Teochew dialect
Teochew | |
---|---|
Chaoshan | |
潮州話/潮汕話 | |
Native to | China, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Australia, United States, Canada, France and other countries where Teochew migrants have settled. |
Region | in China: eastern Guangdong including Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Chaoyang, Puning, Chao'an, Raoping, Huilai, and Shanwei, and the southmost Fujian county of Zhao'an. |
Ethnicity | han chinese (Teochew people) |
Native speakers | About 10 million in Chaoshan, 2–5 million overseas. (date missing) |
Dialects |
Chaozhou (Teochew proper, Shantou (Swatow))
Chaopu
Hailufeng
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog |
teoc1236 [1]chao1238 [2]chao1241 [3]chao1239 [4] |
Teochew | |
Teochew dialect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 潮州話 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Simplified Chinese | 潮州话 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chaoshan dialect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 潮汕話 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 潮汕话 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Teochew variety also known as Teoswa (Chinese: 潮州話or潮汕話; pinyin: Cháozhōuhuà or Cháoshànhuà; Vietnamese: Triều Châu, Chaozhou dialect: Diê⁵ziu¹ uê⁷; Shantou dialect: Dio⁵ziu¹ uê⁷) of Southern Min is a variety of Chinese spoken in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by the Teochew diaspora around the world. Teochew is sometimes spelled Chiuchow in Cantonese.[5]
Teochew preserves many Old Chinese pronunciations and vocabulary that have been lost in some of the other modern varieties of Chinese. As such, many linguists consider Teochew one of the most conservative Chinese dialects.[6]
Classification
Teochew is a member of the Southern Min or Min Nan dialect group, which in turn constitutes a part of Min Chinese, one of the seven major dialect groups of Chinese. As with other varieties of Chinese, it is not very mutually intelligible with other dialect groups of China but is mutually intelligible with some other Southern dialects, such as those of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou. Even within the Teochew varieties, there is substantial variation in phonology between different regions of Chaoshan and between different Teochew communities overseas.
The Chaoshan dialect in China be roughly divided into three sub-groups defined by physically proximate areas:
- Chaozhou sub-group (潮州片): including Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang, Chenghai, Nan'ao County and Raoping;
- Chaopu sub-group (潮普片): including Chaoyang, Puning and Huilai;
- Hailufeng sub-group (海陸豐片): including Shanwei, Lufeng and Haifeng
History and geography
Modern Teochew is a variety of Southern Min. From the 9th-15th century, a group of Min people migrated south from Fujian to the coastal region of eastern Guangdong now known as Chaoshan. This migration was most likely due in part to overpopulation in Fujian. Due to geographical isolation from Fujian, Teochew evolved into a separate variety.
The Chaoshan region where the Chaoshan dialact is spoken includes the cities of Chaozhou and Shantou, which are jointly the source of the name, as well as Jieyang, Chaoyang, Puning, Chao'an, Raoping, Huilai, Chenghai, Nanao, Lufeng, Haifeng, Shanwei and Huidong. Parts of the Hakka-speaking region, like Jiexi County, Dabu County and Fengshun, are also Teochew-speaking.
The administrative region now known as Chaoshan in China was one of the major sources of Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia during the 18th to 20th centuries, forming one of the larger dialect groups among the Overseas Chinese. In particular, the Teochew people settled in significant numbers in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, where they form the largest Chinese dialect group. They constitute a significant minority in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia (Johor and Selangor), Singapore, and Indonesia (especially in the Bangka-Belitung Islands, North Sumatra, Riau, the Riau Islands, and West Kalimantan on Borneo). Teochew speakers also live in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States of America, France, Germany, and England, a result of both direct emigration from Chaoshan to these nations and secondary emigration from Southeast Asia.
In Singapore, due to influences from the media and the government such as the Speak Mandarin Campaign, Chinese Singaporeans whose ancestral language is Teochew are either converting to English, Standard Chinese or Hokkien, the last of which Teochew shares a certain degree of mutual intelligibility. Teochew remains the ancestral language of many Chinese people in Singapore - Teochew people are the second largest Chinese group in Singapore, after the Hokkien - although Mandarin is gradually supplanting Teochew as their mother tongue, especially among the younger generations. In Thailand, particularly in Bangkok, Teochew is still spoken among older ethnic Chinese Thai citizens; however, the younger generation tends to learn Standard Chinese as a third language after Thai and English.
Teochew was never popular in Chinese communities in Japan and South Korea since most of the Teochew people who migrated to these countries are secondary immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Most of them are second generation people from Hong Kong and Taiwan who speak Cantonese and Mandarin as well as Korean and Japanese, leaving Teochew to be spoken mostly by elders.
Languages in contact
This refers to Chaozhou, the variety of Teochew spoken in China.
Mandarin
Chaozhou children are introduced to Standard Chinese as early as in kindergarten; however, Chaozhou remains the primary medium of instruction. In the early years of primary education, Mandarin becomes the sole language of instruction, although students typically continue to talk to one another in Chaozhou. Mandarin is widely understood, however minimally, by most younger Chaozhou speakers, but the elderly usually do not speak Mandarin since teaching was done in the local vernacular in the past.
Chaozhou accent in Mandarin
Native Chaozhou speakers find the neutral tone in Mandarin hardest to master. Chaozhou has lost the alveolar nasal ending [-n] and so the people often replace the sound in Mandarin with the velar nasal [-ŋ]. None of the southern Min dialects have a front rounded vowel, therefore a typical Chaozhou accent supplants the unrounded counterpart [i] for [y]. Chaozhou, like its ancient ancestor, lacks labio-dentals; people therefore substitute [h] or [hu] for [f] when they speak Mandarin. Chaozhou does not have any of the retroflex consonants in the northern dialects, so they pronounce [ts], [tsʰ], [s], and [z] instead of [tʂ], [tʂʰ], [ʂ] and [ʐ].
Hakka
Since Chao'an, Raoping and Jieyang border the Hakka-speaking region in the north, some people in these regions speak Hakka, though they can usually speak Chaozhou as well. Chaozhou people have historically had a great deal of contact with the Hakka people, but Hakka has had little, if any, influence on Chaozhou. Similarly, in Dabu and Fengshun, where the Chaozhou- and Hakka-speaking regions meet, Chaozhou is also spoken although Hakka remains the primary form of Chinese spoken there.
Cantonese
Because of the influence of Hong Kong soap operas and Guangdong provincial television programs, many young Chaoshan people can understand quite a lot of Cantonese even if they cannot speak it.
Other languages
In the mountainous area of Fenghuang (凤凰山; 鳳凰山), the She language, an endangered Hmong–Mien language, is spoken by the She people, who are an officially-recognised non-Han ethnic minority. She people predominantly speak Hakka Chinese; only about a thousand She still speak the She language.
Phonetics and phonology
Consonants
Teochew, like other Southern Min varieties, is one of the few modern Sinitic languages which have voiced obstruents (stops, fricatives and affricates); however, unlike Wu and Xiang Chinese, the Teochew voiced stops and fricatives did not evolve from Middle Chinese voiced obstruents, but from nasals. The voiced stops [b] and [ɡ] and also [l] are voicelessly prenasalised [ᵐ̥b], [ᵑ̊ɡ], [ⁿ̥ɺ], respectively. They are in complementary distribution with the tenuis stops [p t k], occurring before nasal vowels and nasal codas, whereas the tenuis stops occur before oral vowels and stop codas. The voiced affricate dz, initial in such words as 字(dzi˩), 二(dzi˧˥), 然(dziaŋ˥), 若(dziak˦) loses its affricate property with some younger speakers abroad, and is relaxed to [z].
Southern Min dialects are typified by a lack of labiodentals, as illustrated below:
Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
Stop | aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |
voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
voiced | b | g | |||
Affricate | aspirated | tsʰ | |||
voiceless | ts | ||||
Fricative | s (d)z | h | |||
Approximant | l |
Syllable
Syllables in Teochew contain an onset consonant, a medial glide, a nucleus, usually in the form of a vowel, but can also be occupied by a syllabic consonant like [ŋ], and a final consonant. All the elements of the syllable except for the nucleus are optional, which means a vowel or a syllabic consonant alone can stand as a fully-fledged syllable.
Onsets
All the consonants except for the glottal stop ʔ shown in the consonants chart above can act as the onset of a syllable; however, the onset position is not obligatorily occupied.
Finals
Teochew finals consist maximally of a medial, nucleus and coda. The medial can be i or u, the nucleus can be a monophthong or diphthong, and the coda can be a nasal or a stop. A syllable must consist minimally of a vowel nucleus or syllabic nasal.
Nucleus | -a- | -e- | -o- | -ə- | -i- | -u- | -ai- | -au- | -oi- | -ou- | ∅- | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Medial | ∅- | i- | u- | ∅- | u- | ∅- | i- | ∅- | ∅- | u- | ∅- | i- | ∅- | u- | ∅- | ∅- | ∅- | i- | ||
Coda | -∅ | a | ia | ua | e | ue | o | io | ɨ | i | ui | u | iu | ai | uai | au | oi | ou | iou | |
-◌̃ | ã | ĩã | ũã | ẽ | ũẽ | ĩõ | ɨ̃ | ĩ | ũĩ | ĩũ | ãĩ | ũãĩ | ãũ | õĩ | õũ | |||||
-ʔ | aʔ | iaʔ | uaʔ | eʔ | ueʔ | oʔ | ioʔ | iʔ | auʔ | oiʔ | ||||||||||
-m | am | iam | uam | im | m̩ | |||||||||||||||
-ŋ | aŋ | iaŋ | uaŋ | eŋ | oŋ | ioŋ | əŋ | iŋ | uŋ | ŋ̩ | ||||||||||
-p | ap | iap | uap | ip | ||||||||||||||||
-k | ak | iak | uak | ek | ok | iok | ək | ik | uk |
Tones
Citation tones
Teochew, like other Chinese varieties, is a tonal language. It has six tones (reduced to two in stopped syllables) and extensive tone sandhi.
Teochew tones Tone
numberTone name Pitch
contourDescription Sandhi 1 yin level (陰平) ˧ (3) mid 1 2 yin rising (陰上) ˥˨ (52) falling 6 3 yin departing (陰去) ˨˩˧ (213) low rising 2 or 5 4 yin entering (陰入) ˨̚ (2) low checked 8 5 yang level (陽平) ˥ (5) high 7 6 yang rising (陽上) ˧˥ (35) high rising 7 7 yang departing (陽去) ˩ (1) low 7 8 yang entering (陽入) ˦̚ (4) high checked 4
As with sandhi in other Min Nan dialects, the checked tones interchange. The yang tones all become low. Sandhi is not accounted for in the description below.
Grammar
The grammar of Teochew is similar to other southern Chinese dialects, especially with Hakka and Yue. The sequence 'subject–verb–object' is typical, like Mandarin, although 'subject–object–verb' is also possible using particles.
Morphology
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
The personal pronouns in Teochew, like in other Chinese varieties, do not show case marking, therefore 我 [ua] means both I and me and 伊人 [iŋ] means they and them. The southern Min dialects, like some northern dialects, have a distinction between an inclusive and exclusive we, meaning that when the addressee is being included, the inclusive pronoun 俺 [naŋ] would be used, otherwise 阮 [ŋ]. No other southern Chinese variety has this distinction.
Singular | Plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 我 ua˥˨ | I / me | Inclusive | 俺 naŋ˥˨ | we / us |
Exclusive | 阮 uaŋ˥˨ (uŋ˥˨ / ŋ˥˨) | we / us | |||
2nd person | 汝 lɨ˥˨ | you | 恁 niŋ˥˨ | you (plural) | |
3rd person | 伊 i˧ | he/she/it/him/her | 伊人 iŋ˧ (i˧ naŋ˥) | they/them |
Possessive pronouns
Teochew does not distinguish the possessive pronouns from the possessive adjectives. As a general rule, the possessive pronouns or adjectives are formed by adding the genitive or possessive marker 個 [kai5] to their respective personal pronouns, as summarised below:
Singular | Plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st person | 我個 ua˥˨ kai˥ | my / mine | Inclusive | 俺個 naŋ˥˨ kai˥ | our / ours |
Exclusive | 阮個 uaŋ˥˨ (uŋ˥˨ / ŋ˥˨) kai˥ | ours / ours | |||
2nd person | 汝個 lɨ˥˨ kai˥ | your / yours | 恁個 niŋ˥˨ kai˥ | your / yours (plural) | |
3rd person | 伊個 i˧ kai˥ | his / his; her / hers; its / its | 伊人個 iŋ˧ (i˧ naŋ˥) kai˥ | their / theirs |
- 本書是我個。
- [puŋ˥˨ tsɨ˧ si˧˥ ua˥˨ kai˥]
- The book is mine.
As 個 [kai˥] is the generic measure word, it may be replaced by other more appropriate classifiers:
- 我條裙
- [ua˥˨ tiou˥ kuŋ˥]
- my skirt
Demonstrative pronouns
Teochew has the typical two-way distinction between the demonstratives, namely the proximals and the distals, as summarised in the following chart:
Proximal | Distal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General | Singular | 之個 [tsi˥˨ kai˥] | this | 許個 [hɨ˥˨ kai˥] | that |
Plural | 之撮 [tsi˥˨ tsʰoʔ˦] | these | 許撮 [hɨ˥˨ tsʰoʔ˦] | those | |
Spatial | 之塊 [tsi˥˨ ko˨˩˧] | here | 許塊 [hɨ˥˨ ko˨˩˧] | there | |
之內 [tsi˥˨ lai˧˥] | inside | 許內 [hɨ˥˨ lai˧˥] | inside | ||
之口 [tsi˥˨ kʰau˩] | outside | 許口 [hɨ˥˨ kʰau˩] | outside | ||
Temporal | 之陣 / 當 [tsi˥˨ tsuŋ˥ / təŋ˨˩˧] | now; recently | 許陣 / 當 [hɨ˥˨ tsuŋ˥ / təŋ˨˩˧] | then | |
Adverbial | 這生 [tse˥˨ sẽ˧] | like this | 向生 [hia˥˨ sẽ˧] | like that | |
Degree | 醬 [tsĩõ˨˩˧] | this | 我 [hĩõ˨˩˧] | that | |
Type | 者個 [tsia˥˨ kai˥] | this kind | 我個 [hia˥˨ kai˥] | that kind |
Interrogative pronouns
who / whom | (底)珍 [ti tiaŋ] | |
---|---|---|
底人 [ti naŋ] | ||
what | 乜個 [miʔ kai] | |
what (kind of) + noun | 乜 + N [miʔ] | |
which | 底 + NUM + CL + (N) [ti] | |
底個 [ti kai] | ||
where | 底塊 [ti ko] | |
when | 珍時 [tiaŋ si] | |
how | manner | 做呢 [tso ni] |
state | 在些(樣) [tsai sẽ ĩõ] | |
乜些樣 [miʔ sẽ ĩõ] | ||
什乜樣 [si miʔ ĩõ] | ||
how many | 幾 + CL + N [kui] | |
若多 + (CL) + (N) [dzieʔ tsoi] | ||
how much | 若多 [dzieʔ tsoi] | |
why | 做呢 [tso ni] |
Numerals
Pronunciation | Financial | Normal | Value | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
liŋ5 | 零 | 〇 | 0 | 〇 is an informal way to represent zero, but 零 is more commonly used, especially in schools. also 空 [kang3] |
tsek8 | 壹 | 一 | 1 | also 蜀 [tsek8] (original character) also 弌 (obsolete) also [ik4] as the last digit of a 2-or-more-digit number e.g. 二十一 [dzi6 tsap8 ik4] or days of a month e.g. 一號 [ik4 ho7] or as an ordinal number e.g. 第一 [tõĩ6 ik4] also 么(T) or 幺(S) [iou1] when used in phone numbers etc. |
no6 | 兩(T) or 两(S) | 二 | 2 | also 弍 (obsolete) also 貳(T) or 贰(S) also [dzi6] as the last digit of a 2-or-more-digit number e.g. 三十二 [sã1 tsap8 dzi6] or days of a month e.g. 二號 [dzi6 ho7] or as an ordinal number e.g. 第二 [tõĩ6 dzi6]. |
sã1 | 叄(T) or 叁(S) | 三 | 3 | also 弎 (obsolete) also 參(T) or 参(S) [sã1]. |
si3 | 肆 | 四 | 4 | |
ŋou6 | 伍 | 五 | 5 | |
lak8 | 陸 | 六 | 6 | |
tsʰik4 | 柒 | 七 | 7 | |
poiʔ4 | 捌 | 八 | 8 | |
kau2 | 玖 | 九 | 9 | |
tsap8 | 拾 | 十 | 10 | Although some people use 什, It is not acceptable because it can be written over into 伍. |
Note: (T): Traditional characters; (S): Simplified characters.
Ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 [tõĩ˧˥] in front of a cardinal number.
Voice
In Teochew passive construction, the agent phrase by somebody always has to be present, and is introduced by either 乞 [kʰoiʔ˦] (some speakers use [kʰəʔ] or [kʰiəʔ] instead) or 分 [puŋ˧], even though it is in fact a zero or indefinite agent as in:
- 伊分人刣掉。
- [i˧ puŋ˧ naŋ˥ tʰai˥ tiou˩]
- S/he was killed (by someone).
While in Mandarin one can have the agent introducer 被; bèi or 給; gěi alone without the agent itself, it is not grammatical to say
- * 個杯分敲掉。
- [kai˥ pue˧ puŋ˧ kʰa˧ tiou˩]
- The cup was broken.
- cf. Mandarin 杯子給打破了; bēizi gěi dǎ pòle)
Instead, we have to say:
- 個杯分人敲掉。
- [kai˥ pue˧ puŋ˧ naŋ˥ kʰa˧ tiou˩]
- The cup was broken.
Even though this 人 [naŋ˥] is unknown.
Note also that the agent phrase 分人 [puŋ˧ naŋ˥] always comes immediately after the subject, not at the end of the sentence or between the auxiliary and the past participle like in some European languages (e.g. German, Dutch)
Comparison
Comparative construction with two or more nouns
Teochew uses the construction "X ADJ 過 [kue˨˩˧] Y", which is believed to have evolved from the Old Chinese "X ADJ 于 (yú) Y" structure to express the idea of comparison:
- 伊雅過汝。
- [i˧ ŋia˥˨ kue˨˩˧ lɨ˥˨]
- She is more beautiful than you.
Cantonese uses the same construction:
- 佢靚過你。
- Keoi5 leng3 gwo3 nei5.
- She is more beautiful than you.
However, due to modern influences from Mandarin, the Mandarin structure "X 比 Y ADJ" has also gained popularity over the years. Therefore, the same sentence can be re-structured and becomes:
- 伊比汝雅。
- [i˩ pi˥˨ lɨ˥˨ ŋia˥˨]
- She is more beautiful than you.
- cf. Mandarin 她比你漂亮; tā bǐ nǐ piàoliang
Comparative construction with only one noun
It must be noted that the 過- or 比-construction must involve two or more nouns to be compared; an ill-formed sentence will be yielded when only one is being mentioned:
- * 伊雅過 (?)
Teochew is different from English, where the second noun being compared can be left out ("Tatyana is more beautiful (than Lisa)". In cases like this, the 夭-construction must be used instead:
- 伊夭雅。
- [i1 iou6 ŋia2]
- She is more beautiful.
The same holds true for Mandarin and Cantonese in that another structure needs to be used when only one of the nouns being compared is mentioned. Note also that Teochew and Mandarin both use a pre-modifier (before the adjective) while Cantonese uses a post-modifier (after the adjective).
- Mandarin
- 她比較漂亮
- tā bǐjiào piàoliang
- Cantonese
- 佢靚啲
- keoi5 leng3 di1
There are two words which are intrinsically comparative in meaning, i.e. 贏 [ĩã5] "better" and 輸 [su1] "worse". They can be used alone or in conjunction with the 過-structure:
- 只領裙輸(過)許領。
- [tsi2 nĩã2 kuŋ5 su1 kue3 hɨ2 nĩã2]
- This skirt is not as good as that one.
- 我內個電腦贏伊個好多。
- [ua2 lai6 kai7 tiaŋ6 nau2 ĩã5 i1 kai7 hoʔ2 tsoi7]
- My computer (at home) is far better than his.
Note the use of the adverbial 好多 [hoʔ2 tsoi7] at the end of the sentence to express a higher degree.
Equal construction
In Teochew, the idea of equality is expressed with the word 平 [pẽ5] or 平樣 [pẽ5 ĩõ7]:
- 只本書佮許本平重。
- [tsi2 puŋ2 tsɨ1 kaʔ4 hɨ2 puŋ2 pẽ5 taŋ6]
- This book is as heavy as that one.
- 伊兩人平平樣。
- [i1 no6 naŋ5 pẽ5 pẽ5 ĩõ7]
- They are the same. (They look the same./They're as good as each other./They're as bad as each other.)
Superlative construction
To express the superlative, Teochew uses the adverb 伊 [siaŋ5] or 上頂 [siaŋ5 teŋ2]. However, it should be noted that 上頂 is usually used with a complimentary connotation.
- 只間物上頂好食。
- [tsi2 kõĩ1 mueʔ8 siaŋ5 teŋ2 ho2 tsiaʔ8]
- This (restaurant) is (absolutely) the most delicious.
- 伊人對我上好。
- [i1 naŋ5 tui3 ua2 siaŋ5 ho2]
- They treat me best.
Vocabulary
The vocabulary of Teochew shares a lot of similarities with Cantonese, owing to their continuous contact with each other. Like Cantonese, Teochew has a great deal of monosyllabic words. However, ever since the standardisation of Modern Standard Chinese, Teochew has absorbed a lot of Putonghua vocabulary, which is predominantly polysyllabic. In addition, Teochew varieties in Malaysia and Singapore have also borrowed extensively from Malay.
Archaic vocabulary
Teochew and other Southern Min varieties such as Taiwanese Hokkien preserve a good deal of Old Chinese vocabulary. Examples include words such as 目 [mak] eye (Chinese: 眼睛; pinyin: yǎnjīng, Taiwanese Hokkien: 目 ba̍k), 灱 [ta] dry (Chinese: 乾; pinyin: gān, Taiwanese Hokkien: 焦 ta), and 囥 [kʰəŋ] hide (cf. Chinese: 藏; pinyin: cáng; Taiwanese Hokkien: 囥 khǹg).
Romanisation
Teochew was romanised by the Provincial Education Department of Guangdong in 1960 to aid linguistic studies and the publication of dictionaries, although Pe̍h-ōe-jī can also be used because Christian missionaries invented it for the transcription of varieties of Southern Min. A modified version of the Guangdong Romanization called Peng'im is also used in online Teochew communities.
Initials
Initial consonants of Teochew, are represented in the Guangdong Romanization system as: B, BH, C, D, G, GH, H, K, L, M, N, NG, P, R, S, T, and Z.
Examples:
- B [p] - bag (北 north)
- Bh [b]- bhê (馬/马 horse)
- C [tsʰ] - cên (青 green), cǔi (嘴 mouth), cêng (槍/枪 gun)
- D [t] - dio (潮 tide)
- G [k] - gio (橋/桥 bridge)
- GH [g] - gho (鵝/鹅 goose)
- H [h] - hung (雲/云 cloud)
- K [kʰ] - ke (走 to go)
- L [l] - lag (六 six)
- M [m] - mêng (明 bright)
- N [n] - nang (人 person)
- NG [ŋ] - ngou (五 five)
- P [pʰ] - peng (平 peace)
- R [(d)z] - riêg/ruah (熱/热 hot)
- S [s] - sên (生 to be born)
- T [tʰ] - tin (天 sky)
- Z [ts] - ziu (州 region/state)
Finals
Vowels
Vowels and vowel combinations in the Teochew dialect include: A, E, Ê, I, O, U, AI, AO, IA, IO, IU, OI, OU, UA, UAI, UE, and UI.
Examples:
- A - ma (媽/妈 mother)
- E - de (箸 chopsticks)
- Ê - sên (生 to be born)
- I - bhi (味 smell/taste)
- O - to (桃 peach)
- U - ghu (牛 cow)
Many words in Teochew are nasalized. This is represented by the letter "n" in the Guangdong Pengim system.
Example (nasalized):
- suan (山 mountain)
- cên (青 green)
Ending
Ending consonants in Teochew include M and NG as well as the stops discussed below.
Examples:
- M - iam (鹽/盐 salt)
- NG - bhuang (萬/万 ten thousand)
Teochew retains many consonant stops lost in Mandarin. These stops include a labial stop: "b"; velar stop: "g"; and glottal stop: "h".
Examples:
- B - zab (十 ten)
- G - hog (福 happiness)
- H - tih (鐵/铁 iron)
See also
- Chinese in Singapore
- Bangkok Teochew
- Fuzhou dialect
- Hokkien dialect
- Languages of China
- List of Chinese dialects
- Malaysian Chinese
- Min Nan
- Taiwanese Hokkien
References
Footnotes
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Teochew". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Chaozhou". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Chaochow". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Chao-Shan". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ baike.baidu.com/view/39085.htm. Accessed 2015-06-01
- ↑ Nominalization in Asian Languages: Diachronic and typological perspectives, p.11, Yap, FoongHa; Grunow-Hårsta, Karen; Wrona, Janick (ed.) John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011
Notations
- Beijing da xue Zhongguo yu yan wen xue xi yu yan xue jiao yan shi. (2003). Han yu fang yin zi hui. (Chinese dialectal vocabulary) Beijing: Yu wen chu ban she (北京大學中國語言文學系語言學教研室, 2003. 漢語方音字彙. 北京: 語文出版社) ISBN 7-80184-034-8
- Cai Junming. (1991). Putonghua dui zhao Chaozhou fang yan ci hui. (Chaozhou dialectal vocabulary, contrasted with Mandarin) Hong Kong: T. T. Ng Chinese Language Research Centre (蔡俊明, 1991. 普通話對照潮州方言詞彙. 香港: 香港中文大學吳多泰中國語文研究中心) ISBN 962-7330-02-7
- Chappell, Hilary (ed.) (2001). Sinitic grammar : synchronic and diachronic perspectives. Oxford; New York: OUP ISBN 0-19-829977-X
- Chen, Matthew Y. (2000). Tone Sandhi: patterns across Chinese dialects. Cambridge, England: CUP ISBN 0-521-65272-3
- DeFrancis, John. (1984). The Chinese language: fact and fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press ISBN 0-8248-1068-6
- Li, Xin Kui. (1994). Guangdong di fang yan. (Dialects of Guangdong) Guangzhou, China: Guangdong ren min chu ban she (李新魁, 1994. 廣東的方言. 廣州: 廣東 人民出版社) ISBN 7-218-00960-3
- Li, Yongming. (1959). Chaozhou fang yan. (Chaozhou dialect) Beijing: Zhonghua. (李永明, 1959. 潮州方言. 北京: 中華)
- Lin, Lun Lun. (1997). Xin bian Chaozhou yin zi dian. (New Chaozhou pronunciation dictionary) Shantou, China: Shantou da xue chu ban she. (林倫倫, 1997. 新編潮州音字典. 汕頭: 汕頭大學出版社) ISBN 7-81036-189-9
- Norman, Jerry. [1988] (2002). Chinese. Cambridge, England: CUP ISBN 0-521-29653-6
- Ramsey, S. Robert (1986). Languages of China. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press ISBN 0-691-06694-9
- Yap,FoongHa; Grunow-Hårsta, Karen; Wrona, Janick (ed.) (2011). "Nominalization in Asian Languages: Diachronic and typological perspectives". Hong Kong Polytechnic University /Oxford University : John Benjamins Publishing Company ISBN 978-9027206770
Further reading
Works on the Teochew dialect
- Josiah Goddard (1883). A Chinese and English vocabulary: in the Tie-chiu dialect (2 ed.). Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 237. Retrieved 10 February 2012. (the New York Public Library) (digitized April 2, 2008)
Bibles in the Teochew dialect
- Kū-ieh sàn-bú-zṳ́ ē-kńg tshûan-tsṳ e̍k-tsò tiê-chiu pe̍h-ūe. Swatow: printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society at the English Presbyterian Mission Press. 1898. Retrieved 10 February 2012. (11 Samuel. (Tie-chiu dialect.)) (Harvard University) (digitized December 17, 2007)
External links
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Teochew phrasebook. |
- Database of Pronunciations of Chinese Dialects (in English, Chinese and Japanese)
- Teochew People - Teochew dialect (in Chinese)
- Diojiu Bhung Gak
- Gaginang
- Glossika - Chinese Languages and Dialects
- Mogher (in Chinese, English and French)
- Omniglot
- Shantou University Chaozhou Studies Resources (in Chinese)
- Teochew Web (in Chinese and English)
- Tonal harmony and register contour in Chaozhou
|
|