Abstract：Kinship terms and their variation and change have received much attention in previous sociolinguistic studies. At the same time, China’s language situation in rural areas has drawn increasing academic attention with the implementation of rural revitalization. Through investigating the kinship terms for parents, grandparents and grandparents-in-law in Minnan rural areas, we find that the change of kinship terms there mainly occurs in the kinship terms for parents, which shows a higher correlation with speakers’ age than other kinship terms. The younger the speakers are, the more likely they will use ba (爸) and ma (妈). The kinship terms in Minnan rural areas are characterized by the tendency to address parents as ba and ma and simplification, namely ba and ma are spreading but other kinship terms are shrinking. The use of the kinship terms for grandparents and grandparents-in-law has little to do with the age of the speakers and remains in a relatively stable state. Various kinship terms exist in Minnan rural areas, but their use is extremely unbalanced: some are very popular, but others are infrequently used and may disappear at any time. From the sociological perspective as well as the history and reality of Minnan rural areas, the reasons for the change of the kinship terms for parents in Minnan rural areas are the needs and possibilities of social mobility, the fading of the local linguistic culture and the standardization of the kinship terms.
