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| Teochew | |
|---|---|
| Chaozhou, Chaoshan, Teo-Swa | |
| 潮州話 /潮汕話 /潮語[1] | |
| Native to | China,overseas communities (particularly inSoutheast Asia) |
| Region | EasternGuangdong (Chaoshan) |
| Ethnicity | Teochew people |
Native speakers | About 14 million inChaoshan (2004)[2] more than 5 million overseas[citation needed] |
Early forms | |
| Dialects | |
| Chinese characters Teochew Romanization Peng'im | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | chao1238 |
| Linguasphere | 79-AAA-ji |
 Teochew (Teo-Swa) within theSouthern Min languages | |
| 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. | |
| Teochew Min | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 潮州話 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 潮州话 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teochew[ii], also known asTeo-Swa (orChaoshan)[iii], is aSouthern Min language spoken by theTeochew people in theChaoshan region of easternGuangdong and by their diaspora around the world. It is sometimes referred to asChiuchow, itsCantonese rendering, due to English romanization by colonial officials and explorers. It is closely related toHokkien, as it shares somecognates and phonology with Hokkien.
Teochew preserves manyOld Chinese pronunciations and vocabulary that have been lost in some of the other modernvarieties of Chinese. As such, Teochew is described as one of the most conservative Chinese languages.[6]
Historically, the Teochew[iv] prefecture included modern prefecture-level cities ofChaozhou,Jieyang andShantou. In China, this region is now known asTeoswa[v]. Parts of theHakka-speakingMeizhou city, such asDabu County andFengshun, were also parts of the Teochew prefecture and contain pocket communities of Teochew speakers.[7]
As the Teochew region was one of the major sources of Chinese emigration toSoutheast Asia during the 18th to 20th centuries, a considerableOverseas Chinese community in that region is Teochew-speaking.[8] In particular, the Teochew people settled in significant numbers inThailand,Cambodia andLaos, where they form the largest Chinese sub-language group.[9] Additionally, there are many Teochew-speakers among Chinese communities inVietnam,Singapore,Malaysia (especially in the states ofJohor,Malacca,Penang,Kedah andSelangor with significant minorities inSarawak) andIndonesia (especially inWest Kalimantan). Waves of migration from Teochew region toHong Kong, especially after the communist victory of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, has also resulted in the formation of a community there, although most descendants now primarily speak Cantonese and English as a result of colonialism and assimilation to the dominant Cantonese culture.[10]
Teochew speakers are also found among overseas Chinese communities inJapan and the Western world (notably in theUnited States,Canada,Australia,United Kingdom,France andItaly), a result of both direct emigration from the Chaoshan region to these nations and also secondary emigration from Southeast Asia.
In Singapore, Teochew remains the ancestral language of manyChinese Singaporeans, with Chinese of Teochew descent making up second largest Chinese group in Singapore, after theHoklo. Despite this many Teochew people, particularly the younger generations, areshifting towardsEnglish andMandarin as their main spoken language. This is due to the Singapore government's stringent bilingual policy that promotes English as the official language of education, government and commerce andpromotes Mandarin at the expense of other Chinese languages. Some Teochew assimilated with the larger Hokkien community and speakHokkien rather than Teochew due to Hokkien's prominent role as a lingua franca previously among the Singaporean Chinese community.
Teochew is aSouthern Min language. As with otherSinitic languages, it is notmutually intelligible with Mandarin, Cantonese or Shanghainese. It has only limited intelligibility with Hokkien. Even within the Teochew dialects, there is substantial variation inphonology between different regions and between different Teochew communities overseas.
The dialects of Teochew include:[11]
Some classifications consider theHai Lok Hong dialect a part of Teochew (as the third branch), while others consider it a part ofHokkien or an independentSouthern Min variety.[12]
In theNamoa island, there are two dialects, both distinct from the mainland Teochew, with Western Namoa dialect inclining towards the Northern Teochew, and Eastern Namoa dialect showing Hokkien influence, as this part of the island was included inZhangzhou prefecture in 16—19 centuries.[13]
Chawan dialect, spoken inFujian along the Guangdong border, is quite different from other southern dialects ofHokkien. It has some lexical influence from Teochew and relatively higher mutual intelligibility with it, yet in other aspects it clusters more with Hokkien than Teochew.
The main criterion in the classification of Teochew dialects is the presence or absence of the vowel/ɯ/. It is found in Northern Teochew in words likehṳ̂ 魚he5 "fish" andsṳ̄ 事se7 "thing; matter". Southern Teochew has/u/ instead (hû 魚hu5,sū 事su7). Hai Lok Hong and Eastern Namoa dialects have/i/ or/u/ instead, depending on the etymology of the word (hî 魚hi5, butsū 事su7), similarly to theChiangchew Hokkien. Southern Teochew may be further divided into Huilai—Puning dialects and Teoyeo dialects, based on their tone contours.[11]
Theprestige dialects of Teochew all belong to the Northern branch. The Northern Teochew dialects are mutually intelligible between each other, but less so with the Southern branch.[14]
Various stereotypes and cultural traits are associated with different Teochew dialects. For instance, within theShantou city, the urbanSwatow dialect is perceived as "energetic", "gentle", but also "snobbish" or "pretentious" by speakers of other dialects; the Chenghai dialect (similar to urban Chaozhou dialect) is perceived as "soft", "cute", and "high-pitched"; the Teoyeo dialect is perceived as "harsh", "aggressive" and "countrified".[14]
Written Southern Min is known since at least the 16th century. The earliest known work is a 1566 edition of theTale of the Lychee Mirror, a folk drama written in a mixture of Teochew andChinchew Hokkien.
Teochew writing is neither standardized nor is widely used. InImperial China, most writing was conducted inClassical Chinese, while vernacular writing was only used in novels, songbooks and opera scripts. After theXinhai revolution, only written Mandarin was supported by the government, while speakers of other Sinitic languages, including Teochew, remaining largely illiterate in their own tongues.
Teochewrime dictionaries appeared relatively late, the earliest of them being "Fifteen consonants of Teochew language" (潮語十五音, 1911) by Chio Ju-lim (蔣儒林) and "Fifteen consonants of Teochew sound" (潮聲十五音, 1913) by Teo See-tiang (張世珍).
Most of the Teochew vocabulary can be traced back to Old Chinese, and thus can be written using Chinese characters. There are different ways to write words that do not have a clearly associated etymological character, including:
Teochew shares characters with Hokkien for cognate words, but it is also influenced by theCantonese written tradition.
| Word | Possible spellings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semantic | Phonetic | Invented character | Presumed original character | |
| pak /bag4 "to know" | 識 | 捌,八 | 𧧸 | 別 |
| tiâng /diang5 "who" | 誰 | 珍,唺 | 𫢗 | [底儂] |
| tsōi /zoi7 "many" | 多 | 諸,眾 | 侈 | 濟,㩼 |
| thâi /tai5 "to kill" | 殺 | 汰 | 刣 | 治 |
| m̆ /m6 "not" | 不 | 唔 | 伓 | 毋 |
| tse̍k /zêg8 "one" | 一 | 澤 | 蜀,隻 | |
| kûiⁿ /guin5 "tall; high" | 高 | 危 | 懸 | |
| tshâng /cang5 "field" | 田 | 塍,層 | ||
There are two principal romanization systems for Teochew:
WhilePeng'im has some presence in academic works published in PRC, many publications on Teochew use their custom IPA-based romanizations.
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Teochew, like other Southern Min varieties, is one of the few modern Sinitic languages which havevoicedobstruents (stops, fricatives and affricates); however, unlikeWu andXiang Chinese, the Teochew voicedstops andfricatives did not evolve fromMiddle Chinese voiced obstruents, but fromnasals.
The voiced stops[b] and[ɡ] and also[l] are voicelesslyprenasalized[ᵐ̥b],[ᵑ̊ɡ],[ⁿ̥ɺ], respectively.
The voiced affricatedz, initial in such words asjī字ri7 (/dzi˩/),jĭ二ri6 (/dzi˧˥/),jiâng然riang5 (/dziaŋ˥/),jia̍k若riag8 (/dziak˦/) loses its affricate property with some younger speakers abroad, and is relaxed to [z].
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiced (no frictions) | nasal | m 毛 | n 年 | ŋ 雅 | |
| plosive orlateral | b 米 | l 來/內 | ɡ 鵝/牙 | ||
| Voicelessstops | aspirated | pʰ 皮 | tʰ 台 | kʰ 可 | |
| plain | p 比 | t 都 | k 歌 | ʔ | |
| Voicelessaffricates | aspirated | tsʰ 菜/樹 | |||
| plain | ts 書/指/食 | ||||
| Fricatives | s 士/速 | h 海/系 | |||
| (d)z 爾/貳 | |||||
Unlike in Hokkien, nasal initials in Teochew are not generally consideredallophones of the voiced plosives, as nasals are relatively more common in Teochew and have less usage restrictions. For example, Teochew allows for syllables likenge̍k 逆ngêg8, which are impossible in Hokkien.
In Southern dialects of Teochew, labial initials (/p/, /pʰ/, /b/, /m/) havelabiodental allophones ([pf], [pfʰ], [bv], [mv~ɱ]) before /-u-/.[15]
| Character | Pe̍h-ūe-jī | Peng'im | Swatow dialect | Teoyeo dialect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 富 | pù | bu3 | [pu²¹²] | [pfu⁵²] |
| 搬 | puaⁿ | buan1 | [pũã³³] | [pfũã³¹] |
| 婆 | phuâ | pua5 | [pʰua⁵⁵] | [pfʰua²³] |
| 配 | phuè | puê3 | [pʰue²¹²] | [pfʰue⁵²] |
| 武 | bú | bhu2 | [bu⁵²] | [bvu⁴⁵] |
| 尾 | bué | bhuê2 | [bue⁵²] | [bvue⁴⁵] |
| 妹 | muē | muê7 | [mũẽ¹¹] | [mvũẽ⁴³] |
| 滿 | muá | muan2 | [mũã⁵²] | [mvũã⁴⁵] |
Syllables in Teochew contain an onset consonant, a medial glide, a nucleus, usually in the form of avowel, but can also be occupied by asyllabic consonant like [ŋ], and a finalconsonant. 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.
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.
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- | -ɛ̝- | -o̞- | -ɯ-[a] | -i- | -u- | -ai- | -au- | -oi- | -ou- | -ui- | -iu- | ∅- | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medial | ∅- | i- | u- | ∅- | i- | u- | ∅- | i- | ∅- | ∅- | ∅- | ∅- | u- | ∅- | i- | ∅- | ∅- | i- | ∅- | ∅- | ||
| Coda | -∅ | a | ia | ua | e | [b] | ue | o | io[b] | ɯ | i | u | ai | uai | au | iau[b] | oi | ou | [b] | ui | iu | |
| -◌̃ | ã | ĩã | ũã | ẽ | [b] | ũẽ | ĩõ[b] | ɯ̃ | ĩ | ãĩ | ũãĩ | ãũ | ĩãũ[b] | õĩ | õũ | [b] | ũĩ | ĩũ | ||||
| -ʔ | aʔ | iaʔ | uaʔ | eʔ | [b] | ueʔ | oʔ | ioʔ[b] | ɯʔ | iʔ | uʔ | auʔ | oiʔ | iuʔ | ||||||||
| -m | am | iam | uam | im | m̩ | |||||||||||||||||
| -ŋ | aŋ | iaŋ | uaŋ | eŋ | ieng[c] | ueŋ | oŋ | ioŋ | ɯŋ | iŋ | uŋ | ŋ̩ | ||||||||||
| -p | ap | iap | uap | ip | ||||||||||||||||||
| -k | ak | iak | uak | ek | iek[c] | uek | ok | iok | ɯk | ik | uk | |||||||||||
In most dialects of Teochew, historical codas-n and-t are merged with-ŋ and-k. They were still present in mainstream Teochew in the 19th century, but now they are found only in certain peripheral dialects of Teochew, as well as in Hai Lok Hong Min.[16]
Chaozhou /ieng/ and /iek/ are used in syllables that previously had /ien/ and /iet/, e.g. 顯 is different from 響 in Chaozhou (as /hieŋ˥˧/ and /hiaŋ˥˧/) and Hokkien (as /hien˥˧/ and /hiaŋ˥˧/), but not Swatow (both are /hiaŋ˥˧/).
Apart from the aforementioned rhymes, there are a few limitedly used finals with both glottal stop and nazalization, usually found in ideophones and interjections, e.g.he̍hⁿ嚇 /hẽʔ˥˦/ "agitated; confused",hauhⁿ殽 /hãũʔ˧˨/ "to eat in large bites",khuàhⁿ-ua̍hⁿ快活 /kʰũãʔ˨˩˨꜒꜔.ũãʔ˥˦/ "comfortable".
Teochew, like other Chinese varieties, is atonal language. Like otherSouthern Min varieties, Teochew has split theMiddle Chinese four tone into two registers (four "dark tones" and four "light tones"). The tones are numbered from 1 through 8, either in the "dark—light" order (the checked tones are 7 and 8) or in the "level—rising—departing—entering" order (the checked tones are 4 and 8). This section follows the second order, as used inPeng'im.
| 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 陰 dark | tone number (Peng'im) | ① | ② | ③ | ④ |
| tone diacritic (Pe̍h-ūe-jī) | none | ́ | ̀ | none (ending on -p, -t, -k, -h) | |
| tone name | 陰平 Im-phêⁿ "Dark-level" | 陰上 Im-siăng "Dark-rising" | 陰去 Im-khṳ̀ "Dark-departing" | 陰入 Im-ji̍p "Dark-entering" | |
| 陽 light | tone number (Peng'im) | ⑤ | ⑥ | ⑦ | ⑧ |
| tone diacritic (Pe̍h-ūe-jī) | ̂ | ̃ | ̄ | ̍ (ending on -p, -t, -k, -h) | |
| tone name | 陽平 Iâng-phêⁿ "Light-level" | 陽上 Iâng-siăng "Light-rising" | 陽去 Iâng-khṳ̀ "Light-departing" | 陽入 Iâng-ji̍p "Light-entering" | |
Depending on the position of a word in a phrase, the tones can change and adopt extensivetone sandhi.
Northern Teochew dialects are not too different from each other in their tones. There are small differences in pronunciation of the tone ⑦, which can vary between low falling (21 ˨˩) and low level (22 ˨) among different dialects and individual speakers.[11][17]
| citation tones | post-sandhi tones | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | ||
| Chaozhou, Chenghai | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 33 ˧ | ② 53 ˥˧ | ③ 212 ˨˩˨ | ④ 32 ˧˨ | 34 ˧˦ | 35 ˧˥ | 53 ˥˧ | 54 ˥˦ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 55 ˥ | ⑥ 35 ˧˥ | ⑦ 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨ | ⑧ 54 ˥˦ | 23 ˨˧ | 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨ | 23 ˨˧ | 32 ˧˨ | |
| Jieyang | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 33 ˧ | ② 53 ˥˧ | ③ 212 ˨˩˨ | ④ 32 ˧˨ | 33 ˧ | 35 ˧˥ | 53 ˥ | 54 ˥˦ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 55 ˥ | ⑥ 35 ˧˥ | ⑦ 22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩ | ⑧ 54 ˥˦ | 22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩ | 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨ | 32 ˧˨ | ||
| Shantou, Raoping | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 33 ˧ | ② 53 ˥˧ | ③ 212 ˨˩˨ | ④ 32 ˧˨ | 33 ˧ | 35 ˧˥ | 55 ˥ | 54 ˥˦ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 55 ˥ | ⑥ 35 ˧˥ | ⑦ 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨ | ⑧ 54 ˥˦ | 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨ | 22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩ | 32 ˧˨ | ||
There are minor differences in tone sandhi among the Northern Teochew dialects:[17]
The light departing tone (⑦) after sandhi is usually merged with the post-sandhi tone ⑤ or ⑥, depending on the dialect. For convenience, since the difference between them is still not large, all three light tones after sandhi may be described as identical and equal to pre-sandhi tone ⑦. The sandhi rules for Northern Teochew may be simplified as follows:
| citation tones | post-sandhi tones | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | ||
| 陰 dark | ① | ② | ③ | ④ | ① | ⑥ | ②[a]or⑤[b] | ⑧ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ | ⑥ | ⑦ | ⑧ | ⑦ | ④ | |||
Southern Teochew tones are noticeably diverse. Based on their tones, the Southern Teochew dialects can be divided into two broad areas: Teoyeo and Hui-Pou.[11][19]
| citation tones | post-sandhi tones | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | ||
| Teoyeo (old) | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 21 ˨˩ | ② 551 ˥˥˩ | ③ 53 ˥˧ | ④ 43 ˦˧ | 33 ˧ | 53 ˥˧ | 33 ˧ | 5 ˥ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 44 ˦ | ⑥ =③ | ⑦ 42 ˦˨ | ⑧ 45 ˦˥ | 44 ˦ | 21 ˨˩ | 3 ˧ | ||
| Teoyeo (new) | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 31 ˧˩ | ② 55 ˥˥ ~ 35 ˧˥ | ③ 52 ˥˨ | ④ 32 ˧˨ | 31 ˧˩ | 52 ˥˨ | 23 ˨˧ | 5 ˥ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 33 ˧ ~ 23 ˨˧ | ⑥ =③ | ⑦ 43 ˦˧ ~ 44 ˦ | ⑧ 45 ˦˥ | 33 ˧ ~ 23 ˨˧ | 21 ˨˩ | 3 ˧ | ||
| Haimen | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 31 ˧˩ | ② 551 ˥˥˩ | ③ 51 ˥˩ | ④ 43 ˦˧ | 33 ˧ | 41 ˦˩ | 44 ˦ | 54 ˥˦ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 44 ˦ | ⑥ =① | ⑦ 441 ˦˦˩ | ⑧ 45 ˦˥ | 44 ˦ | 33 ˧ | 43 ˦˧ | ||
| Dahao | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 21 ˨˩ | ② 24 ˨˦ | ③ 52 ˥˨ | ④ 3 ˧ | 21 ˨˩ | 52 ˥˨ | 33 ˧ | 45 ˦˥ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 33 ˧ | ⑥ =③ | ⑦ 31 ˧˩ | ⑧ 45 ˦˥ | 33 ˧ | 21 ˨˩ | 3 ˧ | ||
| Puning andHuilai | |||||||||
| 陰 dark | ① 34 ˧˦ | ② 53 ˥˧[a] or 55 ˥[b] | ③ 31 ˧˩ | ④ 32 ˧˨ | 33 ˧ | 34 ˧˦ | 55 ˥ | 54 ˥˦ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ 44 ˦ | ⑥ 23 ˨˧ | ⑦ 42 ˦˨[c] or =③[d] or =⑥[e] | ⑧ 54 ˥˦ | 31 ˧˩ | 33 ˧ | 32 ˧˨ | ||
Currently, a tone shift is ongoing in the Teoyeo dialect. There is a continuum between the "old accent" and "new accent". This shift is more advanced in urban dialects in Eastern Chaoyang (incl.Haojiang, especially the Dahao dialect), among female speakers, and in the younger generations (born after the 1980s). The principal features of this shift are as follows:[11]
"Old" Teoyeo accent is notable for the fact that out of its five non-checked tones, four tones have falling contour.[20]
Hui-Pou dialects are more homogeneous in their tones than Teoyeo dialects. Puning and Eastern Huilai dialects have 8 tones, while Central and Western Huilai have 7 tones (tone ⑦ is merged with other tones). Some of the Huilai dialects undergo tone shift similar to that in Teoyeo dialects, but to a lesser extent (particularly, tone ② becomes high level 55 rather than high falling 53).
Like Hokkien, Teochew has the neutral tone. In pronunciation, the neutral tone is considered to be identical to the light departing tone (⑦) in the respective dialect, but when the original tone of the syllable was dark rising (②), the neutral tone is identical to the dark departing tone (③), and when the original tone was an entering tone (④ or ⑧), the neutral tone is identical to the dark entering tone (④).
| citation tones | neutral tone | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | 平 level | 上 rising | 去 departing | 入 entering | ||
| 陰 dark | ① | ② | ③ | ④ | ⑦ | ③ | ⑦ | ④ | |
| 陽 light | ⑤ | ⑥ | ⑦ | ⑧ | ⑦ | ||||
Some works refer to the neutral tone as "left-dominant tone sandhi". However, unlike the general ("right-dominant") Teochew tone sandhi, which is a regular phonetic change, the neutral tone is lexical and its occurrence cannot be predicted. Compare the following examples with the morphemenî年ni5 "year", where some words have the neutral tone, while others preserve the original tone.[21]
but:
Thegrammar of Teochew is similar to otherMin languages, as well as some southernvarieties of Chinese, especially withHakka,Yue andWu. The sequence 'subject–verb–object' is typical, likeStandard Mandarin, although the 'subject–object–verb' form is also possible using particles.
The personal pronouns in Teochew, like in other Chinese languages, do not show case marking, thereforeuá我ua2 means bothI andme andi-nâng伊人i1 nang5 meansthey andthem. The Southern Min languages, like some Mandarin dialects, have a distinction between aninclusive andexclusive we, meaning that when the addressee is being included, the inclusive pronounnáng咱nang2 would be used, otherwiseuáng阮uang2 is employed. Outside Southern Min varieties like Teochew, no other southern Chinese variety has this distinction.[21]
| Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | uá我ua2 | I / me | Inclusive | náng咱nang2 | we / us |
| Exclusive | uáng阮uang2[a] | we / us | |||
| 2nd person | lṳ́汝le2 | you | nṳ́ng, níng恁neng2, ning2 | you (plural) | |
| 3rd person | i伊i1 | he/she/it/him/her | ing𪜶ing1 i-nâng伊儂i1 nang5 | they/them | |
Teochew does not distinguish the possessive pronouns from the possessive adjectives. As a general rule, the possessive pronouns or adjectives are formed by adding thegenitive or possessive markerkâi個gai5 to their respective personal pronouns, as summarized below:
| Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | uá-kâi我個ua2 gai5 | my / mine | Inclusive | náng-kâi咱個nang2 gai5 | our / ours |
| Exclusive | uáng-kâi阮個uang2 gai5 | ours / ours | |||
| 2nd person | lṳ́-kâi汝個le2 gai5 | your / yours | nṳ́ng-kâi, níng-kâi恁個neng2 gai5, ning2 gai5 | your / yours (plural) | |
| 3rd person | i-kâi伊個i1 gai5 | his / his; her / hers; its / its | i-nâng-kâi伊儂個i1 nang5 gai5 | their / theirs | |
書
tsṳ
ze1
book
是
sĭ
si6
be
我
uá
ua2
I
本 書 是我個。
púng tsṳ sĭ uá kâi
bung2 ze1 si6 ua2 gai5
CL-books book be I POS
"The book is mine."
Askâi個gai5 is the genericmeasure word, it may be replaced by other more appropriate classifiers:[21]
我
uá
ua2
I
裙
kûng
gung5
skirt
我條 裙
uá tiâu kûng
ua2 diao5 gung5
I CL-clothes skirt
"my skirt"
Teochew has the typical two-way distinction between the demonstratives, namely the proximals and the distals. The basic determiners aretsí只zi2 "this" andhṳ́許he2 "that", and they require at least a classifier (generickâi個gai5, collectivetshoh撮coh4, or another), which can be optionally preceded by a numeral.
| Proximal | Distal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | Singular | tsí (kâi)只(個)zi2 (gai5) | this (one) | hṳ́ (kâi)許(個)he2 (gai5) | that (one) |
| Collective | tsí tshoh只撮zi2 coh4 | these (few) | hṳ́ tshoh許撮he2 coh4 | those (few) | |
| Plural (non-specific) | tsió照zio2 | these | hió向hio2 | those | |
| Type | tsiá者zia2 | this kind of | hiá遐hia2 | that kind of | |
| Spatial | tsí kò只塊zi2 go3 | here | hṳ́ kò許塊he2 go3 | there | |
| tsí lăi只內zi2 lai6 | here inside | hṳ́ lăi許內he2 lai6 | there inside | ||
| tsí kháu只口zi2 kao2 | here outside | hṳ́ kháu許口he2 kao2 | there outside | ||
| Temporal | tsí tsûng只陣zi2 zung5 | now; recently | hṳ́ tsûng許陣he2 zung5 | then | |
| Degree | tsiòⁿ照zion3 | this much | hiòⁿ向hion3 | that much | |
| Adverbial | tsiòⁿ seⁿ (iōⁿ)照生(樣)zion3 sên1 (ion7) | like this | hiòⁿ seⁿ (iōⁿ)向生(樣)hion3 sên1 (ion7) | like that | |
| who /whom | tiâng𫢗diang5 | |
|---|---|---|
| tī tiâng底𫢗di7 diang5 | ||
| tī nâng底儂di7 nang5 | ||
| what | mih kâi乜個mih4 gai5 | |
| what (kind of) + noun | mih乜mih4 +N | |
| which | tī底di7 +NUM +CL + N | |
| tī kâi底個di7 gai5 | ||
| where | tī kò底塊di7 go3 | |
| when | tiang sî𫢗時diang1 si5 | |
| how,why | manner | tsò nî做呢zo3 ni5 |
| state | mih seⁿ iōⁿ乜生樣mih4 sên1 ion7 | |
| tsò nî iōⁿ做呢樣zo3 ni5 ion7 | ||
| tsăi seⁿ (iōⁿ)在生(樣)zai6 sên1 (ion7) | ||
| how many;how much | kúi幾gui2 + CL + N | |
| jio̍h tsōi若濟rioh8 zoi7 + CL + N | ||
Some numerals in Teochew have two variants: the literary one and the vernacular one.
| Value | Literary | Vernacular | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 零lêng /lêng5 | 空khàng /kang3 | 零 may also be written as〇. |
| 1 | 一ik /ig4 | 一tse̍k /zêg8 | 蜀 is often considered the original character fortse̍k /zêg8. When spelling numbers digit by digit,iau幺iao1 is also used for "one". |
| 2 | 二jĭ /ri6 | 兩nŏ /no6 | 兩nŏ /no6 may also be written as二 The character兩 has a literary readingliáng /liang2. |
| 3 | 三sam /sam1 | 三saⁿ /san1 | Literary reading is used in some set compounds. |
| 4 | 四sṳ̀ /se3 | 四sì /si3 | Literary reading is extremely rare. |
| 5 | 五ngóu /ngou2 | 五ngŏu /ngou6 | Literary reading is used in some set compounds. Also pronounced asngŏm /ngom6 in Southern Teochew. |
| 6 | 六la̍k /lag8 | Only vernacular reading. | |
| 7 | 七tshik /cig4 | Only literary reading. | |
| 8 | 八poih /boih4 | Only vernacular reading. | |
| 9 | 九kiú /giu2 | 九káu /gao2 | Literary reading is used in some set compounds. |
| 10 | 十tsa̍p /zab8 | Only vernacular reading. | |
| 100 | 百peh /bêh4 | Only vernacular reading. | |
| 1000 | 千tshoiⁿ /coin1 | Only vernacular reading. Alsotshaiⁿ /cain1 (in Kekyeo and Southern Teochew). | |
| 10000 | 萬buāng /bhuang7 | Only literary reading Alsobuēng /bhuêng7 (in Chaozhou). Alsobāng /bang7 (variant in Southern Teochew). | |
Generally, vernacular variants are used, and literary readings are limited to certain set compounds and idioms, e.g.:Sam-kok三國,ngóu-kim五金,kiú-siau九霄,ngóu-tsháiⁿ-phiang-hung五彩繽紛,sam-sṳ-jṳ̂-kiâⁿ三思而行,kiú-liû-sam-kàu九流三教, etc.
However, literary forms of一 and二 are more commonly used, particularly in the following cases:
In Teochew passive construction, theagentphraseby somebody always has to be present, and is introduced by the prepositionkhṳh乞keh4 orpung分bung1, both literally meaning "to give". If the agent is not explicitly named, its position is taken bynâng儂nang5 (lit. "a person; one; somebody").
伊
i
i1
s/he
分
pung
bung1
give
儂
nâng
nang5
person
刣
thâi
tai5
kill
掉。
tiāu
diao7
be lost
伊分儂 刣 掉。
ipungnâng thâi tiāu
i1bung1nang5 tai5 diao7
s/hegiveperson kill {be lost}
"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, in Teochew it is not grammatical to omit this dummy agentnâng儂nang5.
杯
pue
buê1
cup
分
pung
bung1
give
儂
nâng
nang5
person
敲
khà
ka3
break
掉。
tiāu
diao7
be lost
個 杯分儂 敲 掉。
kâi puepungnâng khà tiāu
gai5 buê1bung1nang5 ka3 diao7
CL cupgiveperson break {be lost}
"The cup was broken."
The agent phrasepung nâng分儂bung1 nang5 always comes immediately after the subject, not at the end of the sentence or between theauxiliary and the pastparticiple like in some European languages (e.g.German,Dutch).
Teochew, like Cantonese but unlike Hokkien, uses the construction "X ADJkuè過guê3 Y", to express the comparison:
伊
i
i1
s/he
雅
ngiá
ngia2
beautiful
過
kuè
guê3
exceed
汝。
lṳ́
le2
you
伊 雅過 汝。
i ngiákuè lṳ́
i1 ngia2guê3 le2
s/he beautifulexceed you
"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
i
i1
s/he
比
pí
bi2
compare
汝
lṳ́
le2
you
雅。
ngiá
ngia2
beautiful
伊比 汝 雅。
ipí lṳ́ ngiá
i1bi2 le2 ngia2
s/hecompare you beautiful
"She is more beautiful than you."
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:
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
i
i1
s/he
夭
iău
iau6
comparatively
雅。
ngiá
ngia2
beautiful
伊 夭 雅。
i iău ngiá
i1 iau6 ngia2
s/he comparatively beautiful
"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. Teochew and Mandarin both use a pre-modifier (before the adjective) while Cantonese uses a post-modifier (after the adjective).
她
tā
比較
bǐjiào
漂亮
piàoliang
她 {比較} 漂亮
tā bǐjiào piàoliang
佢
keoi5
靚
leng3
啲
di1
佢 靚啲
keoi5 leng3 di1
There are two words which are intrinsically comparative in meaning, i.e.iâⁿ贏ian5 "to win" andsu輸su1 "to lose". They can be used alone or in conjunction with the過-structure:
只
tsí
zi2
領
niá
nian2
裙
kûng
gung5
輸
su
su1
(過)
(kuè)
(guê3)
許
hṳ́
he2
領。
niá
nian2
只 領 裙 輸 (過) 許 領。
tsí niá kûng su (kuè) hṳ́ niá
zi2 nian2 gung5 su1 (guê3) he2 nian2
"This skirt is not as good as that one."
我
uá
ua2
內
lăi
lai6
個
kâi
gai5
電腦
tiĕng-náu
diêng6 nao2
贏
iâⁿ
ian5
伊
i
i1
個
kâi
gai5
好
hoh
hoh4
濟。
tsōi
zoi7
我 內 個 電腦 贏 伊 個 好 濟。
uá lăi kâi tiĕng-náu iâⁿ i kâi hoh tsōi
ua2 lai6 gai5 {diêng6 nao2} ian5 i1 gai5 hoh4 zoi7
"My computer (at home) is far better than his."
Note the use of the adverbialhoh tsōi好濟hoh4 zoi7 at the end of the sentence to express a higher degree.
In Teochew, the idea of equality is expressed with the wordpêⁿ平bên5 orpêⁿ-iōⁿ平樣bên5 ion7:
只
tsí
zi2
本
púng
bung2
書
tsṳ
ze1
佮
kah
gah4
許
hṳ́
he2
本
púng
bung2
平
pêⁿ
bên5
重。
tăng
dang6
只 本 書 佮 許 本 平 重。
tsí púng tsṳ kah hṳ́ púng pêⁿ tăng
zi2 bung2 ze1 gah4 he2 bung2 bên5 dang6
"This book is as heavy as that one."
伊
i
i1
兩
nŏ
no6
儂
nâng
nang5
平
pêⁿ
bên5
平樣。
pêⁿ-iōⁿ
bên5 ion7
伊 兩 儂 平 平樣。
i nŏ nâng pêⁿ pêⁿ-iōⁿ
i1 no6 nang5 bên5 {bên5 ion7}
"They are the same."
To express the superlative, Teochew uses the adverbsiăng上siang6 orsiăng-téng上頂siang6 dêng2. The latter variant is usually used with a complimentary connotation.
只
tsí
zi2
間
koiⁿ
goin1
物
mue̍h
muêh8
上頂
siăng-téng
siang6 dêng2
好食。
hó-tsia̍h
ho2 ziah8
只 間 物 上頂 好食。
tsí koiⁿ mue̍h siăng-téng hó-tsia̍h
zi2 goin1 muêh8 {siang6 dêng2} {ho2 ziah8}
"This (restaurant) is (absolutely) the most delicious."
伊儂
i-nâng
i1 nang5
對
tùi
dui3
我
uá
ua2
上
siăng
siang6
好。
hó
ho2
伊儂 對 我 上 好。
i-nâng tùi uá siăng hó
{i1 nang5} dui3 ua2 siang6 ho2
"They treat me best."lit. "The people treat me very well."
Teochew vocabulary consists of several layers, including:
Most of the Teochew vocabulary (around 70-80%) consists of the pan-Sinitic words. However, their proportion is much lower among the most basic words used in daily speech, as they tend to belong to the last three categories. This pattern is also seen in other languages of the Sinosphere, e.g. in Japanese, where theSino-Japanese words constitute around 60-70% of total vocabulary, but only around 20% of words used in common speech.
In Teochew, like in other Min languages, it is common for a character to have at least two readings, called "literary" and "vernacular". The number of such doublets in Teochew is somewhat smaller than in Hokkien, due to Teochew being prone to use only vernacular readings and lose their literary counterparts.
Teochew andHokkien are bothSouthern Min languages. Hokkien, which is spoken in southern Fujian, shares many phonetic similarities with Teochew, but they have low lexical similarity. Although Teochew and Hokkien share some cognates, there are pronounced differences in most vowels with some consonant and tone shifts.
Teochew has only 51% intelligibility with theTong'anXiamen dialect of Hokkien (Cheng 1997), approximately the same as the percentage of intelligibility as betweenRussian andUkrainian languages, while it has even lower mutual intelligibility language with other dialects of the Hokkien language.[citation needed]
Most Teochew people do not speak Hokkien and the majority of Hokkien and Teochew people both see themselves as a distinct ethnic groups / nation. There are a minority of Teochew people who speak Hokkien as their mother tongue, most of whom have close contact or relatives in the neighbouring three originally-Teochew counties of what is nowSouth Fujian, which were seceded to Fujian during the earlyTang dynasty and subsequently assimilated into theHokkien population. These Hokkien-speaking Teochews are more likely to treat Teochew simply as accented dialect of Hokkien. These people usually have a strong sense ofHokkien identity.[citation needed]
In Hokkien, denasalization of initial consonants is extensive, and sounds [m], [n], [ng] are usually viewed as allophones of /b/, /l~d/, /g/ used with nasalized rhymes. In Teochew and Hai Lok Hong, denasalization is less common.
| Character | Teochew | Hokkien |
|---|---|---|
| 逆 'to go against' | nge̍k | ge̍k |
| 玉 'jade' | ge̍k | |
| 宜 'suitable' | ngî | gî |
| 疑 'doubt' | gî | |
| 紐 'handle; knob' | niú | liú |
| 柳 'willow' | liú | |
| 儂 'man' | nâng | lâng |
| 籠 'cage' | lâng | |
| 慢 'slow' | măng | bān |
| 萬 'ten thousand' | buāng | |
| 目 'eye' | ma̍k | ba̍k |
| 墨 'ink' | ba̍k |
Hokkien and Hai Lok Hong have three pairs of codas: -ng/-k, -m/-p and -n/-t. Most dialects of Teochew have merged -n/-t with -ng/-k. On the other hand, many Teochew dialects, except urban Swatow and Chenghai, do not dissimilate the Middle Chinese rhyme凡-jom, e.g. they havehuàm泛,huăm範,huap法, while Hokkien hashuàn泛,huǎn範,huat法.
Teochew (except some Southern Teochew dialects) and Hai Lok Hong have 8 citation tones, while most dialects of Hokkien have 7 tones.
In individual rhymes, the differences between Hokkien and Teochew are comparable to differences between the dialects of each language. For example, both Northern Hokkien and Northern Teochew have the /ɯ/ sound, which is not found in Southern Teochew and Southern Hokkien. Northern Hokkien and Teochew both have-ng (in Hokkien and Southern Teochew) or-ung (in Northern Teochew) rhyme in words like飯pn̄g/pūng,門mn̂g/mûng, while Southern Hokkien and Hai Lok Hong have-uiⁿ instead (飯pūiⁿ,門mûi).
Teochew grammar shows some Cantonese or Hakka influence. For example,
Teochew differs from Hokkien in function words:
| Teochew | Hai Lok Hong | Hokkien | explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 個kâi | 個kâi | 兮ê | possessive particle |
| 在tŏ 囉lŏ(dialectal) | 𫩷ló | 咧leh 佇咧tǐ-leh | progressive aspect marker |
| 在塊-tŏ-kò | 恁-nín | 咧--leh | durative aspect marker |
| 分pung 乞khṳh | 分pun 科kho | 予hō͘ | passive or causative agent preposition |
| 愛àiⁿ | 愛àiⁿ | 卜beh | "to want"(modal verb) |
| 好hoh | 好hoh | 真chin | "very"(dummy adverb in adjectival sentences) |
Teochew has many differences with Hokkien in its basic vocabulary. Some of the differences are due to influence from Cantonese, while others are alternative yet still native Min words.
| gloss | Teochew | Cantonese | Hokkien |
|---|---|---|---|
| "to see" | 睇thóiⁿ | 睇tái | 看khòaⁿ |
| "to read" | 讀書tha̍k-tsṳ | 讀書duhksyū | 讀冊tha̍k-chheh |
| "to sleep" | 夗n̍gh, ĭⁿ | 瞓fan | 睏khùn |
| "beautiful" | 雅ngiá | 靚leng | 媠súi |
| "to speak" | 呾tàⁿ | 講góng | 講kóng 說seh |
| "what" | 乜個mih-kâi | 乜嘢mātyéh | 啥乜siáⁿ-mi̍h |
| "child" | 孥囝nou-kiáⁿ | 細路sailouh | 囡仔gín-á |
| "black" | 烏ou | 黑hāk | 烏o͘ |
Teochew tends to use more vernacular readings where Hokkien prefers the literary readings. For instance, Hokkien uses多謝to-siā for "Thank you", with literary reading for the first character, while Teochew reads it with the vernacular reading astsōi-siā. The character安 has both literary reading (Teochewang, Hokkienan) and vernacular reading (bothuaⁿ), the latter more commonly used in Teochew (安全uaⁿ-tshuâng,安心uaⁿ-sim,安穩uaⁿ-úng,治安tī-uaⁿ, etc), while being rare in Hokkien (used in a few place names:同安Tâng-uaⁿ,南安Lâm-uaⁿ,惠安Hūi-uaⁿ).
For some characters, literary readings only exist in Hokkien (even if used exclusively for declamation of Classical Chinese texts), while many vernacular readings are used only in Teochew.
| Character | Type of reading | Teochew | Hokkien | Middle Chinese (Baxter) or Proto-Southern-Min (Kwok Bit-Chee)[22] | Old Chinese (Baxter-Sagart) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 肉 'meat' | literary | jio̍k | MCnyuwk | *k.nuk | ||
| vernacular | ne̍k | he̍k | PSM*nhɯk3 | |||
| 白 'white' | literary | pe̍k | MCbaek | *bˤrak | ||
| vernacular | pe̍h | pe̍h | PSM*peʔ8 | |||
| 前 'before' | literary | chiân | MCdzen | *dzˤen | ||
| vernacular | tsôiⁿ | chêng / châiⁿ / chûiⁿ | PSM*tsõi2 | |||
| 蟻 'ant' | literary | gí | MCngjeX | *m-qʰrajʔ | ||
| vernacular | hiă | hiă | PSM*hia4 | |||
| 枝 'branch' | literary | chi | MCtsye | *ke | ||
| vernacular | ki | ki | PSM*ki1 | |||
| 富 'abundant' | literary | hù | MCpjuwH | *pək-s | ||
| vernacular | pù | pù | PSM*pu5 | |||
| 美 'beautiful' | literary | múi | bí | MCmijX | *mrəjʔ | |
| vernacular | bué | — |
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Sino-Tibetan branches | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WesternHimalayas (Himachal, Uttarakhand,Nepal,Sikkim) |
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| EasternHimalayas (Tibet,Bhutan,Arunachal) | |||||
| Myanmar and Indo- Burmese border |
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| East andSoutheast Asia |
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| Dubious (possible isolates) (Arunachal) |
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| Proposed groupings | |||||
| Proto-languages | |||||
Italics indicates single languages that are also considered to be separate branches. | |||||
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