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Hainanese

Hainanese

8.6
A person from Hainan island
  • noun
  • /ˌhaɪnəˈniːz/
: hainanés
  • Later, varied commercial enterprises drew Chinese from other dialect groups, including the Hakka, which constituted 16 percent of the population in 1950, and the Hainanese, with 12 percent.

Examples

  • Other groups of Chinese coming from the same southeastern coastal region in China are the Hainanese, Cantonese, Hakka, and Fujianese (Hokkien).

    Academic text (1992)
  • He is a Hainanese who enjoys sharing stories about his family's traditions.

  • The festival celebrated the culture of the Hainanese people with music and dance.

  • Many Hainanese have migrated to different regions, bringing their unique customs with them.

Synonyms

Chinese
vsHainanese
331 1.0

A person from China

is narrower, meaning someone from a specific island province

Surface Forms

Hainanese singular
Hainanese plural

Morphology

Hainanese = Hainan (transparent) = Hainan + ese

Built from the place name plus '-ese' to denote people from that place; this demonymic formation is productive and obvious.

Etymology

Hainanese comes from the place name Hainan plus the ending -ese, meaning 'a person from' or 'relating to', just like Chinese. So a Hainanese is a person who comes from Hainan Island.