Penang Hokkien Imperatives

Finally we reach the final lesson in Learn to Write Penang Hokkien. In this lesson, we look at imperatives. We use imperatives to command, request, prohibit or seek permission. In English, when we use imperative, the verb is in the infinitive form (no -s, -ed, -ing, etc.)

For example:

Sit quietly.
Go to sleep.

In Penang Hokkien, the verb is in the citation form. Here are the above examples in Penang Hokkien:

Ceh33 tiam33-tiam33.
Khee1 khoon3.

Where there's an object behind the verb, the verb should be in the sandhi form.

Read book: Thark3 chaek3 (from citation form "thark1")
Turn on the light: Khui3 hoay4. (from "tiam4")
Pedal bicycle: Tak3 kha3chia1. (from "tak1")

The imperative verb is in the citation form if the object includes a demonstrative (cit1-leh1) or classifier (cit3-leh3)

Read this book.
Thark1 cit1-pun1 chaek3.

Turn on this light.
Khui1 cit3-pha3 hoay4.

Pedal/ride my bicycle.
Tak1 wah1-eh3 kha3chia1.

To soften the command, add the adverb "to3long2" (sandhied to "to3long3"), a Malay loanword that translates as "please". The actual Malay word is a verb meaning "to help", and this is also adopted into Penang Hokkien.

Please read this book.
To3long3 thark1 cit1-pun1 chaek3.

Please turn on the light.
To3long3 khui1 cit3-pha3 hoay4.

Please pedal/ride my bicycle.
To3long3 tak1 wah1-eh3 kha3chia1.

The Hokkien equivalent to "to3long2" is "chnia4". However they don't carry the exact same meaning. "To3long2" is used to issue an instruction or request whereas "chnia4" is used to invite. It is also used as a verb to mean "to invite".

Please come in.
Chnia1 jip1 lai2.

Please drink tea.
Chnia1 lim3 teh2.

Negative imperatives are created by placing "mm33thang1" (sandhied to "mm33thang3") in front of the verb. So "mm33thang1" can be translated as "don't".

Don't make noise.
Mm33thang3 co1 luan33.

Don't turn on the light.
Mm33thang3 khui3 hoay4.

Don't pedal/ride my bicycle.
Mm33thang3 tak1 wah1-eh3 kha3chia1.

An invitation to do something is expressed by adding "lai2" (sandhied to "lai3") in front of the verb. "Lai2", which means "to come", is used in imperative sentences for "let's". The difference between lai2 and chnia4 is that lai2 is used to invite someone to engage in an activity together, whereas chnia4 is used to invite someone to partake of something.

Let's read book.
Lai3 thark3 chaek3.

Let's go to sleep.
Lai3 khee1 khoon3.

Let's drink tea.
Lai3 lim3 teh2.

Passive imperatives - those seeking permission to do something - is created by adding "hor33" in front of the verb. In other contexts, "hor33", which we have met before in the lesson on passive voice, also functions as a verb meaning "to give", and as a preposition meaning "for".

Let me read book.
Hor33 wah1 thark3 chaek3.

Let him go to sleep.
Hor33 ie1 khee1 khoon3.

Let them drink tea.
Hor33 ie1lang2 lim3 teh2.

So this is the final lesson in this course. I hope these 31 lessons have been helpful to you in understanding the rules for writing Penang Hokkien. This is just the beginning. To write Penang Hokkien properly, you will need regular exposure to the writing system.

I will now work on placing all these lessons on the web, with audio output, so that you can listen to every example, and reproduce the pronunciation on your own.

I hope to also include additional material to these 31 lessons from time to time as well as create exercises for you to gain further exposure to the language.

Learning to write Penang Hokkien is something which has to be approached regularly, rather than intermittently. It is better to engage in 10 minutes of Penang Hokkien each day than to do two hours of the language once a month. Your fluency comes from regular exposure to the language and the writing system.

Feel free to write to me if you have any questions regarding how to write Penang Hokkien using this romanised system. And be sure to have fun learning the system!

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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.

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