Mai Chinese
| Mai | |
|---|---|
| Maihua | |
| 邁話 | |
| Native to | China |
| Region | Hainan (Sanya) |
Native speakers | 15,000 (2007) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Mai or Maihua (simplified Chinese: 迈话; traditional Chinese: 邁話; pinyin: Màihuà, meaning 'Mai speech') is a variety of Chinese of uncertain affiliation spoken in the area of 崖县 Yáxiàn (Sanya) in southern Hainan, China. It was classified as Yue in the Language Atlas of China. Ouyang, Jiang & Zou (2019) consider Mai to be a divergent Yue Chinese variety with Hakka and other mixed influences. There are just over 10,000 speakers of Mai in southern Hainan.
A comprehensive description of Mai was published in a monograph by Ouyang, Jiang & Zou (2019).