Abstract: A sample of 203 Hakka students (68 males, 135 females) was investigated in terms of 5 tongue moving types, including rolling, folding, twisting, pointed tongue and clover-leaf tongue. The results were as follows: 1) The frequencies of rolling, folding, twisting, pointed tongue and cloverleaf tongue were 63.05%, 6.90%, 34.48%, 67.98% and 3.45% respectively. Compared to other nationalities, the Hakka had lower frequencies of rolling, pointed tongue and clover-leaf tongue. The frequencies of folding were intermediate, while the frequencies of twisting were higher. 2) The results of cluster analysis showed that the tongue moving types of the Hakka were similar to those of the Han in Qianglai. 3) The genes for rolling has an interactive relationship with the genes for folding. The genes of rolling and folding are independent of each other.

Key words: Tongue; moving type; Hakka; Guangdong