Langenesis

Sino-Tibetan family

Hokkien

c. 900 CE – today Living

Hokkien (c. 900 CE – today) is a living Sino-Tibetan language. Lineage: Proto-Sino-Tibetan → Proto-Sinitic → Old Chinese → Proto-Min → Hokkien.

See Hokkien on the interactive map
Speakers
28M (28,000,000)
ISO 639-3
nan
Glottocode
minn1241

Southern Min variety of southern Fujian, spoken across Southeast Asia and in Taiwan, where Taiwanese Hokkien is the most widely spoken home language after Mandarin.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Sino-Tibetanc. 4,000 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-Siniticc. 1,500 BCE – 1,250 BCE
  3. Old Chinese1,250 BCE – 25 CE
  4. Proto-Minc. 100 BCE – 900 CE
  5. Hokkienc. 900 CE – today

Sister languages 1

Also descended from Proto-Min.

Sources