Pontianak Hakka
Bahasa Khek Pontianak
坤甸客語 Khun-tîen Hak-ngî(Pha̍k-fa-sṳ)
Pronunciation	/kʰun²⁴.tʰi̯en⁵⁵.hak⁵.ŋi²⁴/
Native to	Indonesia (West Kalimantan)
Region	Primarily inPontianak andMempawah. Scattered Hakka-speaking communities can also be found inKubu Raya,Landak,Sanggau,Sekadau andSintang
Ethnicity	Pontianak Chinese
Native speakers	86,416 (2013 estimation)[1][2][a]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Hakka Meixian dialect Pontianak Hakka
Writing system	Latin script Indonesian alphabet (most common) Pha̍k-fa-sṳ (sporadic) Chinese characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
IETF	hak-ID
Regencies and cities in West Kalimantan where Pontianak Hakka is spoken by a significant minority of the population
This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.

Pontianak Hakka (Chinese: 坤甸客語;Pha̍k-fa-sṳ:Khun-tîen Hak-ngî;Indonesian:Bahasa KhekPontianak) It is a variety ofHakka primarily spoken by theHakka Chinese community in western and centralWest Kalimantan, Indonesia, particularly in and around the provincial capital,Pontianak. Pontianak Hakka was brought to West Kalimantan by Hakka speakers who migrated fromGuangdong, China. Most of these migrants came fromMeixian, making Pontianak Hakka a descendant of theMeixian variety. Over time, it has been influenced byCantonese,Teochew, and the local languages of West Kalimantan, including thelocal variety of Malay and, more recently, StandardIndonesian, which is also a form of Malay. These influences have contributed to Pontianak Hakka's distinctive phonetic features and unique vocabulary.^[3] Pontianak Hakka is primarily spoken in the city ofPontianak andMempawah Regency, where there is a significant Chinese population. It is also spoken inKubu Raya,Landak,Sanggau,Sekadau andSintang, particularly in urban areas with a high concentration of Chinese residents. In contrast, Hakka communities in the northwestern part of West Kalimantan, such asSingkawang and its surrounding areas, speak adifferent variety descended mainly from theHailu dialect.^[4]

Locally, it is referred to as "soft speech" (軟話), in contrast Singkawang Hakka which is referred as "hard speech" (硬話).^[5] In Pontianak, Hakka is the second-most spoken Chinese variety among the local Chinese community, after theregional variety of Teochew. Since the majority of Pontianak's Chinese population isTeochew, the language serves as thelingua franca within the community.^[6] As a result, many Hakka speakers in Pontianak are fluent in Teochew, and vice versa.^[7]Code-mixing andcode-switching between Teochew, Hakka, Pontianak Malay, and Indonesian are common in daily interactions among Pontianak's Chinese community. However, Pontianak Teochew is mainly spoken in the city and certain suburban areas. Outside of Pontianak, particularly to the north of theKapuas River, Hakka is the dominant language among the Chinese community.^[8]

The Chinese began migrating to West Kalimantan in the 18th century, invited by Malay kingdoms such as thePontianak Sultanate,Sambas Sultanate and thePanembahan Mempawah, who employed them as forced laborers in gold mines.^[9] These Chinese migrants were brought in to work in gold mines across areas like Mandor, Monterado, Budok, andSingkawang. At that time, the Chinese population was made up of four major groups: theHokkien,Teochew,Hakka, andCantonese.^[9] The two largest Chinese groups who migrated to West Kalimantan are the Hakka and Teochew, both of which originated fromGuangdong.The Hakka people tend to work as farmers, miners, and small traders in rural areas, while the Teochew people are more likely to settle in urban areas and engage in trade.^[6] Most of the Hakka people who migrated to Pontianak came from present-dayMeizhou in eastern Guangdong, which is why Pontianak Hakka shares many similarities with theMeixian dialect.^[10]

Luo Fangbo, one of the leaders of the first group of Hakka immigrants, was a native of Meizhou. He led more than 100 Hakka immigrants, mostly fromJiaying andDapu, out of thePearl River estuary, and after more than two months, they arrived inBorneo.^[11] His group eventually settled in Mandor, near Pontianak, where they cleared land, built homes, and planted crops for survival. They also dug wells, expanded their influence inland, and discovered gold and silver mines. Luo established strong relationships with the local king and sultan, and continued to return to China to recruit new immigrants to stabilize and develop the economic foundation of the settlement. In 1777, Luo Fangbo founded theLanfang Company, with Mandor as its administrative center. The organization, composed primarily of Hakkas, especially those from Meizhou. These individuals often worked together in the nearby gold and silver mines and farmlands. Similar organizations were formed in the Sambas and Pontianak areas. The Hakkas and Teochews are locked in a fierce rivalry over economic dominance in the region.^[11] The Lanfang Company was abolished following the consolidation ofDutch rule in West Borneo at the end of the 19th century.

AfterIndonesia gained independence in the second half of the 20th century, the government implemented a strict naturalization policy foroverseas Chinese to foster greater identification with Indonesia's politics and culture. Thispolicy even sought to eliminate Chinese culture through various measures, such as abolishing Chinese schools, prohibiting the publication and import of Chinese literature, and banning the use of Chinese characters in public spaces. These efforts accelerated the assimilation ofChinese Indonesians and led to significant changes in the everyday language used by local Hakka Chinese communities.^[12]

Due to historical and environmental changes, the Hakka people in Pontianak have had frequent linguistic interactions with Hakka and Teochew communities from other parts of Guangdong, as well asCantonese speakers and local indigenous groups. These interactions have led to shifts in both pronunciation and vocabulary. Additionally, the influence of various dialects, along with the introduction ofIndonesian and English education, has resulted in a growing number of loanwords from foreign languages.^[12]

Pontianak Hakka is spoken inPontianak and various regencies across western and central West Kalimantan, includingKubu Raya,Landak,Mempawah,Sanggau,Sekadau andSintang. Meanwhile, the Hakkas inSingkawang and nearby areas, such asBengkayang andSambas in northwestern West Kalimantan, speak a distinct variety ofHakka that more closely resemblesHailu Hakka, with significant influence from Hopo and Wuhua dialects.^[4][13] Notable differences exist between Pontianak Hakka and Singkawang Hakka, particularly in their phonology andtonal system. The linguistic boundary between Pontianak Hakka and Singkawang Hakka follows the Duri River, which also serves as the political border between Bengkayang and Mempawah Regency.^[10] In Pontianak, Hakka is primarily spoken in the northern part of the city, across theKapuas River, and in its suburbs, while Teochew dominates the city center and southern Pontianak.^[10][14] In addition, small yet significant Hakka communities can also be found inKubu Raya Regency, just south of Pontianak.^[15][16] Hakka is also spoken by Pontianak Chinese migrants living inJakarta.^[17]

Hakka is the mother tongue of the Hakka people in Pontianak and is commonly used for day-to-day communication within the Hakka community. However, most Hakkas are also bilingual inTeochew thelingua franca of the Chinese community in the city.^[7] Many Teochew speakers, on the other hand, are also fluent in Hakka. Additionally, many Hakkas and Pontianak residents in general are proficient inPontianak Malay, which is commonly used for interethnic communication in the city, as well asIndonesian, the national language and the medium of instruction in schools and government offices. It is common for Hakka speakers tocode-switch andcode-mix between Hakka, Teochew, Pontianak Malay, and Indonesian, depending on the context and the people they are speaking with.^[18] Furthermore, many Hakka and Teochew speakers, particularly older generations who had the opportunity to attend Chinese schools before their closure by theIndonesian government in the mid-1960s, are also fluent inMandarin. Meanwhile, younger speakers are increasingly learning the language, either through formal education or community initiatives aimed at its preservation.^[19]

Pontianak Hakka has 21 initials, including onezero initial [∅].^[20] The list is as follows:

Notes:

• The zero initial, like in 暗 (IPA: /am⁵⁵/), is not listed in the table above.
• In Pontianak Hakka, when the initials ts- tsʰ- s- are followed by the medial i, they are palatalized into tɕ- tɕʰ- ɕ- due to the influence of the front vowel i. However, they are still transcribed as ts- tsʰ- s-. For example, 精 (jing), 秋 (qiu), and 線 (xian) are written as /tsin²⁴/, /tsʰiu²⁴/, and /sien⁵⁵/, respectively.^[21]
• The voiced bilabial stop initialb- in Pontianak Hakka is influenced byIndonesian pronunciation, where the Indonesian consonantv is pronounced as [fe] rather than as a voicedv- sound. Since Indonesian lacks av- initial, the Hakkav- initial undergoes a phonetic change and is no longer pronounced asv-. However, Indonesian also does not pronounce it as [fe] but instead shifts it tob-. Both Indonesian and Hakka have thef- initial, so ifv- were to change tof-, it would cause confusion with existingf- words. Therefore, Pontianak Hakka shifts the articulation ofv- from a labiodental sound to a bilabial stopb-, making it a unique initial sound.^[21]

Pontianak Hakka features fivevowel phonemes:i,e,a,o, andu. Additionally, it includes two medial (i, u), three open nasal codas (-m,-n,-ŋ), and three checked codas (-p,-t,-k). This yields eighteen open finals, twenty-one nasal finals, nineteen checked finals, and two syllabic nasals. In total, there are 60 rimes.^[22]

In Pontianak Hakka, there are a total of sixtones.^[23] The tones and their characteristics are shown in the table below:

Tone sandhi (變調) in Pontianak Hakka is highly limited and closely resembles that ofSixian Hakka. Only one tone undergoes tone sandhi: Tone [˨˦] (24), while all other tones remain unchanged. The only tone sandhi rule in Pontianak Hakka is that when a word with Tone [˨˦] (24) is followed by another word with Tone [˨˦] (24), Tone [˥˥] (55), or Tone [˥] (5), it changes to Tone [˧] (33).^[24] For example, the word 天 /tʰien²⁴/ (‘day’) is normally pronounced with Tone [˨˦] (24), but in 天氣 /tʰien²⁴⁻³³.hi⁵⁵/ (‘weather’), where it precedes 氣 /hi⁵⁵/ (‘air’) with Tone [˥˥] (55), 天 shifts to Tone [˧] (33). This tone sandhi occurs in disyllabic or multi-syllabic words, where the first syllable adjusts based on the tone of the following syllable. The original tone before the change is known as the base tone (本調).^[24]

Pontianak Hakka largely retains the phonology, rhymes, and tones ofMeixian Hakka as spoken inmainland China but has undergone phonetic and lexical changes due to prolonged interaction with other languages such as Teochew and Indonesian.^[5]

Below are some phonological distinctions of Pontianak Hakka in comparison to other Hakka varieties:

• Pontianak Hakka preserves the older pronunciations of certain consonant groups that have since merged in Meixian Hakka. Specifically, consonants that were historically distinct inMiddle Chinese phonology remain separate in Pontianak Hakka, whereas they have undergone sound shifts in Meixian Hakka.
• Pontianak Hakka has been influenced byIndonesian, leading to the emergence of double-stop consonants.
• The articulation of certain sounds has shifted from thelabiodental region, leading to distinctive phonetic features in Pontianak Hakka.
• Contact with Indonesian has led to a shift in articulation, causing words that originally had the v- initial in other Hakka variants to be pronounced with a voiced bilabial stop b-, following the phonetic shift v- → b-. In contrast, most other Hakka variants lack the b- initial. A similar phenomenon is observed inYunlin Hakka spoken in Taiwan, where close interaction withTaiwanese Hokkien speakers has influenced pronunciation.
• Pontianak Hakka retains the complete set of nasal codas-m, -n, -ŋ and stop codas-p, -t, -k, similar toSixian Hakka spoken in Taiwan. However, some vowels have undergone slight phonetic changes due to prolonged language use and evolution.
• There is the emergence of apical (tongue-tip) and velar (tongue-root) emphatic sounds. The influence ofSingkawang Hakka has contributed to phonological changes, including the appearance of tripartite initials in certain words.

Pontianak Hakka shares a six-tone system with theMeixian dialect inmainland China and theSixian dialect in Taiwan, both of which originate fromMeixian. These tones includeyinping,yangping,shangsheng,qusheng,yinru, andyangru. Its most distinctive tonal feature is the shift of fully voiced syllables fromshangsheng toqusheng, whilequsheng also encompasses a broader range of unstressed syllables.^[25] Despite minor variations due to external influences, the overall tonal patterns remain largely consistent. The table below provides a comparative overview of the tones across different Hakka dialects:

Due to frequent contact between Pontianak Hakka andIndonesian, since the 1960s, after Indonesia'santi-Chinese policies, a large influx of official vocabulary into local dialects has occurred. The vocabulary of Pontianak Hakka has already been influenced by Indonesian, resulting in phonetic and lexical differences fromMeixian Hakka. However, Pontianak Hakka still retains some older terms, some of which no longer exist in other Hakka dialects ofmainland China.^[26] In other places, some of the traditional Hakka dialect words have fallen out of use, while certain Hakka dialect terms used in Pontianak differ significantly in meaning compared to their equivalents in other Hakka dialects. Additionally, loanwords from mainland China and Taiwan—such as names for tools, clothing, celestial and geographical terms, and agricultural items—do not correspond well to Indonesian terminology.^[26] Pontianak Hakka has also developed unique terminologies that are not found in any other Hakka dialects. In addition, Pontianak Hakka vocabulary has been significantly influenced by Teochew, largely due to theTeochew community's dominance in Pontianak and the geographic proximity between Hakka-speaking regions andChaoshan, the homeland of the Teochew people inGuangdong. Additionally, traces ofCantonese influence can be observed, likely stemming from the strong cultural presence of Cantonese in Guangdong.^[27]

Pontianak Hakka retains many lexicons fromMeixian Hakka while incorporating a significant number of loanwords fromTeochew and, to a lesser extent,Cantonese. Over time, it has also increasingly adopted vocabulary fromIndonesian, the national language.

Centuries of isolation from their kin in China and Taiwan have led Pontianak Hakka to develop unique vocabulary. Below is a list of distinct words coined in Pontianak Hakka, not found in other Hakka dialects, along with comparisons to Meixian and Sixian Hakka:

Pontianak Hakka has incorporated a significant number of loanwords from Teochew, influenced by the dominance of the Teochew community in Pontianak, where Teochew serves as thelingua franca among local Chinese residents. Below is a list of loanwords in Pontianak Hakka that have been borrowed from Teochew, along with comparisons to the Meixian dialect:

Some vocabulary in Pontianak Hakka is directly borrowed fromCantonese in both pronunciation and meaning. Due to interactions between Hakka speakers frommainland China and Cantonese-speaking communities, migrants who settled in Pontianak continued to incorporate Cantonese words into their Hakka speech.^[27]

Indonesian, the national language, serves as the primary language of government and education in Pontianak, contributing to an increasing lexical influence on Pontianak Hakka. Additionally, since Pontianak was traditionally a Malay homeland, thelocal variety of Malay has also influenced Pontianak Hakka.

Below are some examples of commonly used Pontianak Hakka words and sentences:

• Singkawang Hakka
• Hakka people
• Hakka culture
• Hailu dialect
• Taiwanese Hakka
• Sixian dialect
• Meixian dialect
• Pontianak Teochew

• Huang, Su-chen (2013).印尼坤甸客家話研究 [Study of Hakka in Pontianak, Indonesia](PDF) (Master's thesis) (in Chinese (Taiwan)).National Central University. Retrieved11 September 2019.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

• Languages of Indonesia
• Hakka Chinese
• Varieties of Chinese

• CS1 Indonesian-language sources (id)
• CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Language articles with IETF language tag
• Dialects of languages with ISO 639-3 code
• Language articles missing Glottolog code
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• CS1 maint: ref duplicates default
• CS1 Chinese (Taiwan)-language sources (zh-tw)