Central Min

{{Short description|Language}}

{{redirect|Min Zhong}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Central Min

|altname={{Lang|zh|闽中语}}

|nativename=Min Zhong

|states=Southern China, United States (mainly California)

|region=Yong'an, Sanming

|speakers=700,000

|date=2004

|ref={{citation

| title = Language Atlas of China

| publisher = City University of Hong Kong | edition = 2nd | year = 2012

| isbn = 978-7-10-007054-6

| page = 178

| postscript = .

}}

|familycolor=Sino-Tibetan

|fam2=Sinitic

|fam3=Chinese

|fam4=Min

|fam5=Inland Min

|dia1=Sanming

|dia2=Yong'an

|dia3=Shaxian

| ancestor = Proto-Sino-Tibetan

| ancestor2 = Old Chinese{{efn|name=minClassification|Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.{{citation |last=Mei |first=Tsu-lin |author1-link=Mei Tsu-lin |title=Tones and prosody in Middle Chinese and the origin of the rising tone |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |volume=30 |year=1970 |pages=86–110 |doi=10.2307/2718766 |jstor=2718766}}{{citation |last=Pulleyblank |first=Edwin G. |author-link=Edwin G. Pulleyblank |title=Middle Chinese: A study in Historical Phonology |year=1984 |page=3 |location=Vancouver |publisher=University of British Columbia Press |isbn=978-0-7748-0192-8}}{{Cite journal |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/minn1248 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Min |date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=Glottolog |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013171747/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/minn1248 |archive-date=2023-10-13 |url-status=live |publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology |author-link=Harald Hammarström |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |publication-place=Leipzig |doi=10.5281/zenodo.7398962 |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |author-link3=Martin Haspelmath |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian |doi-access=free}}}}

| ancestor3 = Proto-Min

|iso3=czo

|glotto=minz1235

|glottorefname=Min Zhong Chinese

|lingua=79-AAA-hb

|map=Min dialect map.svg

|mapcaption={{legend|#ffb200|Central Min}}

}}

Central Min, or Min Zhong ({{Zh|s=闽中语|t=閩中語|p=Mǐnzhōngyǔ}}), is a part of the Min group of varieties of Chinese. It is spoken in the valley of the Sha River in Sanming prefecture in the central mountain areas of Fujian, consisting of Yong'an, the urban area of Sanming (Sanyuan and Meilie districts) and Sha County.{{cite book

| given1 = Stephen Adolphe | surname1 = Wurm

| given2 = Rong | surname2 = Li

| given3 = Theo | surname3 = Baumann

| given4 = Mei W. | surname4 = Lee

| title = Language Atlas of China

| publisher = Longman | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-962-359-085-3

| page = B-12

}}