Min Nan Chinese

Hokkien refers specifically to the Min Nan varieties of southern Fujian and the Southeast Asian diaspora descended from those communities. Taiwanese (Tâi-gí) is a closely related Min Nan variety on Taiwan that came from 17th-century Fujian migration. The whole grouping under Min Nan also includes Teochew (Chaozhou) and Hainanese, which Hokkien speakers can usually understand only with some adjustment.

Most often in Han characters, sharing the Chinese writing system, but with a distinctive set of dialect-specific characters and many words for which there's no settled written form. Romanization systems are also widespread: Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) is the historic Latin-based script developed by Presbyterian missionaries in the 19th century, and Tâi-lô is a modern alternative used in Taiwanese education.

Southern Fujian and the surrounding region in mainland China, Taiwan (where over 70% of the population speaks it as a heritage language), and overseas Chinese communities across Singapore, Malaysia (Penang especially), Indonesia, the Philippines, and parts of Thailand. Many older diaspora Hokkien speakers shifted to English or Mandarin in the 20th century, and the language has been weakening in some communities.

Seven or eight tones in citation form depending on the variety, with extensive tone sandhi rules — almost every syllable in a phrase changes its tone based on what follows, except the final syllable of a tone group. Sandhi is more aggressive than in Mandarin or Cantonese, and learners spend a long time before sandhi feels natural.

Threatened in various ways. In Taiwan, Mandarin-medium education from the mid-20th century reduced fluency among younger speakers. In Fujian, similar pressure plus internal Chinese migration has narrowed Min Nan domains. Singapore's English- and Mandarin-focused language policies dramatically reduced Hokkien transmission across one or two generations. Active revitalization efforts exist in Taiwan.