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Singaporean Hokkien[lower-alpha 1] 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.[lower-alpha 2] It bears similarities with the Amoy[lower-alpha 3] spoken in Amoy, now better known as Xiamen, as well as Taiwanese Hokkien which is spoken in Taiwan.[2]

Singaporean Hokkien
新加坡福建話 Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-ōe (POJ)
Native to	Singapore
Native speakers	1.2 million (2017)[1]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Min Southern Min Quanzhang Quanzhou dialect Singaporean Hokkien
Writing system	Chinese characters (Traditional or Simplified) Latin for romanisation (Pe̍h-ōe-jī and Tâi-lô)
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	–
Glottolog	None
Linguasphere	79-AAA-jek
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Singaporean Hokkien
Traditional Chinese	新加坡福建話
Simplified Chinese	新加坡福建话
Hokkien POJ	Sin-ka-pho Hok-kiàn-ōe
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
Hokkien POJ	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
Hokkien POJ	Sin-ka-pho Bân-lâm-ōe
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.[lower-alpha 4] Singaporean Hokkien generally uses Amoy as its standard, 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 as a combined Hokkien–Teochew speech.[lower-alpha 5] 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[lower-alpha 6] 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.[lower-alpha 7]

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 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.[3]

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.[3]

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

Consonants

Initials

		Bilabial		Alveolar		Alveolo-palatal		Velar		Glottal
		Voiceless	Voiced	Voiceless	Voiced	Voiceless	Voiced	Voiceless	Voiced	Voiceless
Nasal			m [m] 名 (miâ)		n [n] 耐 (nāi)				ng [ŋ] 硬 (ngǐ/ngē)
Plosive	Unaspirated	p [p] 邊 (pian)	b [b][lower-alpha 8] 文 (bûn)	t [t] 地 (tē)	d [d][lower-alpha 9][4] 日 (di̍t)			k [k] 求 (kiû)	g [g][lower-alpha 8] 牛 (gû)	ʔ [ʔ] 音 (im)
	Aspirated	ph [pʰ] 波 (pho)		th [tʰ] 他 (thaⁿ)				kh [kʰ] 去 (khì)
Affricate	Unaspirated			ch [ts] 曾 (chan)	j [dz]* 熱 (jua̍h)	chi [tɕ] 祝 (chiok)	ji [dʑ]* 入 (ji̍p)
	Aspirated			chh [tsʰ] 出 (chhut)		chhi [tɕʰ] 手 (chhiú)
Fricative				s [s] 衫 (saⁿ)		si [ɕ] 心 (sim)				h [h] 火 (hé)
Lateral					l [l] 柳 (liú)
Labialized									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 (oa̍t) -k [k̚] 速 (sok) -h [ʔ] 物 (mih)

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

Vowels

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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 hngo2 (an exclamatory remark in Jinjiang /Nan'an), in addition to the widely used Hokkien exclamatory particles lah (啦) or lor (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 poeh 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 chhit pat, where in Singaporean Hokkien it would be pronounced as káu poeh sì-sì sì la̍k chhit poeh.

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 (all being standard Hokkien), 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	Standard Hokkien (Amoy/Taiwanese)	Singaporean Hokkien	English
生	sing	seng (Teochew)	'to live'
淸	tshing	cêng (Teochew)	'clear'
明	bîng	bêng (Southern Zhangzhou) / mêng (Teochew)	'bright'
冷	líng	léng (Southern Zhangzhou/Teochew)	'cold'
英	ing	eng (Southern Zhangzhou/Teochew)	'brave'
政	tsìng	zèng (Teochew)	'political'

Pronunciation of 'I'

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

Grammar

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

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 standard Hokkien and Taiwan Hokkien, the word 欲/卜 (beh) (which means "want" in Hokkien) is used instead. 愛 (ai) in standard 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 chia̍h-pn̄g mài?)	欲食飯無？ (beh chia̍h-pn̄g bô?)	Do you want to eat?
汝有睏飽無？ (lé ū khùn-pá bô?)	汝敢有睏飽？ (lí kám ū khùn-pá?)	Did you have enough sleep?

Numerals

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

Hanzi	Pe̍h-ōe-jī	Value	Notes
零, 〇	lêng	0	〇 is an informal way to represent zero also 空 (khòng)
一	chi̍t	1	also pronounced it also 么 (trad)/幺 (simp) (io) when used in phone numbers etc.
兩	nn̄g	2	also 二 (lī/jī)
三	saⁿ	3
四	sì	4
五	gō	5
六	la̍k	6
七	chhit	7
八	poeh	8
九	káu	9
十	cha̍p	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 Standard Hokkien

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 standard in 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 (Hanji)	POJ	Standard	Definition
死景	sí-kéng	博物館 (phok-bu̍t-kóan)	'museum'
活景	o̍ah-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	chhiò bú	媠查某 (súi cha-bó͘)	'pretty lady'
督公	tok-kong	讚 (chàn)	'superb' (originated from Na Tuk Kong)

Same meaning, different words

Singaporean Hokkien	Definition	Compare Amoy/Taiwanese	Notes
欲 (ai)	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) or 要 (beh)
汝 (lí/lɯ2/lú)	You	汝 (lí)	"你 (lí)" (used in Amoy/Taiwanese) is also used in Singaporean Hokkien, originating from Amoy speech. The pronunciation of lɯ2 汝 originated from the Tâng-oann accent (同安音), or could be traced to Teochew, while lú 汝 came from the Ho-san accent (suburbs in Amoy Island) 禾山腔(廈門島郊區腔).
恁儂 or 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 or 我人 (góa lâng)	We	阮 (gún/guán) or 咱 (lán)	"阮儂 or 阮人 gún lâng" and "咱/咱儂 lán/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 (i lâng)	They	(亻因 /怹) (in)	The addition of 儂 lâng originates from Teochew, and is also commonly used in Shanghainese.
錯 chhò	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-chá	In the past	頂擺 (téng-mái) or 以前 í-chêng	All variants are used in Amoy/Taiwanese
鬥跤手 tàu-kha-chhiú	Help	鬥相共 tàu-saⁿ-kāng	All variants are used in Amoy / Taiwanese
卽兜 chit-tâu	This place	這爿 chit-pêng or 遮 chiâ	這爿 chit-pêng is also commonly used in Singapore, 遮 chiâ less so. 這chit is sometimes written alternatively as 即 or 今
按呢款 án-ne-khóan	In this way, so	按呢 án-ne/án-ni	款 khóan is not generally appended in Amoy / Taiwanese
幾鐳 (kui-lui) or 幾箍 kui khoo	How much?	偌濟錢 jōa-chōe chîⁿ	All variants are used in Amoy. Both "lui 鐳" and "chîⁿ 錢" are used in Minnan region today to mean "money". In Singapore however, "lui 鐳" is more commonly used to mean "money". The word "lui 鐳" was previously thought to have originated from Malay. However, research indicated that the word "lui 鐳" 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. "lui 鐳" used to be used in Taiwan, but due to Japanese colonial rule, "lui 鐳" fell out of use. It was replaced by "錢 chîⁿ" which is the normal term for "money" in Taiwan today.
轉厝 tńg-chhū (pron. tn̂g-chhū)	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 kiaⁿ-ji̍t	Today	今仔日 kin-á-ji̍t	Singapore ‘今仔’日 kiaⁿ-ji̍t is a concatenation 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-chú-sî (pron. hiān-chū-sî)	Both Singapore and Amoy /Taiwanese commonly use 這陣 chit-chūn to encompass the meaning of "nowadays". 現此時 hián-chhú-sî is commonly used in Taiwanese.
即陣 chit-chūn	Now	這馬 chit-má or 這站 chit-chām	這陣 chit-chūn is also used in Amoy / Taiwanese
四散 sì-sōaⁿ (pron. sí-sóaⁿ)	anyhow/casual/random	烏白 (o͘-pe̍h)	E.g. 伊四散講 i sì-sōaⁿ kóng - He speaks casually (or nonsense). 四散 (sì-sōaⁿ) is sometimes also used in Amoy, and regularly used in Teochew.
定著 tiāⁿ-tio̍h	surely	一定 it-tīng or 絕對 cho̍at-tùi (pron. chòat-tùi)	定著 tiāⁿ-tio̍h is sometimes also used in Taiwan. 一定 it-tīng is a loan from Mandarin.
驚輸 kiaⁿ-su	Fear of losing out/failure - kiasu	驚失敗 (kiaⁿ sit-pāi)
公私 kong-si	Share	分 pun or 公家 kong-ke
正 chiā	Very	真 chin
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-chài
食風 chia̍h-hong	To go on holiday, or more generally to live in luxury	𨑨迌 tshit-thô	In Amoy / Taiwanese, "食風 (chia̍h-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-chóaⁿ	án-nuá	"án-chóaⁿ" is also commonly used in Taiwan. The pronunciation of "án-nuá" originates from Zhangzhou.
啥物/甚物	What	si-mih/sim-mih	siáⁿ-mi̍h	"si-mih/sim-mih" is based on the word 甚物 (used in Amoy/Zhangzhou), whereas "siáⁿ-mi̍h" is based on the word 啥物 (used in Quanzhou). Taiwan typically uses "啥物 siáⁿ-mi̍h" more often, although "甚物 sim-mih" is also used. Singapore also uses "啥物 siáⁿ-mi̍h", though less often.

Influences from other local 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	Notes
偏 (phiⁿ)	Cheap	俗 (sio̍k)	偏 (phiⁿ) originates from Teochew. 俗 (sio̍k) also used in Amoy/Quanzhou/Zhangzhou
死爸(sí-pē)	Very	眞 (chin) or 足 (chiok)	Originated from Teochew word 死爸 (si2-bê6). 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 (soāⁿ-ku)	Country-bumpkin	土包仔 (thó͘-pau-á)	Originated from Teochew, lit. "mountain tortoise"
無便 (bô-piàn)	There is no way (nothing can be done)	無法度 (bô-hoat-tō)	Originated from Teochew
做儛 (chò-bú),	together	做伙 (chòe-he), 做陣(chòe-tīn) or 鬭陣 (tàu-tīn)	Originated from Teochew
緊張 (gan tʂiong)	Nervous	緊張 (kín-tiuⁿ)	Originated from Cantonese

Malay loanwords

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

Malay loanwords in Singaporean Hokkien	Hanzi	Definition	Compare Original Amoy	Notes
Su-ka (suka)	舒合 (su-kah)	Like	佮意 (kah-ì)
Sabun	雪文 (sap-bûn)	Soap	茶箍 (tê-kho͘)	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-kho͘) 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 (chòe-kīn)
Pa-sak (pasar)	巴刹 (pa-sat)	Market	市場 (chhī-tiûⁿ) or 菜市 (chhài-chhī)
Ma-ta (mata-mata)		Police	警察 (kéng-chhat)	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 (oan-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-saⁿ-kāng)
Sa-lah		Offence, Wrong	犯法 (hōan-hoat)
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 chin suí) - She is also very pretty
Saman		summons (fine)	罰款 (ho̍at-khóan)
Agak Agak		Guess/Estimate	臆 (ioh)
Kentang		Potato	馬鈴薯 (má-lêng-chû)
Guli		Marble	大理石 (tāi-lí-chio̍h)
Botak		Bald/Baldy	光頭 (kng-thâu) or 禿頭 (thut-thâu)
Pakat	巴結 (pá-kat)	Conspire	串通 (chhòan-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-koe)
MRT	地鐵 (tē-thih) or 捷運 (chia̍t-ūn)
But	但是 (tān-sī) or 毋過 (m̄-koh)
Toilet	便所 (piān-só͘)

Vocabulary from Old Chinese

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.

Singaporean Hokkien preserved a unique feature of Old Chinese: it does not have the consonant "f". For instance, the word "分" is not pronounced as fen, but rather as pun. This marks a major difference between Old Chinese and Middle Chinese. Singaporean Hokkien also preserved the nasal vowel and the sai vowel of Old Chinese.

Old Chinese Words in Singaporean Hokkien -including those that are not used in Standard Mandarin, but are preserved in Singaporean Hokkien

Old Chinese Words/Hokkien pronunciation (IPA)	Meaning in Mandarin	English	Notes
汝 /li/ or /lɯ/	你	You
伊 /i/	他/她/它	He/She
箸 /ti/	筷子	chopsticks
物件/mi-kiaⁿ/	東西	Things
安呢/an-ni/	這麼	Like this
按怎/an-tzua/	怎麼	How?
厝/tsu/	房子	House
檨/suaiⁿ/	芒果	Mango
枵/iao/	肚子餓	Hungry	Eg.我個腹肚眞枵。(My stomach is very hungry)
尻川/kha-tsəng/	屁股	Buttock
骹/kha/	腳	leg
塗骹/thɔ-kha/	地上	Floor
鼎/tiaⁿ/	鍋	Wok
肉脞/ba-tsɔ	碎肉	Minced meat
蹛/tua/	在/居住	Live	E.g.：汝蹛底落？ (Where do you live?)
佇/ti/	在	at	E.g.：汝佇底落？(Where are you at?)
徛/khia/	居住/站	live	E.g.：我徛佇牛車水。(I live in Chinatown)
暗冥/am-mi/	晚上	Night
晏/uaⁿ/	晚	night
門骹口/məng-kha-khao/	門口	Entrance
外口/gua-khao/	外面	Outside
泅水/siu-tzui	游泳	swim
卽陣/tzit-tzun/	現在	now
卽久/tzit-ku/	現在	now
卽馬/tzit-ma/	現在	now
現此時/hien-tsu-si/	現在/現時	now
當今/tɔng-kim/	現在	nowadays
眠牀/bin-tsəng/	睡牀	bed
遘/kao/	到	get to	e.g：我遘厝了(I've reached home.)
转/təng/	回去	go back	E.g.：我轉去學堂提物件。(I came back to get my things)
倒轉/to-təng/	回去	go back
食/tzia/	吃	Eat
還未/ia-bue/	還沒	not yet	E.g.：我還未食飯。(I've not yet eaten.)
趁錢/than-tziⁿ/	賺錢	earn money

Cultural use

In religion

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-chûn-koa) ("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-chúi-tiong-lâu) ("Flow in the midst of water"):

乞涸木爲舟，

kih kok bo̍k ūi tsiu

砰嘭水中流，

pin pong chúi tiong lâu

門雙劃槳，

mn̂g-siang u̍ih-hiúⁿ

噝刷到泉州。

si suit kàu chôan-chiu

An example of a folk love ballad is "雪梅思君" (Soat-m̂-su-kun) ("Snow and plum thinking of a gentlemen"), on the loyalty and chastity of love.[5]

An example of love poetry is "針線情" (Chiam-sòaⁿ-chiâⁿ） ("The emotions of needle and thread"):

你是針，我是線，針線永遠黏相倚。

lí sī chiam ， góa sī sòaⁿ ，chiam-sòaⁿ éng-óan liâm siòng óa

人講針補針針也著線，爲何放阮咧孤單。

lâng kóng chiam pó͘ chiam hiam tio̍h sòaⁿ， ūi-hô pàng gún leh ko͘-toaⁿ

啊！你我本是同被單，怎樣來拆散？

Ah, lí góa pún sī tâng phōe-toaⁿ, chóaⁿ-iūⁿ lâi thiah-sòaⁿ

有針無爲叫阮要按怎，思念心情無帶看。

ū chiam bô sòaⁿ kiò gún ài an-chóaⁿ， su-liām sim-chiâⁿ bô-tè khòaⁿ

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

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 Xu Shumei (許淑梅), was very popular.

Nanyin

Nanyin (Southern Music) first spread to Singapore in 1901.[6] 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.[7]

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

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.[8]

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. Suá 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

Notes

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

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