Why it is useful to learn to write Penang Hokkien

Why it is useful to learn to write Penang Hokkien (28 December, 2017)


Mien1 huan3lo4 na33si33 lan4 lang2 kong4-eh3 Hok1kien1 wa33 boh3 siang33ka1 Tai3wan2 yong33 eh2.
Do not worry if our Hokkien is different from that used in Taiwan.

Pa1sang1 kah1 Sin3ka3po1 yong33 eh2 pun1 boh3 siang33ka1 lan4 eh2.
The one used in Klang and Singapore are also different from ours.

Na33si33 lan4 boek3 lan4-eh3 wa33 uak1, lan4 mien1 huan3lo4 yong33 tiok3 Ang3mor3 ji33, Huan3na1 ji33 a33si33 Hua2yu3-eh3 ji33.
If we want our language to be alive, don't worry about having to use words in English, Malay or Mandarin in it.

Uh33 lang2 kio3 Hua2yu3 co1 Tng3lang3 wa33, ta3pi1, Hok1kien1 wa33 si33 mm33 si33 Tng3lang3 wa33 pun4?
Some people call Mandarin language as Chinese language, but isn't Hokkien a Chinese language too?

Na33si33 wah1 kio3 Mandarin co1 Hua3g14 a33si33 Hua3gu4, sa1 boh3 ce33 lang3 beng3peik1 wah1 kong4 ha1mik1.
If I call Mandarin as "Han1gi4", then not many locals will understand what I am talking about.

Lan4-eh3 Hok1kien1 wa33 tok33si33 an1nae1 loh4, ce33 pa3-leh3 wa33-eh3 ji33. Sor1i4, wah1 cit3thau3 kio3 Mandarin co1 Hua2yu3 (Huáyǔ).
That's how it is with our Hokkien, with lots of words from other languages. Therefore, I straightaway call Mandarin as Hua2yi3.

Ku33ca4-eh3 si2, Hok1kien1 wa33 si33 yong33 lai3 kong4 nia33.
Last time, Hokkien is used only for speaking.

Na33si33 Penang-eh3 Tng3lang2 boek1 sia4, ie1lang2 yong33 Ang3mor2 kah1 Tng3snua3 Ji33.
If a Penang Chinese people want to write, they use English or China Writing.

Ha1mik1 si33 Tng3snua3 Ji33?
What is China Writing?

Tng3snua3 Ji33 tok33si33 Han1bun2 (Hàn-bûn) 漢文.
China Writing is Literary Chinese.

Hok1kien1 lang2 thark3 Tng3snua3 Ji33 yong33 Hok1kien2-eh3 thark3 chaek3 im1.
Hokkien people read China Writing using the Hokkien reading pronunciation.

Ta3pi1, ie1lang2 kong1wa33 yong33 kong1wa33 im1.
However, they speak using colloquial pronunciation.

Tong3kim1 ni4, na33si33 boek1 sia4 Tng3lang2, boh3 yong33 Tng3snua3 Ji33 sia4 liau4. Boek1 sia4 Tng3lang2 si33 yong33 Hua2yu3 sia4. Yong33 Hua2yu3, i1su33 ni4, kong4-eh3 im1 kah1 sia4-eh3 im1 siang33 cit3-leh2.
Now, to write in Chinese, we don't use Literary Chinese anymore. Instead we use Mandarin. With Mandarin, the spoken and the written are the same.

Hua2yu3, Tng3snua3 Ji33 a33si33 Hok1kien3, ji33 si33 siang33, ta3pi1 an1cnua1 pai2, boh3 ha1mik1 siang33.
Mandarin, Literary Chinese and Hokkien, the characters are the same, but how they are arranged is not.

Tong3kim1, na33si33 boek1 kong1wa33 ka1 lang2, lan4 e33 yong33 Facebook.
Now, if we want to talk to people, we can use Facebook.

Ku33ca4 Facebook ma1na4 uh33?
In the past, where got Facebook?

Ku33ca4, mien1 tiok1 ok3 sia4 Hok1kien1 wa33.
In the past, we don't need to learn to write Hokkien.

Ta3pi1, an1cnua1 yong33 Facebook na33si33 lan4 be33hiau1 sia4?
However, how to use Facebook if we don't know how to write?

Na33si33 kor1 lang2 sia4 kor1 lang2-eh3 lor33, ka1nia33 e33hiau4 Hok1kien1 wa33-eh3 lang2 beng3peik1 lan1 sia4 ha1mik1.
If each person writes his own way, only those who know Hokkien can under what we are saying.

Cui33-cui33 ok3 Hok1kien1 wa33 eh2 mm33cai1 lan4 ngap1mat1!
Whoever is learning Hokkien don't know what we are babbling.

Sor1i4, wah1 hi3bang3, ju1 lai2 ju1 ce33 lang2 e33hiau4 Tai1ji33.
Therefore I hope more and more people knows Taiji.

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