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Teochew
Chaozhou, Chaoshan, Teo-Swa
潮州話 / 潮汕話 / 潮語 [1]
Native to	Chaoshan
Region	Eastern Guangdong ( Chaoshan), Thailand, Southern Vietnam and Cambodia, Indonesia ( Jambi and West Kalimantan), Singapore
Ethnicity	Teochew people
Native speakers	About 14 million in Chaoshan (2004) [2] more than 5 million overseas[ citation needed]
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Chinese Min Coastal Min Southern Min Teochew
Early forms	Proto-Sino-Tibetan Old Chinese [i] Proto-Min
Dialects	Chaozhou dialect (Teochew proper) Swatow dialect (Shantou) Jieyang dialect Chaoyang dialect Puning dialect Huilai dialect Bangkok Teochew
Writing system	Chinese characters Teochew Romanization Peng'im
Language codes
ISO 639-3	(tws is proposed [6])
Glottolog	chao1238
Linguasphere	79-AAA-ji
Teochew (Teo-Swa) within the Southern Min languages
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Teochew Min
Traditional Chinese	潮州話
Simplified Chinese	潮州话
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cháozhōu huà Wu Romanization zau tseu ghae ho Hakka Romanization Tshèu-chû-fa Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Ciu4 zau1 waa2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tiô-chiu-ōe Teochew Peng'im Dio⁵ziu¹ uê⁷ Eastern Min Fuzhou BUC Dièu-ciŭ-uâ

Teochew ^[ii], also known as Teo-Swa (or Chaoshan) ^[iii], is a Southern Min language spoken by the Teochew people in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and by their diaspora around the world. It is sometimes referred to as Chiuchow, its Cantonese rendering, due to English romanization by colonial officials and explorers. It is closely related to Hokkien, as it shares some cognates and phonology with Hokkien.

Teochew preserves many Old Chinese pronunciations and vocabulary that have been lost in some of the other modern varieties of Chinese. As such, Teochew is described as one of the most conservative Chinese languages. ^[7]

History and geography

Historically, the Teochew ^[iv] prefecture included modern prefecture-level cities of Chaozhou, Jieyang and Shantou. In China, this region is now known as Teoswa ^[v]. Parts of the Hakka-speaking Meizhou city, such as Dabu County and Fengshun, were also parts of the Teochew prefecture and contain pocket communities of Teochew speakers.

As Teochew region was one of the major sources of Chinese emigration to Southeast Asia during the 18th to 20th centuries, a considerable Overseas Chinese community in that region is Teochew-speaking. In particular, the Teochew people settled in significant numbers in Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, where they form the largest Chinese sub-language group. Additionally, there are many Teochew-speakers among Chinese communities in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia (especially in the states of Johor and Selangor) and Indonesia (especially in West Kalimantan on Borneo). Waves of migration from Teochew region to Hong Kong, especially after the communist victory of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, has also resulted in the formation of a community there, although most descendants now primarily speak Cantonese and English.

Teochew speakers are also found among overseas Chinese communities in Japan and the Western world (notably in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France and Italy), a result of both direct emigration from Teochew to these nations and secondary emigration from Southeast Asia.

In Singapore, Teochew remains the ancestral language of many Chinese Singaporeans, with Chinese of Teochew descent making up second largest Chinese group in Singapore, after the Hoklo. Despite this many Teochew people, particularly the younger generations, are shifting towards English and Mandarin as their main spoken language. This is due to the Singapore government's stringent bilingual policy that promotes English as the official language of education, government and commerce and promotes Mandarin at the expense of other Chinese languages. Some Teochew assimilated with the larger Hokkien community and speak Hokkien rather than Teochew due to Hokkien's prominent role as a lingua franca previously among the Singaporean Chinese community.

Classification

Teochew is a Southern Min language. As with other Sinitic languages, it is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, Cantonese or Shanghainese. It has only limited intelligibility with Hokkien. Even within the Teochew dialects, there is substantial variation in phonology between different regions and between different Teochew communities overseas.

The dialects of Teochew include: ^[8]

• Northern Teochew, or Chaozhou division (潮州片), including:
  • Teochew proper (潮州话 / 潮州話), spoken in urban Chaozhou ( Xiangqiao District); a similar dialect is spoken in Chenghai
  • Kekyeo dialect (揭阳话 / 揭陽話), spoken in urban Jieyang ( Rongcheng District); related dialects are spoken in adjacent areas in Jiedong, Jiexi, as well as in northern parts of Puning and Chaoyang
  • Swatow dialect (汕头话 / 汕頭話), spoken in urban Shantou ( Jinping and Longhu)
  • Raoping dialect (饶平话 / 饒平話), spoken in Raoping County
• Southern Teochew, or Chaopu division (潮普片), including:
  • Teoyeo dialect (潮阳话 / 潮陽話), spoken in the historical Teoyeo (Chaoyang) county, which includes modern Chaoyang, Chaonan, and Haojiang
  • Puning dialect (普宁话 / 普寧話), spoken in urban Puning
  • Huilai dialect (惠来话 / 惠來話), spoken in Huilai County

Some classifications consider Hai Lok Hong dialect a part of Teochew (as the third branch), while others consider it a part of Hokkien or an independent Southern Min variety. ^[9] In Nan'ao island there are two dialects, both distinct from the mainland Teochew, with Western Nan'ao dialect inclining towards the Northern Teochew, and Eastern Nan'ao dialect showing Hokkien influence, as this part of the island was included in Zhangzhou prefecture in 16—19 centuries. ^[10]

The main criterion in the classification of Teochew dialects is the presence or absence of the vowel /ɯ/. It is found in Northern Teochew in words like hṳ̂ 魚 he⁵ "fish" and sṳ̄ 事 se⁷ "thing; matter". Southern Teochew has /u/ instead (hû 魚 hu⁵, sū 事 su⁷). Hai Lok Hong and Eastern Nan'ao dialects have /i/ or /u/ instead, depending on the etymology of the word (hî 魚 hi⁵, but sū 事 su⁷), similarly to the Chiangchew Hokkien. Southern Teochew may be further divided into Huilai—Puning dialects and Teoyeo dialects, based on their tone contours. ^[8]

Zhao'an dialect, spoken in Fujian along the Guangdong border, is quite different from other southern dialects of Hokkien. It has some lexical influence from Teochew and relatively higher mutual intelligibility with it, yet in other aspects it clusters more with Hokkien than Teochew.

The prestige dialects of Teochew all belong to the Northern branch. The Northern Teochew dialects are mutually intelligible between each other, but less so with the Southern branch. ^[11]

Various stereotypes and cultural traits are associated with different Teochew dialects. For instance, within the Shantou city, the urban Swatow dialect is perceived as "energetic", "gentle", but also "snobbish" or "pretentious" by speakers of other dialects; the Chenghai dialect (similar to urban Chaozhou dialect) is perceived as "soft", "cute", and "high-pitched"; the Teoyeo dialect is perceived as "harsh", "aggressive" and "countrified". ^[11]

Phonetics and phonology

Consonants

Teochew, like other Southern Min varieties, is one of the few modern Sinitic languages which have voiced obstruents (stops, fricatives and affricates); however, unlike Wu and Xiang Chinese, the Teochew voiced stops and fricatives did not evolve from Middle Chinese voiced obstruents, but from nasals. The voiced stops [b] and [ɡ] and also [l] are voicelessly prenasalized [ᵐ̥b], [ᵑ̊ɡ], [ⁿ̥ɺ], respectively. The voiced affricate dz, initial in such words as jī 字 ri⁷ (/dzi˩/), jĭ 二 ri⁶ (/dzi˧˥/), jiâng 然 riang⁵ (/dziaŋ˥/), jia̍k 若 riag⁸ (/dziak˦/) loses its affricate property with some younger speakers abroad, and is relaxed to [z].

Teochew consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Voiced (no frictions)	nasal	m 毛	n 年	ŋ 雅
	plosive or lateral	b 米	l 來/內	g 鵝/牙
Voiceless stops	aspirated	pʰ 皮	tʰ 台	kʰ 可
	plain	p 比	t 都	k 歌	ʔ
Voiceless affricates	aspirated		tsʰ 菜/樹
	plain		ts 書/指/食
Fricatives			s 士/速		h 海/系
			(d)z 爾/貳

Unlike in Hokkien, nasal initials in Teochew are not generally considered allophones of the voiced plosives, as nasals are relatively more common in Teochew and have less usage restrictions. For example, Teochew allows for syllables like nge̍k 逆 ngêg⁸, which are impossible in Hokkien.

In Southern dialects of Teochew, labial initials (/p/, /pʰ/, /b/, /m/) have labiodental allophones ([pf], [pfʰ], [bv], [mv~ɱ]) before /-u-/.

Character	Pe̍h-ūe-jī	Peng'im	Swatow dialect	Teoyeo dialect
富	pù	bu3	[pu²¹²]	[pfu⁵²]
搬	puaⁿ	buan1	[pũã³³]	[pfũã³¹]
婆	phuâ	pua5	[pʰua⁵⁵]	[pfʰua²³]
配	phuè	puê3	[pʰue²¹²]	[pfʰue⁵²]
武	bú	bhu2	[bu⁵²]	[bvu⁴⁵]
尾	bué	bhuê2	[bue⁵²]	[bvue⁴⁵]
妹	muē	muê7	[mũẽ¹¹]	[mvũẽ⁴³]
滿	muá	muan2	[mũã⁵²]	[mvũã⁴⁵]

Syllables

Syllables in Teochew contain an onset consonant, a medial glide, a nucleus, usually in the form of a vowel, but can also be occupied by a syllabic consonant like [ŋ], and a final consonant. All the elements of the syllable except for the nucleus are optional, which means a vowel or a syllabic consonant alone can stand as a fully-fledged syllable.

Onsets

All the consonants except for the glottal stop ʔ shown in the consonants chart above can act as the onset of a syllable; however, the onset position is not obligatorily occupied.

Finals

Teochew finals consist maximally of a medial, nucleus and coda. The medial can be /i-/ or /u-/, the nucleus can be a monophthong or diphthong, and the coda can be a nasal or a stop. A syllable must consist minimally of a vowel nucleus or syllabic nasal.

Nucleus		- a-			- ɛ̝-			- o̞-		- ɯ- [a]	- i-	- u-	-ai-		-au-		-oi-	-ou-		-ui-	-iu-	∅-
Medial		∅-	i-	u-	∅-	i-	u-	∅-	i-	∅-	∅-	∅-	∅-	u-	∅-	i-	∅-	∅-	i-	∅-	∅-
Coda	-∅	a	ia	ua	e	[b]	ue	o	io [b]	ɯ	i	u	ai	uai	au	iau [b]	oi	ou	[b]	ui	iu
	- ◌̃	ã	ĩã	ũã	ẽ	[b]	ũẽ		ĩõ [b]	ɯ̃	ĩ		ãĩ	ũãĩ	ãũ	ĩãũ [b]	õĩ	õũ	[b]	ũĩ	ĩũ
	- ʔ	aʔ	iaʔ	uaʔ	eʔ	[b]	ueʔ	oʔ	ioʔ [b]	ɯʔ	iʔ	uʔ			auʔ		oiʔ				iuʔ
	- m	am	iam	uam							im											m̩
	- ŋ	aŋ	iaŋ	uaŋ	eŋ	ieng [c]	ueŋ	oŋ	ioŋ	ɯŋ	iŋ	uŋ										ŋ̩
	- p	ap	iap	uap							ip
	- k	ak	iak	uak	ek	iek [c]	uek	ok	iok	ɯk	ik	uk

In most dialects of Teochew, historical codas -n and -t are merged with -ŋ and -k. They were still present in mainstream Teochew in the 19th century, but now they are found only in certain peripheral dialects of Teochew, as well as in Hai Lok Hong Min. ^[12]

Chaozhou /ieng/ and /iek/ are used in syllables that previously had /ien/ and /iet/, e.g. 顯 is different from 響 in Chaozhou (as /hieŋ˥˧/ and /hiaŋ˥˧/) and Hokkien (as /hien˥˧/ and /hiaŋ˥˧/), but not Swatow (both are /hiaŋ˥˧/).

Apart from the aforementioned rhymes, there are a few limitedly used finals with both glottal stop and nazalization, usually found in ideophones and interjections, e.g. he̍hⁿ 嚇 /hẽʔ˥˦/ "agitated; confused", hauhⁿ 殽 /hãũʔ˧˨/ "to eat in large bites", khuàhⁿ-ua̍hⁿ 快活 /kʰũãʔ˨˩˨꜒꜔.ũãʔ˥˦/ "comfortable".

Tones

Teochew, like other Chinese varieties, is a tonal language. Like other Southern Min varieties, Teochew has split the Middle Chinese four tone into two registers (four "dark tones" and four "light tones"). The tones are numbered from 1 through 8, either in the "dark—light" order (the checked tones are 7 and 8) or in the "level—rising—departing—entering" order (the checked tones are 4 and 8). This section follows the second order, as used in Peng'im.

		平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering
陰 dark	tone number ( Peng'im)	①	②	③	④
	tone diacritic ( Pe̍h-ūe-jī)	none	́	̀	none (ending on -p, -t, -k, -h)
	tone name	陰平 Im-phêⁿ "Dark-level"	陰上 Im-siăng "Dark-rising"	陰去 Im-khṳ̀ "Dark-departing"	陰入 Im-ji̍p "Dark-entering"
陽 light	tone number ( Peng'im)	⑤	⑥	⑦	⑧
	tone diacritic ( Pe̍h-ūe-jī)	̂	˘	̄	̍ (ending on -p, -t, -k, -h)
	tone name	陽平 Iôⁿ-phêⁿ "Light-level"	陽上 Iôⁿ-siăng "Light-rising"	陽去 Iôⁿ-khṳ̀ "Light-departing"	陽入 Iôⁿ-ji̍p "Light-entering"

Depending on the position of a word in a phrase, the tones can change and adopt extensive tone sandhi.

Northern Teochew

Northern Teochew dialects are not too different from each other in their tones. There are small differences in pronunciation of the tone ⑦, which can vary between low falling (21 ˨˩) and low level (22 ˨) among different dialects and individual speakers. ^{[8] [13]}

	citation tones					post-sandhi tones
	平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering		平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering
Chaozhou, Chenghai
陰 dark	① 33 ˧	② 53 ˥˧	③ 212 ˨˩˨	④ 32 ˧˨		34 ˧˦	35 ˧˥	53 ˥˧	54 ˥˦
陽 light	⑤ 55 ˥	⑥ 35 ˧˥	⑦ 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	⑧ 54 ˥˦		23 ˨˧	21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	23 ˨˧	32 ˧˨
Jieyang
陰 dark	① 33 ˧	② 53 ˥˧	③ 212 ˨˩˨	④ 32 ˧˨		33 ˧	35 ˧˥	53 ˥	54 ˥˦
陽 light	⑤ 55 ˥	⑥ 35 ˧˥	⑦ 22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩	⑧ 54 ˥˦		22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩	21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	32 ˧˨
Shantou, Raoping
陰 dark	① 33 ˧	② 53 ˥˧	③ 212 ˨˩˨	④ 32 ˧˨		33 ˧	35 ˧˥	55 ˥	54 ˥˦
陽 light	⑤ 55 ˥	⑥ 35 ˧˥	⑦ 21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	⑧ 54 ˥˦		21 ˨˩ ~ 22 ˨	22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩	22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩	32 ˧˨

There are minor differences in tone sandhi among the Northern Teochew dialects: ^[13]

• The most important difference is that the dark departing tone (③) becomes high falling (53 ˥˧) in Chaozhou and Jieyang and high level (55 ˥) in Shantou and Raoping.
• In Chaozhou, the two level tones (① and ⑤) become slightly rising in sandhi (34 ˧˦ and 23 ˨˧ respectively), rather than level (33 ˧ and 22 ˨ ~ 21 ˨˩) as in other dialects.
• In Jieyang and Chaozhou, the tones ②, ③, and ④ have two pronunciations, one being slighly higher (35 ˧˥, 53 ˥˧, 54 ˥˦), used before syllables with high-onset tones (⑤ 55 ˥, ② 53 ˥˧, and ⑧ 54 ˥˦), and another one slightly lower (24 ˨˦, 42 ˦˨, 43 ˦˧), used before all other tones. In Shantou and Raoping, these tones have the same post-sandhi value regardless of the next syllable's tone.

The light departing tone (⑦) after sandhi is usually merged with the post-sandhi tone ⑤ or ⑥, depending on the dialect. For convenience, since the difference between them is still not large, all three light tones after sandhi may be described as identical and equal to pre-sandhi tone ⑦. The sandhi rules for Northern Teochew may be simplified as follows:

	citation tones					post-sandhi tones
	平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering		平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering
陰 dark	①	②	③	④		①	⑥	② [a] or ⑤ [b]	⑧
陽 light	⑤	⑥	⑦	⑧		⑦			④

Southern Teochew

Southern Teochew tones are noticeably diverse. Based on their tones, the Southern Teochew dialects can be divided into two broad areas: Teoyeo and Hui-Pou. ^{[8] [14]}

	citation tones					post-sandhi tones
	平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering		平 level	上 rising	去 departing	入 entering
Teoyeo (old)
陰 dark	① 21 ˨˩	② 551 ˥˥˩	③ 53 ˥˧	④ 43 ˦˧		33 ˧	53 ˥˧	33 ˧	5 ˥
陽 light	⑤ 44 ˦	⑥ =③	⑦ 42 ˦˨	⑧ 45 ˦˥		44 ˦	21 ˨˩		3 ˧
Teoyeo (new)
陰 dark	① 31 ˧˩	② 55 ˥˥ ~ 35 ˧˥	③ 52 ˥˨	④ 32 ˧˨		31 ˧˩	52 ˥˨	23 ˨˧	5 ˥
陽 light	⑤ 33 ˧ ~ 23 ˨˧	⑥ =③	⑦ 43 ˦˧ ~ 44 ˦	⑧ 45 ˦˥		33 ˧ ~ 23 ˨˧	21 ˨˩		3 ˧
Haimen
陰 dark	① 31 ˧˩	② 551 ˥˥˩	③ 51 ˥˩	④ 43 ˦˧		33 ˧	41 ˦˩	44 ˦	54 ˥˦
陽 light	⑤ 44 ˦	⑥ =①	⑦ 441 ˦˦˩	⑧ 45 ˦˥		44 ˦	33 ˧		43 ˦˧
Dahao
陰 dark	① 21 ˨˩	② 24 ˨˦	③ 52 ˥˨	④ 3 ˧		21 ˨˩	52 ˥˨	33 ˧	45 ˦˥
陽 light	⑤ 33 ˧	⑥ =③	⑦ 31 ˧˩	⑧ 45 ˦˥		33 ˧	21 ˨˩		3 ˧
Puning and Huilai
陰 dark	① 34 ˧˦	② 53 ˥˧ [a] or 55 ˥ [b]	③ 31 ˧˩	④ 32 ˧˨		33 ˧	34 ˧˦	55 ˥	54 ˥˦
陽 light	⑤ 44 ˦	⑥ 23 ˨˧	⑦ 42 ˦˨ [c] or =③ [d] or =⑥ [e]	⑧ 54 ˥˦		31 ˧˩	33 ˧		32 ˧˨

Currently, a tone shift is ongoing in the Teoyeo dialect. There is a continuum between the "old accent" and "new accent". This shift is more advanced in urban dialects in Eastern Chaoyang (incl. Haojiang, especially the Dahao dialect), among female speakers, and in the younger generations (born after 1980s). The principal features of this shift are as follows: ^[8]

• Dark level tone (①) shifts from 21 ˨˩ to 31 ˧˩.
• Light level tone (⑤) shifts from high level 44 ˦ to mid-level 33 ˧ or mid-rising 23 ˨˧.
• Dark rising tone (②) shifts from high fallig 551 ˥˥˩ to high level 55 ˥, and in urban Eastern Teoyeo dialects it can even become high rising 45 ˦˥ or 35 ˧˥.
• Dark departing tone (③) and light departing tone (⑦) are falling in a "parallel" pattern (53 ˥˧ and 42 ˦˨ respectively) in the old accent, while in the new accent they are still falling, but the light departing tone (⑦) is more "flat" (52 ˥˨ and 43 ˦˧~44 ˦ respectively).

"Old" Teoyeo accent is notable for the fact that out of its five non-checked tones, four tones have falling contour. ^[15]

Hui-Pou dialects are more homogeneous in their tones than Teoyeo dialects. Puning and Eastern Huilai dialects have 8 tones, while Central and Western Huilai have 7 tones (tone ⑦ is merged with other tones). Some of the Huilai dialects undergo tone shift similar to that in Teoyeo dialects, but to a lesser extent (particularly, tone ② becomes high level 55 rather than high falling 53).

Neutral tone

Like Hokkien, Teochew has the neutral tone. In pronunciation, the neutral tone is considered to be identical to the light departing tone (⑦) in the respective dialect, but when the original tone of the syllable was dark rising (②), the neutral tone is identical to the dark departing tone (③), and when the original tone was an entering tone (④ or ⑧), the neutral tone is identical to the dark entering tone (④).

Some works refer to the neutral tone as "left-dominant tone sandhi". However, unlike the general ("right-dominant") Teochew tone sandhi, which is a regular phonetic change, the neutral tone is lexical and its occurrence cannot be predicted. Compare the following examples with the morpheme nî 年 ni⁵ "year", where some words have the neutral tone, while others preserve the original tone. ^[16]

tsâiⁿ--nî 前年 zain⁵ ni⁵ "year before last"

ău--nî 後年 ao⁶ ni⁵ "year after next"

tuā-tsâiⁿ--nî 大前年 dua⁷ zain⁵ ni⁵ "three years ago"

jĭ-káu--nî 二九年 ri⁶ gao² ni⁵ "year 29"

but:

kim-nî 今年 gim¹ ni⁵ "this year"

kū-nî 舊年 gu⁷ ni⁵ "last year"

mê-nî 明年 mên⁵ ni⁵ "next year"

jĭ-tsa̍p-ngŏu-nî 二十五年 ri⁶ zab⁸ ngou⁶ ni⁵ "25 years"

Grammar

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The grammar of Teochew is similar to other Min languages, as well as some southern varieties of Chinese, especially with Hakka, Yue and Wu. The sequence ' subject–verb–object' is typical, like Standard Mandarin, although the ' subject–object–verb' form is also possible using particles.

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns in Teochew, like in other Chinese languages, do not show case marking, therefore uá 我 ua² means both I and me and i-nâng 伊人 i¹ nang⁵ means they and them. The Southern Min languages, like some Mandarin dialects, have a distinction between an inclusive and exclusive we, meaning that when the addressee is being included, the inclusive pronoun náng 咱 nang² would be used, otherwise uáng 阮 uang² is employed. Outside Southern Min varieties like Teochew, no other southern Chinese variety has this distinction. ^[16]

Personal Pronouns in Teochew

	Singular		Plural
1st person	uá 我 ua2	I / me	Inclusive	náng 咱 nang2	we / us
			Exclusive	uáng 阮 uang2 [a]	we / us
2nd person	jṳ́ 汝 re2	you	nṳ́ng, níng 恁 neng2, ning2		you (plural)
3rd person	i 伊 i1	he/she/it/him/her	ing 𪜶 ing1 i-nâng 伊儂 i1 nang5		they/them

Possessive pronouns

Teochew does not distinguish the possessive pronouns from the possessive adjectives. As a general rule, the possessive pronouns or adjectives are formed by adding the genitive or possessive marker kâi 個 gai⁵ to their respective personal pronouns, as summarized below:

Possessive Pronouns in Teochew

	Singular		Plural
1st person	uá-kâi 我個 ua2 gai5	my / mine	Inclusive	náng-kâi 咱個 nang2 gai5	our / ours
			Exclusive	uáng-kâi 阮個 uang2 gai5	ours / ours
2nd person	jṳ́-kâi 汝個 re2 gai5	your / yours	nṳ́ng-kâi, níng-kâi 恁個 neng2 gai5, ning2 gai5		your / yours (plural)
3rd person	i-kâi 伊個 i1 gai5	his / his; her / hers; its / its	i-nâng-kâi 伊儂個 i1 nang5 gai5		their / theirs

本	書	是	我	個。
púng	tsṳ	sĭ	uá	kâi
bung2	ze1	si6	ua2	gai5
CL-books	book	be	I	POS
"The book is mine."

As kâi 個 gai⁵ is the generic measure word, it may be replaced by other more appropriate classifiers: ^[16]

我	條	裙
uá	tiâu	kûng
ua2	diao5	gung5
I	CL-clothes	skirt
"my skirt"

Demonstrative pronouns

Teochew has the typical two-way distinction between the demonstratives, namely the proximals and the distals. The basic determiners are tsí 只 zi² "this" and hṳ́ 許 he² "that", and they require at least a classifier (generic kâi 個 gai⁵, collective tshoh 撮 coh⁴, or another), which can be optionally preceded by a numeral.

The Teochew Demonstratives

		Proximal		Distal
General	Singular	tsí (kâi) 只(個) zi2 (gai5)	this (one)	hṳ́ (kâi) 許(個) he2 (gai5)	that (one)
	Collective	tsí tshoh 只撮 zi2 coh4	these (few)	hṳ́ tshoh 許撮 he2 coh4	those (few)
	Plural (non-specific)	tsió 照 zio2	these	hió 向 hio2	those
Type		tsiá 者 zia2	this kind of	hiá 遐 hia2	that kind of
Spatial		tsí kò 只塊 zi2 go3	here	hṳ́ kò 許塊 he2 go3	there
		tsí lăi 只內 zi2 lai6	here inside	hṳ́ lăi 許內 he2 lai6	there inside
		tsí kháu 只口 zi2 kao2	here outside	hṳ́ kháu 許口 he2 kao2	there outside
Temporal		tsí tsûng 只陣 zi2 zung5	now; recently	hṳ́ tsûng 許陣 he2 zung5	then
Degree		tsiòⁿ 照 zion3	this much	hiòⁿ 向 hion3	that much
Adverbial		tsiòⁿ seⁿ (iōⁿ) 照生(樣) zion3 sên1 (ion7)	like this	hiòⁿ seⁿ (iōⁿ) 向生(樣) hion3 sên1 (ion7)	like that

Interrogative pronouns

The Teochew Interrogative Pronouns

who / whom		tiâng 𫢗 diang5
		tī tiâng 底𫢗 di7 diang5
		tī nâng 底儂 di7 nang5
what		mih kâi 乜個 mih4 gai5
what (kind of) + noun		mih 乜 mih4 + N
which		tī 底 di7 + NUM + CL + N
		tī kâi 底個 di7 gai5
where		tī kò 底塊 di7 go3
when		tiang sî 𫢗時 diang1 si5
how, why	manner	tsò nî 做呢 zo3 ni5
	state	mih seⁿ iōⁿ 乜生樣 mih4 sên1 ion7
		tsò nî iōⁿ 做呢樣 zo3 ni5 ion7
		tsăi seⁿ (iōⁿ) 在生(樣) zai6 sên1 (ion7)
how many; how much		kúi 幾 gui2 + CL + N
		jio̍h tsōi 若濟 rioh8 zoi7 + CL + N

Numerals

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Teochew numeral system

Pronunciation	Financial	Normal	Value	Notes
liŋ5	零	〇	0	〇 is an informal way to represent zero, but 零 is more commonly used, especially in schools. also 空 [kang3]
tsek8	壹	一	1	also 蜀 [tsek8] (original character) also 弌 (obsolete) also [ik4] as the last digit of a 2-or-more-digit number e.g. 二十一 [dzi6 tsap8 ik4] or days of a month e.g. 一號 [ik4 ho7] or as an ordinal number e.g. 第一 [tõĩ6 ik4] also 么(T) or 幺(S) [iou1] when used in phone numbers etc.
no6	兩(T)	二	2	also 弍 (obsolete) also 貳(T) also [dzi6] as the last digit of a 2-or-more-digit number e.g. 三十二 [sã1 tsap8 dzi6] or days of a month e.g. 二號 [dzi6 ho7] or as an ordinal number e.g. 第二 [tõĩ6 dzi6].
sã1	叄(T)	三	3	also 弎 (obsolete) also 參 [sã1].
si3	肆	四	4
ŋou6	伍	五	5
lak8	陸	六	6
tsʰik4	柒	七	7
poiʔ4	捌	八	8
kau2	玖	九	9
tsap8	拾	十	10	Although some people use 什, It is not acceptable because it can be written over into 伍.

Note: (T): Traditional characters; (S): Simplified characters.

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 [tõĩ˧˥] in front of a cardinal number.

Voice

In Teochew passive construction, the agent phrase by somebody always has to be present, and is introduced by either 乞 [kʰoiʔ˦] (some speakers use [kʰəʔ] or [kʰiəʔ] instead) or 分 [puŋ˧], even though it is in fact a zero or indefinite agent as in:

While in Mandarin one can have the agent introducer 被; bèi or 給; gěi alone without the agent itself, it is not grammatical to say

cf. Mandarin 杯子給打破了; bēizi gěi dǎ pòle)

Instead, we have to say:

Even though this 儂 [naŋ˥] is unknown.

The agent phrase 分儂 [puŋ˧ naŋ˥] always comes immediately after the subject, not at the end of the sentence or between the auxiliary and the past participle like in some European languages (e.g. German, Dutch)

Comparison

Comparative construction with two or more nouns

Teochew uses the construction "X ADJ 過 [kue˨˩˧] Y", which is believed to have evolved from the Old Chinese "X ADJ 于 (yú) Y" structure^{[ citation needed]} to express the idea of comparison:

Cantonese uses the same construction:

However, due to modern influences from Mandarin, the Mandarin structure "X 比 Y ADJ" has also gained popularity over the years. Therefore, the same sentence can be re-structured and becomes:

cf. Mandarin 她比你漂亮; tā bǐ nǐ piàoliang

Comparative construction with only one noun

The 過- or 比-construction must involve two or more nouns to be compared; an ill-formed sentence will be yielded when only one is being mentioned:

* 伊雅過 (?)

Teochew is different from English, where the second noun being compared can be left out ("Tatyana is more beautiful (than Lisa)". In cases like this, the 夭-construction must be used instead:

The same holds true for Mandarin and Cantonese in that another structure needs to be used when only one of the nouns being compared is mentioned. Teochew and Mandarin both use a pre-modifier (before the adjective) while Cantonese uses a post-modifier (after the adjective).

• Mandarin

• Cantonese

There are two words which are intrinsically comparative in meaning, i.e. 贏 [ĩã5] "better" and 輸 [su1] "worse". They can be used alone or in conjunction with the 過-structure:

Note the use of the adverbial 好多 [hoʔ2 tsoi7] at the end of the sentence to express a higher degree.

Equal construction

In Teochew, the idea of equality is expressed with the word 平 [pẽ5] or 平樣 [pẽ5 ĩõ7]:

Superlative construction

To express the superlative, Teochew uses the adverb 上 [siaŋ5] or 上頂 [siaŋ5 teŋ2]. 上頂 is usually used with a complimentary connotation.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of Teochew shares a lot of similarities with Cantonese because of their continuous contact with each other.^{[ ambiguous]} Like Cantonese, Teochew has a great deal of monosyllabic words. ^{[17] [18]} However, ever since the standardization of Modern Standard Chinese, Teochew has absorbed a lot of Standard Mandarin vocabulary, which is predominantly polysyllabic.^{[ citation needed]} Also, Teochew varieties in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have also borrowed extensively from Malay.^{[ citation needed]}

Archaic vocabulary

Teochew and other Southern Min varieties, such as Hokkien, preserve a good deal of Old Chinese vocabulary, such as:

• 目 [mak] eye ( Chinese: 眼睛; pinyin: yǎnjīng, Hokkien: 目 ba̍k)
• 灱 [ta] dry ( Chinese: 乾; pinyin: gān, Hokkien: 焦 ta)
• 囥 [kʰəŋ] hide (cf. Chinese: 藏; pinyin: cáng; Hokkien: 囥 khǹg)

Romanization

Teochew was romanized by the Provincial Education Department of Guangdong in 1960 to aid linguistic studies and the publication of dictionaries, although Pe̍h-ūe-jī can also be used because Christian missionaries invented it for the transcription of varieties of Southern Min.

Initials

Initial consonants of Teochew, are represented in the Guangdong Romanization system as: B, BH, C, D, G, GH, H, K, L, M, N, NG, P, R, S, T, and Z.

Examples:

• B [p] - bag (北 north)
• Bh [b]- bhê (馬 horse)
• C [tsʰ] - cên (青 green), cǔi (嘴 mouth), ciên (槍 gun)
• D [t] - diê (潮 tide)
• G [k] - giê (橋 bridge)
• GH [g] - gho (鵝 goose)
• H [h] - hung (雲 cloud)
• K [kʰ] - ke (去 to go)
• L [l] - lag (六 six)
• M [m] - mêng (明 bright)
• N [n] - nang (人 person)
• NG [ŋ] - ngou (五 five)
• P [pʰ] - peng (平 peace)
• R [(d)z] - riêg/ruah (熱 hot)
• S [s] - sên (生 to be born)
• T [tʰ] - tin (天 sky)
• Z [ts] - ziu (州 region/state)

Finals

Vowels

Vowels and vowel combinations in the Teochew dialect include: A, E, Ê, I, O, U, AI, AO, IA, IAO, IO, IU, OI, OU, UA, UAI, UE, and UI.

Examples:

• A - ma (媽 mother)
• E - de (箸 chopsticks)
• Ê - sên (生 to be born)
• I - bhi (味 smell/taste)
• O - to (桃 peach)
• U - ghu (牛 cow)

Many words in Teochew are nasalized. This is represented by the letter "n" in the Guangdong Pengim system.

Example (nasalized):

• suan (山 mountain)
• cên (青 green)

Ending

Ending consonants in Teochew include M and NG as well as the stops discussed below.

Examples:

• M - iam (鹽 salt)
• NG - bhuang (萬 ten thousand)

Teochew retains many consonant stops lost in Mandarin. These stops include a labial stop: "b"; velar stop: "g"; and glottal stop: "h".

Examples:

• B - zab (十 ten)
• G - hog (福 happiness)
• H - tih (鐵 iron)

Relationship with Hokkien

Teochew and Hokkien are both Southern Min languages. Hokkien, which is spoken in southern Fujian, shares many phonetic similarities with Teochew, but they have low lexical similarity. Although Teochew and Hokkien share some cognates, there are pronounced differences in most vowels with some consonant and tone shifts.

Teochew has only 51% intelligibility with the Tong'an Xiamen dialect of Hokkien (Cheng 1997), approximately the same as the percentage of intelligibility as between Russian and Ukrainian languages, while it has even lower mutual intelligibility language with other dialects of the Hokkien language.^{[ citation needed]}

Most Teochew people do not speak Hokkien and the majority of Hokkien and Teochew people both see themselves as a distinct groups. There are a minority of Teochew people who speak Hokkien as their mother tongue, most of whom have close contact or relatives in the neighbouring three originally-Teochew counties of what is now South Fujian, which were seceded to Fujian during the early Tang dynasty and subsequently assimilated into the Hokkien population. These Hokkien-speaking Teochews are more likely to treat Teochew simply as accented dialect of Hokkien. These people usually have a strong sense of Hokkien identity.^{[ citation needed]}

Pronunciation

In Hokkien, denasalization of initial consonants is extensive, and sounds [m], [n], [ng] are usually viewed as allophones of /b/, /l~d/, /g/ used with nasalized rhymes. In Teochew and Hai Lok Hong, denasalization is less common.

Character	Teochew	Hokkien
逆 'to go against'	nge̍k	ge̍k
玉 'jade'	ge̍k
宜 'suitable'	ngî	gî
疑 'doubt'	gî
紐 'handle; knob'	niú	liú
柳 'willow'	liú
儂 'man'	nâng	lâng
籠 'cage'	lâng
慢 'slow'	măng	bān
萬 'ten thousand'	buāng
目 'eye'	ma̍k	ba̍k
墨 'ink'	ba̍k

Hokkien and Hai Lok Hong have three pairs of codas: -ng/-k, -m/-p and -n/-t. Most dialects of Teochew have merged -n/-t with -ng/-k. On the other hand, many Teochew dialects, except urban Swatow and Chenghai, do not dissimilate the Middle Chinese rhyme 凡 -jom, e.g. they have huàm 泛, huăm 範, huap 法, while Hokkien has huàn 泛, huǎn 範, huat 法.

Teochew (except some Southern Teochew dialects) and Hai Lok Hong have 8 citation tones, while most dialects of Hokkien have 7 tones.

In individual rhymes, the differences between Hokkien and Teochew are comparable to differences between the dialects of each language. For example, both Northern Hokkien and Northern Teochew have the /ɯ/ sound, which is not found in Southern Teochew and Southern Hokkien. Northern Hokkien and Teochew both have -ng (in Hokkien and Southern Teochew) or -ung (in Northern Teochew) rhyme in words like 飯 pn̄g/pūng, 門 mn̂g/mûng, while Southern Hokkien and Hai Lok Hong have -uiⁿ instead ( 飯 pūiⁿ, 門 mûi).

Grammar

Teochew grammar shows some Cantonese or Hakka influence. For example,

• Teochew uses comparative structure with -kuè 過 "to exceed, to surpass", as in Cantonese, while Hokkien uses native Min comparative construction with an adverb khah 較 "more".
• Teochew, like Cantonese, uses bare classifiers to mean "this", but this usage is not typical for Hokkien.
• Teochew uses relevant classifiers to indicate possesion; e.g., the phrase "my book" may be expressed with both uá púng tsṳ 我本書 (with classifier for books) and uá kâi tsṳ 我個書 (with possessive particle) in Teochew, but in Hokkien, only góa ê tsṳ 我兮書 is used.

Teochew differs from Hokkien in function words:

Teochew	Hai Lok Hong	Hokkien	explanation
個 kâi	個 kâi	兮 ê	possessive particle
在 tŏ 囉 lŏ (dialectal)	𫩷 ló	咧 leh 佇咧 tǐ-leh	progressive aspect marker
在塊 -tŏ-kò	恁 -nín	咧 --leh	durative aspect marker
分 pung 乞 khṳh	分 pun 科 kho	予 hō͘	passive or causative agent preposition
愛 àiⁿ	愛 àiⁿ	卜 beh	"to want" (modal verb)
好 hoh	好 hoh	真 chin	"very" (dummy adverb in adjectival sentences)

Vocabulary

Teochew has many differences with Hokkien in its basic vocabulary. Some of the differences are due to influence from Cantonese, while others are alternative yet still native Min words.

gloss	Teochew	Cantonese	Hokkien
"to see"	睇 thóiⁿ	睇 tái	看 khòaⁿ
"to read"	讀書 tha̍k-tsṳ	讀書 duhksyū	讀冊 tha̍k-chheh
"to sleep"	夗 n̍gh, ĭⁿ	瞓 fan	睏 khùn
"beautiful"	雅 ngiá	靚 leng	媠 súi
"to speak"	呾 tàⁿ	講 góng	講 kóng 說 seh
"what"	乜個 mih-kâi	乜嘢 mātyéh	啥乜 siáⁿ-mi̍h
"child"	孥囝 nou-kiáⁿ	細路 sailouh	囡仔 gín-á
"black"	烏 ou	黑 hāk	烏 o͘

Teochew tends to use more vernacular readings where Hokkien prefers the literary readings. For some characters, literary readings only exist in Hokkien (even if used exclusively for declamation of Classical Chinese texts), while many vernacular readings are used only in Teochew.

Languages in contact

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Mandarin

In China, Teochew children are introduced to Standard Chinese as early as in kindergarten; however, the Teochew language remains the primary medium of instruction. In the early years of primary education, Mandarin becomes the sole language of instruction, but students typically continue to speak to one another in Teochew. Mandarin is widely understood by the Teochew youth, but the elderly may have difficulty with Mandarin due to growing up speaking Teochew.

Teochew accent in Mandarin

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Native Teochew speakers find the neutral tone in Mandarin the most difficult one to master. Teochew has lost the alveolar nasal ending [-n], and so Teochew speakers often replace it with the velar nasal [-ŋ] when they speak Mandarin. The southern Min dialects all lack a front rounded vowel, and so a typical Teochew accent supplants the unrounded counterpart [i] for [y]. Teochew, like its ancient ancestor, lacks labiodentals, and so its speakers use [h] or [hu] instead of [f] when they speak Mandarin. Teochew has no retroflex consonants in its northern dialects, and so [ts], [tsʰ], [s], and [z] replace [tʂ], [tʂʰ], [ʂ] and [ʐ] in the Teochew accent in Mandarin.^{[ original research?]}

Hakka

Since Chao'an, Raoping, and Jieyang border the Hakka-speaking region in the north, some people there speak Hakka but they can usually speak Teochew as well. Teochew people have historically had a great deal of contact with the Hakka people, but Hakka has had little, if any, influence on Teochew. Similarly, in Dabu and Fengshun, where the Teochew and Hakka-speaking regions meet, Teochew is also spoken, but Hakka remains the primary form of Chinese spoken there.

Cantonese

Because of the strong influence of Hong Kong soap operas, Guangdong provincial television programs and Cantonese pop songs, many young Chaoshan people can understand much Cantonese even if they cannot speak it with much fluency.^{[ citation needed]}

Hmong-Mien languages

In the mountainous area of Fenghuang (鳳凰山), the She language, an endangered Hmong–Mien language, is spoken by the She people, who are an officially recognized non-Han ethnic minority. They predominantly speak She Chinese and Teochew; only about 1,000 She still speak their eponymous language.

Thai

The majority of Thai Chinese are Teochew; Teochew is known to have provided a number of loanwords into Thai: Thai language § Vocabulary.

Khmer (Cambodian)

The majority of Chinese Cambodians are Teochew; Teochew is known to have provided a number of loanwords into Khmer. ^[19]

Cambodian Teochew also incorporates a number of loanwords from Khmer, including a function word pi ( Khmer: ពី). ^[19]

Vietnamese

Teochew language in Vietnam is mainly used in the Mekong Delta and often clearly reads the first consonants such as l, h, k Due to being heavily influenced by the southern Vietnamese dialect, some words are pronounced according to the Vietnamese way of reading.

See also

• Southern Min
• Hokkien
  • Amoy Hokkien
  • Taiwanese Hokkien
• Languages of China
• List of Chinese dialects
• Thai Chinese
• Chinese in Singapore
• Malaysian Chinese
• Indonesian Chinese

Notes

References

Sources

• Beijing da xue Zhongguo yu yan wen xue xi yu yan xue jiao yan shi. (2003). Han yu fang yin zi hui. (Chinese dialectal vocabulary) Beijing: Yu wen chu ban she (北京大學中國語言文學系語言學教研室, 2003. 漢語方音字彙. 北京: 語文出版社) ISBN  7-80184-034-8
• Cai Junming. (1991). Putonghua dui zhao Chaozhou fang yan ci hui. (Chaozhou dialectal vocabulary, contrasted with Mandarin) Hong Kong: T. T. Ng Chinese Language Research Centre (蔡俊明, 1991. 普通話對照潮州方言詞彙. 香港: 香港中文大學吳多泰中國語文研究中心) ISBN  962-7330-02-7
• Chappell, Hilary (ed.) (2001). Sinitic Grammar: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives. Oxford; New York: OUP ISBN  0-19-829977-X
• Chen, Matthew Y. (2000). Tone Sandhi: patterns across Chinese dialects. Cambridge, England: CUP ISBN  0-521-65272-3
• DeFrancis, John. (1984). The Chinese language: fact and fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press ISBN  0-8248-1068-6
• Li, Xin Kui. (1994). Guangdong di fang yan. (Dialects of Guangdong) Guangzhou, China: Guangdong ren min chu ban she (李新魁, 1994. 廣東的方言. 廣州: 廣東 人民出版社) ISBN  7-218-00960-3
• Li, Yongming. (1959). Chaozhou fang yan. (Chaozhou dialect) Beijing: Zhonghua. (李永明, 1959. 潮州方言. 北京: 中華)
• Lin, Lun Lun. (1997). Xin bian Chaozhou yin zi dian. (New Chaozhou pronunciation dictionary) Shantou, China: Shantou da xue chu ban she. (林倫倫, 1997. 新編潮州音字典. 汕頭: 汕頭大學出版社) ISBN  7-81036-189-9
• Norman, Jerry. [1988] (2002). Chinese. Cambridge, England: CUP ISBN  0-521-29653-6
• Ramsey, S. Robert (1986). Languages of China. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press ISBN  0-691-06694-9
• Xu, Huiling (2007). Aspects of Chaoshan grammar: A synchronic description of the Jieyang dialect. Monograph Series Journal of Chinese Linguistics 22
• Yap, FoongHa; Grunow-Hårsta, Karen; Wrona, Janick (ed.) (2011). "Nominalization in Asian Languages: Diachronic and typological perspectives". Hong Kong Polytechnic University /Oxford University : John Benjamins Publishing Company ISBN  978-9027206770

Further reading

• Josiah Goddard (1883). A Chinese and English vocabulary: in the Tie-chiu dialect (2 ed.). Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. pp.  237. Retrieved February 10, 2012. (the New York Public Library) (digitized April 2, 2008)

• Kū-ieh sàn-bú-zṳ́ ē-kńg tshûan-tsṳ e̍k-tsò tiê-chiu pe̍h-ūe. Swatow: printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society at the English Presbyterian Mission Press. 1898. Retrieved February 10, 2012. (11 Samuel. (Tie-chiu dialect.)) (Harvard University) (digitized December 17, 2007)

External links

• 1883 American Presbyterian mission press – "A pronouncing and defining dictionary of the Swatow dialect, arranged according to syllables and tones" – by Fielde, Adele Marion (in English)Link to download(3,022 × 4,010 pixels, file size: 42.21 MB, MIME type: image/vnd.djvu, 648 pages)
• Database of Pronunciations of Chinese Dialects (in English, Chinese and Japanese)
• Teochew People - Teochew dialect (in Chinese)
• Glossika - Chinese Languages and Dialects
• Mogher (in Chinese, English and French)
• Omniglot
• Shantou University Chaozhou Studies Resources (in Chinese)
• Teochew Web (in Chinese and English)
• Tonal harmony and register contour in Chaozhou