Amoy dialect

Dialect of Hokkien spoken in the city of Xiamen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Amoy dialect or Xiamen dialect (Chinese: 廈門話; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ē-mn̂g-ōe; pinyin: Xiàménhuà), also known as Amoyese,[5] Amoynese, Amoy Hokkien, Xiamenese or Xiamen Hokkien, is a dialect of Hokkien spoken in the city of Xiamen (historically known as "Amoy") and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the southern part of Fujian province. Currently, it is one of the most widely researched and studied varieties of Southern Min.[6] It has historically come to be one of the more standardized varieties.[7]

NativetoChina
Regionpart of Xiamen (Amoy) (Siming and Huli districts), Haicang and Longhai districts to the west
Native speakers
2 million (2021)[1]
Quick facts Native to, Region ...
Amoy
Amoyese, Amoynese, Xiamenese
廈門話 Ē-mn̂g-ōe
Native toChina
Regionpart of Xiamen (Amoy) (Siming and Huli districts), Haicang and Longhai districts to the west
Native speakers
2 million (2021)[1]
Early forms
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologxiam1236
Linguasphere> 79-AAA-jeb 79-AAA-je > 79-AAA-jeb
Distribution of Hokkien dialects. Amoy dialect is in magenta.
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.
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Amoyese and Taiwanese are both historically mixtures of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou dialects.[8] As such, they are very closely aligned phonologically. There are some differences between the two, especially lexical, as a result of physical separation and the differing histories of mainland China and Taiwan during the 20th century. Amoyese and Taiwanese are mutually intelligible. Intelligibility with other Hokkien, especially inland, is more difficult. By that standard, Amoyese and Taiwanese may be considered dialects of a single language. Ethnolinguistically, however, Amoyese is part of mainland Hokkien.[1]

History

In 1842, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking, Amoy was designated as a trading port in Fujian. Amoy and Kulangsu rapidly developed, which resulted in a large influx of people from neighboring areas such as Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. The mixture of these various accents formed the basis for the Amoy dialect.

Over the last several centuries, a large number of Southern Fujianese people from these same areas migrated to Taiwan during Dutch and Qing rule. The "Amoy dialect" was considered the vernacular of Taiwan.[9] Eventually, the mixture of accents spoken in Taiwan became popularly known as Taiwanese during Imperial Japanese rule. As in American and British English, there are subtle lexical and phonological differences between modern Taiwanese and Amoy Hokkien; however, these differences do not generally pose any barriers to communication. Amoy dialect speakers also migrated to Southeast Asia, mainly in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Special characteristics

The spoken Amoy dialect preserves many of the sounds and words from Old Chinese. However, the vocabulary of Amoy was also influenced in its early stages by the Minyue languages spoken by the ancient Minyue peoples.[10] Spoken Amoy is known for its extensive use of nasalization.

Unlike Mandarin, the Amoy dialect distinguishes between voiced and voiceless unaspirated initial consonants (Mandarin has no voicing of initial consonants). Unlike English, it differentiates between unaspirated and aspirated voiceless initial consonants (as Mandarin does too). In less technical terms, native Amoy speakers have little difficulty in hearing the difference between the following syllables:

More information unaspirated, aspirated ...
  unaspirated aspirated
bilabial stop bo 母 po 保 pʰo 抱
velar stop go 俄 ko 果 kʰo 科
  voiced voiceless
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However, these fully voiced consonants did not derive from the Early Middle Chinese voiced obstruents, but rather from fortition of nasal initials.[11]

Tones

Amoy is similar to other Southern Min variants in that it largely preserves the Middle Chinese tone system of six distinct tones in syllables which do not end in a stop consonant and two tones in syllables which do end in a stop consonant (the checked tones). The tones are traditionally numbered from 1 through 8, with 4 and 8 being the checked tones. The distinction between tones 2 and 6 has been lost among most speakers.

More information Tone number, Tone name ...
Tone numberTone nameTone letter
1Yin level˥
2Yin rising˥˧
3Yin falling˨˩
4Yin entering˩ʔ
5Yang level˧˥
6 (2)Yang rising˥˧
7Yang falling˧
8Yang entering˥ʔ
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Tone sandhi

Amoy has extremely extensive tone sandhi (tone-changing) rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. What an 'utterance' is, in the context of this language, is an ongoing topic for linguistic research. For the purpose of this article, an utterance may be considered a word, a phrase, or a short sentence. The diagram illustrates the rules that govern the pronunciation of a tone on each of the syllables affected (that is, all but the last in an utterance):

Literary and colloquial readings

Like other languages of Southern Min, Amoy has complex rules for literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters. For example, the character for big/great, 大, has a vernacular reading of tōa ([tua˧]), but a literary reading of tāi ([tai˧]). Because of the loose nature of the rules governing when to use a given pronunciation, a learner of Amoy must often simply memorize the appropriate reading for a word on a case-by-case basis. For single-syllable words, it is more common to use the vernacular pronunciation.

The vernacular readings are generally thought to predate the literary readings, as is the case with the Min Chinese varieties;[12] the literary readings appear to have evolved from Middle Chinese.[13] The following chart illustrates some of the more commonly seen sound shifts:

More information Colloquial, Literary ...
Colloquial Literary Example
[p-], [pʰ-] [h-] 分 pun hun divide
[ts-], [tsʰ-], [tɕ-], [tɕʰ-] [s-], [ɕ-] 成 chiâⁿ sêng to become
[k-], [kʰ-] [tɕ-], [tɕʰ-] 指 kí chí finger
[-ã], [-uã] [-an] 看 khòaⁿ khàn to see
[-ʔ] [-t] 食 chia̍h si̍t to eat
[-i] [-e] 世 sì sè world
[-e] [-a] 家 ke ka family
[-ia] [-i] 企 khiā khì to stand
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Vocabulary

For further information, read the article: Swadesh list

The Swadesh word list, developed by the linguist Morris Swadesh, is used as a tool to study the evolution of languages. It contains a set of basic words which can be found in every language.

Phonology

Initials

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Labial Alveolar Alveolo-
palatal		 Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p t k ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ
voiced b ɡ
Affricate voiceless ts tɕ
aspirated tsʰ tɕʰ
voiced dz dʑ
Fricative s ɕ h
Nasal m n ŋ
Approximant l
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  • Word-initial alveolar consonants /ts, tsʰ, dz/ when occurring before /i/ are pronounced as alveo-palatal sounds [tɕ, tɕʰ, dʑ].
  • /l/ can fluctuate freely in initial position as either a flap [ɾ] or voiced alveolar plosive stop [d].[14]
  • [ʔ] can occur in both word initial and final position.
  • /m ŋ/ when occurring before /m̩ ŋ̍/ can be pronounced as voiceless sounds [m̥], [ŋ̊].

Finals

Rimes without codas
a
阿		 ɔ
烏		 i
魚		 e
火		 o
好		 u
母		 ɨ/ai/
愛		/au/
抱
/i/-/ia/
寫		/io/
后		/iu/
救 		/iau/
鳥
/u/-/ua/
花		/ue/
話 		/ui/
水		/uai/
歪
Rimes with nasal codas
/m̩/
毋		/am/
暗		/an/
按		/ŋ̍/
黃		/aŋ/
港		/ɔŋ/
風
/im/
心		/iam/
薟		/in/
今		/iɛn/
免		/iŋ/
英		/iaŋ/
雙		iɔŋ
恭
/un/
恩 		/uan/
完
Checked rimes
/ap/
十 		/at/
克		/ak/
六		/ɔk/
樂		/aʔ/
鴨		ɔʔ
索		oʔ
學		/eʔ/
欲		/auʔ/
落		ãʔ
肉		ɔ̃ʔ
乎		/ẽʔ/
夾		ãiʔ
唉
ip
急		/iap/
葉		/it/
必		/iɛt/
閲		/ik/~/ek/
色		/iɔk/
祝 		iʔ
捏		/iaʔ
食		ioʔ
尺		/iuʔ/
搐		/ĩʔ/
物		iãʔ
贏
/ut/
骨		/uat/
越		/uʔ/
嗍		/uaʔ/
活		/ueʔ/
喂
  • Final consonants are pronounced as unreleased [p̚ t̚ k̚].
Nasalized rimes without codas
/ã/
三 		/ɔ̃/
魯		/ẽ/
明		/ãi/
歹
/ĩ/
暝		/iã/
定		/iũ/
想		/ãu/
腦
/uã/
山		/uĩ/
莓		/uãi/
彎

Grammar

Amoy grammar shares a similar structure to other Chinese dialects, although it is slightly more complex than Mandarin. Moreover, equivalent Amoy and Mandarin particles are usually not cognates.

Complement constructions

Amoy complement constructions are roughly parallel to Mandarin ones, although there are variations in the choice of lexical term. The following are examples of constructions that Amoy employs.

In the case of adverbs:

伊

i

he

走

cháu

runs

會

ē

obtains

緊

kín

quick

伊 走 會 緊

i cháu ē kín

he runs obtains quick

He runs quickly.

Mandarin: tā pǎo de kuài (他跑得快)

In the case of the adverb "very":

伊

i

He

走

cháu

runs

真

chin

obtains

緊

kín

quick

伊 走 真 緊

i cháu chin kín

He runs obtains quick

He runs very quickly.

Mandarin: tā pǎo de hěn kuài (他跑得很快)

伊

i

He

走

cháu

runs

袂

bōe

not

緊

kín

quick

伊 走 袂 緊

i cháu bōe kín

He runs not quick

He does not run quickly.

Mandarin: tā pǎo bù kuài (他跑不快)

伊

i

He

看

khòaⁿ

see

會

ē

obtains

著

tio̍h

already achieved

伊 看 會 著

i khòaⁿ ē tio̍h

He see obtains {already achieved}

He can see.

Mandarin: tā kàn de dào (他看得到)

For the negative,

伊

i

He

看

khòaⁿ

sees

袂

bōe

not

著

tio̍h

already achieved

伊 看 袂 著

i khòaⁿ bōe tio̍h

He sees not {already achieved}

He cannot see.

Mandarin: tā kàn bù dào (他看不到)

For the adverb "so," Amoy uses kah (甲) instead of Mandarin de (得):

伊

i

He

驚

kiaⁿ

startled

甲

kah

to the point of

話

ōe

words

著

tio̍h

also

講

kóng

say

袂

bōe

not

出來

chhut-lâi

come out

伊 驚 甲 話 著 講 袂 出來

i kiaⁿ kah ōe tio̍h kóng bōe chhut-lâi

He startled {to the point of} words also say not {come out}

He was so startled, that he could not speak.

Mandarin: tā xià de huà dōu shuō bù chūlái (他嚇得話都說不出來)

Negative particles

Negative particle syntax is parallel to Mandarin about 70% of the time, although lexical terms used differ from those in Mandarin. For many lexical particles, there is no single standard Hanji character to represent these terms (e.g. m̄, a negative particle, can be variously represented by 毋, 呣, and 唔), but the most commonly used ones are presented below in examples. The following are commonly used negative particles:

  1. m̄ (毋/伓) - is not + noun (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i m̄-sī gún lāu-bú. (伊毋是阮老母) "She is not my mother."
  2. m̄ (毋/伓) - does not/will not + verb (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i m̄ lâi. (伊毋來) "He will not come."
  3. verb + bōe (袂/𣍐 (⿰勿會)) + particle - is not able to (Mandarin 不, bù)
    góa khòaⁿ-bōe-tio̍h. (我看袂著) "I am not able to see it."
  4. bōe (袂/𣍐 (⿰勿會)) + helping verb - cannot (opposite of ē 會, "is able to") (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bōe-hiáu kóng Eng-gú. (伊袂曉講英語) "He can't speak English."
    • helping verbs that go with bōe (袂)
      bōe-sái (袂使) - is not permitted to (Mandarin 不可以 bù kěyǐ)
      bōe-hiáu (袂曉) - does not know how to (Mandarin 不會, búhuì)
      bōe-tàng (袂當) - not able to (Mandarin 不能, bùnéng)
  5. mài (莫/勿愛) - do not (imperative) (Mandarin 別, bié)
    mài kóng! (莫講) "Don't speak!"
  6. bô (無) - do not + helping verb (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bô beh lâi. (伊無欲來) "He is not going to come."
    • helping verbs that go with bô (無):
      beh (欲) - want to + verb; will + verb
      ài (愛) - must + verb
      èng-kai (應該) - should + verb
      kah-ì (合意) - like to + verb
  7. bô (無) - does not have (Mandarin 沒有, méiyǒu)
    i bô chîⁿ. (伊無錢) "He does not have any money."
  8. bô (無) - did not (Mandarin 沒有, méiyǒu)
    i bô lâi. (伊無來) "He did not come."
  9. bô (無) - is not + adjective (Mandarin 不, bù)
    i bô súi. (伊無媠/水) "She is not beautiful."
    • hó (好) ("good") is an exception, as it can use both m̄ and bô.

Common particles

Commonly seen particles include:

伊

i

與

hō·

人

lâng

騙

phiàn

去

khì

伊 與 人 騙 去

i hō· lâng phiàn khì

"They were cheated."

  • 共 (kā) - identifies the object (Mandarin 把, bǎ)

伊

i

共

kā

錢

chîⁿ

交

kau

與

hō·

你

lí

伊 共 錢 交 與 你

i kā chîⁿ kau hō· lí

"He handed the money to you"

  • 加 (ke) - "more"

伊

i

加

ke

食

chia̍h

一

chi̍t

碗

óaⁿ

伊 加 食 一 碗

i ke chia̍h chi̍t óaⁿ

"He ate one more bowl."

  • 共 (kā) - identifies the object

我

góa

共

kā

你

lí

講

kóng

我 共 你 講

góa kā lí kóng

"I'm telling you."

  • 濟 (chōe) - "more"

伊

i

有

ū

較

khah

濟

chōe

的

ê

朋友

pêng-iú

伊 有 較 濟 的 朋友

i ū khah chōe ê pêng-iú

"He has comparatively many friends."

Romanization

A number of Romanization schemes have been devised for Amoy. Pe̍h-ōe-jī is one of the oldest and best established. However, the Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet has become the romanization of choice for many of the recent textbooks and dictionaries from Taiwan.

More information IPA, Pe̍h-ōe-jī ...
Vowels
IPA Pe̍h-ōe-jī Tâi-lô TLPA BP MLT DT Kana Phonetic Symbols Hangul Example
Traditional Simplified
a a a a a a a アア ㄚ ᅡ 亞洲 亚洲
ap ap ap ap ap ab/ap āp/ap アㇷ゚ ㄚㆴ 압 壓力 压力
at at at at at ad/at āt/at アッ ㄚㆵ 앋 警察 警察
ak ak ak ak ak ag/ak āk/ak アㇰ ㄚㆻ 악 沃水 沃水
aʔ ah ah ah ah aq/ah āh/ah アァ ㄚㆷ 앟 牛肉 牛肉
ã aⁿ ann ann/aN na va ann/aⁿ アア ㆩ 앗 三十 三十
ɔ o͘ oo oo oo o o オオ ㆦ ᅩ 烏色 乌色
ɔk ok ok ok ok og/ok ok オㇰ ㆦㆻ 옥 中國 中国
ɔ̃ oⁿ onn oonn/ooN noo vo onn/oⁿ オオ ㆧ 옷 否 否
ə o o o o ø or オオ ㄜ ᅥ 澳洲 澳洲
o ヲヲ ㄛ
e e e e e e e エエ ㆤ ᅦ 下晡 下晡
ẽ eⁿ enn enn/eN ne ve enn/eⁿ エエ ㆥ 엣 青 青
i i i i i i i イイ ㄧ ᅵ 醫學 医学
iɛn ian ian ian ian ien ian/en イェヌ ㄧㄢ 엔 鉛筆 铅笔
iəŋ eng ing ing ing eng ing イェン ㄧㄥ 영 英國 英国
iək ek ik ik ik eg/ek ik イェㇰ ㄧㆻ 역 翻譯 翻译
ĩ iⁿ inn inn/iN ni vi inn/iⁿ イイ ㆪ 잇 病院 病院
ai ai ai ai ai ai ai アイ ㄞ ᅢ 愛情 爱情
aĩ aiⁿ ainn ainn/aiN nai vai ainn/aiⁿ アイ ㆮ 앳 載 载
au au au au au au au アウ ㆯ 알 歐洲 欧洲
am am am am am am am アム ㆰ 암 暗時 暗时
ɔm om om om om om om オム ㆱ 옴 參 参
m̩ m m m m m m ム ㆬ 음 阿姆 阿姆
ɔŋ ong ong ong ong ong ong オン ㆲ 옹 王梨 王梨
ŋ̍ ng ng ng ng ng ng ン ㆭ 응 黃色 黄色
u u u u u u u ウウ ㄨ ᅮ 有無 有无
ua oa ua ua ua oa ua ヲア ㄨㄚ ᅪ 歌曲 歌曲
ue oe ue ue ue oe ue ヲエ ㄨㆤ ᅰ 講話 讲话
uai oai uai uai uai oai uai ヲァイ ㄨㄞ ᅫ 奇怪 奇怪
uan oan uan uan uan oan uan ヲァヌ ㄨㄢ 왠 人員 人员
ɨ i ir ir i i i ウウ ㆨ ᅵ 豬肉 猪肉
(i)ũ (i)uⁿ (i)unn (i)unn/uN n(i)u v(i)u (i)unn/uⁿ ウウ ㆫ 윳 舀水 舀水
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More information IPA, Pe̍h-ōe-jī ...
Consonants
IPA Pe̍h-ōe-jī Tâi-lô TLPA BP MLT DT Kana Phonetic Symbols Hangul Example
Traditional Simplified
p p p p b p b パア ㄅ ᄇ 報紙 报纸
b b b b bb b bh バア ㆠ ᄈ 閩南 闽南
pʰ ph ph ph p ph p パ̣ア ㄆ ᄑ 普通 普通
m m m m bb m m マア ㄇ ᄆ 請問 请问
t t t t d t d タア ㄉ ᄃ 豬肉 猪肉
tʰ th th th t th t タ̣ア ㄊ ᄐ 普通 普通
n n n n n n n ナア ㄋ ᄂ 過年 过年
nŋ nng nng nng lng nng nng ヌン ㄋㆭ 雞卵 鸡卵
l l l l l l l ラア ㄌ ᄅ 樂觀 乐观
k k k k g k g カア ㄍ ᄀ 價值 价值
ɡ g g g gg g gh ガア ㆣ ᄁ 牛奶 牛奶
kʰ kh kh kh k kh k カ̣ア ㄎ ᄏ 客廳 客厅
h h h h h h h ハア ㄏ ᄒ 煩惱 烦恼
tɕi chi tsi zi zi ci zi チイ ㄐ ᄌ 支持 支持
ʑi ji ji ji li ji r ジイ ㆢ ᄍ 漢字 汉字
tɕʰi chhi tshi ci ci chi ci チ̣イ ㄑ ᄎ 支持 支持
ɕi si si si si si si シイ ㄒ ㅅ 是否 是否
ts ch ts z z z z サア ㄗ ᄌ 報紙 报纸
dz j j j l j r ザア ㆡ ᄍ 熱天 热天
tsʰ chh tsh c c zh c サ̣ア ㄘ ᄎ 参加 参加
s s s s s s s サア ㄙ ㅅ 司法 司法
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More information Tone name, IPA ...
Tones
Tone name IPA Pe̍h-ōe-jī Tâi-lô TLPA BP MLT DT Kana (normal vowels) Kana (nasal vowels) Phonetic Symbols Hangul Example
Traditional Simplified
Yin level (陰平 1) a˥ a a a1 ā af a アア アア ㄚ ᄋ 公司 公司
Yin rising (陰上 2) a˥˧ á á a2 ǎ ar à アア アア ㄚˋ ᄅ 報紙 报纸
Yin departing (陰去 3) a˨˩ à à a3 à ax â アア アア ㄚ˪ ᄂ 興趣 兴趣
Yin entering (陰入 4) ap˩

at˩ ak˩ aʔ˩

 ap

at ak ah

 ah a4 āp

āt āk āh

 ab

ad ag aq

 āp

āt āk āh

 アㇷ゚

アッ アㇰ アァ

 アㇷ゚

アッ アㇰ アァ

 ㄚㆴ

ㄚㆵ ㄚㆻ ㄚㆷ

 ᄋ 血壓

警察 中國 牛肉

 血压

警察 中国 牛肉

Yang level (陽平 5) a˧˥ â â a5 ǎ aa ǎ アア アア ㄚˊ ᄉ 人員 人员
Yang rising (陽上 6) ǎ ǎ a6 aar   老爸 老爸
Yang departing (陽去 7) a˧ ā ā a7 â a ā アア アア ㄚ˫ ᄀ 草地 草地
Yang entering (陽入 8) ap˥

at˥ ak˥ aʔ˥

 a̍p

a̍t a̍k a̍h

 a̍h a8 áp

át ák áh

 ap

at ak ah

 ap

at ak ah

 アㇷ゚

アッ アㇰ アァ

 アㇷ゚

アッ アㇰ アァ

 ㄚㆴ˙

ㄚㆵ˙ ㄚㆻ˙ ㄚㆷ˙

 ᄇ 配合

法律 文學 歇熱

 配合

法律 文学 歇热

High rising (9) a˥˥ ă a̋ a9     á       ㅋ 昨昏 昨昏
Neutral (0) a˨ --a --ah a0   ~a å         入去 入去
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    Min is believed to have split from Old Chinese, rather than Middle Chinese like other varieties of Chinese.[2][3][4]

References

Sources

External links

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