{{short description|Variety of the Chinese language}} {{Infobox language |name=Mai |altname=Maihua |nativename=邁話 |states=[[China]] |region=[[Hainan]] ([[Sanya]]) |speakers=15,000 |ref=<ref name="Jiang2007" /> |date=2007 |familycolor=Sino-Tibetan |fam2=[[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] |fam3=[[Chinese language|Chinese]] |fam4=[[Yue Chinese|Yue]]? |iso3=none |glotto=none }}
'''Mai''' or '''Maihua''' ({{zh|t=邁話|s=迈话|p=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 Chinese|Yue]] in the ''[[Language Atlas of China]]''. Ouyang, Jiang & Zou (2019) consider Mai to be a divergent Yue Chinese variety with [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]] and other mixed influences. There are just over 10,000 speakers of Mai in southern Hainan.<ref name="MaihuaDiaocha"/>
A comprehensive description of Mai was published in a monograph by Ouyang, Jiang & Zou (2019).<ref name="MaihuaDiaocha">Ouyang, Jueya 欧阳觉亚; Jiang, Huo 江荻; Zou Jiayan 邹嘉彥. 2019. ''Sanya maihua diaocha baogao'' 三亚迈话调查报告. Beijing: Minzu University Publishing House 中国民族大学出版社.</ref>
== Names == Mai speakers refer to themselves as ''mai¹³nɔn⁵⁵'' (迈人).<ref name="MaihuaDiaocha"/>
== Classification == Jiang et al. (2007) considers Mai to be a mix of [[Yue Chinese]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]]-[[Gan Chinese|Gan]], and [[Hainanese]] Min.<ref name="Jiang2007">{{Cite journal |last=Jiang |first=Huo 江荻 |last2=Ouyang |first2=Jueya 欧阳觉亚 |last3=Zou |first3=Heyan 邹嘉彦 |date=2007 |title=Hǎinán Shěng Sānyà Shì Màihuà yīnxì |script-title=zh:海南省三亚市迈话音系 |journal=Fāngyán |language=zh |volume=2007 |issue=1 |pages=23–34 |script-journal=zh:方言}}</ref>
== Distribution == Mai is spoken in the following four villages in southern [[Hainan]].<ref name="Jiang2007" /> * Yanglan Village (羊栏村), Fenghuang Town (凤凰镇), originally called Yanglan Town 羊栏镇), in the northwestern part of [[Sanya]] City (5,000 speakers). Mai speakers of Yanglan Village claimed that their ancestors had migrated from Shuinan Village (水南村) over 10 generations ago. * Linjia Village (林家村) and Miaoshan Village (妙山村) of Miaolin Township (妙林乡, 6,000 speakers) * Shuinan Village (水南村), Gongbei Village (拱北村), etc., in Yacheng Town (崖城镇), western Sanya City (三亚市, about 1,000 speakers)
The [[Utsat language]] is spoken just to the west of the Mai area. Just to the southwest is Haibo Village (海波村), where [[Danzhouhua]] (儋州话) is spoken.
== References == {{reflist}} * [http://www.doczj.com/doc/112bb2c02cc58bd63186bd4d.html 海南岛的"迈话"--一种混合型方言] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625092108/http://www.doczj.com/doc/112bb2c02cc58bd63186bd4d.html |date=2021-06-25 }}
{{Sino-Tibetan languages}} {{Chinese language}}
[[Category:Varieties of Chinese]] [[Category:Languages of Hainan]] [[Category:Mixed languages]]