1. Definition of the Hakka Dialect

It seems simple to say that the Hakka dialect is the dialect spoken by the Hakka people, identified as originating in northern China and moving to southern China through five waves of migration over the last 1,500 years (Luó 1933). Hakka has been recognized as a modern Chinese dialect group (Yuán et al. 1989; Würm and Li 1987). This story is, however, problematic in several respects.

Recent studies sugges…