Rules of Hyphenation in Taiji Romanisation of Penang Hokkien

The hyphen is used in Taiji Romanisation for main criterias when writing Penang Hokkien.

1. Linking Classifiers
A classifier is always linked to the numeral or demonstrative.

Snar3-can1 lau2
Three-storey building
See1-khien1 lang2
Four (classifier) persons
Cit1-khien1 lang2
This (classifier) person

2. Linking Possessives
The possessive particle is linked with a hyphen to the possessor. This is placed in front of the object. Use -eh3 when the object is shown, use -eh2 when it is understood.

Kao4-eh3 boey4
The dog's tail
Kau3ie4-eh3 kha1
The leg of the chair
Cit1-khien1 lang2-eh3 knia4
This person's child

In Penang Hokkien, the possessive particle is also used with adjectives, verbs and gerunds possessor may be a noun, pronoun as well as adjective, verb or gerund, creating relative constructions similar to the English "who", "that", etc.

Tua33-keng1-eh3 chu3 khah1 kui3 goay3 se1-keng1-eh3 chu3.
Big house is more expensive than small house. (Literally, "house that is big" is more expensive than "house that is small".)
Sau1tay3-eh3 Ah3 Pek3 khah1 lau33 goay3 khiok1 sam3pah4-eh3 Ah3 Pek3.
The uncle who sweeps the floor is older than the uncle who collects rubbish.

Use eh2 when the object is understood.

Tua33-keng1-eh2 khah1 kui3 goay3 se1-keng1-eh2.
The big one is more expensive than the small one. (Literally, "the one that is big" is more expensive than "the one that is small".)
Sau1tay3-eh2 khah1 lau33 goay3 khiok1 sam3pah4-eh2.
The one who sweeps the floor is older than the one who collects rubbish.

When -eh3 is hyphenated to pronouns, it forms a possessive adjective (my, your, our, etc.)

Wah1-eh3 Pa3 Pa1 tua1 chu3.
My father is at home.
Lu1-eh3 Pa3 Pa1 lai2 liau4.
Your father has come.

When -eh2 is hyphenated to pronouns, it forms a possessive pronoun (mine, yours, ours, etc.)

Wah1-eh2 tua1 chu3, lu1-eh2 lai2 liau4.
Mine is at home, yours is here. (The antecedent, "father", is understood.)

3. Reduplication
Words formed through reduplication are hyphenated.

Khuai1-khuai3 lai2 cit1-peng2!
Come over here quickly!
Cui33-cui33 tua3 heh1-peng2?
Who lives there?
Haeh33 thng2 tam3pok3-tam3pok1.
Add sugar bit by bit.

4. Forming Single Entities
When morphemes are strung together to form compound nouns, all preceding morphemes usually sandhi, whether or not they are joined together or spaced out. In the rare instances where the morphemes remain in the citation tone, a hyphen is place to indicate this.

Compare:

ko3pi3 peng1 (Iced coffee) with ko3pi1-kau3 (Thick black coffee)
cham3 sng1 (mixed with ice) with cham1-peng1 (Iced coffee-tea combo)

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