Hokkien

Hokkien (/ˈhɒkiɛn, hɒˈkiːɛn/; from Chinese: 福建話; pinyin: Fújiànhuà; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hok-kiàn-ōe, ) or Minnan language (閩南語/闽南语), is a Southern Min language originating from the Minnan region in the south-eastern part of Fujian Province in Southeastern China, and spoken widely there. It is also spoken widely in Taiwan and by the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia, and by other overseas Chinese all over the world. It is the mainstream form of Southern Min. Hokkien (/ˈhɒkiɛn, hɒˈkiːɛn/; from Chinese: 福建話; pinyin: Fújiànhuà; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hok-kiàn-ōe, ) or Minnan language (閩南語/闽南语), is a Southern Min language originating from the Minnan region in the south-eastern part of Fujian Province in Southeastern China, and spoken widely there. It is also spoken widely in Taiwan and by the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia, and by other overseas Chinese all over the world. It is the mainstream form of Southern Min. In comparison to Teochew, Xiamen Hokkien has only 51% intelligibility with it, almost the same as the percentage of intelligibity between Russian and Ukrainian languages, while it has an even lower mutual intelligibilty language with other dialect variants of the Hokkien language. It is also even more distantly related to other variants such as Putian dialect, Hainanese and Leizhou dialect due to historical influences. Hokkien historically served as the lingua franca amongst overseas Chinese communities of all dialects and subgroups in Southeast Asia, and remains today as the most spoken variety of Chinese in the region, including in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and some parts of Indochina (particularly Thailand, Laos and Cambodia). The Betawi Malay language, spoken by some five million people in and around the Indonesian capital Jakarta, includes numerous Hokkien loanwords due to the significant influence of the Chinese Indonesian diaspora, most of whom are of Hokkien ancestry and origin.