Hokkien language spoken natively in Singapore. Within Chinese linguistic academic circles, this dialect is known as Singaporean Ban-lam Gu.[c] It bears similarities with the Amoy[d] spoken in Amoy, now better known as Xiamen, as well as Taiwanese Hokkien which is spoken in Taiwan.[7]
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
Nevertheless, the grammar and tones of Singaporean Hokkien are still largely based on Banlam. When compared to the Taiwanese accent[g] 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.[h]
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
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.[8]
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.[8]
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.
), 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,
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/Taiwanese 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 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.
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 and Taiwanese bear close resemblance, and are usually considered the prestige dialect of Hokkien, differing only in terms of vocabulary
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
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.
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:
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
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.[10]
Old Chinese words whose usage is preserved in Singaporean Hokkien
Extract from a Buddhist repentance sutra 「大悲懺法儀規」 (with Singapore-style Hokkien romanization) taken from a Buddhist temple in SingaporeA display outside Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church showing Hokkien Sunday Services (on the right side)
Hokklo
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.[11]
An example of love poetry is "針線情" (tsiam-suànn-tsiânn） ("The emotions of needle and thread"):
Early Singaporean Hokkien opera had its origins in
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 (Southern Music) first spread to Singapore in 1901.[12] 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.[13]
Currently, the Siong Leng Musical Association is led by Ding Honghai (丁宏海), and it continues to promote Nanyin 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.
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.
