Minnanese / Taiwanese

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

Minnanese is spoken by perhaps 70 percent of the people in Taiwan. It has its origins in the Han language system but was later influenced by non-Han languages. However, it still contains many ancient Han linguistic features. Its writing system is based on existing Han characters, but has not been developed enough to represent all the distinctive sounds of Minnanese. One of the reasons is that some sounds, though originating from the Han language, have changed so dramatically over time that their corresponding characters can no longer be traced or have a written form that has since become rare. Another reason is that some of the sounds might have been derived from non-Han languages that never had a written form to begin with.

Minnanese is increasingly being used to write poetry and songs. It is now commonly used in advertising, entertainment, and business. A private cable channel offering exclusively Minnanese programming as well as a number of Minnanese news and entertainment programs aired on other TV channels meet the needs of Minnanese audiences. Bookstores offer entire sections of literature written in a style reflecting spoken Minnanese. Despite becoming the mainstream of popular culture, the absence of a mature writing system has forced the people to find various means to express sounds that have no corresponding written character. Synonymous Han characters, homonyms, and romanized spellings are often used, and new characters sometimes created, but none of these provide a perfect solution.

Studies are underway to develop a comprehensive writing system for Minnanese. The MOE encourages research on Minnanese by offering financial rewards to scholarly publications in this area. To meet the more pressing needs arising from the inclusion of Minnanese in the nine-year compulsory education system, the Mandarin Promotion Council of the Ministry of Education conducted a special four-year research program beginning in 1995. Researchers compiled a dictionary of Minnanese terms using the Taiwan Language Phonetic System promulgated by the MOE in 1998. Another program initiated in July 2001 to compile a 15,000-term dictionary for elementary and junior high school students is scheduled for completion in June 2004.