Penang Hokkien is largely a spoken language: it is rarely written in Chinese characters, and there is no official standard romanisation. In recent years, there has been a growing body of romanised Penang Hokkien material, however topics are mostly limited to the language itself such as dictionaries and learning materials. This is linked to efforts to preserve, revitalise and promote the language as part of Penang's cultural heritage, due to increasing awareness of the loss of Penang Hokkien usage among younger generations in favour of Mandarin and English. The standard romanisation systems commonly used in these materials are based on Tâi-lô and Pe̍h-ōe-jī, with varying modifications to suit Penang Hokkien phonology. The Hokkien Language Association of Penang is one such organisation which promotes the language's usage and revitalisation. Through their Speak Hokkien Campaign they promote a Tâi-lô based system modified to suit the phonology of Penang Hokkien and its loanwords. This system is used throughout this article and its features are detailed below. The Speak Hokkien Campaign also promotes the use of traditional Chinese characters derived from recommended character lists for written Hokkien published by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. Most native-speakers are not aware of these standardised systems and resort to ad hoc methods of romanisation based on English, Malay and Pinyinspelling rules. These methods are in common use for many proper names and food items, e.g. Char Kway Teow. These spellings are often inconsistent and highly variable with several alternate spellings being well established, e.g. Char Koay Teow. These methods, which are more intuitive to the average native-speaker, are the basis of non-standard romanisation systems used in some written material.
Phonology
Consonants
Unlike other dialects of Hokkien, coronal affricates and fricatives remain the same and do not become alveolo-palatal before /i/, e.g. 時 .
The consonants,, and are only used in loanwords.
Vowels
In the Tâi-lô system for Penang Hokkien, nasal vowels are indicated using final, while POJ uses superscript. Vowel nasalisation also occurs in words that have nasal initials, however, this is not indicated, e.g. 卵 nūi.
For most speakers who are not aware of POJ or Tâi-lô, nasalisation is commonly indicated by putting an after the initial consonant of a word. This is commonly seen for the popular Penang delicacy Tau Sar Pneah. In other instances, nasalisation may not be indicated at all, such as in Popiah, or as in the common last name Ooi.
The rime is a variant pronunciation of. The two may be used interchangeably in Penang Hokkien, e.g. 張 tiaunn/tionn, 羊 iâunn/iônn.
When is followed by final or, it is pronounced , with and being pronounced as and respectively. In speech, these sounds are often reduced to and , e.g. 免 mián/mén.
When is followed by final or, it is pronounced as /ek̚/ and /eŋ/ respectively rather than other dialects which will pronounced as and respectively. e.g. 色 sik /sek̚/.
is a variant of which is only found with the initial, e.g. 娘 niôo.
Diphthongs and often romanised as and respectively. e.g. 我 wá/uá /u̯a/, 够 kàw/kàu /kaʊ/.
Loanwords with diphthongs often romanised as . e.g. 捎央 sa-yang /sa-iaŋ/.
Tâi-lô
IPA
Example
Note
er
Mid central vowel|
ber-lian
Occurs in Quanzhou accented varieties of Hokkien such as those spoken in Southern Malaysia and Singapore. Used in Malay and English loanwords.
y
Close front rounded vowel|
豬腸粉 tsý-tshiông-fân
Used in Cantonese loanwords, may be pronounced as.
ei
無釐頭 môu-lêi-thāu
Used in Cantonese loanwords.
eoi
濕濕碎 säp--säp--sêoi
An alternate pronunciation of due to Cantonese influence. Used in Cantonese loanwords, may be pronounced as.
oi
煎蕊 tsian-doi
Used in Malay, Cantonese and Teochew loanwords. Replaces in Malay loanwords, e.g. botol, cendol.
ou
大佬 tāi-lôu
Used in Cantonese and Teochew loanwords.
Rhymes
* Used in loanwords, variants and onomatopoeia
Tones
In Penang Hokkien, the two Departing tones 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 in unchecked syllables, and two Entering tones 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. The Rising tone has two variants in Penang Hokkien, a high falling tone and a high rising tone . The high falling tone is more common among the older generations while in the younger generations there has been a shift towards the use of the high rising tone . When the 3rd tone is sandhied to the 2nd tone, the high falling variant is used, however some speakers may sandhi the 3rd tone to the 1st tone . As in Amoy and Zhangzhou, there is no lower Rising tone.
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, , but when it combines with a following syllable, as in 牛肉 gû-bah, it is pronounced with a low tone, .
1st
→
7th
←
5th
↑
↓
-
-
2nd
←
3rd
-
↑
↑
-
-
4th
↔
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
2nd becomes 1st
5th becomes 7th
Checked syllables :
4th becomes 2nd
8th becomes 3rd
Checked syllables :
4th becomes 8th
8th becomes 4th
Although the two departing tones are virtually identical in Penang Hokkien, in their sandhi forms they become and and are thus easily distinguishable. The "tone wheel" concept does not work perfectly for all speakers of Penang Hokkien.
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 bée/mǎ.
Words with Entering tones all end with,, or . 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 huat/fā. The tone in Mandarin often depends on what the initial consonant of the syllable is.
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 Hokkien, and it is not used for literary purposes. However, as in other variants of Min Nan, most words have both literary and colloquial pronunciations, and the literary pronunciations still appear in limited circumstances, e.g.:
in given names, e.g. 安 an rather than uann, 玉 gio̍k rather than ge̍k;
in a few surnames, e.g. 葉 ia̍p rather than hio̍h
in other proper names, e.g. 龍山堂 Liông-san-tông rather than Lêng-suann-tn̂g
in certain set phrases, e.g. 差不多 tsha-put-to rather than tshee-m̄-to, 見笑 kiàn-siàu rather than kìnn-tshiò
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-gōo-sì instead of jī-ngóo-sù. Literary variants are generally eschewed in favour of colloquial pronunciations, e.g. 大學 tuā-o̍h instead of tāi-ha̍k.
Differences from other Minnan dialects
Although Penang Hokkien is based on the Zhangzhou dialect, which in many cases result from the influence of other Minnan dialects.
The use of Zhangzhou pronunciations such as 糜 muâi, 先生 sin-senn, etc.;
The use of Zhangzhou expressions such as 調羹 thâu-kiong
The adoption of pronunciations from Teochew: e.g. 我 uá, 我儂 uang, 汝儂 luang, 伊儂 iang ;
The adoption of Amoy and Quanzhou pronunciations like 歹勢 pháinn-sè, 百 pah, etc.
Due to Penang's linguistic and ethnic diversity, Penang Hokkien is in close contact with many other languages and dialects which are drawn on heavily for loanwords. These include Malay, Teochew, Cantonese and English.
Malay
Like other dialects in Malaysia and Singapore, Penang Hokkien borrows heavily from Malay, but sometimes to a greater extent than other Hokkien dialects, e.g.:
Penang Hokkien
Chinese characters
Malay
Taiwanese Hokkien
Definition
Note
ān-ting
anting
耳鉤
earring
bā-lái
balai polis
警察局
police station
bā-lu
峇魯
baru
拄才
new, just now
báng-kû
bangku
椅條
stool
bá-tû
礣砥
batu
石頭
stone
bēr-liân
berlian
璇石
diamond
bī-nā-tang
binatang
動物
animal
禽獸 is also frequently used.
jiám-bân
染蠻
jamban
便所
toilet
gā-tái
gatal
癢
itchy
gēr-lí/gî-lí
疑理
geli
噁
creepy; hair-raising
kan-nang-tsû/kan-lang-tsû
蕳砃薯
kentang
馬鈴薯
potato
kau-în/kau-îng
交寅
kahwin
結婚
marry
kí-siân
kesian
可憐
pity
lām-peng
lampin
尿帕仔
diaper
lō-ti
羅知
roti
麵包
bread
lui
鐳
duit
錢
money
má-ná
嗎哪
mana
啥物時陣
as if; since when?
mā-nek
manik
珠仔
bead
má-tâ
馬打
mata-mata
警察
police
pá-sat
巴剎
pasar
菜市仔
market
萬山 is more frequently used which is from English bazaar.
pīng-gang
pinggang
腰
waist
pún
僨
pun
也
also
lā-sa
rasa
感覺
to feel
sá-bûn
雪文
sabun
茶箍
soap
sâm-pá
儳飽
sampah
糞埽
garbage
sa-iang
捎央
sayang
愛
to love; what a pity
som-bong
sombong
勢利
snobbish
su-kā/su-kah
私合
suka
愛
to like
tá-hān
扙捍
tahan
忍耐
endure
ta̍h-pi
逐比
tapi
毋過
but
to-lóng
多琅
tolong
鬥相共
help
鬥相共 is also frequently used.
tong-kat
杖楬
tongkat
枴仔
walking stick
tsi-lā-kā
celaka
該死
damn it
tsiám-pó
campur
摻
to mix
tua-la
tuala
面巾
towel
There are also many Hokkien words which have been borrowed into Malay, sometimes with slightly different meanings, e.g.:
Malay
Penang Hokkien
Definition
Notes
beca
馬車
horse-cart
bihun
米粉
rice vermicelli
Jepun
日本
Japan
loteng
樓頂
upstairs
Originally in Hokkien means attic.
kicap
鮭汁
fish sauce
Originally in Hokkien means sauce.
kongsi
公司
to share
Originally in Hokkien means company/firm/clan association.
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.
Thai
Penang Hokkien has also affected by Thai Language.
Penang Hokkien
Definition
Note
鏺
ten cents
Originally pronounce as bhat in Thai.
Entertainment
In recent years, a number of movies that incorporate the use of Penang Hokkien have been filmed, as part of wider efforts to preserve the dialect's relevance. Among the more recent movies are The Journey, which became the highest-grossing Malaysian film in 2014, and You Mean the World to Me, the first movie to be filmed entirely in Penang Hokkien.
