Penang Hokkien
Encyclopedia
Penang Hokkien is a local variant of Hokkien spoken in Penang
, Malaysia. It is the lingua franca
among the majority Chinese
population 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; Hokkien: Chiang-chiu) 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
, Thailand
, the Philippines
and Indonesia
.
Penang Hokkien is based on the dialect of Hokkien spoken in the Zhangzhou 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: Liông-hái) 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 (Kedah, Perlis and northern Perak), as well as in Medan. In contrast, in southern Malaysia and Singapore, many Hokkien speakers speak a dialect closer to the Amoy
(廈門; Hokkien: ε̄-mûiⁿ) standard.
in unchecked syllables (high, low, rising, high falling, and low falling), and two Entering
tones (high and low) in checked syllables. In most systems of romanisation, this is accounted as seven tones altogether. The tones are:
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).
The rules which apply when a syllable is placed in front of a connected syllable in standard Minnan, simply put, are as follows:
Checked syllables (-h):
Checked syllables (-p,-t,-k):
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 [˥˦] (54) and [˨˩] (21) and are thus easily distinguishable.
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 kok / guó, but 發 hoat / fā. The tone in Mandarin often depends on what the initial consonant of the syllable is (see the article on Entering tone
s for details).
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.:
Unlike in Taiwan and mainland China, the literary pronunciations of numbers higher than two are not used when giving telephone numbers, etc.; e.g. 二五四 jī-gơ̄-sì instead of jī-ngớ-sù. Literary variants are generally eschewed in favour of colloquial pronunciations, e.g. 大學 toā-ȯh instead of tāi-hȧk.
There are also many Hokkien words which have been borrowed into Malay, sometimes with slightly different meanings, e.g.:
English words borrowed from Hokkien include tea (茶 tê/tε̂) and ketchup (via Malay kicap; originally 鮭汁 kê-chiap, "fish sauce").
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Malaysia. It is the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
among the majority Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
population in Penang as well as other northern states of Malaysia surrounding it, and is characterised by the pronunciation of words according to the Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou
Zhangzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Located on the banks of the Jiulong River , Zhangzhou borders the cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou to the northeast, Longyan City to the northwest and the province of Guangdong to the southwest.Zhangzhou...
(漳州; Hokkien: Chiang-chiu) dialect, together with widespread use of Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
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
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
Minnan is one of the sub-languages of the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and is mainly spoken in southern Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
and parts of Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, with the main standard dialects being Hokkien, Teochew
Chaozhou
Chaozhou is a city in eastern Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast...
and Hainanese. It is also spoken by many overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
in Malaysia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Penang Hokkien is based on the dialect of Hokkien spoken in the Zhangzhou prefecture
Prefecture
A prefecture is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures, and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect.-Antiquity:...
of Fujian. It is said that it most closely resembles the dialect spoken in the district of Haicang
Haicang
Haicang may refer to:* Haicang District , in the municipal region of Xiamen, Fujian, China* Haicang Town , in Haicang District, Xiamen, Fujian, China...
(海滄) in Longhai (龍海; Hokkien: Liông-hái) county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
and in the districts of Jiaomei
Jiaomei
Jiaomei is a Town in the portion of Longhai City north of the Jiulong River , in the municipal region of Zhangzhou, FJ.-Transport:The town lies along National Route 324, with which the Jiaomei-Haicang Road makes a T-junction downtown....
(角美) and Xinglin (杏林) in neighbouring Xiamen prefecture. In Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, similar dialects are spoken in the states bordering Penang (Kedah, Perlis and northern Perak), as well as in Medan. In contrast, in southern Malaysia and Singapore, many Hokkien speakers speak a dialect closer to the Amoy
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
(廈門; Hokkien: ε̄-mûiⁿ) standard.
Tones
In Penang Hokkien, there are five tonesTone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
in unchecked syllables (high, low, rising, high falling, and low falling), and two Entering
Entering tone
A checked tone, commonly known by its Chinese calque entering tone , is one of four syllable types in the phonology in Middle Chinese which are commonly translated as tone. However, it is not a tone in the phonetic sense, but rather describes a syllable that ends in a stop consonant, such as p, t,...
tones (high and low) in checked syllables. In most systems of romanisation, this is accounted as seven tones altogether. The tones are:
| Upper | Lower | |||||||||
| No. | Name | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
Contour | POJ | No. | Name | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
Contour | POJ | |
| Level (平) | 1 | 頂平 téng-pε̂ⁿ | [am˦] | (44) | am | 5 | 下平 ε̄-pε̂ⁿ | [am˨˦] | (24) | âm |
| Rising (上) | 2 | 上聲 chhiơ̄ⁿ-siaⁿ | [am˥˦] | (54) | ám | |||||
| Departing (去) | 3 | 頂去 téng-khì | [am˨˩] | (21) | àm | 7 | 下去 ε̄-khì | [am˨] | (22) | ām |
| Entering (入) | 4 | 頂入 téng-jıˈp | [ap˨] | (2) | ap | 8 | 下入 ε̄-jıˈp | [ap˦] | (4) | a̍p |
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
Sandhi
Sandhi is a cover term for a wide variety of phonological processes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries . Examples include the fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of sounds due to neighboring sounds or due to the grammatical function of adjacent words...
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 gû in isolation is pronounced with an ascending tone, [˨˦] (24), but when it combines with a following syllable, as in 牛肉 gû-bah, 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 [˥˦] (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 ke / jī.
- Lower Level: Hokkien 5th tone = Mandarin 2nd tone, e.g. 龍 lêng / lóng.
- Rising: Hokkien 2nd tone = Mandarin 3rd tone, e.g. 馬 bέ / mǎ.
- Departing: Hokkien 3rd/7th tones = Mandarin 4th tone, e.g. 兔 thờ / tù, 象 chhiơ̄ⁿ / xiàng.
Words with Entering tones all end with -p, -t, -k or -h (glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
). As Mandarin no longer has any Entering tones, there is no simple corresponding relationship for the Hokkien 4th and 8th tones, e.g. 國 kok / guó, but 發 hoat / fā. The tone in Mandarin often depends on what the initial consonant of the syllable is (see the article on Entering tone
Entering tone
A checked tone, commonly known by its Chinese calque entering tone , is one of four syllable types in the phonology in Middle Chinese which are commonly translated as tone. However, it is not a tone in the phonetic sense, but rather describes a syllable that ends in a stop consonant, such as p, t,...
s for details).
Literary and colloquial pronunciations
Hokkien has not been taught in schools in Penang since the establishment of the Republic of ChinaRepublic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
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 an rather than oaⁿ, 玉 giȯk rather than gėk;
- in a few surnames, e.g. 葉 iȧp rather than hiȯh
- in other proper names, e.g. 龍山堂 Liông-san-tông rather than *Lêng-soaⁿ-tông
- in certain set phrases, e.g. 差不多 chha-put-to rather than *chhε-m̄-to, 見笑 kièn-siàu rather than *kìⁿ-chhiò
Unlike in Taiwan and mainland China, the literary pronunciations of numbers higher than two are not used when giving telephone numbers, etc.; e.g. 二五四 jī-gơ̄-sì instead of jī-ngớ-sù. Literary variants are generally eschewed in favour of colloquial pronunciations, e.g. 大學 toā-ȯh instead of tāi-hȧk.
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 mûiⁿ, 飯 pūiⁿ, 酸 suiⁿ, etc.;
- The use of -ε and -εⁿ where Amoy has -e and -iⁿ, e.g. 家 kε, 蝦 hε̂, 生 sεⁿ (also written with e·);
- The use of -oe where Amoy has -e and vice versa, e.g. 火 hóe, 未 bōe, 地 tē, 細 sè;
- The use of -oa where Amoy has -oe, e.g. 話 ōa, 花 hoa, 瓜 koa;
- The use of -iơⁿ (also pronounced -iauⁿ) where Amoy has -iuⁿ, e.g. 羊 iơ̂ⁿ, 丈 tiơ̄ⁿ, 想 siơ̄ⁿ;
- The use of -iang where Amoy has -iong, e.g. 上 siāng, 香 hiang;
- The use of j- in some words where Amoy has l-, e.g. 入 jıˈp, 熱 jȯah, 日 jıˈt;
- The use of Zhangzhou pronunciations such as 糜 môai (Amoy: bê), 先生 sin-sεⁿ (Amoy: sien-siⁿ), etc.;
- The use of Zhangzhou expressions such as 挑羹 th(i)au-kiong (Amoy: 湯匙 thng-sî)
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 [˦] (4) 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 lú, 豬 tu, 魚 hû, etc., where Zhangzhou has lí, ti and hî. 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 iaûⁿ, 丈 tiaūⁿ, 想 siaūⁿ;
- The adoption of pronunciations from Teochew: e.g. 我 wá (Zhangzhou: góa), 我儂 uang, 汝儂 luang, 伊儂 iang (Zhangzhou and Amoy: 阮 gún / góan, 恁 lín, [亻因] in)
- The adoption of Amoy and Quanzhou pronunciations like 否勢 pháiⁿ-sè (Zhangzhou: bái / pháiⁿ-sì), 百 pȧh (Zhangzhou: pε̇h), etc.
- The use of unique variants such as 何物 (甚麼/甚物) háⁿ-mıˈh (Longhai: áⁿ-mıˈh; Zhangzhou: sáⁿ-mıˈh or siáⁿ-mıˈh).
Malay
Like other dialects in Malaysia and Singapore, Penang Hokkien borrows heavily from Malay, but sometimes to a greater extent, e.g.:- almari: wardrobe (probably originally from PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - anting: earring
- balai: police station
- balu (baru): new(ly), just now
- bangku: stool (probably originally from PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - batu: stone
- berlian: diamond
- binatang: animal
- bunting: pregnant
- jamban: toilet
- jambu: guava
- gatai:itchy (from Malay 'gatal')
- geli: creepy; hair-raising
- kawin: marry
- kisien (kesihan): pity
- lampin: nappy/diaper
- loti (roti): bread (via Malay from Sanskrit)
- macam-macam: what a fuss
- mana: as if?, since when? (also to be found in Taiwanese as mena and in Teochew with the same meaning)
- manik: bead
- mata: police (from Malay mata-mata; also present in Teochew)
- pasar: market
- pinggang: waist
- puluk: bolster
- pun: also
- rasa: to feel
- sabun, soap (via Malay from PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
; also present in Taiwanese) - sampah: garbage
- sayang: to love; what a pity/waste
- sombong: snobbish
- suka, to like (via Malay from Sanskrit)
- tapi: but
- tolong: please
- tongkat: walking stick
- tuala, towel (via Malay from Portuguese)
There are also many Hokkien words which have been borrowed into Malay, sometimes with slightly different meanings, e.g.:
- beca (trishaw; originally 馬車 bέ-chhia, "horse-cart")
- bihun (米粉 bí-hún, "rice vermicelli")
- Jepun (日本 jıˈt-pún, "Japan")
- loteng (attic; originally 樓頂 laû-téng, "upstairs")
- kicap (sauce; originally 鮭汁 kê-chiap, "fish sauce")
- kongsi (to share; originally 公司 kong-si, "company/firm/clan association")
- kuaci (瓜子 koa-chí, "edible watermelon seeds")
- kuetiau (粿條 kóe-tiaû, "flat rice noodle")
- kuih (粿 kóe, "rice-flour cake")
- mi (麵 mī, noodles),
- sinseh (先生 sin-sεⁿ, "traditional Chinese doctor")
- tauhu (豆腐 taū-hū, "tofu")
- tauke (頭家 thaû-kε, "boss")
- teh (茶 tε̂, "tea")
- teko (茶𥑮 tε̂-kớ, "teapot")
- Tionghua (中華 tiong-hôa, "China/Chinese")
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 tea (茶 tê/tε̂) and ketchup (via Malay kicap; originally 鮭汁 kê-chiap, "fish sauce").
Further reading
, bound withSee also
- Taiwanese Hokkien
- SinglishSinglishColloquial Singaporean English, also known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.Singlish is commonly regarded with low prestige in Singapore. The Singaporean government and many Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English...
- Southern Malaysia Hokkien
- Singaporean HokkienSingaporean HokkienSingaporean Hokkien is a local variant of the Hokkien dialect spoken in Singapore. It is closely related to the Southern Malaysian Hokkien spoken in Southern Malaysia as well as Riau Hokkien spoken in the Indonesian province of Riau...
- Medan HokkienMedan HokkienMedan Hokkien is a local variant of Hokkien spoken in Medan, Indonesia. It is the lingua franca in Medan as well as other northern city states of North Sumatra surrounding it, and is characterised by the pronunciation of words according to the Zhangzhou dialect, together with widespread use of...
- Lan-nangLan-nangLan-nang is the Philippine variant of Hokkien. It is a subdialect of the Amoy dialect of Xiamen, Fujian, China. Lan-nang is spoken among the Chinese and Filipino residents of the Philippines. It is characterized by loanwords from Tagalog, Spanish, and Cantonese, as well as its emphasis on...
(Philippine variant of Min NanMin NanThe Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
) - Place and street names of PenangPlace and street names of PenangThe street names of George Town, reflect the multicultural heritage of the city, the capital of a former British settlement of Penang, now part of Malaysia, which has a multiracial, largely Chinese population....
- Written HokkienWritten HokkienHokkien, a Min Nan variety of Chinese spoken in Southeastern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, does not have a standardized writing system, in comparison with the well-developed written forms of Cantonese and Mandarin. Since there is no official standardizing body for Hokkien, there are a wide...
External links
- Holopedia - Wikipedia in Peh-oe-ji
- Online Hokkien Forum (in English)
- Listen to Penang Hokkien conversations at Penang Hokkien Podcast.