MIN LANGUAGES

Chinese spoken in Fukien sheng (province) and in parts of Kwangtung and Taiwan. The Min languages are divided into Northern Min, with its centre at Foochow, and Southern Min, with its centre at Amoy. Min speakers use a pronunciation (called T'ang Min) for the literary language that differs from the one used in other Chinese languages. The T'ang Min pronunciation of the standard language preserves the final consonants of Ancient Chinese, but nonliterary spoken Min languages do not. Other differences between Min languages and other Chinese languages include differences in vocabulary and the preservation of archaic dental consonants (formed by contact of the tongue and teeth). Northern Min preserves the nasal sounds of an earlier stage of Chinese at the ends of words, but Southern Min has lost them.