I dialetti min meridionali

In this paper, we will sketch an introduction to the Southern Min branch of Sinitic languages. After a general presentation of their historical origins and diffusion, we will discuss some unique aspects of these dialects: the presence of a long-standing literary tra- dition with Southern Min elements, their position as the first Chinese varieties which received extensive grammatical treatment in foreign sources, and the role of Taiwanese as the (almost) only Sinitic variety with a semi-standardised written language and offi- cial recognition as a ‘national’ language.