Hokkien

See also: hokkien

English

Alternative forms

  • Hokkian, Hok Kian, Hok-kian
  • Hokien, Hukkien (proscribed)
  • Hok-kien, Hok-Kien (archaic)
  • Hokkeen, Hok-keen, Hokkeën, Hokkëèn (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien 福建 (Hok-kiàn, Fujian / Fukien). Doublet of Fukien and Fujian.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Hokkien

  1. (chiefly Southeast Asia) A linguistic subgroup of the Min Nan (Southern Min) branch, of the Min branch, of the Sinitic (Chinese) branch, of the Sino-Tibetan language family which is mainly spoken in the south-eastern part of mainland China (Fujian province), Taiwan, and by overseas Chinese of Hoklo descent, such as in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Southern Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, etc.
    • 2011, Shelley Rigger, Why Taiwan Matters: Small Island, Global Powerhouse, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 28:
      Almost 90 percent of Taiwan's 6 million occupants at the end of World War II spoke Hokkien.
    • 2020, Tsung-lun Alan Wan, “Language Revitalization and Perceived Language Shift: A Case of Kinmenese Hokkien”, in Jens Damm, Hauke Neddermann, editors, Intercultural Dialogue across Borders: China between Tradition and Modernity, Zürich: LIT Verlag, →ISBN, page 106:
      Because Hokkien is the most widely spoken local language (after Mandarin) in both Taiwan and Kinmen, this national language policy – when implemented in Kinmen – resulted in a different perceived language policy.
    • 2022 June 22, Zoe Yu, “Endangered Languages Are Worth Saving”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-06-22, Student Editorial Contest Winner:
      Under colonial rule, learning or speaking my grandma’s native Hokkien, along with dozens of indigenous languages, was illegal by law.
    • 2023 July 2, Ben Blanchard, “Taiwan celebrates linguistic diversity at annual music awards”, in William Mallard, editor, Reuters, archived from the original on 3 July 2023, Asia Pacific:
      The awards celebrate not only Mandopop but also artists singing in Taiwanese - also known as Hokkien - Hakka and indigenous languages, a visible sign of the government's efforts to promote tongues other than Mandarin.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:Hokkien.
  2. (chiefly Southeast Asia) A group of Han Chinese people whose traditional ancestral homes are in southern Fujian, South China, especially those that ancestrally spoke the Hokkien language.
  3. (dated) Any person from Fujian.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Translations

See also

  • Other branches of Min Nan (limited mutual intelligibility): Teochew (Chaoshan Division); Zhenan Min Division; Zhongshan Min Division; Qiongwen Division; Leizhou Min Division; Longyan Min Division

Adjective

Hokkien (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to the Fujianese people.
  2. (chiefly Southeast Asia) Of or relating to the Hokkien language and its dialects or variants.
  3. (dated) Of or relating to the province of Fujian in China.

References

  1. Hokkien, adj. & n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
  2. Jack Tsen-Ta Lee (2015-04-28), “Hokkien”, in A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

Further reading

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