Getting to know Penang Hokkien

Learn Penang Hokkien (21 August, 2004)


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Penang Hokkien is the most commonly used dialect in Penang, understood by many Chinese in the state. Today we are going to have some fun learning it.

Penang Hokkien originated with refugees arriving from southern China, particularly the port city of Zhangzhou in Fujian Province, to settle in the northern coastal areas of the Malay peninsula, during the early decades of the Qing Dynasty.

When Penang was opened as a British trading port in 1786, many of these Chinese settlers immediately moved in from their settlements in Kedah and the now Seberang Perai. Though their contact with the local Malays, they have borrowed many Malay words. The word for soap, for example, is sabun, borrowed from Malay (who in turn, borrowed from the Portuguese).

The early Chinese settlers in Penang spoke what we know today as Penang Hokkien. They prospered as traders and merchants under the British. When tin mines in Krian Pauh were opened in the second half of the 19th century, they were quick to cash in on the opportunity, bring workers from their homeland to work the tin fields, and establishing clan associations to look after the coolie's welfare.

Penang Hokkien, being the lingua franca of the Chinese on the island, was brought south into the Krian Pauh area, so that when Taiping was established around the 1870's, it because the predominant dialect there. Although the newcomers or "Sin Kheh" were not all Hokkien people, they learned the language as it was the most common Chinese dialect at that time (Mandarin was not yet popular until the turn of the 20th century).

Today, you will find that Penang Hokkien is still being used by the Chinese, even though Mandarin has made in-roads among the younger generation. Why learn Penang Hokkien? Well, if you are a foreigner coming to live in Penang, you will find that learning Penang Hokkien gains you much respect among the local Chinese, among your colleagues, your subordinates, your vendor in the wet market, your local friends.

And why am I teaching you Penang Hokkien? I want to preserve and celebrate Penang's heritage, and I am also concerned that Penang's intangible heritage particularly Penang Hokkien is often overlooked. The language is a cultural heritage whose survival is being threatened by the homogeny of Mandarin. I want to keep Penang Hokkien as a living intangible heritage of Penang, and the only way to keep it out of the museums is to put it in the streets on people's lips.

Penang Hokkien is not a very difficult language to learn. The grammar is quite simple. To help you learn the language in the shortest possible time, I will split this course into two section. In Part One, you learn the Components of Speech. In Part Two, you are given Situations where you will most likely get the opportunity to try the Hokkien that you've learn. The pronunciation and vocabulary that I will teach you is that of Penang Hokkien. There are variants of the Hokkien dialect spoken in Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines and Fujian Province. The Hokkien that you will learn here is the one that you can use and be understood in Penang.

One of the most important aspects in learning Penang Hokkien is to get the intonation correct. For that matter, I would advise you to seek the help of someone who speaks Penang Hokkien, to pronounce to you the words that are taught in this course. Do not be afraid to try your new-found skill with the people you meet in Penang. They will definitely be impressed, and will appreciate your effort!

Attempts at teaching Penang Hokkien

In the past few years, I have seen various attempts taken by concerned individuals in teaching Penang Hokkien. Each has approached it from his own angle. The lessons on this section of Penang Travel Tips is to provide you a more serious understanding of Penang Hokkien by looking at various aspects of its grammar.

Learn Penang Hokkien is created to help you understand the grammar of Penang Hokkien, and to be able to form sentences. I assume that you have no previous background in Penang Hokkien. It would however be beneficial to you to get someone who is able to speak the language to pronounce the words in the lesson, to provide you an understand of the intonation which is central to the language.

Romanisation of Penang Hokkien

The Romanization of Hokkien has been carried out since the 19th century, if not earlier. I had a large Hokkien dictionary which unfortunately I lost when I moved (I don't know where it went after that). It was compiled in Xiamen in the late 19th century.

Which Hokkien?

The Hokkien spoken in Fujian Province, the Taiwanese language, Singapore Hokkien and Klang Hokkien are not completely mutually intelligible. The vocabulary of Penang Hokkien includes words borrowed from other languages in Penang particularly Malay and later English and Mandarin. Attempts to explain Penang Hokkien using the existing Hokkien grammar and sentence structure would make it foreign even to speakers of Penang Hokkien.

The lesson which I am sharing on this page is not the Southern Min language of Fujian Province, but the localized hybrid language spoken by the majority of Chinese people in Penang and northern Malaysia from Taiping to Perlis, as well as in various parts of northern Sumatra around Medan. The language is also understood by the ethnic Chinese, particularly the older generation, in various towns in southern Thailand.

How to get started

I recommend that you start by learning the Part 1: Components of Speech, then continue to Part 2: Situations. That way, you have established the foundation in the dialect before handling conversations. As Penang Hokkien is a spoken dialect, I romanize the words to make it easier for you to learn.

Learn Penang Hokkien with Memrise

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Return to Penang Hokkien Resources

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.