| Name | Singapore Hokkien |
Nativename | 新加坡福建话 (Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn ōe) |
Familycolor | Sino-Tibetan |
States | Singapore |
Region | Singapore |
Speakers | 1,824,741 |
Fam2 | Chinese |
Fam3 | Min |
Fam4 | Min Nan |
Fam5 | Hokkien |
Fam6 | South East Asian Hokkien |
Fam7 | Southern Malay Peninsular Hokkien |
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Singaporean Hokkien ( ) is a local variant of the Hokkien dialect spoken in Singapore. It is closely related to the Southern Malaysian Hokkien (南马福建话) spoken in Southern Malaysia as well as Riau Hokkien (廖内福建话) spoken in the Indonesian province of Riau. It also bears close resemblance with Amoy (厦门话) spoken in Xiamen of China and Taiwanese (台湾话) spoken in Taiwan.
Hokkien, is the Minnan pronunciation for Fujian (province of China) and is generally the term used by the Chinese in South-East Asia to refer to the Minnan dialect (闽南语). Singaporean Hokkien generally holds Amoy dialect as its own standard, and its accent is predominantly based on a mixture of Quanzhou speech (泉州话) and Zhangzhou speech (漳州话), but with a greater inclination towards Quanzhou accent.
Like many spoken languages in Singapore, Singaporean Hokkien is also subjected to influence from various languages or dialects spoken in Singapore. For instance, Singaporean Hokkien is influenced to a certain degree by Teochew, and is sometimes regarded as a combined Hokkien-Teochew speech (福潮话). In addition, it has also borrowed many loanwords from Malay and English.
Nevertheless, the grammar and tones of Singaporean Hokkien are still largely based on Minnan. When compared to Taiwanese's prestige accent, Singaporean Hokkien has a greater inclination towards Quanzhou accent and is also closer to Taipei and Amoy accent and less close to the Tainan accent.
A Singaporean would likely not have trouble conversing with Taiwanese speakers in Singaporean Hokkien. Similarly, Singaporean Hokkien is understood by Taiwanese speakers, with the exception of some Malay and English loanwords.
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Singaporean Hokkien Video
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Same meaning, different words : |
Singaporean Hokkien |
Definition |
Compare Taiwanese Hokkien |
Notes |
---|
(ai) |
Want |
(beh) |
爱(ài) in Taiwanese Hokkien means "love" or "must". "欲" in Singaporean Hokkien can be classified as an auxiliary verb denoting volition of the following verb. |
(lé or lú) |
You |
(lí) |
"你 (lí)" is also used in Singaporean Hokkien |
(lín lâng) |
You-all |
(lín) |
|
(góa lâng) |
We |
(gún) or (lán) |
" gún lâng" and " lán/lán lâng" are also used in Singaporean Hokkien |
(i lâng) |
They |
(in) |
|
chhò |
Wrong |
m̄-tio̍h |
The Malay word "salah" is actually more commonly used to mean 'wrong' in Singaporean Hokkien. " " (m̀-tio̍h) is also used in Singaporean Hokkien |
chia̍h-páh bē |
Hello! |
lí-hó |
" chia̍h-páh bē" is also used in Taiwan, but generally means "have you eaten already?" |
to lo̍h |
Where? |
tó-uī |
E.g. khì to lo̍h, "Where are you going?" |
khiā |
Live |
tòa |
E.g. khiā to lo̍h',' "Where do you live?" |
kū-chá |
In the past |
(éng-pái) or í-chêng |
All variants are used in Singapore Hokkien |
tàu-kha-chhiú |
Help |
tàu-saⁿ-kāng |
"斗跤手 (tàu-kha-chhiú)" is also used in Taiwan |
chit-tau |
This place |
chit-pêng or chia |
chit-pêng is also commonly used in Singapore, chia less so |
án-ne-khóan |
In this way, so |
án-ne |
khóan is not generally appended in Taiwan |
(kui-lui) or kui kho |
How much? |
jōa-chōe chîⁿ |
The word "lui" is a Malay loan. |
tńg-chhū (pron. tn̂g-chhū) |
Go home |
tńg-khì |
tńg-khì is used in Singapore as well, but with a more general meaning of "going back", not specifically home. |
kiaⁿ-ji̍t |
Today |
kin-á-ji̍t |
Singapore kiaⁿ-ji̍t is a concatenation of Taiwan kin-á-ji̍t. Also heard in Singapore is (kin-ji̍t). |
tong-kim |
Nowadays |
hián-chú-sî (pron. hiān-chū-sî) |
Both Singapore and Taiwan more commonly use chit-chūn to encompass the meaning of "nowadays" |
chit-chūn |
Now |
chit-má or chit-chām |
chit-chūn is also used in Taiwan |
sì-sōaⁿ (pron. sí-sóaⁿ) |
anyhow/casual/random |
(o͘-pe̍h) |
E.g. 伊四散讲 i sì-sōaⁿ kóng - He speaks casually (or nonsense). (sì-sōaⁿ) is sometimes also used in Taiwan. |
tiāⁿ-tio̍h |
surely |
it-tīng or cho̍at-tùi (pron. chòat-tùi) |
tiāⁿ-tio̍h is sometimes also used in Taiwan. it-tīng is a loan from Mandarin. |
gia̍h or giâ |
Take |
thêh |
gia̍h is also used in Taiwan, while thêh in Singapore has the specific meaning of "carry". |
kiaⁿ-su |
Fear of losing out/failure - kiasu |
(kiaⁿ sit-pāi) |
|
kong-si |
Share |
pun or kong-ke |
kong-si means "company" in Taiwanese |
chiā |
Very |
chin, chiâⁿ or chiok |
|
siong |
Very tough or difficult |
kan-lân |
" siong" literally means "injurious", but has become slang in Singapore for "tough" or "difficult" |
heng |
Luckily, fortunately |
hó-ka-chài |
In Taiwanese Hokkien, " hīng-ūn" is also used. |
sioⁿ-siâng |
same |
kāng-khóan |
|
chia̍h-hong |
To go on holiday, or more generally to live in luxury |
thit-thô |
In Taiwanese Hokkien, " (chia̍h-hong)" is also used but means "facing the wind". In Singapore, thit-thô means simply "to play" (as in children playing). |
Malay loanwords : |
Malay loanwords in Singaporean Hokkien |
Hanzi |
Definition |
Compare Taiwanese Hokkien |
Notes |
---|
Su-ka (soeka) |
(su-kah) |
Like |
(kah-ì) |
|
Sabun |
(sap-bûn) |
Soap |
(tê-kho͘) |
(sap-bûn) is also used in Taiwan |
Kah-win (kawin) |
交寅 (kau-ín) |
Marry |
(kiat-hun) |
|
Ka-cau |
|
Disturb |
(kiáu-liáu) |
|
Ba-Lu (Baru) |
|
Recently |
(chòe-kīn) |
|
Pa-sak (Pasar) |
(pa-sat) |
Market |
(chhī-tiûⁿ) or (chhài-chhī-á) |
|
Ma-ta (Mata Mata) |
|
Police |
(kéng-chha) |
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Ga-duh |
|
Quarrel |
(oan-ke) |
|
Si-nang (Senang) |
|
Easy |
(kán-tan) |
|
Lui (Duit) |
(lui) |
Money |
(chîⁿ) |
|
To-long |
|
Help |
(pài-thok), (pang-bâng) or (tàu-saⁿ-kāng) |
|
Sa-lah |
|
Offence, Wrong |
(hōan-hoat) |
|
Ta-pi (Tetapi) |
|
But |
(tān-sī), (m̄-koh) or (iáu m̄-koh) |
|
Loti |
|
Bread |
(mī-pau) or 'phang' (Japanese loanwords) |
|
Pun |
(pun) |
Also |
(mā sī) or (iā-sī) |
E.g. 伊本是真帅 (i pun-sī chin suí) - She is also very pretty |
Saman |
|
summons (fine) |
(ho̍at-khóan) |
|
Agak Agak |
|
Guess/Estimate |
(ioh) |
|
Kentang |
|
Potato |
(má-lêng-chû) |
|
Guli |
|
Marble |
(tāi-lí-chio̍h) |
|
Botak |
|
Bald |
(kng-thâu) or (thut-thâu) |
|
Pakat |
(pá-kat) |
Conspire |
(chhòan-thong) |
|
Buaya |
(buá à) |
Crocodile |
(kho̍k-hî) |
|
Beh Ta-han |
袂ta-han |
Cannot tolerate |
(tòng bē tiâu) |
Formed by Hokkien word "beh 袂" and Malay word "tahan" |
Mana Eh Sai |
Mana 會使 |
How can this be? |
(kam ē-sái) |
Formed by Malay word "mana" and Hokkien word "e-sai 會使" |