Southern Min: Comparative Phonology and Subgrouping [Paperback]

Southern M?n refers to a group of Chinese dialects spoken mainly in Southeast China and Taiwan. This group occupies a special position in the study of Chinese dialects, not only because of its large population of speakers (around 48 million) but also because of its preservation of various archaic linguistic features long lost in other dialects. In this book, B.C. Kwok applies the comparative method on new fieldwork data to reconstruct the common sound system of Proto-Southern M?n, from which all modern Southern M?n varieties emerged. The syllable initials, finals and tonal categories of Proto-Southern M?n are illustrated by more than 500 examples. In addition, this book offers an alternative view on the subgrouping of 12 Southern M?n varieties. It proposes that the Qu?nzhMu dialect and the Zh
ngzhMu dialect form the two main branches of the dialect group. This book should be of great interest to advanced students and scholars in the fields of historical linguistics and Chinese dialectology.

1. Background and Methodology  2. Proto-Southern M?n initials  3. Proto-Southern M?n finals  4. Proto-Southern M?n tonal categories  5. Subgrouping Southern M?n  6. Conclusion

This book adopts a phylogenetic perspective in explaining the linguistic diversity within the major Chinese dialect group of Southern Min. This book advances our knowledge of not only the linguistic importance of Southern Min, but also the methodology of Chinese dialect classification.

Bit-Chee Kwok is currently Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie primarily in historical linguistics, contact linguistics and Chinese dialectology.

Hokkien Southern Min preserves time-honored phonological features that have been long lost in modern Mandarin Chinese. In thislÃN