Evolution & Development of Penang Hokkien

Every living language is expected to evolve and change over time. A language that is static, that has been forced to be frozen in time, is not able keep pace with new demands. Even today, the English that we speak continues to absorb new words, some words change their meaning, and some fall out of use. We don't use "thou" or "saith" in every day conversation, unless we use it for a period context.

The most important way to keep a language alive is by using it. And when we use it, we should not be afraid to accept new words into its vocabulary. If you were an author, and you plan to produce works in Penang Hokkien, you should have the license to coin new words, albeit sparingly, in order that it best conveys your thoughts. Some of the most acclaimed authors of works in English coin words or introduce new usage to existing words. For that reason, we should not be afraid to push the boundaries forward. Remember that it is better to have produced works in Penang Hokkien, even with newly introduced words, than not producing anything at all.

How we communicate has also changed. Throughout much of the 20th century, generations of Penang Hokkien-speaking people grew up using the language orally. We were satisfied to being able to use the language among ourselves in person, face to face. But times have change. In the past, should we wish to communicate in writing, we write a letter, and we accept that it will take a measurable amount of time to receive a response.

Nowadays, most of us have various channels to telecommunicate in writing, whether by email, SMS, Messenger, Whatsapp, Wechat or fax. Writing letters and sending them away by post is not the usual form of written telecommunication anymore.

In order for our language to survive and remain relevant in this present age, the need for literacy in the language is stronger now than before. If we are incapable of telecommunicating in Penang Hokkien, then our language is handicapped, for we are forced to rely on languages with a writing system to telecommunicate, perhaps in English or Mandarin. In the past, in does not matter, for our daily life back then does not require that much written telecommunication. Now it does, for written telecommunication is part of modern daily life.

The tool for written telecommunication is the writing system. There may be more than one tool to get the job done, but the survival of our language is more assured when we choose a tool that is easilty used. On one end of the spectrum, if we create a new writing system with strange characters and rules, none of which resembling existing languages that the speakers of Penang Hokkien know, it will be harder to learn how to communicate in the language and pass it on. We should be mindful that the main purpose of a writing system is effective telecommunication. If the system has rules that does not contribute to effective communication, we should be asking ourselves why we are using it in the first place. On the other hand, if we ride on existing knowledge of languages among the speakers, and we build on something they are already familiar with, our hope of passing maintaining the survival of the language is enhanced.

When it comes to rescuing an endangered language, different people will always have different opinion of which path to take. At the end of the day, rather than arguing over which is the best course of action, the only way to maintain the survival of our language is just to keep doing it - speak it, write it, use it. [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Private Guided Tours of Penang

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 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.

您有待出售或出租的房产吗？ 您想购买或租赁房产吗？ 与我联系。 WhatsApp 我 (Timothy Tye) 012 429 9844，我将指派一名房地产经纪人为您服务。 我会根据您的房产需求，为您选择代理。 因此，当您给我发消息时，请向我提供一些您需要的详细信息，无论是出售、购买、出租还是出租，以及房产类型，是公寓、公寓、房屋、商店、办公室还是土地。

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Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Songs about Penang

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.