Singaporean Hokkien

Singaporean Hokkien is a local variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively in Singapore. Within Chinese linguistic academic circles, this dialect is known as Singaporean Ban-lam Gu. It bears similarities with the Amoy spoken in Amoy, now better known as Xiamen, as well as Taiwanese Hokkien which is spoken in Taiwan.

Singaporean Hokkien
新加坡福建話 Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-uē (Tâi-lô) Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-ōe (Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Native to	Singapore
Native speakers	1.2 million (2017)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Min Coastal Min Southern Min Hokkien Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Singaporean Hokkien
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese Proto-Min
Writing system	Chinese characters (Traditional or Simplified) Latin for romanisation (Tâi-lô & Pe̍h-ōe-jī)
Official status
Official language in	None, lingua franca of the Chinese community in Singapore before the 1980s.
Regulated by	None
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nan for Southern Min / Min Nan which encompasses a variety of Hokkien dialects including "Singaporean Hokkien".
Glottolog	None
Linguasphere	79-AAA-jek

Singaporean Hokkien
Traditional Chinese	新加坡福建話
Simplified Chinese	新加坡福建话
Tâi-lô	Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-uē
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīnjiāpō Fújiànhuà Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-ōe Tâi-lô Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-uē
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	新加坡閩南語
Simplified Chinese	新加坡闽南语
Tâi-lô	Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gu / Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gí
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīnjiāpō Mǐnnányǔ Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gu / Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gí Tâi-lô Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gu / Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-gí
Second alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	新加坡閩南話
Simplified Chinese	新加坡闽南话
Tâi-lô	Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-uē
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīnjiāpō Mǐnnánhuà Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-ōe Tâi-lô Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-uē

Hokkien is the Min Nan pronunciation for the province of Fujian, and is generally the term used by the Chinese in Southeast Asia to refer to the 'Banlam' dialect. Singaporean Hokkien generally views Amoy as its prestige dialect, and its accent is predominantly based on a mixture of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech, with a greater inclination towards the former.

Like many spoken languages in Singapore, Singaporean Hokkien is influenced by other languages or dialects spoken in Singapore. For instance, Singaporean Hokkien is influenced to a certain degree by Teochew, and is sometimes regarded by non-Singaporean speakers as a combined Hokkien–Teochew speech. In addition, it has many loanwords from Singapore's four official languages of English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.

Nevertheless, the grammar and tones of Singaporean Hokkien are still largely based on Banlam. When compared to the Taiwanese accent spoken in Tainan and Kaohsiung, the accent and pronunciation of Singaporean Hokkien inclines toward the Quanzhou accent, which is also close to the pronunciation of Taipei and Xiamen, and is less close to that of Tainan, which has a greater inclination towards the Zhangzhou accent.

History

From the 19th until the early half of the 20th century, there was a large influx of Chinese migrants from southern China into Singapore. This led to Chinese constituting almost 75% of Singapore's population. Of these Chinese, many originated from the regions of Amoy/Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian province. They brought Min Nan to Singapore, which was then propagated throughout the Malayan region. As there was no formal Chinese name for Min Nan in the early 20th century, these migrants began to use their place of origin as the name of their speech, and thus called the dialect "Hokkien", referring to Fujian province.

During the 19th century, many traditional private Chinese schools in Singapore (referred to as 私塾仔; su-sio̍k-á) generally used Hokkien to teach Chinese classics and Classical Chinese. However, by the early 20th century, Mandarin began to replace Hokkien as the medium of instructions in Chinese schools after the founding of many Mandarin-medium schools.

During the 1950s and 1960s, many political speeches in Singapore were in Hokkien, in order to reach out to the Chinese community in Singapore. There was also a thriving Hokkien cultural scene that included Hokkien story-telling, opera, and media in Singapore.

After 1979, the Singapore government began to push for the use of Mandarin in Singapore, spearheaded by the Speak Mandarin Campaign. Following this, the Singapore government also began to employ a more stringent censorship, or ban, of Hokkien media in the Singaporean Chinese media. Consequently, all Hokkien-language media in Singapore had to be dubbed in Mandarin before being allowed to stream on national TV.

In addition, the 1980s saw Chinese-medium education replaced by that in English, causing English to emerge as the most widely used language in Singapore. The emergence of the English language, coupled with heavy promotion of Mandarin, generally led Hokkien to decline in Singapore after 1979.

Current status

Today, the lingua franca of the Chinese community in Singapore is Mandarin. Although Hokkien is still widely spoken in Singapore today, it is not as widespread as before and is mostly restricted to the older generations. The most common places to hear Hokkien spoken in Singapore are at the country's hawker centres or kopi tiams.

Speaking ability varies amongst the different age groups of the Hokkien Singaporeans. The elderly are generally able to communicate effectively in Hokkien. On the other hand, the middle and younger generations, while generally proficient, have generally lost the ability to communicate as fluently. However, when it comes to using profanities, majority of the younger generation, even among non-Chinese Singaporeans, listed Hokkien as the first out of all languages and dialects. With the Speak Mandarin Campaign from the government, the Hokkien speaking population has been on a gradual decline.

Revival in the 2010s

There is, however, groups of Hokkien Singaporeans working to help preserve, spread and revive the use of Singaporean Hokkien in the country.

The ease of access to online Hokkien entertainment media and pop music from the internet has helped to connect to the language and culture. Many Singaporeans are increasingly using online and social media platforms to learn, discuss, meet, and interact with each other in Hokkien.

Some of the groups include:

• Facebook Singapore Hokkien Language and Culture Society: Discussion forum on all aspects of Hokkien Chinese, with a primary focus on the Singaporean Hokkien dialect and its variations from other forms of Hokkien.
• Facebook Singapore Hokkien Meetup: Group that organizes regular meetups for language practice. It also organizes free language courses and sharing sessions for those who are interested.
• Singapore Hokkien Language Meetup Group: Same as the Facebook group, but organized over Meetup.

Phonology

Note: In this article, the Tâi-lô romanization system is used.

Consonants

Initials

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Alveolo- palatal	Velar	Glottal
			plain	sibilant
Nasal		m [m] 名 (miâ)	n [n] 耐 (nāi)			ng [ŋ] 硬 (ngē)
Plosive	plain	p [p] 邊 (pian)	t [t] 地 (tē)	ts [ts] 曾 (tsan)	tsi [tɕ] 祝 (tsiok)	k [k] 求 (kiû)	[ʔ] 音 (im)
	aspirated	ph [pʰ] 波 (pho)	th [tʰ] 他 (thann)	tsh [tsʰ] 出 (tshut)	tshi [tɕʰ] 手 (tshiú)	kh [kʰ] 去 (khì)
	voiced	b [b] 文 (bûn)	d [d] 日 (di̍t)	j [dz]* 熱 (jua̍h)	ji [dʑ]* 入 (ji̍p)	g [g] 牛 (gû)
Fricative				s [s] 衫 (sann)	si [ɕ] 心 (sim)		h [h] 喜 (hí)
Approximant			l [l] 柳 (liú)			w [w] 我 (wá)

Finals Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal Nasal consonant -m [m] 心 (sim) -n [n] 今 (kin) -ng [ŋ] 興 (heng) Stop consonant -p [p̚] 急 (kip) -t [t̚] 越 (ua̍t) -k [k̚] 速 (sok) -h [ʔ] 物 (mih)

Syllabic consonant Bilabial Velar Nasal m [m̩] 毋 (m̄) ng [ŋ̍] 酸 (sng)

Vowels

Monophthongs Front Central Back oral nasal oral nasal Close i [i] 伊 (i) inn [ĩ] 圓 (înn) ir [ɨ] 豬 (tir) u [u] 有 (ū) unn [ũ] 羊 (iûnn) Close-Mid e [e] 會(ē) enn [ẽ] 嬰 (enn) o [o] 蠔 (ô) Mid er [ə] 鍋 (er) Open-Mid oo [ɔ] 烏 (oo) onn [ɔ̃] 嗚 (onn) Open a [a] 亞 (a) ann [ã] 餡 (ānn)

Diphthongs & Triphthongs Diphthong Triphthong ai [ai] 愛 (ài) ia [ia] 椰 (iâ) io [io] 腰 (io) ua [ua] 娃 (ua) ui [ui] 為 (uī) iau [iau] 枵 (iau) au [au] 後 (āu) ia [iɛ] 燕 (iàn) iu [iu] 油 (iû) ue [ue] 話 (uē) uai [uai] 歪 (uai)

Tones

Singaporean Hokkien tones

Tones	Upper/Dark (陰)						Lower/Light (陽)
	No.	Name	TL	e.g.	Pitch Contour		No.	Name	TL	e.g.	Pitch Contour
					Original	Sandhied					Original	Sandhied
Level (平)	1	陰平 im-piânn	a	詩 si	[˦˦] (44)	[˨˨] (22)	5	陽平 iông-piânn	â	時 sî	[˨˦] (24)	[˨˩] (21)
Rising (上)	2	上聲 sióng-siann	á	死 sí	[˦˨] (42)	[˨˦] (24)	－
Departing (去)	3	陰去 im-khì	à	四 sì	[˨˩] (21)	[˦˨] (42)	7	陽去 iông-khì	ā	是 sī	[˨˨] (22)	[˨˩] (21)
Entering (入)	4	陰入 im-ji̍p	a◌	薛 sih	[ʔ˧˨] (32)	[ʔ˦˨] (42)	8	陽入 iông-ji̍p	a̍◌	蝕 si̍h	[ʔ˦˧] (43)	[ʔ˨˩] (21)
						[ʔ˦] (4)					[ʔ˦] (4)
Note	Entering tones (4 & 8) only occur in closed syllables where ◌ represents either -p, -t, -k, or -h.

Variation

Regional accents and tones

When Singaporeans speak Hokkien, they do so with various accents and tones largely from Tong'an, Anxi, Nan'an, Kinmen as well as Yongchun, Jinjiang, Longhai City and Southern Zhangzhou accents. In practice, it is common for Singaporeans to mix English conjunctions such as "and" into a Hokkien sentence. Some would include honn (乎) (an exclamatory remark in Jinjiang / Nan'an), in addition to the widely used Hokkien exclamatory particles la (啦) or loo (囉).

No distinction between literary and vernacular readings

In saying years or numbers, Singaporean Hokkien normally does not differentiate between literary (文讀音) or vernacular (白讀音) readings of Chinese characters. In Taiwan or Amoy, a distinction is usually made. For instance, the year 1980 would be said with a literary pronunciation (一九八空年; it kiú pat khòng nî); but in Singapore, no differentiation is made and is pronounced as otherwise vernacular it káu pueh khòng nî.

As another instance, Taiwanese would speak telephone numbers using literary readings, whereas Singaporeans would use vernacular ones instead. For example, the telephone number 98444678 will be pronounced in Taiwan as kiú pat sù sù sù lio̍k tshit pat, where in Singaporean Hokkien it would be pronounced as káu pueh sì-sì sì la̍k tshit pueh.

Influence from Southern Zhangzhou and Teochew Phonology

Vowel shift from ing to eng

In Singaporean Hokkien, as compared to Quanzhou (whose accent Hokkien usually inclines toward), Zhangzhou, Amoy or Taiwanese, which pronounce the vowel ing—there is a vowel change from ing (/iŋ/ or /iəŋ/) to eng (/eŋ/ or /ɛŋ/). This change is similar to pronunciation in regions south of Zhangzhou—Dongshan, Yunxiao, Zhangpu, Pinghe, Zhao'an counties (southern Zhangzhou accent)—and in Teochew and Cantonese.

Below is a table illustrating the difference:

Hanzi	Singaporean Hokkien	Amoy Hokkien	English
生	seng	sing	to live
清	tseng	tshing	clear
明	bêng	bîng	bright
冷	léng	líng	cold
英	eng	ing	brave
政	tsèng	tsìng	political

Pronunciation of 'I'

In Amoy Hokkien pronunciation, 我 (lit. 'I/me') is pronounced as /ɡua˥˨/; but in Singapore, it is pronounced as /wa˥˨/, which is alleged by some to have been influenced by the Teochew pronunciation /ua˥˨/ although other dialects like Putianese and some regional Hokkien dialects including most Taiwanese Hokkien dialects also pronounce it as /ua˥˨/.

Grammar

There are some differences between the sentence structure used by Singaporean Hokkien and by Amoy/Taiwanese Hokkien.

For instance, when asking a question "do you want to...?", Singaporean Hokkien typically uses the sentence structure 愛……莫？ (ai…mài?), whereas Taiwan uses 欲……無？ (beh…bô?). The word 愛 (ai) is commonly used in Singaporean Hokkien to mean "want to", but in Amoy Hokkien and Taiwan Hokkien, the word 欲/卜 (beh) (which means "want" in Hokkien) is used instead. 愛 (ai) in Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien it typically means "love to" or "need to".

Also, unlike Taiwanese Hokkien—which typically uses the word 敢 (kám) (meaning "whether or not") when asking a question, which is more formal or polite—Singaporean Hokkien does not use the word 敢 (kám). Instead, it simply adds the word 無 (bô) at the end of the sentence to indicate that it is a question (similar to Mandarin's 嗎 (ma) or adds a Cantonese intonation 咩 (me1) at the end. Adding the word 無 (bô) at the end of a sentence is also used in Taiwanese Hokkien, when one is asking a question in an informal way.

Differences in sentence structure

Singaporean Hokkien	Amoy	English
愛食飯莫？ ai tsia̍h-pn̄g mài?	欲食飯無？ beh tsia̍h-pn̄g bô?	Do you want to eat?
汝有睏飽無？ lír ū khùn-pá bô?	汝敢有睏飽？ lí kám ū khùn-pá?	Did you have enough sleep?

Numerals

See also: Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters

The following list shows the colloquial readings of the numerals used to count objects.

Hanzi	Tâi-lô	Value	Notes
零, 〇	lêng	0	〇 is an informal way to represent zero also 空 (khòng)
一	tsi̍t	1	also pronounced it also 么 (io) when used in phone numbers etc.
兩	nn̄g	2	also 二 (lī/jī)
三	sann	3
四	sì	4
五	gō	5
六	la̍k	6
七	tshit	7
八	pueh	8
九	káu	9
十	tsa̍p	10

Most ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 (tē) in front of a cardinal number. In some cases, the literary reading of the number must then be used. For example, 第一 = tē-it, 第二 = tē-jī.

Differences from other Hokkien varieties

There are minor differences between Singaporean Hokkien and Amoy or Taiwanese in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Amoy and Taiwanese bear close resemblance, and are usually considered the prestige dialect of Hokkien, differing only in terms of vocabulary.

Unique vocabulary

Although Singaporean Hokkien is similar to Amoy or Taiwanese, there exist certain unique Singaporean Hokkien words, which are different from those two aforementioned dialects.

Singaporean Hokkien	Amoy Hokkien	Definition
死景 sí-kéng	博物館 phok-bu̍t-kuán	museum
活景 ua̍h-kéng	動物園 tōng-bu̍t-hn̂g	zoo
掠無球 lia̍h-bô-kiû	毋捌 m̄-bat	completely not understand (lit. catch no balls)
假強 kê-khiàng	假𠢕 ké-gâu	act smart (overdo it; Singapore especially for women)
俏母 tshiò-bú	媠查某 súi tsa-bóo	pretty lady
督公 tok-kong	讚 tsàn	superb (originated from Na Tuk Kong)

Same meaning, different words

Singaporean Hokkien	Definition	Amoy/Taiwanese Hokkien	Notes
愛 ài	Want	欲 beh	愛 ài in Amoy means "love" or "must". 欲 in Singaporean Hokkien can be classified as an auxiliary verb denoting volition of the following verb. 欲 beh is sometimes written alternatively as 卜 beh.
汝 lí / lír / lú	You	你 lí	你 lí (used in Quanzhou/Amoy/Taiwanese) is also used in Singaporean Hokkien, originating from Quanzhou/Amoy speech. The pronunciation of lír 汝 originated from the Tâng-uann accent (同安音), or could be traced to Teochew, while lú 汝 came from the Zhangzhou variant of Hokkien which is predominant in Penang, Malaysia as well as Medan and most parts of Indonesia.
恁儂 / 恁人 lín lâng	You-all	恁 lín	The use of 儂/人 lâng in Singaporean Hokkien pronoun (I, you, we) originated from Teochew grammar.
我儂 / 我人 uá lâng	We	阮 / 咱 gún / lán	阮儂 gún lâng, 咱 lán and 咱儂 lán lâng are also used in Singaporean Hokkien. Quanzhou and Zhangzhou uses 阮 gún, whereas Amoy uses 阮 gún/guán in a manner similar to Taiwanese.
伊儂 / 伊人 i-lâng	They	𪜶 (亻因) in	The addition of 儂 lâng originates from Teochew, and is also commonly used in Shanghainese.
錯 tshò	Wrong	毋著 m̄-tio̍h	The Malay word salah is actually more commonly used to mean 'wrong' in Singaporean Hokkien. 毋著 m̀-tio̍h is also used in Singaporean Hokkien.
舊早 kū-tsá	In the past	頂擺 / 以前 téng-mái / í-tsêng	All variants are used in Amoy/Taiwanese.
鬥跤手 tàu-kha-tshiú	Help	鬥相共 tàu-sann-kāng	All variants are used in Amoy / Taiwanese.
卽兜 tsit-tâu	This place	這爿 / 遮 tsit-pêng / tsiâ	這爿 tsit-pêng is also commonly used in Singapore, 遮 tsiâ less so. 這 tsit is sometimes written alternatively as 即 or 今.
按呢款 án-ne-khuán	In this way, so	按呢 án-ne/án-ni	款 khuán is not generally appended in Amoy / Taiwanese
幾鐳 / 幾箍 kui-lui / kui khoo	How much?	偌濟錢 juā-tsuē tsînn	All variants are used in Amoy. Both 鐳 lui and 錢 tsînn are used in Minnan region today to mean "money". In Singapore however, 鐳 lui is more commonly used to mean "money". The word 鐳 lui was previously thought to have originated from Malay. However, research indicated that the word 鐳 lui is in fact a unique Hokkien word, originating from the unit of currency known as 銅鐳 tâng-lui during the early Chinese Republican period. It actually means "bronze money". 銅鐳 tâng-lui was commonly used in Minnan region and Chaoshan region during that time, and the term spread to Singapore then and remains in common use until today. 鐳 lui used to be used in Taiwan, but due to Japanese colonial rule fell out of use. It was replaced by 錢 tsînn which is the normal term for "money" in Taiwan today.
轉厝 tńg-tshū	Go home	倒去 to-khì	轉去 to-khì is used in Singapore as well, but with a more general meaning of "going back", not specifically home.
今仔日 kiann-ji̍t	Today	今仔日 kin-á-ji̍t	Singapore '今仔'日 kiann-ji̍t is a contraction of Amoy 今仔日 kin-á-ji̍t. 今日 kin-ji̍t is also heard in Singapore.
當今 tong-kim	Nowadays	現此時 hián-tsú-sî	Both Singapore and Amoy/Taiwanese commonly use 這陣 tsit-tsūn to encompass the meaning of "nowadays". 現此時 hián-tshú-sî is commonly used in Taiwanese.
即陣 tsit-tsūn	Now	這馬 / 這站 tsit-má / tsit-tsām	這陣 tsit-tsūn is also used in Amoy / Taiwanese
四散 sì-suānn	anyhow/casual/random	烏白 oo-pe̍h	E.g. 伊四散講 i sì-suānn kóng - He speaks casually (or nonsense). 四散 sì-suānn is sometimes also used in Amoy, and regularly used in Teochew.
定著 tiānn-tio̍h	surely	一定 / 絕對 it-tīng / tsua̍t-tùi	定著 tiānn-tio̍h is sometimes also used in Taiwan. 一定 it-tīng is a loan from Mandarin.
驚輸 kiann-su	Fear of losing out/failure - kiasu	驚失敗 kiann sit-pāi
公私 kong-si	Share	分 / 公家 pun / kong-ke
正 tsiā	Very	真 tsin
傷 siong	Very tough or difficult	艱難 / 困難 kan-lân / khùn-lân	傷 siong literally means "injurious", but has become slang in Singapore for "tough" or "difficult"
幸 heng	Luckily, fortunately	好佳哉 hó-ka-tsài
食風 tsia̍h-hong	To go on holiday, or more generally to live in luxury	𨑨迌 tshit-thô	In Amoy / Taiwanese, 食風 tsia̍h-hong is also used but means "facing the wind". In Singapore, 𨑨迌 tshit-thô means simply "to play" (as in children playing).

Same word, different pronunciation

There are some words used in Singaporean Hokkien that are the same in Taiwanese Hokkien, but are pronounced differently.

Hokkien Words	Definition	Singaporean Hokkien	Taiwanese Hokkien	Notes
咖啡	Coffee	ko-pi	ka-pi	"ko-pi" is a loan word from the Malay word "kopi" which in turn is taken from the English word "coffee" The Mandarin word "kāfēi" and the Taiwanese Hokkien word "ka-pi" are derived from the French word "café". As Hokkien does not have an f-sound, this turned into a p-sound. Philippine Hokkien pronounces the word for "coffee" as "ka-pé" which is also a loan word from the Filipino/Tagalog word "kape", which is also derived from the Spanish word "café".
按怎	How	án-tsuánn	án-nuá	"án-tsuánn" is also commonly used in Taiwan. The pronunciation of "án-nuá" originates from Zhangzhou.
啥物/甚物	What	si-mih/sim-mih	siánn-mi̍h	"si-mih/sim-mih" is based on the word 甚物 (used in Amoy/Zhangzhou), whereas "siánn-mi̍h" is based on the word 啥物 (used in Quanzhou). Taiwan typically uses "啥物 siánn-mi̍h" more often, although "甚物 sim-mih" is also used. Singapore also uses "啥物 siánn-mi̍h", though less often.

Influences from other languages

Because Singapore is a multilingual country, Singaporean Hokkien has been influenced by many other languages spoken in Singapore. As a result, there are many non-Hokkien words that have been imported into Singaporean Hokkien, such as those from Malay, Teochew, Cantonese, and English.

Loanwords from other Chinese varieties

There are words in Singaporean Hokkien that originated from other Chinese variants spoken in Singapore.

Singaporean Hokkien	Definition	Amoy Hokkien	Notes
偏 phinn	Cheap	俗 sio̍k	偏 phinn originates from Teochew. 俗 sio̍k also used in Amoy/Quanzhou/Zhangzhou
死爸 sí-pē	Very	眞 / 足 tsin / tsiok	Originated from Teochew word 死爸 sí-pĕ. Interchangeably used in Singaporean Hokkien, which can coincide with the Hokkien pronunciation of 死爸 sí-pē. The word 死爸 sí-pē in original Hokkien is a vulgar word that means "to the extent that your/my father dies".
山龜 suānn-ku	Country-bumpkin	土包仔 thóo-pau-á	Originated from Teochew, lit. "mountain tortoise"
無便 bô-piàn	There is no way (nothing can be done)	無法度 bô-huat-tō	Originated from Teochew
做儛 tsò-bú	together	做伙 / 做陣 / 鬭陣 tsuè-he / tsuè-tīn / tàu-tīn	Originated from Teochew
緊張 kán-tsiong	Nervous	緊張 kín-tiunn	Originated from Cantonese

Malay loanwords

The following are the common Malay loanwords used in Singaporean Hokkien. Most of them are also used in Amoy.

Singaporean Hokkien	Hanzi	Definition	Amoy Hokkien	Notes
Su-ka (suka)	舒合 (su-kah)	Like	佮意 (kah-ì)
Sabun	雪文 (sap-bûn)	Soap	茶箍 (tê-khoo)	雪文 (sap-bûn) is also used in Taiwan. Amoy, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou also uses 雪文 (sap-bûn). Originates from old Portuguese "sabon" (modern Portuguese uses "sabão") which also gave Malay its word for soap. 茶箍/茶枯 (tê-khoo) is also used in Amoy/Quanzhou/Zhangzhou.
Kah-win (kahwin)	交寅 (kau-ín)	Marry	結婚 (kiat-hun)	交寅 (kau-ín) is also used in Amoy. Originates from Malay.
Ka-cau		Disturb	攪擾 (kiáu-liáu)
Ba-Lu (baru)		Recently	最近 (tsuè-kīn)
Pa-sak (pasar)	巴刹 (pa-sat)	Market	市場 (tshī-tiûnn) or 菜市 (tshài-tshī)
Ma-ta (mata-mata)		Police	警察 (kéng-tshat)	Mata literally means "eye" and is used as a colloquial term for the police. 'mata-mata' may also be used to mean 'spy'.
Ga-duh		Quarrel	冤家 (uan-ke)
Si-nang (senang)		Easy	簡單 (kán-tan)
To-long		Help	拜託 (pài-thok)，幫忙 (pang-bâng) or 鬥相共 (tàu-sann-kāng)
Sa-lah		Offence, Wrong	犯法 (huān-huat)
Ta-pi (tetapi)		But	但是 (tān-sī)， 毋過 (m̄-koh/m-ku) or 猶毋過(iáu m̄-koh)	毋過 is also used in Amoy/Quanzhou/Zhangzhou. Quanzhou typically pronounces 毋過 as "m̄-ku", whereas Zhangzhou pronounces 毋過 as "m̄-koh".
Roti		Bread	麵包 (mī-pau) or 麭 (pháng) (Japanese loanwords)
Pun	本(pun)	Also	嘛是 (mā sī) or 也是 (iā-sī)	E.g. 伊本是眞帥 (i pun-sī tsin suí) - She is also very pretty Both other Amoy Hokkien words are also used.
Saman		summons (fine)	罰款 (hua̍t-khuán)
Agak Agak		Guess/Estimate	臆 (ioh)
Kentang		Potato	馬鈴薯 (má-lêng-tsû)
Guli		Marble	大理石 (tāi-lí-tsio̍h)
Botak		Bald/Baldy	光頭 (kng-thâu) or 禿頭 (thut-thâu)
Pakat	巴結 (pá-kat)	Conspire	串通 (tshuàn-thong)
Buaya	磨仔 (buá à)	Crocodile	鱷魚 (kho̍k-hî)
Beh Ta-han	袂扙捍	Cannot tolerate	擋袂牢 (tòng bē tiâu)	Formed by Hokkien word "beh 袂" and Malay word "tahan"
Mana Eh Sai	Mana 會使	How can this be?	敢會使 (kam ē-sái)	Formed by Malay word "mana" and Hokkien word "e-sai 會使"
Lokun	老君	Doctor	醫生 (i-seng)	From Malay word "Dukun", which means shaman or medicine man. Alternatively, 老君 lo-kun is related to Taoist's deity Daode Tianzun, which is commonly known as Taishang Laojun (太上老君) "The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord". Many Chinese in Singapore practiced Taoism and visited Taoist temples to prescribe medicine to cure their disease. Naturally, the deity became like a doctor. Lokun 老君 can also mean a wise man.

English loanwords

There are also many English loanwords used in Singaporean Hokkien. They are usually used when the speaker does not know the Hokkien equivalent. Some of these English terms are related to working and living in Singapore

English loanwords in Singaporean Hokkien	Compare Taiwanese Hokkien
Shopping	踅街 (se̍h-kue)
MRT	地鐵 (tē-thih) or 捷運 (tsia̍t-ūn)
But	但是 (tān-sī) or 毋過 (m̄-koh)
Toilet	便所 (piān-sóo)

Vocabulary from Old Chinese

Main articles: Old Chinese and Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters

Certain colloquial pronunciations of Singaporean Hokkien words are directly inherited from the consonant system of Old Chinese. Hokkien did not experience a great phonological change throughout the transition period from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese.

Min dialects, including Hokkien, preserved a unique feature of Old Chinese: it does not have labiodental consonants. For instance, the word "分" is pronounced as fen in Mandarin, but as pun in Hokkien. This marks a major difference between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese.

Old Chinese words whose usage is preserved in Singaporean Hokkien

Hokkien Vocabulary	Mandarin Equivalent	English	Notes
汝 lí / lír / lú	你 nǐ	you
伊 i	他/她/它 tā	he/she
箸 tī / tīr	筷子 kuàizi	chopsticks
物件 mi̍h-kiānn	東西 dōngxi	things
按呢 án-ni / án-ne	這麼 zhème	like this
按怎 àn-tsuánn	怎麼 zěnme	how?
厝 tshù	房子 fángzi	house
檨 suāinn	芒果 mángguǒ	mango
枵 iau	餓 è	hungry	e.g. 我個腹肚眞枵。 (I'm very hungry.)
尻川 kha-tshng	屁股 pìgǔ	buttock	e.g. 拍尻川！(Spank [his] bottom!)
跤 kha	腳 jiǎo	leg
塗跤 thôo-kha	地板 dìbǎn	floor
鼎 tiánn	鍋 guō	wok
肉脞 bah-tshò	碎肉 suìròu	minced meat
蹛 tuà	住 zhù	to live/reside	e.g. 汝蹛底落？ (Where do you live?)
徛 khiā	住 zhù	to live/reside	e.g. 我徛佇牛車水。 (I live in Chinatown.)
佇 tī / tīr	在 zài	to be located in/at	e.g. 汝佇底落？ (Where are you?)
暗暝 àm-mî / àm-mê	晚上 wǎnshang	night
晏 uànn	晚 wǎn	night
門跤口 mn̂g-kha-kháu	門口 ménkǒu	entrance
外口 guā-kháu	外面 wàimiàn	outside
泅水 siû-tsuí	游泳 yóuyǒng	swim
卽陣 tsit-tsūn	現在 xiànzài	now
卽久 tsit-kú	現在 xiànzài	now
卽馬 tsit-má	現在 xiànzài	now
現此時 hiān-tsú-sî	現在 xiànzài	now
當今 tong-kim	現在 xiànzài	nowadays
眠床 bîn-tshn̂g	床 chuáng	bed
遘 kàu	到 dào	get to/reach	e.g. 我遘厝了。 (I've reached home.)
轉 tńg	回去 huíqù	go back	e.g. 我轉去學堂提物件。 (I came back to get my things.)
倒轉 tò-tńg	回去 huíqù	go back
食 tsia̍h	吃 chī	eat
猶未 á-buē	還沒 háiméi	not yet	e.g. 我猶未食飯。 (I've not yet eaten.)
趁錢 thàn-tsînn	賺錢 zhuànqián	earn money

Cultural use

See also: Written Hokkien

In religion

Extract from a Buddhist repentance sutra 「大悲懺法儀規」 (with Singapore-style Hokkien romanization) taken from a Buddhist temple in Singapore

A display outside Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church showing Hokkien Sunday Services (on the right side)

Hokklo Taoist priests are the largest group among Taoist clergy community in Singapore, they had always conduct their religious services in Hokkien and still continue to do so. Most Tangki or Chinese mediums from Hokkien temples also communicate in Hokkien during spiritual consultation. Some of the Chinese Buddhist temples in Singapore continue to recite the Buddhist scriptures in Hokkien during their daily worship services. The scriptures contain Singapore-style Hokkien romanization are available to assist during the scriptural recitation. There are also Hokkien Buddhist sermons CDs made available and distribute among Hokkien communities in Singapore and overseas. Some of the Chinese Christian churches in Singapore also have services conducted in Singaporean Hokkien.

Music

There exist Singaporean Hokkien writings, folk adages, and ballads written by early Chinese immigrants to Singapore.

Amongst the folk ballads, a few outstanding writings tell of the history and hardship of early Chinese immigrants to Singapore.

There are 18 sections in the poetry ballad "行船歌" (Hâng-tsûn-kua) ("Songs of traveling on a boat"), which talks about how early immigrants migrated to Singapore.

There is another ballad called "砰嘭水中流" (Pin-pong-tsúi-tiong-lâu) ("Flow in the midst of water"):

乞

kih

涸

kok

木

bo̍k

爲

ūi

舟，

tsiu

乞 涸 木 爲 舟，

kih kok bo̍k ūi tsiu

砰

pin

嘭

pong

水

tsúi

中

tiong

流，

lâu

砰 嘭 水 中 流，

pin pong tsúi tiong lâu

門雙

mn̂g-siang

劃槳，

u̍ih-hiúnn

門雙 劃槳，

mn̂g-siang u̍ih-hiúnn

噝

si

刷

suit

到

kàu

泉州。

tsuân-tsiu

噝 刷 到 泉州。

si suit kàu tsuân-tsiu

An example of a folk love ballad is "雪梅思君" (Suat-m̂-su-kun) ("Snow and plum thinking of a gentlemen"), on the loyalty and chastity of love.

An example of love poetry is "針線情" (tsiam-suànn-tsiânn） ("The emotions of needle and thread"):

你

lí

是

sī

針，

tsiam,

我

guá

是

sī

線，

suànn,

針線

tsiam-suànn

永遠

éng-uán

黏

liâm

相

siòng

倚。

uá

你 是 針， 我 是 線， 針線 永遠 黏 相 倚。

lí sī tsiam, guá sī suànn, tsiam-suànn éng-uán liâm siòng uá

人

lâng

講

kóng

針

tsiam

補

póo

針

tsiam

也

hiam

著

tio̍h

線，

suànn,

爲何

ūi-hô

放

pàng

阮

gún

咧

leh

孤單。

koo-tuann

人 講 針 補 針 也 著 線， 爲何 放 阮 咧 孤單。

lâng kóng tsiam póo tsiam hiam tio̍h suànn, ūi-hô pàng gún leh koo-tuann

啊！

Ah,

你

lí

我

guá

本

pún

是

sī

同

tâng

被單，

phuē-tuann,

怎樣

tsuánn-iūnn

來

lâi

拆散？

thiah-suànn

啊！ 你 我 本 是 同 被單， 怎樣 來 拆散？

Ah, lí guá pún sī tâng phuē-tuann, tsuánn-iūnn lâi thiah-suànn

有

ū

針

tsiam

無

bô

爲

suànn

叫

kiò

阮

gún

要

ài

按怎，

an-tsuánn,

思念

su-liām

心情

sim-tsiânn

無帶

bô-tè

看。

khuànn

有 針 無 爲 叫 阮 要 按怎， 思念 心情 無帶 看。

ū tsiam bô suànn kiò gún ài an-tsuánn, su-liām sim-tsiânn bô-tè khuànn

Getai

Main article: Getai

Singapore also held Getai during traditional Chinese festivals, for instance the Zhong Yuan Festival. During the Getai event, it is common to speak a number of Chinese dialects, including Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese. During the 1960s, Hokkien song was particularly popular. The Singapore Hokkien star Chen Jin Lang (陳金浪) was once the compere and main singer during the Hungry Ghost Festival. His famous song "10 levels of Hades" ("十殿閻君") was especially popular.

In opera

See also: Hokkien opera

Early Singaporean Hokkien opera had its origins in Gaojia opera, which was brought from Quanzhou to Singapore during the late 19th century. In 1927, the Taiwanese Gezai opera spread to Singapore. Because its lyrics and singing style were easier to understand, it made a great impact on Singapore. Consequently, by the mid 20th century, it had replaced Gaojia opera to become the mainstream Hokkien opera in Singapore.

Currently, Singapore Hokkien opera is performed by two older troupes—Sin Sai Hong Hokkien Opera Troupe (新賽風閩劇團) and Xiao Kee Lin Hokkien Opera Troupe (筱麒麟閩劇團)—and three newer troupes—Sio Gek Leng Hokkien Opera Troupe (筱玉隆閩劇團), Ai Xin Hokkien Opera Troupe (愛心歌仔戲團), and Do Opera [Hokkien] (延戲[福建歌仔戲]), which is the newest.

A Singapore Chinese opera school nurtures talents in opera, including Hokkien opera.

In movies

Singapore Hokkien movies began to appear in the late 1990s, notably by dubbing in Hokkien mainstream Chinese movies made in Singapore. Amongst these, movies directed by Jack Neo, such as I Not Stupid and Money No Enough were popular. They reflected the social environment of local Singaporeans.

In radio

Although Singapore radios started to ban Hokkien in the 1980s, Rediffusion Singapore continued to broadcast in Hokkien and greatly contributed to the culture of Singapore. For instance, the Hokkien story-telling program Amoy folks story (廈語民間故事), by Koh Sock May (許淑梅), was very popular.

Nanyin

Main article: Nanguan music

Nanyin (Southern Music) first spread to Singapore in 1901. Many immigrants from Quanzhou began to establish various Nanyin organizations.

Those which survive include the Siong Leng Musical Association, which was established in 1941. It was responsible for promoting Nanyin, as well as Liyuan opera. In 1977, the then chairman of the association, Ting Ma Cheng (丁馬成), advocated for the ASEAN Nanyin Performance (亞細安南樂大會奏), which helped to revive Nanyin. In addition, in order to educate young people about this performance art, he also published two books on Nanyin and Liyuan opera.

Currently, the Siong Leng Musical Association is led by Ding Honghai (丁宏海), and it continues to promote Nanyin in Singapore.

Footprints of Pe̍h-ōe-jī

Main article: Pe̍h-ōe-jī

Provided by descendant of Tan Boon Hak, 陳文學, a cousin of Tan Kah Kee, who donated it to the Brownies for the exhibition

There are some letters written in Pe̍h-ōe-jī from early Hokkien migrants in Singapore.

An example was provided by the descendant of Tan Book Hak, a cousin of Tan Kah Kee.

POJ Letter (in romanized Hokkien)

Hàn-jī transcription

12 ge̍h 26 ji̍t Ha̍k-ḿ siu Tī bô phah-sǹg ê tiong-kan chih-tio̍h lâi phoe chit hong, lāi-bīn só kóng long chai siông-sè, lūn lín Hiân-chek ê sin-khu, kūn lāi ū khah ióng, lín bián khoà-lū, lūn jī á nā-sī khah kín tò-lâi pó khah hó. Nā tò-lâi chia, ū sî iā thang hō͘ in hiân-chek khah I kàu-hùn, bián-lē. sǹg hiân-sî nî-hè iáu chió, bē bián tit-siū ín-iń, ng-bāng nî-hè kàu gia̍h i chiū ē bat siūⁿ . lí m̄-thang khoà-lū. lūn chhin-chiâⁿ goá ta̍k lé-pài lo̍h khì Ē-Mn̄g thām thiā, long boē hó-sè. Tā-chiah chia bān-bān koh chhōe, goá iā chin tì-ì . lūn su-chē hiân-chai bô tī the, iā thang chai ié ī-sū. Lái heⁿ lun̄ mā ái kóng hó, chiaⁿ-ge̍h chiah beh tò-lâi. Lūn chō sō ê seng-khu ū ióng-ióng á-bô. Chin siàu-liân ǹg-bāng mê-nî ē long tò-lâi, koh $100.00 kho ě sū. Su á-bô ti-teh thēng hāu-lâi,góa chiah mn̄g I ê siông-sè, chit ê kì-hō,lí chai āu-pái m̄-thang kià kòe lâi sàng góa, ū chōe chōe êhùi khì. Chhéng an put it. Ông pheh lîm

12月26日 學姆 收 佇無拍算的中間，接著來批一封，內面所講攏知詳細。論恁賢叔的身軀，近來有較勇，恁免掛慮。論兒仔若是較緊倒来保較好，若倒來遮，有時也通予(亻因) 賢叔共伊教訓、勉勵。算現時年歲猶少，袂免得受引誘，向望年歲夠額 伊就會捌想，汝毋通掛慮。論親情，我逐禮拜落去廈門探聽，攏袂好勢，踮遮則慢慢閣揣，我也真致意。論師姐現在無佇咧，也無通知伊的意思，來衡論嘛愛講好，正月才欲倒來。論做嫂用身軀有勇勇抑無？真少年，向望明年會攏倒來，閣$100.00箍的事。師也無佇咧，聽後來，我才問伊的詳細，這個記號，汝知後擺汝毋通寄過來送我，有濟濟的費氣。請安不一。 王帕林

Places in Singapore

Singapore's Chinese name "新加坡" (sin-ka-pho) originated from Hokkien's transliteration of "Singapore". In addition, there are many other place names in Singapore that originated from Hokkien: Ang Mo Kio and Toa Payoh, for instance.

See also

• Hoklo people
• Hokkien culture
• Hokkien architecture
• Written Hokkien
• Hokkien media
• Holopedia
• Hokkien influence on Singaporean Mandarin
• Speak Hokkien Campaign
• Singaporean Mandarin
• Singdarin

References

Academic sources

• Chua, B. H. (2000). Taiwan's present/Singapore's past mediated by Hokkien language. Singapore: Dept. of Sociology, National University of Singapore. ISBN 981-3033-43-6.
• The Rev. Carstairs Douglas (1899). Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, with the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects. London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England. ISBN 1-86210-068-3.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2002). 新加坡闽南话词典 [Singaporean Hokkien Dictionary] (in Chinese). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-3530-4.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2000). 新加坡闽南话概说 [Survey of Singaporean Hokkien] (in Chinese). Xiamen: Xiamen University Press. ISBN 7-5615-1692-4.
• 周长楫、周清海 (2003). 新加坡闽南话俗语歌谣选 [Hokkien Folks Songs of Singapore] (in Chinese). Xiamen: Xiamen University Press. ISBN 7-5615-2158-8.

External links

• Holopedia - Wikipedia in Peh-oe-ji (Wikipedia in Hokkien)
• Online Hokkien Forum (in English)
• 閩南人 The Hokkiens——新加坡國家圖書館館藏選介