| Penang Hokkien | ||
|---|---|---|
| 檳城福建話 | ||
| Spoken in | Malaysia | |
| Region | Penang, Kedah, Medan | |
| Total speakers | 1,824,741 | |
| Language family | Sino-Tibetan | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | zh | |
| ISO 639-2 | chi (B) | zho (T) |
| ISO 639-3 | nan | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Penang Hokkien is a local variant of Hokkien spoken in Penang, Malaysia. It is the lingua franca in Penang as well as other northern states of Malaysia surrounding it, and is characterised by the pronunciation of words according to the Zhangzhou (漳州) dialect, together with widespread use of Malay and English borrowed words. It is predominantly a spoken dialect: it is rarely written in Chinese characters, and there is no standard romanisation. This article uses the Missionary Romanisation or Pe̍h-ōe-jī (白話字) which is common in Taiwan.
Minnan is one of the sub-languages of the Chinese language and is mainly spoken in southern Fujian, Taiwan, Hainan and parts of Guangdong, with the main standard dialects being Hokkien, Teochew and Hainanese. It is also spoken by many overseas Chinese in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Penang Hokkien is based on the dialect of Hokkien spoken in the Zhangzhou (漳州 Hokkien: Chiang1-chiu1) prefecture of Fujian. It is said that it most closely resembles the dialect spoken in the district of Haicang (海滄) in Longhai (龍海 Hokkien: Liong5-hai2) county and in the districts of Jiaomei (角美) and Xinglin (杏林) in neighbouring Xiamen prefecture. In Southeast Asia, similar dialects are spoken in the states bordering Penang, and in Medan. In contrast, in southern Malaysia and Singapore, many Hokkien speakers speak a dialect closer to the Amoy standard.
Contents |
Tones
In Penang Hokkien, there are five tones in unchecked syllables (high, low, rising, high falling, and low falling), reducing to two "entering tones" (high and low) in checked syllables. In most systems of romanisation, this is accounted as seven tones altogether. The tones are:
| Upper | Lower | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level (平) | am1 (44) | 頂平 teng2-pεⁿ5 | [am˦] | am5 (24) | 下平 ε7-pεⁿ5 | [am˨˦] |
| Rising (上) | am2 (53) | 上聲 chhiuⁿ7-siaⁿ1 | [am˥˧] | |||
| Departing (去) | am3 (21) | 頂去 teng2-khi3 | [am˨˩] | am7 (22) | 下去 ε7-khi3 | [am˨] |
| Entering (入) | ap4 (2) | 頂入 teng2-jip8 | [ap˨] | ap8 (5) | 下入 ε7-jip8 | [ap˥] |
The names of the tones no longer bear any relation to the tone contours, e.g. the (Upper) Rising (2nd) tone is actually a high falling tone. As in Amoy and Zhangzhou, there is no Lower Rising (6th) tone. As in Zhangzhou, the two Departing tones (3rd & 7th) are virtually identical, and may not be distinguished except in their sandhi forms. Most native speakers of Penang Hokkien are therefore only aware of four tones (high, low, rising, high falling).
Tone sandhi
Like in other Minnan dialects, the tone of a syllable in Penang Hokkien depends on where in a phrase or sentence the relevant syllable is placed. For example, the word 牛 gu5 in isolation is pronounced with an ascending tone, [˨˦] (24), but when it combines with a following syllable, as in 牛肉 gu5-bah4, it is pronounced with to a low level tone, [˨] (22).
| 1st | → | 7th | ← | 5th |
| ↑ | ↓ | |||
| 2nd | ← | 3rd | ||
| ↑ (if -h) | ↑ (if -h) | |||
| 4th | ↔ (if -p,-t,-k) | 8th |
The rules which apply when a syllable is placed in front of a connected syllable in standard Minnan, simply put, are as follows:
- 1st becomes 7th
- 7th becomes 3rd
- 3rd becomes 2nd (often sounds like 1st in Penang Hokkien)
- 2nd becomes 1st
- 5th becomes 7th
Checked syllables (-h):
- 4th becomes 2nd
- 8th becomes 3rd
Checked syllables (-p,-t,-k):
- 4th becomes 8th
- 8th becomes 4th
Although the two departing tones (3rd & 7th) are usually difficult to tell apart in Penang Hokkien, their tone contours being [˨˩] (21) and [˨] (22), in their sandhi forms they become [˥˧~˥˦] (53~54) and [˨˩] (21) and are thus easily distinguishable.
Minnan and Mandarin tones
There is a reasonably reliable correspondence between Hokkien and Mandarin tones:
- Upper Level: Hokkien 1st tone = Mandarin 1st tone, e.g. 雞 ke1 / jī.
- Lower Level: Hokkien 5th tone = Mandarin 2nd tone, e.g. 龍 leng5 / lóng.
- Rising: Hokkien 2nd tone = Mandarin 3rd tone, e.g. 馬 bε2 / mǎ.
- Departing: Hokkien 3rd/7th tones = Mandarin 4th tone, e.g. 兔 thơ3 / tù, 象 chhiơⁿ7 / xiàng.
Words with Entering tones all end with -p, -t, -k or -h (glottal stop). As Mandarin no longer has any entering tones, there is no simple corresponding relationship for the Hokkien 4th and 8th tones, e.g. 國 kok4 / guó, but 發 hoat4 / fā. The tone in Mandarin often depends on what the initial consonant of the syllable is (see the article on entering tones for details).
Literary and colloquial pronunciations
Hokkien has not been taught in schools in Penang since the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, when Mandarin was made the Chinese national language. As such, few if any people have received any formal instruction in the language, and it is not used for literary purposes. However, as in other variants of Minnan, most words have both literary and colloquial pronunciations, and the literary pronunciations still appear in limited circumstances, e.g.:
- in given names (but generally not surnames), e.g. 安 an1 rather than oaⁿ1, 玉 giok8 rather than gek8
- in a few surnames, e.g. 葉 iap8 rather than hioh8
- in other proper names, e.g. 龍山堂 Liong5-san1-tong5 rather than Leng5-soaⁿ1-tong5
- in certain set phrases, e.g. 差不多 chha1-put4-to1 rather than chhε1-m7-to1, 見笑 kien3-siau3 rather than kiⁿ3-chhio3
Unlike in Taiwan and mainland China, the literary pronunciations of numbers higher than two are not used when giving telephone numbers, etc. Literary variants are generally eschewed in favour of colloquial pronunciations, e.g. 大學 toa7-oh8 instead of tai7-hak8.
Differences from standard Minnan
Most of the differences between Penang Hokkien and Amoy Hokkien exist also in Zhangzhou, e.g.:
- The use of -uiⁿ where Amoy has -ng, e.g. 門 muiⁿ5, 飯 puiⁿ7, 酸 suiⁿ1, etc.;
- The use of -ε and -εⁿ where Amoy has -e and -iⁿ, e.g. 家 kε1, 蝦 hε5, 生 sεⁿ1;
- The use of -oe where Amoy has -e and vice versa, e.g. 火 hoe2, 未 boe7, 地 te7, 細 se3;
- The use of -oa where Amoy has -oe, e.g. 話 oa7, 花 hoa1, 瓜 koa1;
- The use of -iơⁿ (in Penang usually -iauⁿ) where Amoy has -iuⁿ, e.g. 羊 iơⁿ5, 丈 tiơⁿ7, 想 siơⁿ7;
- The use of -iang where Amoy has -iong, e.g. 上 siang7, 香 hiang1;
- The use of j- in some words where Amoy has l-, e.g. 入 jip8, 熱 joah8, 日 jit8;
- The use of Zhangzhou pronunciations such as 糜 moai5 (Amoy: be5), 先生 sin1-sεⁿ1 (Amoy: sien1-siⁿ1), etc.;
- The use of Zhangzhou expressions such as 挑羹 th(i)au1-kiong1 (Amoy: 湯匙 thng1-si5)
Differences from the Zhangzhou dialect
Although Penang Hokkien is obviously based on the Zhangzhou dialect, there are some obvious differences, which in many cases result from the influence of other Minnan dialects, e.g.:
- The lower-entering (8th) tone in Penang, which is pronounced high [˥] (5) as in Amoy and many other parts of Fujian, whereas in most Zhangzhou dialects it is low with a slight lilt [˩˨] (12);
- The use of -u in some words such as 汝 lu2, 豬 tu1, 魚 hu5, etc., where Zhangzhou has li2, ti1 and hi5. This is a characteristic of dialects in other parts of Zhangzhou and Xiamen prefectures.
- The use of -iauⁿ instead of the Zhangzhou -iơⁿ, e.g. 羊 iauⁿ5, 丈 tiauⁿ7, 想 siauⁿ7;
- The adoption of pronunciations from Teochew: e.g. 我 wa2 (Zhangzhou: goa2), 我儂 uang1, 汝儂 luang1, 伊儂 iang1 (Zhangzhou and Amoy: 阮 gun2 / guan2, 恁 lin2, [亻因] in1)
- The adoption of Amoy and Quanzhou pronunciations like 否勢 phaiⁿ2-se3 (Zhangzhou: bai2 / phaiⁿ2-si3), 百 pah8 (Zhangzhou: pεh8), etc.
- The use of unique variants such as 何物 (甚麼/甚物) haⁿ2-mih8 (Longhai: aⁿ2-mih8; Zhangzhou: saⁿ2-mih8 or siaⁿ2-mih8).
Borrowed words
Malay
Like other dialects in Malaysia and Singapore, Penang Hokkien borrows heavily from Malay, but sometimes to a greater extent, e.g.:
- balai: police station
- balu (baru): new(ly), just now
- batu: stone
- berlian: diamond
- jamban: toilet
- jambu: guava
- gatai:itchy (from malay 'gatal')
- kahwin: marry (交姻/結婚?)
- kisien (kesihan): pity
- mana: as if?, since when? (also to be found in Taiwanese as mena and in Teochew with the same meaning)
- mata: police (from Malay mata-mata; also present in Teochew)
- manik: bead
- pun: also
- loti (roti): bread (via Malay from Sanskrit)
- sabun, soap (via Malay from Portuguese; also present in Taiwanese)
- suka, to like
- tapi: but
- tuala, towel (via Malay from Portuguese)
- sampah: garbage
- puluk: bolster
There are also many Hokkien words which have been borrowed into Malay, often with slightly different meanings, e.g. 樓頂 loteng (attic), 馬車 beca (trishaw), 麵 mi (noodles), 米粉 bihun (rice vermicelli), 先生 sinseh (traditional Chinese doctor), 茶 teh (tea), 茶壺 teko (teapot), 粿 kuih (cake), 豆腐 tauhu (tofu), 中華 Tionghua (Chinese), 鮭汁 kicap (sauce), 瓜子 kuaci (edible watermelon seeds), 日本 Jepun (Japan), etc.
English
Penang Hokkien has also borrowed some words from English, some of which may have been borrowed via Malay, but these tend to be more technical and less well embedded than the Malay words, e.g. brake, park, pipe, pump, etc.
English words borrowed from Hokkien include 茶 tea and 鮭汁 ketchup.
Further reading
- Douglas, The Rev. Carstairs (1899) [1873]. Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, with the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects (2nd corrected ed.). London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England. ISBN 1-86210-068-3., bound with Barclay, The Rev. Thomas (1923). Supplement to Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy. Shanghai: Commercial Press Ltd.
- de Gijzel, Luc (2009). English-Penang Hokkien Pocket Dictionary. George Town, Penang: Areca Books. ISBN 978-983-44646-0-8.
See also
- Taiwanese Hokkien
- Singlish
- Southern Malaysia and Singapore Hokkien
- Medan Hokkien
- Lan-nang (Philippine variant of Min Nan)
- Place and street names of Penang
External links
- Holopedia - Wikipedia in Peh-oe-ji
- Online Hokkien Forum (in English)
- Listen to Penang Hokkien conversations at Penang Hokkien Podcast.
| Southern Min languages |
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Hokkien (Min-Tai Division): Amoy Min - Quanzhou dialect - Zhangzhou dialect - Taiwanese Minnan - Singaporean Hokkien - Lan-nang Hokkien - Penang Hokkien - Muar Hokkien - Medan Hokkien |
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