Penang Hokkien Conversation: At the Hawker Centre

Conversational Penang Hokkien for ordering food at a hawker centre. Krishnan and Jürgen are colleagues. They work for a German pharmaceutical company. Jürgen comes from Munich in Germany. He has been in Penang for two weeks, and will be in Penang for another two. Before arriving, he decided to learn a bit of Hokkien online. However on arriving, he found out that it was not Penang Hokkien, so in the past week, he has started to learn Penang Hokkien.

Krishnan kah1 Jürgen co1 kang1 pnae3-pnae2¹ ti1 cit1-leh1 Teik1 Kok3 iok1-eh3 kong3si1. Jürgen si3 Munich ti1 Teik1 Kok3 lai2 eh2. Ie1 tua3 Penang nor33 leh1pai3 liau4, liau4¹ kokh1 boek1 ti1 Penang nor33 leh1pai3 gok3. Ie1 a1boey3 kau3 Penang, ie1 uh33 ok3 tam3pok3 Hokkien wa33. Kau3 liau4 eh3 si2, ie1 cai1 tiok1 kong4, mm33 si33 Penang-eh3 Hokkien wa33. Ca4 cit1 leh1pai3 khi4, ie1 ban33-ban33 ok1 khi1 Penang Hokkien.

Jürgen:: Uh33 ha1mik1 ho1ciak1 cit1-peng2?
What's good to eat here?

Krishnan:: Uh33 cin3 ce33 mi3knia3 ho1ciak1 ti1 cit1-peng2, char koay teow, laksa, wan than mee, koay teow thng, curry mee, ka1liau4 tun1 uh33.
There's many tasty food here, char koay teow, laksa, wan than mee, koay teow thng, curry me, all are available.

Krishnan:: Lu4 ai1 ciak3 ha1mik1?
What do you want to have?

Jürgen:: Wah4 mm33 cai1 leh3. Lu4 ni4?
I do not know. How about you?

Krishnan:: Wah1 boek1 ciak3 char koay teow.
I want to have char koay teow.

Ie1lang2 tun1 knia2 khee3 char koay teow-eh3 thnua1.
They walked to the char koay teow stall.

Krishnan:: Tau3ke2, hor33 wah4 cit1-pnua2.
Boss, one plate please.

Char Koay Teow Seller:: Ai1 huan3cio1 boh2?
Do you want chilli?

Krishnan:: Ai3³. Hor33 wah4 huan3cio1 ce33-ce33.
Yes. Give me with lots of chilli.

Krishnan, to Jürgen:: Lu4 boek1 ciak3 char koay teow boh2?
Do you want to have char koay teow?

Jürgen:: Wah1 boh3 sniau3 boek1 ciak3 char4 eh3 mi3knia3. Uh33 thng1 eh3 mi3knia3 boh2?
I'm not thinking of having something stir-fried. Is there anything with soup?

Krishnan:: Uh33. Lu4 e33 ciak3 koay teow thng a3si3 curry mee.
Yes. You can have koay teow thng or curry mee.

Jürgen:: Koay teow thng uh33 luak1 boh2?
Is koay teow thng spicy?

Krishnan:: Boh2. Koay teow thng boh3 luak1 eh2.
No, koay teow thng isn't spicy.

Jürgen:: Curry me ni4?
How about curry mee?

Krishnan:: Curry mee cin3cnia1 luak1.
Curry mee is very spicy.

Jürgen:: Okay, wah4 ciak3 koay teow thng.
Okay, I'll have koay teow thng.

Krishnan:: Wah1 kio3 hor33 lu4.
I order for you.

Jürgen:: Be33hiau1kin4, wah1 e33 ka3ki3 kio3.
Nevermind, I can order it myself.

Krishnan:: Beh33 koay teow thng-eh3 lang2 si33 ca3bor4 lai2. Lu4 kio3 ee1 Ah3 Ee2.
The koay teow thng seller is a lady. You call her Auntie.

Ie1lang2 knia2 khee3 koay teow thng-eh3 thnua1.
They walked to the koay teow thng stall.

Jürgen:: Ah3 Ee2, hor33 wah4 koay teow thng cit3 pnua1.
Auntie, give me a plate of koay teow thng.

Krishnan:: Boh2, koay teow thng cit3 wna4.
No, a bowl of koay teow thng.

Koay teow thng seller:: Ceh3 ta1lok1?
Where do you sit?

Jürgen, pointing:: Wah1lang2 ceh3 heh1-peng2.
We sit over there.

Krishnan:: Kin3 ka1 Hokkien mee-eh3 thnua1.
Near the Hokkien Mee stall.

Koay Teow Thng seller:: Lu1lang2 gau3 kong4 Hokkien wa33. Ta1lok1 lai2 eh2?
You speak Hokkien well. Where (do you) come from?

Krishnan:: Kam1siah3. Wah1 si33 Penang Lang2. Wah1-eh3 peng3iu4 si33 gua3kok3 lai2 eh2.
Thank you. I am a Penangite. My friend is from overseas.

Koay Teow Thng seller:: Ta1lok1 lai2 eh2?
Where does he come from?

Jürgen:: Wah1 si33 Teik1 Kok3 lai2 eh2.
I'm from Germany.
Notes

co1 kang1 pnae3-pnae2: work together.

liau4 used at the end of the first phrase means "already"; liau used at the beginning of the second phrase is a conjunction meaning "and", "and then" or "after that".

Note that "yes" and "no" takes after the auxiliary verb of the question. If the question asks with ai3 (can), then you answer with ai3 (yes) or mai3 (no), if it is asked with uh3 (have), you answer with uh3 (there is) or boh2 (there isn't).

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