Hainanese
Hainanese (simplified Chinese: 海南话; traditional Chinese: 海南話; pinyin: Hǎinán huà), also known as Qiongshan–Wenchang (simplified Chinese: 琼文; traditional Chinese: 瓊文) or Qióng yǔ (瓊語/琼语), is a variety of Min Nan Chinese spoken in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan and part of a language family that sometimes includes Leizhou Min spoken on the neighboring mainland Leizhou Peninsula. "Hainanese" is also used to describe the language of the Li people living in Hainan, but generally refers to the Chinese dialect spoken in Hainan. It is mutually unintelligible with other Min Nan dialects, such as Teochew and Hokkien–Taiwanese, which has led to it being occasionally designated as Qiongwen Min, a separate language from Min Nan.
Phonology
Hainanese has a simple five vowel system .
| Vowels |
Front |
Back |
| High |
/i/ |
/u/ |
| Mid-High |
/e/ |
/o/ |
| Mid-Low |
/ɛ/ |
/ɔ/ |
| Low |
|
/a/ |
Hainanese notably has a series of implosive consonants, which it has picked up under influence from surrounding languages, probably Hlai.
| Consonants |
Labial |
Dental |
Alveolo-Palatal |
Velar |
Glottal |
| Voiced Stop/Implosive |
/ɓ/ |
/ɗ/ |
|
（/ɠ/) |
|
| Voiceless Stop |
/p/ |
/t/ |
|
/k/ |
(/ʔ/) |
| Affricate |
|
/c/ [ts~tɕ] |
|
|
| Voiceless Fricative |
/f/ |
/s/ [s~ɕ] |
/x/ |
/h/ |
| Voiced Fricative |
/v/ |
/ʑ/ [z~ʑ] |
|
/ɦ/ |
| Nasal |
/m/ |
/n/ |
|
/ŋ/ |
|
| Liquid |
(/w/) |
/l/ |
(/j/) |
|
|
The phonological system of Hainanese corresponds well with that of Hokkien, but it has had some restructuring. In particular, etymological *anterior plain stops have undergone implosivization (*p > [ɓ], *t > [ɗ], etymological *aspirated stops have spirantized (*pʰ > [f], *tʰ > [h], *cʰ > [ɕ] *kʰ > [x]), and etymological *s have hardened into stop (*s > [t]), and *h > [ɦ]. Additionally, some dialects have [ɡ], and [ʑ] is allophonic with /j/.