Fukien

F4U1K5I1E1N1
Philippines, US/ˈfuːˈkjɛn/Philippines/ˈfuk.jɛn/Philippines/ˈfuʔ.kjɛn/Hong Kong/fʊk̚ˈkiːn/

proper noun

The Hokkien language.

RareScrabble 13

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Fu-kien · alternative Fu Kien · alternative Fu kien · alternative Fuh-kien · alternative Fuh-Kien · alternative Fuhkien · alternative Fuhkeen · alternative Fuhkeën · alternative Fookien

  1. alternativedatedAlternative form of Fujian.

    An experience we had in a village called Liang-a, Fukien [Fujian] will give an idea of some of the present difficulties.

    1985, Diana Lary, Warlord Soldiers: Chinese Common Soldiers, 1911–1937, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 135
    5 more examples

    On April 27, 12 fishermen from a trawler of the Hsinhuatai Co. in Keelung City, Taiwan Province, that had sunk near the island of Tungyin because of an engine breakdown were rescued by fishermen of the Haifeng Brigade of the Huangchi People's Commune in Lienchiang County, Fukien Province.

    1973 May 11, “Taiwan Fisherman Compatriots Rescued”, in Peking Review, volume 16, number 19, archived from the original on 12 May 2019, page 4

    In the following year, over 30,000 people of T'ung-shan were evacuated. But during the rebellion of the three feudatories, when Cheng Ching again had a foothold on the mainland, the people of Fukien returned to their homes along the coast.

    1976, Lawrence D. Kessler, K'ang-hsi and the Consolidation of Ch'ing Rule, 1661–1684, pages 43–44

    Looking through the window into the misty morning sky over Taipei from his suite at a guest house on Yangmingshan on July 8, Fan Yuan-yen's eyes were filled with tears of joy-an experience that he had never before known. Just the day before, he had made a successful flight to freedom in a MIG19, from Chingkiang in Fukien Province on the Chinese mainland to an air force base in southern Taiwan.

    1977 July 24, T. K. Yang, “Freedom seeker says m'land people fight pigs for food”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVIII, number 29, Taipei, page 2

    If the United States revoked MFN status, tariffs would skyrocket on the goods such as textiles, shoes, and toys that are primarily produced by private enterprises. Coastal provinces, such as Guangdong near Hong Kong and Fukien near Taiwan, that have served as the beachhead for free-market economics would suffer the worst blow.

    1992, Richard Nixon, “The Pacific Triangle”, in Seize the Moment, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 175

    Opportunities to seaward, however risky, are more inviting than those on land. The first sign that those opportunities were being exploited is a rapid expansion of population indicated by censuses of the late seventh and eighth centuries. It may have been caused by refugees, attracted by the very inaccessibility of the region and content to farm as best they could on marginal and reclaimed lands. But by the ninth century there are numerous references in documents to the 'trade of the South Sea' on the Fukien coast.

    2001, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Civilizations, Pan Books, →ISBN, page 409
  2. Hong KongPhilippinesThe Hokkien language.

    I thought it was faster than what they taught in school, but I've forgotten how to speak Fukien.

    2000, Norbert Weissinger, Soul of the Algorithm, San Jose: Authors Choice Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 39
    4 more examples

    Linguistically, the mainlanders speak Mandarin Chinese, the Fulow speak Fukien/Southern dialects, and the Hakka speak their own dialects.

    2006, Jolan Hsieh, Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Identity-Based Movement of Plain Indigenous in Taiwan, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 51

    However, their first priority in the earliest years was language learning with the local Chinese population with whom they could practice Mandarin and Fukien.

    2016, Brian M. Howell, Christianity in the Local Context: Southern Baptists in the Philippines, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 52

    But more importantly, Capt. Stanley speaks the language of the Tan family, perhaps literally and otherwise. He is the son-in-law of the taipan, married to Tan’s daughter Lilybeth, also a veteran PAL pilot. He speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese, Fukien, English, and Filipino.

    2022 February 2, Iris Gonzales, “Injecting young blood into the empire”, in The Philippine Star, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2022

    This included the more than 1.4 million people from Shanghai, most of whom were speakers of Shanghainese; immigrants from Suzhou Province, who spoke Suzhounese, and immigrants from Fujian Province, who were speakers of Hokkien (also known as Fukien, Hoklo, or Southern Min).

    2022, J. G. Hansen Edwards, “A linguistic history of Hong Kong”, in Telling Stories: Linguistic Diversity in Hong Kong, archived from the original on 01 Dec 2025
  3. Hong Kongany Sinitic variety spoken in the Fujian province of China, particularly Hokkien or Foochow varieties.

    Hakka, Chiu Chow, and Fukien were the most spoken OCDs, according to the by-census.

    2021 January 26, Barry Sautman, Xinyi Xie, “Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities”, in Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, German Institute for Global and Area Studies, pages 207–232
    1 more example

    Other than Cantonese and Putonghua, the three most common Chinese dialects spoken by the Hong Kong population were Hakka, Fukien and Chiu Chau.

    2024, Census and Statistics Department Hong Kong Special Administration Region, “2021 Population Census Use of Language by Hong Kong Population”, in Census and Statistics Department
nounFukien (plural Fukien or Fukiens)

plural Fukiens · alternative Fu-kien · alternative Fu Kien · alternative Fu kien · alternative Fuh-kien · alternative Fuh-Kien · alternative Fuhkien · alternative Fuhkeen · alternative Fuhkeën · alternative Fookien

  1. PhilippinesA (member of a) group of Han Chinese people whose traditional ancestral homes are in southern Fujian, South China, especially those that ancestrally spoke the Hokkien language.

    The Fukiens were skilled in trading, import and export, building ships and ocean shipping, intermediary business, running hotels and restaurants and manufacturing rubber products.

    2008, Ethnicity and Migration in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam, 1975-2007
    3 more examples

    The Fukiens are to-day the most numerous of the Chinese race in Johore, Kelantan and the Straits Settlements. Taking British Malaya as a whole, there are 39 Chinese in every hundred of the population, while the percentage of Malays is 37.5 ...

    1954, Huang Tsen-ming, The Legal Status of the Chinese Abroad

    The differences between South Chinese clans have been jealously kept, particularly among the Fukiens who, in Malaya, are called Hokkien if from the Kiulung Valley near Amoy, Teochiu if from the Han Valley behind Chaochow and Swatow, ...

    1955, Ernest Henry George Dobby, Senior Geography for Malayans

    Whereas the Teochews in Thailand and Cambodia, and the Fukiens in the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia are the largest groups within their respective Chinese communities and hold the most powerful economic positions, ...

    1993, Tran Khanh, The Ethnic Chinese and Economic Development in Vietnam, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, →ISBN, page 30
adjectiveFukien (not comparable)

alternative Fu-kien · alternative Fu Kien · alternative Fu kien · alternative Fuh-kien · alternative Fuh-Kien · alternative Fuhkien · alternative Fuhkeen · alternative Fuhkeën · alternative Fookien

  1. not comparableOf or relating to the province of Fujian in China, the Fujianese people, or the Hokkien language.

    Two of the schools were Cantonese while the other was Fukien.

    1976, Yen Ching Hwang, The Overseas Chinese and the 1911 Revolution, page 9
    3 more examples

    A few more Fukien figures and groups are included in the porcelain showing European influences in Bay VI; and it is curious to note that in several cases the European figure is apparently credited with divine attributes.

    1937, Robert Lockhart Hobson, Handbook of the Pottery & Porcelain of the Far East in the Department of Oriental Antiquities and of Ethnography, page 118

    The most celebrated tea of the Ming period was Fukien tea, grown in the hills of Wu I, which the Chinese believed could purify the blood and renew health.

    2004, Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer, The World of Caffeine

    The south is more rural, more provincial, and more Fukien Taiwanese.

    2013, John Franklin Copper, The KMT Returns to Power: Elections in Taiwan 2008 to 2012, page 148

Synonyms & antonyms

Broader
Southern MinMin NanMinnanQuanzhou–ZhangzhouChinchew–Changchew
Narrower
TaiwaneseQuanzhou dialectChinchewXiamen dialectAmoyXiameneseZhangzhou dialectChangchew

nounany of the forms of Chinese spoken in Fukien province

Similar
MinMin dialectFukkianeseHokkianeseAmoyTaiwaneseAmoy languageFukkianese languageHokkianese languageTaiwanese languageFukien languageMin language
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Mandarin福建
  2. EnglishFukien

From the Postal Romanization of the Nanjing court dialect Mandarin 福建 (Fújiàn), from before the modern palatalization of [k] to [t͡ɕ]. Doublet of Hokkien. Compare Spanish Fokien, Portuguese Foquiem.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Fukien. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fukien

MLA

“Fukien.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fukien. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Fukien,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fukien.

Source: Fukien on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.