Hainanese

comparative more Hainanese · superlative most Hainanese

1. Of or relating to the island of Hainan, its people and their diaspora.

   1 more example

   Because of the comparatively shorter distance, Hainanese merchants could use smaller vessels, usually constructed of fir and other inferior woods, which they customarily furnished with masts, rudders, and wooden anchors, availing themselves of the abundance of material in Champa and Cambodia which lay on their route to Bangkok.

   1977, Sarasin Viraphol, Tribute and Profit: Sino-Siamese Trade 1652–1853, Harvard University Press, pages 188–189

1. A group of Min Chinese dialects spoken on the island of Hainan and its diaspora.

   Mr. MELROSE, though engaged in the study of the Hainanese language, has found time to open and give daily supervision to a Boy's School.

   1892, Report of the American Presbyterian Mission in Canton, China for the Year 1891, Canton, page 48

   1 more example

   It is not easy to decide from which dialect of Chinese some of the loanwords derive, and this may explain why Philip Leo does not list any as coming from Hainanese nor Tiociu.

   1984, NUSA: Linguistic Studies in Indonesian and Languages in Indonesia, volume 19, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21, column 1

1. pluralplural onlyThe inhabitants of the island of Hainan and its diaspora

   I needed an interpreter in only one interview, that with an elderly Hainanese from Kompong-Trach.

   1970, William E. Willmott, The Political Structure of the Chinese Community in Cambodia, Athlone Press, page v