Hainanese

Hainan +‎ -ese

Hainanese (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to the island of Hainan.
   • 1977, Sarasin Viraphol, Tribute and Profit: Sino-Siamese Trade 1652-1853‎, Harvard University Press, pages 188-189:

     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.

Hainanese pl (plural only)

1. The inhabitants of the island of Hainan.
   • 1970, William E. Willmott, The Political Structure of the Chinese Community in Cambodia‎, Athlone Press, page v:

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

Hainanese

1. A group of Min Chinese dialects spoken on the island of Hainan.
   • 1892, Report of the American Presbyterian Mission in Canton, China for the Year 1891‎, Canton, page 48:

     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.

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

     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.