Disambiguation in Penang Hokkien using Taiji Romanisation

Taiji Romanisation allows for more precise communication in Penang Hokkien by disambiguating homophones. Although the majority of words are phonetically spelled, there includes a small number of homophones that are spelled differently in order to bring out the meaning in writing.

Sentences Disambiguated by Their Spelling

Disambiguation in Penang Hokkien enables sentences written in the language express precise thoughts more concisely. The most common method of disambiguation is homophone differentiation. This is achieved by spelling words of the same pronunciation and same tone, but different meanings, differently.

For example, the words boh3 and bo3 are pronounced the same way in Penang Hokkien, though the first means "doesn't" while the second means "hat". Penang Hokkien speakers are fond of puns and word plays, a popular joke being a pillion rider of a motorcycle dropping her helmet. She yelled to her husband riding the bike, saying, "Bo3 ka3laut1, bo3 ka3laut1" (Helmet dropped, helmet dropped!), However, her husband thought she meant, "Boh3 ka3laut1, boh3 ka3laut1!" (Nothing dropped, nothing dropped!) and he continued on without stopping.

While this may be fun for jokes, it is a serious matter when a particular thought is mired in ambiguity. A person writing text that require precision is forced to circumnavigate the issue by writing longer sentences to ensure context is not in doubt.

Taiji Romanisation includes homophone differentiation to disambiguate sentences. Consider the following sentences, and try to express them in Penang Hokkien:

Although each of these sentences can be disambiguated by the tone numbers, the application of homophones allow the meaning to emerge more swiftly. When there is a lot of text to be read, the speed at which a reader reads without having to stop to determine context is crucial.

Here are the sentences in Penang Hokkien.

Words in Penang Hokkien that one must pay special attention to are bo2 (to disappear, to be gone), boh2 (hasn't), liau4 (already), leow4 (to finish), be33 (cannot), beh33 (to sell), beh4 (to buy), khee3 (to go) and khi4 (up).

Joining or separating words

Occasionally the meaning is derived from whether we join or separate out words.

Specific Disambiguation Issues

I list out action taken on specific disambiguation issues:

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