Taiwanese or Southern Min? On the Controversy of Ethnolinguistic Names in Taiwan

'Tâi-gí' chit-ê hō-miâ tī Tâi-oân í-keng iōng pah gōa tang ah. M̄-koh, kàu taⁿ Tionghôa Bîn-kok gōa-lâi chèng-koân iáu sī m̄ chèng-sek kā sêng-jīn. Bô-táⁿ-kín, in koh chin khok-hêng kóng Tâi-gí sī 'Bân-lâm-gí.' Kun-kù Chi-ná ê kó, jī-tián, 'Bân' sī 'chôa chéng ê iá-bân-lâng' ê ì-sù. Chit-ê sû sī ū bú-jio̍k khòaⁿ lâng bô ê ì-sù. Ūi tio̍h Tâi-oân-lâng ê chungiâm, tī 2009 nî 7 goe̍h ū 40 gōa ê pún-thó, siā-thoân khì Kàu-io̍k-pō, khòng-gī. Chit phiⁿ lūn-bûn ùi siā-hōe gí-giân-ha̍k kap chèng-tī ê kak-tō, lâi thàm-thó Tâi-gí miâ-chheng ê cheng-gī. Pún-bûn kí-chhut, ‘Bân-lâm-ōe’ tī Tâi-oân siōng-hó ài kiò-chò 'Tài-gî.' Nā beh ùi khah tōa ê sī-iá lâi khòaⁿ, tī Hok-kiàn, Tâi-oân, Tang-lâm-a ê 'Bân-lâm-ōe' ē-sái hō-chò 'Lán-lâng-ōe.'

關鍵字

台灣話；閩南語；台語；咱人話；廈門話

並列摘要

'Tâi-gí' the ethnolinguistic name for Taiwanese has been used for more than one hundred years in Taiwan. However, it has not always been politically and officially approved by the government, the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan. In contrast, 'Southern Min' is officially adopted by the ROC to refer to the language Taiwanese. 'Min' is the abbreviation of Hokkien province in China. In addition, it is a pejorative name with the meaning 'barbarians with snake origin,' according to Chinese classical dictionaries. In response to ROC's racial discrimination against Taiwanese-speaking people, around 40 Taiwanese organizations protested against the ROC in July 2009. The purpose of this paper is to survey the controversy over the term 'Tâi-gí' from the perspective of sociolinguistics and political science. It is suggested that 'Southern Min' be replaced by 'Taiwanese' when referring to varieties spoken in Taiwan, and by 'Lán-lâng-ōe' when referring to all varieties spoken in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian countries.