Pronouns in Penang Hokkien
Go BackThere are two third person pronouns which are homophones of each other: ie1 [i] is used for males, male animals and items of unspecified gender; ee1 [i] is sed for females, female animals and any item we refer or identy with the female gender. In the plural, ie1lang2 [i-laŋ] is used when the gender is all male or unspecified, whereas ee1lang2 [i-laŋ] is used when the gender is known to be specifically female.
There are just two types of pronouns to remember, the Personal Pronoun and the Possessive Pronoun. Let's learn them now.
Personal Pronouns
English / HokkienSingular
Iwah4 [ua]
gua4 [gua] (Singular) You
lu4 [lu]
He
ie1 [i]
She
ee1 [i]
It
i1 [i]
Plural
Wewah1lang2 [wa-laŋ]
,gua1lang2 [gua-laŋ]
,lan4 [lan
/ laŋ ]and lan1lang2 [lan-laŋ
/ laŋ-laŋ ](Plural) You
lu1lang2 [lu-laŋ]
They (m)
ie1lang2 [i-laŋ]
They (f)
ee1lang2 [i-laŋ]
They (n)
i1lang2 [i-laŋ]
The system uses three homophones to represent the third person singular. He is "ie1", for people and male animals; she is "ee1", for people and female animals; it is "i1" for animals of undetermined gender and objects. These are turned into the plural by suffixing lang2.
The pronoun ie1 is used by default for people when the gender is not determined. The plural pronoun ie1lang2 is used for all males or mixed, or for people where the gender is not determined.
Things to note
- The first person singular, "I", is written as wah4 as well as gua4. These are the two main ways to spell this pronoun that is accepted by the system. The word wah4 can be used as subject (I) and object (me).
- The plural is formed by adding lang2 to the singular form. "We" can be wah1lang2 or gua1lang2, though wah1lang2 seems to be the more common of the two.
- The first person plural, "we", can be expressed with wah1lang2, lan4 and lan4lang2. The difference is, wah1lang2 does not include the second person (only us, not including you, or in Malay, "kami"), where as lan1 and lan1lang2 both include the second person (all of us, including you, or in Malay, "kita").
- There is no inflection to show whether the pronoun is used as subject or object. In the sentence "I call him" (Wah4 keo3 ee4) and "He calls me" (Ee4 keo3 wah4), the same pronoun is used for I and me, he and him. (Similarly, the verb keo3 is also not affected by inflection, whether "call" or "calls").
Tone Sandhi affecting the Pronouns Wah4, Gua4 and Lu4
Subject Pronouns, Normal ToneWhen used as the subject of the sentence, the pronouns wah4, gua4 and lu4 sandhi to wah1, gua1 and lu1. Wah1 ciak1.
I eat.
Lu1 ciak3 bak3.
You eat meat.
Gua1 mai1 jip1 lai2.
I don't want to come in. Subject Pronouns, Emphatic Tone
When you apply the emphatic tone to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns wah4, gua4 and lu4 do not sandhi. Wah4 ciak1, lu4 mm33thang3 ciak1.
I eat, you don't eat.
Wah4 khee3, lu4 tan1 cit1-peng2.
I go, you wait here. Object Pronouns, Normal Tone
When used as object, wah4, gua4 and lu4 remain in the citation tone. Wah1 kio3 lu4.
I call you.
Lu1 kio3 wah4.
You call me. The other pronouns (ee1, lan4, wah1lang2, lu1lang2, ee1lang2 and lan1lang2) are Regular Words. They are always articulated in the citation tone regardless whether they are used as subject or object, and there is no emphatic tone for them.
Object Pronouns
When the pronoun appears as an object of a verb, the verb remains in the citation tone.Ie1 that1 bort1.
He kicks (the) ball.
Ie1 that3 wah4.
He kicks me.
In the example above, the verb that3 appears in the sandhi form, as that1, when the object is a noun. However, if the object is a pronoun, then the verb retains its citation form, that3.
Ie1 boek1 that1 bort1 ta3pi1 that3 tiok3 wah4.
He wanted to kick the ball but accidentally kicked me.
In the above example, the verb that3 appears twice in the sentence, the first time as that1 because it is followed by a noun, and the second time as that3 because it is followed by a pronoun.
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