The central vowels (ö) and («) are the conspicuous sounds in Kinmen, an island southwest of Taiwan, and differ from those of other Southern Min dialects. Some people in Kinmen use non-central vowels of [i,u] and [ue] in Southern Min, while others use central vowels [ö] and [«].This means two types of phonological variants occurring in the Southern Min dialect
of Kinmen accent. In this study, the phonological variation of (ö) and (& laquo;) central vowels is correlated with both internal phonological environments and external social factors.
