muói (IPA: ) rather than a lower departing tone. There are some lexemes that descend from Old Chinese which have been conserved in Eastern Min but replaced in other Min varieties. For example, instead of for "dog". A lack of nasal vowels, in contrast to Southern Min.
Branches
Eastern Min is conventionally divided into three branches: Houguan dialect group (), also called the Southern subgroup, including the Fuzhou dialect, Fuqing dialect, Changle dialect, Lianjiang dialect and the dialect of the Matsu Islands. Funing dialect group (), also called the Northern subgroup, including the Ningde dialect and the Fu'an dialect. Manjiang dialect (), spoken in parts of Taishun and Cangnan, Wenzhou, Zhejiang.