Amoy dialect

Amoy
Xiamenese
廈門話Ē-mn̂g-ōe
Native to People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan (where it is known as Taiwanese), Japan (due to large Taiwanese community in Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolitan Area), and other areas of Min Nan and Hoklo settlement
Region Southern Fujian province
Native speakers
 over 10 million (no recent data) (date missing)
Language codes
ISO 639-3 –
Glottolog xiam1236[1]

     Amoy

Amoy (Chinese: 廈門話; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ē-mn̂g-ōe), also known as Amoy Min, Xiamenese or Xiamen dialect, is a Hokkien dialect spoken in Southern Fujian province (in Southeast China), in the area centered on the city of Xiamen. Amoy Min is often known by its Hokkien or Min Nan in Southeast Asia. It is one of the most widely researched varieties of Min Nan,[2] and has historically come to be one of the more standardized varieties.[3]

Spoken Amoy and Taiwanese are both mixtures of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou speech.[4] As such, they are very closely aligned phonologically. However, there are some subtle differences between the two, as a result of physical separation and other historical factors. The lexical differences between the two are slightly more pronounced. Generally speaking the Hokkien dialects of Amoy, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia are mutually intelligible.

History

In 1842, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking, Amoy was designated as a trading port. Amoy and Kulangsu rapidly developed, which resulted in a large influx of people from neighboring areas such as Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. The mixture of these various accents formed the basis for Amoy.

Over the last several centuries, a large number of Ban-lam people from these same areas migrated to Taiwan during Dutch rule and Qing rule. Eventually, the mixture of accents spoken in Taiwan became popularly known as Taiwanese during Japanese rule. As in British and American English, there are subtle lexical and phonological differences between modern Taiwanese and Amoy; however, these differences do not generally pose any barriers to communication. Amoy speakers also spread to Southeast Asia, where it became widely known as Hokkien.

Special characteristics

Spoken Amoy Min preserves many of the sounds and words from Old Chinese. However, the vocabulary of Amoy was also influenced in its early stages by the languages of the Minyue peoples.[5] Spoken Amoy is known for its extensive use of nasalization.

Unlike Mandarin, Amoy distinguishes between voiced and voiceless unaspirated initial consonants (Mandarin has no voicing of initial consonants). Unlike English, it differentiates between unaspirated and aspirated voiceless initial consonants (as Mandarin does too). In less technical terms, native Amoy speakers have little difficulty in hearing the difference between the following syllables:

  unaspirated aspirated
bilabial stop bo 母 po 保 pʰo 抱
velar stop go 俄 ko 果 kʰo 科
  voiced voiceless

However, these fully voiced consonants did not derive from the Early Middle Chinese voiced obstruents, but rather from fortition of nasal initials.[6]

Accents

A comparison between Amoy and other Min Nan dialects can be found there.

Tones

Amoy is similar to other Min Nan dialects in that it makes use of five tones, though only two in checked syllables. The tones are traditionally numbered from 1 through 8, with 4 and 8 being the checked tones, but those numbered 2 and 6 are identical in most regions.

Tone number Tone name Tone letter
1 Yin level ˥
2 Yin rising ˥˧
3 Yin falling ˨˩
4 Yin entering ˩ʔ
5 Yang level ˧˥
6=2 Yang rising ˥˧
7 Yang falling ˧
8 Yang entering ˥ʔ

Tone sandhi

Amoy has extremely extensive tone sandhi (tone-changing) rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. What an 'utterance' is, in the context of this language, is an ongoing topic for linguistic research. For the purpose of this article, an utterance may be considered a word, a phrase, or a short sentence. The diagram illustrates the rules that govern the pronunciation of a tone on each of the syllables affected (that is, all but the last in an utterance):

Literary and colloquial readings

Like other varieties of Min Nan, Amoy has complex rules for literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters. For example, the character for big, 大, has a vernacular reading of tōa ([tua˧]), but a literary reading of tāi ([tai˧]). Because of the loose nature of the rules governing when to use a given pronunciation, a learner of Amoy must often simply memorize the appropriate reading for a word on a case by case basis. For single-syllable words, it is more common to use the vernacular pronunciation. This situation is comparable to the on and kun readings of Japanese.

The vernacular readings are generally thought to predate the literary readings; the literary readings appear to have evolved from Middle Chinese. The following chart illustrates some of the more commonly seen sound shifts:

Colloquial Literary Example
[p-], [pʰ-] [h-] 分 pun hun divide
[ts-], [tsʰ-], [tɕ-], [tɕʰ-] [s-], [ɕ-] 成 chiâⁿ sêng to become
[k-], [kʰ-] [tɕ-], [tɕʰ-] 指 kí chí finger
[-ã], [-uã] [-an] 看 khòaⁿ khàn to see
[-ʔ] [-t] 食 chia̍h si̍t to eat
[-i] [-e] 世 sì sè world
[-e] [-a] 家 ke ka family
[-ia] [-i] 企 khiā khì to stand

Vocabulary

For further information, read the article: Swadesh list

The Swadesh word list, developed by the linguist Morris Swadesh, is used as a tool to study the evolution of languages. It contains a set of basic words which can be found in every language.

Grammar

Amoy grammar shares a similar structure to other Chinese dialects, although it is slightly more complex than Mandarin. Moreover, equivalent Amoy and Mandarin particles are usually not cognates.

Complement constructions

Amoy complement constructions are roughly parallel to Mandarin ones, although there are variations in the choice of lexical term. The following are examples of constructions that Amoy employs.

In the case of adverbs:

English: He runs quickly.
Amoy: i cháu ē kín (伊走會緊)
Mandarin: tā pǎo de kuài (他跑得快)
Gloss: He-runs-obtains-quick.

In the case of the adverb "very":

English: He runs very quickly.
Amoy: i cháu chiok kín (伊走足緊)
Mandarin: tā pǎo de hěn kuài (他跑得很快)
Gloss: He-runs-obtains-quick.
English: He does not run quickly.
Amoy: i cháu bē kín (伊走未緊)
Mandarin: tā pǎo bù kuài (他跑不快)
Gloss: He-runs-not-quick
English: He can see.
Amoy: i khòaⁿ ē tio̍h (伊看會著)
Mandarin: tā kàn de dào (他看得到)
Gloss: He-see-obtains-already-achieved

For the negative,

English: He cannot see.
Amoy: i khòaⁿ bē tio̍h (伊看未著)
Mandarin: tā kàn bù dào (他看不到)
Gloss: He-sees-not-already achieved

For the adverb "so," Amoy uses kah (甲) instead of Mandarin de (得):

English: He was so startled, that he could not speak.
Amoy: i kiaⁿ "kah" ōe mā kóng boē chhut-lâi (伊驚甲話每講未出來)
Mandarin: tā xià de huà dōu shuō bù chūlái (他嚇得話都說不出來)
Gloss: He-startled-to-the point of-words-also-say-not-come out

Negative particles

Negative particle syntax is parallel to Mandarin about 70% of the time, although lexical terms used differ from those in Mandarin. For many lexical particles, there is no single standard Hanji character to represent these terms (e.g. m̄, a negative particle, can be variously represented by 毋, 呣, and 唔), but the most commonly used ones are presented below in examples. The following are commonly used negative particles:

  1. m̄ (毋, 呣, 唔) - is not + noun (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i m̄-sī gún lāu-bú. (伊毋是阮老母) She is not my mother.
  2. m̄ - does not + verb/will not + verb (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i m̄ lâi. (伊毋來) He will not come.
  3. verb + bē (未 or 袂) + particle - is not able to (Mandarin 不, bù)
    góa khòaⁿ-bē-tio̍h. (我看未著) I am not able to see it.
  4. bē (未) + helping verb - cannot (opposite of ē 會, is able to/Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bē-hiáu kóng Eng-gú. (伊未曉講英語) He can't speak English.
    • helping verbs that go with bē (未)
      bē-sái (未使) - is not permitted to (Mandarin 不可以 bù kěyǐ)
      bē-hiáu (未曉) - does not know how to (Mandarin 不会, búhuì)
      bē-tàng (未當) - not able to (Mandarin 不能, bùnéng)
  5. mài (莫, 勿, or 嘜) - do not (imperative) (Mandarin 別, bié)
    mài kóng! (莫講) Don't speak!
  6. bô (無) - do not + helping verb (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bô beh lâi. (伊無侎來) He is not going to come.
    • helping verbs that go with bô (無):
      beh (侎 or 欲) - want to + verb; will + verb
      ài (愛) - must + verb
      èng-kai (應該) - should + verb
      kah-ì (合意) - like to + verb
  7. bô (無) - does not have (Mandarin 沒有, méiyǒu)
    i bô chîⁿ. (伊無錢) He does not have any money.
  8. bô - did not (Mandarin 沒有, méiyǒu)
    i bô lâi. (伊無來) He did not come.
  9. bô (無) - is not + adjective (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bô súi. (伊無婎 or 伊無媠) She is not beautiful.
    • Hó (good) is an exception, as it can use both m̄ and bô.

Common particles

Commonly seen particles include:

Romanization

A number of Romanization schemes have been devised for Amoy. Pe̍h-ōe-jī is one of the oldest and best established. However, the Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet has become the romanization of choice for many of the recent textbooks and dictionaries from Taiwan.

Vowels
IPA a ap at ak aʔ ã ɔ ɔk ɔ̃ ə o e ẽ i ɪɛn iŋ
Pe̍h-ōe-jī a ap at ak ah aⁿ o͘ ok oⁿ o o e eⁿ i ian eng
Revised TLPA a ap at ak ah aN oo ok ooN o o e eN i ian ing
TLPA a ap at ak ah ann oo ok oonn o o e enn i ian ing
BP a ap at ak ah na oo ok noo o o e ne i ian ing
MLT a ab/ap ad/at ag/ak aq/ah va o og/ok vo ø ø e ve i ien eng
DT a āp/ap āt/at āk/ak āh/ah ann/aⁿ o ok onn/oⁿ or or e enn/eⁿ i ian/en ing
Taiwanese kana アア アㇷ゚ アッ アㇰ アァ アア オオ オㇰ オオ オオ ヲヲ エエ エエ イイ イェヌ イェン
Extended bopomofo ㄚ ㄚㆴ ㄚㆵ ㄚㆶ ㄚㆷ ㆩ ㆦ ㆦㆶ ㆧ ㄜ ㄛ ㆤ ㆥ ㄧ ㄧㄢ ㄧㄥ
Tâi-lô a ap at ak ah ann oo ok onn o o e enn i ian ing
Example (traditional Chinese) 亞
洲		 壓
力		 警
察		 沃
水		 牛
肉		 三
十		 烏
色		 中
國		 澳
洲		 澳
洲		 下
晡		 醫
學		 鉛
筆		 英
國
Example (simplified Chinese) 亚
洲		 压
力		 警
察		 沃
水		 牛
肉		 三
十		 乌
色		 中
国		 澳
洲		 澳
洲		 下
晡		 医
学		 铅
笔		 英
国
Vowels
IPA ɪk ĩ ai aĩ au am ɔm m̩ ɔŋ ŋ̍ u ua ue uai uan ɨ (i)ũ
Pe̍h-ōe-jī ek iⁿ ai aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u oa oe oai oan i (i)uⁿ
Revised TLPA ik iN ai aiN au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir (i)uN
TLPA ik inn ai ainn au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir (i)unn
BP ik ni ai nai au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i n(i)u
MLT eg/ek vi ai vai au am om m ong ng u oa oe oai oan i v(i)u
DT ik inn/iⁿ ai ainn/aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i (i)unn/uⁿ
Taiwanese kana イェㇰ イイ アイ アイ アウ アム オム ム オン ン ウウ ヲア ヲエ ヲァイ ヲァヌ ウウ ウウ
Extended bopomofo ㄧㆶ ㆪ ㄞ ㆮ ㆯ ㆰ ㆱ ㆬ ㆲ ㆭ ㄨ ㄨㄚ ㄨㆤ ㄨㄞ ㄨㄢ ㆨ ㆫ
Tâi-lô ik inn ai ainn au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir (i)unn
Example (traditional Chinese) 翻
譯		 病
院		 愛
情		 歐
洲		 暗
時		 阿
姆		 王
梨		 黃
色		 有
無		 歌
曲		 講
話		 奇
怪		 人
員		 豬
肉		 舀
水
Example (simplified Chinese) 翻
译		 病
院		 爱
情		 欧
洲		 暗
时		 阿
姆		 王
梨		 黄
色		 有
无		 歌
曲		 讲
话		 奇
怪		 人
员		 猪
肉		 舀
水
Consonants
IPA p b pʰ m t tʰ n nŋ l k ɡ kʰ h tɕi ʑi tɕʰi ɕi ts dz tsʰ s
Pe̍h-ōe-jī p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h chi ji chhi si ch j chh s
Revised TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s
TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s
BP b bb p bb d t n lng l g gg k h zi li ci si z l c s
MLT p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h ci ji chi si z j zh s
DT b bh p m d t n nng l g gh k h zi r ci si z r c s
Taiwanese kana パア バア パ̣ア マア タア タ̣ア ナア ヌン ラア カア ガア カ̣ア ハア チイ ジイ チ̣イ シイ サア ザア サ̣ア サア
Extended bopomofo ㄅ ㆠ ㄆ ㄇ ㄉ ㄊ ㄋ ㄋㆭ ㄌ ㄍ ㆣ ㄎ ㄏ ㄐ ㆢ ㄑ ㄒ ㄗ ㆡ ㄘ ㄙ
Tâi-lô p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h tsi ji tshi si ts j tsh s
Example (traditional Chinese) 報
紙		 閩
南		 普
通		 請
問		 豬
肉		 普
通		 過
年		 雞
卵		 樂
觀		 價
值		 牛
奶		 客
廳		 煩
惱		 支
持		 漢
字		 支
持		 是
否		 報
紙		 熱
天		 參
加		 司
法
Example (simplified Chinese) 报
纸		 闽
南		 普
通		 请
问		 猪
肉		 普
通		 过
年		 鸡
卵		 乐
观		 价
值		 牛
奶		 客
厅		 烦
恼		 支
持		 汉
字		 支
持		 是
否		 报
纸		 热
天		 参
加		 司
法
Tones
Tone name Yin level
陰平(1) 		Yin rising
陰上(2) 		Yin departing
陰去(3) 		Yin entering
陰入(4) 		Yang level
陽平(5) 		Yang rising
陽上(6) 		Yang departing
陽去(7) 		Yang entering
陽入(8) 		High rising
(9) 		Neutral tone
(0)
IPA a˥ a˥˧ a˨˩ ap˩
at˩
ak˩
aʔ˩ 		a˧˥ a˥˧ a˧ ap˥
at˥
ak˥
aʔ˥ 		a˥˥ a˨
Pe̍h-ōe-jī a á à ap
at
ak
ah 		â á ā a̍p
a̍t
a̍k
a̍h 		  --a
Revised
TLPA,
TLPA 		a1 a2 a3 ap4
at4
ak4
ah4 		a5 a2 (6=2) a7 ap8
at8
ak8
ah8 		a9 a0
BP ā ǎ à āp
āt
āk
āh 		á ǎ â áp
át
ák
áh 		   
MLT
 af ar ax ab
ad
ag
aq 		aa aar a ap
at
ak
ah 		  ~a
DT a à â āp
āt
āk
āh 		ǎ à ā ap
at
ak
ah 		á å
Taiwanese kana
(normal vowels) 		アア アア アア アㇷ゚
アッ
アㇰ
アァ 		アア アア アア アㇷ゚
アッ
アㇰ
アァ 		   
Taiwanese kana
(nasal vowels) 		アア アア アア アㇷ゚
アッ
アㇰ
アァ 		アア アア アア アㇷ゚
アッ
アㇰ
アァ 		   
Extended bopomofo ㄚ ㄚˋ ㄚ˪ ㄚㆴ
ㄚㆵ
ㄚㆶ
ㄚㆷ 		ㄚˊ ㄚˋ ㄚ˫ ㄚㆴ˙
ㄚㆵ˙
ㄚㆶ˙
ㄚㆷ˙ 		   
Tâi-lô a á à ah â á (ǎ) ā a̍h a̋ --a
Example
(traditional Chinese)		 公司 報紙 興趣 血壓
警察
中國
牛肉		 人員 草地 配合
法律
文學
歇熱		 社子 進去
Example
(simplified Chinese)		 公司 报纸 兴趣 血压
警察
中国
牛肉		 人员 草地 配合
法律
文学
歇热		 社子 进去

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Xiamen". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  2. ↑ Lee, Alan (January 1, 2005). Tone patterns of Kelantan Hokkien and related issues in Southern Min tonology (Ph.D. in Linguistics). ProQuest. OCLC 244974990.
  3. ↑ Heylen, Ann (2001). "Missionary linguistics on Taiwan. Romanizing Taiwanese: codification and standardization of dictionaries in Southern Min (1837-1923)". In Ku, Wei-ying; De Ridder, Koen. Authentic Chinese Christianity : Preludes to its development (Nineteenth and twentieth centuries). Leuven: Leuven University Press. p. 151. ISBN 9789058671028.
  4. ↑ Niú, Gēngsǒu. 台湾河洛话发展历程 [The Historical Development of Taiwanese Hoklo]. 中国台湾网 聚焦台湾 携手两岸 (in Chinese).
  5. ↑ "The Ancient Minyue People and the Origins of the Min Nan Language". Jinjiang Government website (in Chinese). Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  6. ↑ "Contact-Induced Phonological Change in Taiwanese". OhioLINK.edu. Retrieved 2015-01-19.

Sources

External links

Chinese (Min Nan) edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Look up Appendix:Min Nan Swadesh list in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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