Penang Hokkien

[bravecows]

It occurred to me that people on this comm might find this quite interesting/useful:

Guide to writing Hokkien in the Roman alphabet

I found this interesting and in fact quite useful in improving my understanding of (Penang) Hokkien. I understand some as my parents and relatives speak it, but didn't have any systematic training (though ... does anyone?) and didn't consciously distinguish between the various consonant sounds.

There's also a guide to tones in Hokkien, and I recommend the podcast if you're interested in Penang Hokkien at all. Sometimes I put it on when I'm feeling homesick, though I only understand some of what is being said. Don't listen to it when your Hokkien-speaking relatives are around, though -- they get pretty profane!

Comments

[syntheid]

Oh interesting... Even though it's the Penang dialect, it sounds pretty similar to Taiwanese Hokkien. I wasn't sure how different they'd be. I can't actually understand Hokkien, but I recognize the sound of some of the words/phrases. Thank you for posting this.

[bravecows]

*nods* I haven't heard Taiwanese Hokkien in person, but my mom's visited Taiwan before and said she could get around pretty well speaking her (Penang/northern Malaysian) brand of Hokkien. I think they are pretty different, though -- I can't speak of grammar, but Penang Hokkien uses tons of loan words from Malay, for one thing.

[vi]

Thank you so much for this - fragments of it are coming to me as I read! This is my family's dialect and this may be a way to start learning it in earnest.

[bravecows]

You're welcome! I too have been thinking of learning Hokkien using this -- I think it'll be much easier for me if I am able to write it down.

[jolantru]

This is fantastic! I am Hokkien myself and I want to learn more about the dialect!

[bravecows]

Hooray for Hokkien speakers! \o/