On this page I list out the name of various occupations in Penang Hokkien. There is also a related page called Job Terms in Penang Hokkien which looks at the various words related to working and holding a job.

Quite often, we state the activity, for example, "grow vegetables" to mean "farmer", "sell meat" to mean "butcher", and so on. To say "a person who ...", we add "-eh3 lang2" to the action. Thus, "sell meat" (beh33 bak1) becomes "beh33-bak3-eh3 lang2", literally "person who sells meat."

  1. bus driver (drive bus): (noun) hnua33 bas1(-eh3 lang2) [huã-bas-e-laŋ]

  2. butcher (sell meat): (noun) beh33 bak3(-eh3 lang2) [be-baʔ-e-laŋ]

  3. chef: (noun) cong1phor3 [tsɔŋ-phɔ]

  4. clerk: (noun) cai3hu3 [tsai-hu]

  5. confinement matron: (noun) goay3lai33 poh2 [goe-lai-po]

  6. doctor: (noun) doc1tor1 [dɔk-tər], lo1kun1 [lo-kun] (from "dukun", Malay loanword), i3seng1 [i-seŋ]

  7. employee, servant: (noun) kang3lang2 [kaŋ-laŋ]

  8. factory worker: (noun) co1 kang3chniau4-eh3 lang2 [tso kaŋ-tshiãu-e laŋ]

  9. farmer (grow vegetables): (noun) ceng1 chye3(-eh3 lang2) [tseŋ-tsai-e-laŋ] , co1 chan2-eh3 lang2 [tso-tshan-e-laŋ]

  10. government servant, civil servant: (noun) co1 ceng1hu1 kang1 [tso-tseŋ-hu-kaŋ]

  11. headman: (noun) thau3lang2 [thau-laŋ]

  12. headmaster: (noun) hau33tniau4 [hau-tiãu]

  13. labourer: (noun) ku3li4 [ku-li]

  14. madam (female procurer): (noun) or3kui3poh2 [ɔ-kui-po]

  15. manager: (noun) keng3li4 [keŋ-li]

  16. martial art master (noun) su3hu3 [su-hu]

  17. nurse (noun) mi3si1 [mi-si]

  18. physician (of traditional medicine): (noun) sin3seh1 [sin-sɛ̃]

  19. pimp: (noun) or3kui3thau2 [ɔ-kui-thau]

  20. police: (noun) ma1ta2 [ma-ta]

  21. servant: (noun) kang3lang2 [kaŋ-laŋ] , (maid) gin1na1 kang1 [gin-na-kaŋ] , (Indonesian maid) In1ni3 poh2 [in-ni-po]

  22. specialist: (noun) thau3chiu4 [thau-tsiu]

  23. supervisor: (noun) kuan1 kang1-eh3 lang2 [kuan-kaŋ-e-laŋ]

  24. taxi driver: (noun) hnua33 tek1si4-eh3 lang2 [huã-tɛk-si-e-laŋ]

  25. teacher: (verb) sin3sneah1 [sin-sɛ̃] , lau33su1 [lau-su]

  26. trishaw pedaler (noun) lang3chia3 lang2 [laŋ-tshia-laŋ]

View full list of Penang Hokkien Vocabulary

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