Getting Used to Penang Hokkien Tones

Many people can speak Penang Hokkien, but can't differentiate which tone each word is supposed to be written. Is it 1, 2, 3, 33 or 4? Maybe these examples can help. If you have difficulty with the tones, see if you can establish similarity among words within each group.

Tone 1 words include Pa1 (Dad), liak1 (catch), kau1 (to hang), koo1 (tortoise), mau1 (hit/hentam). They change to tone 3 if they are before another syllable in a compound, ie Pa3 Pa1 , liak3 chat1 .

Tone 2 words include gu2 (cow), tu2 (cupboard), tiau2 (to stick/lekat), gau2 (clever), cha2 (wood). They change to tone 3 if they are before another syllable in a compound, ie gu3 bak3 , tu3 mui2 .

Tone 3 words include lau3 (leaking), phak3 (to beat), siark3 (to fall heavily), kiu3 (to rescue). They change to tone 1 if they are before another syllable in a compound, ie lau1 chooi4 , phak1 kor4 .

Tone 4 words include siau4 (mad), kao4 (dog), kin4 (swift), ku4 (long while), bu4 (dance). They change to tone 1 if they are before another syllable in a compound, ie siau1 lang2 , kao1 kang1 .

Tone 33 words include tua33 (big), lau33 (old), wa33 (language), gong33 (stupid), nui33 (egg). They remain tone 33 even before another syllable in a compound, ie tua33 lang2 , lau33 lang2 , etc.

In Taiji Romanisation, tone 3 and tone 33 are the same tone, except that words of tone 3 changes to 1 before another syllable, while words of tone 33 stay the same.

You can read any syllable in a full set of the four tones, like this: kau1 kau2 kau3 kau4 , bu1 bu2 bu3 bu4 , siau1 siau2 siau3 siau4 Of course not every syllable in the set carries a meaning. Most are just sounds, but the offer you opportunity to observe them within the set of four tones.

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