Taiwanese Southern Min hoo7 and its counterparts in the Southern Min varieties in Quemoy and Quanzhou

The present paper investigates the multifarious hoo⁷ 予 in Taiwanese Southern Min and related exponents in other Southern Min varieties, including thoo⁷ 度, tng⁵ 傳, and khit⁴ 乞 in Quemoy and Quanzhou Southern Min. The plotted linguistic maps based on two field studies conducted in August 2010 and July 2011 indicate gradual spatial distribution: while Quanzhou Southern Min exhibits the most heterogeneous uses, the sub-dialects in Quemoy and Taiwan reduce the markedness with varying degrees. It is suggested that synchronic areal diffusion may reflect diachronic developments during migration while the survey of sub-dialects provides significant theoretical implications for general research on a language/dialect.