ABSTRACT
This chapter will begin with an introduction to the criteria for linguistic subgrouping and a review of the previous classificatory proposals of Southern Mǐn, pointing out the deficiencies of the traditional classifications. Our updated subgrouping is based chiefly on the reflexes of Proto-Southern Mǐn sound categories found in the modern varieties. It will show that Southern Mǐn can be divided into two main groups, namely, the ‘Northern Group’ and the ‘Southern Group’ in light of the reflexes of finals with the *ø vocalism and the distinction between *uĩ) and *õ. The general characteristics and the structures of the two groups will be discussed, giving a number of examples. The Quánzhōu dialect can be taken as representative of the Northern Group. Also derived from the Northern Group are the dialects of Zǐhú, Cāngnán and Lukang. Members of the Southern Group include Zhāngzhōu (the representative dialect), Lóngyán and Dàtián in Fújiàn; Hǎifēng, Jiēyáng, Cháoyáng, Léizhōu in Guǎngdōng as well as Hǎikǒu in Hǎinán. Within the lower node, the first three dialects form the ‘Fújiàn Branch’ while the remainder constitutes the 'Guǎngdōng-Hǎinán Branch’. This chapter will also cover the affiliation of the language found within the Arte de la lengua chiochiu, a bilingual (Southern Mǐn and Spanish) manuscript composed in the early seventeenth century by the missionaries in the Philippines. Finally, it will discuss the role of language contact in dialectal formation by paying special attention to the Dàtián dialect spoken in central Fújiàn, which has long been mistakenly viewed as a peripheral Southern Mǐn dialect.
