Amoy (linguistics)

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Amoy
廈門話 / 厦门话 Ē-mn̂g-ōe
Spoken in: People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan (where it is known as Taiwanese), and other areas of Min Nan and Hoklo settlement 
Region: Southern Fujian province
Total speakers: over 10 million (no recent data)
Language family: Sino-Tibetan
 Chinese
  Min
   Min Nan
    Amoy 
Official status
Official language in: None
Regulated by: None
Language codes
ISO 639-1: zh
ISO 639-2: chi (B)  zho (T)
ISO 639-3: nan

Amoy (Xiamen) is a language/dialect which originally comes from Southern Fujian province (in Southeast China), in the area centered around the city of Xiamen. It is highly similar to Taiwanese, and is widely known as Hokkien in Southeast Asia. Amoy is widely considered to be the prestige dialect within Min Nan. For this reason, Amoy is often simply called Min Nan.

Spoken Amoy and Taiwanese are both mixtures of Zhangzhou and Quanzhou speech. As such, they are very closely aligned phonologically. However, there are some subtle differences between the two, as a result of physical separation and other historical factors. The lexical differences between the two are slightly more pronounced. Generally speaking, Amoy, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Taiwanese, and the Hokkien spoken in Southeast Asia are mutually intelligible.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1842, as a result of the signing of the Treaty of Nanking, Xiamen (Amoy) was designated as a trading port. Xiamen and Gulangyu islands rapidly developed, which resulted in a large influx of people from neighboring areas such as Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. The mixture of these various accents have formed the basis for Amoy. Over the last several centuries, there have been a large number of descendents from these areas who have migrated to Taiwan. Eventually, Amoy became popularly known as Taiwanese among the locals living there. Just like British and American English, there are subtle lexical and phonologic differences between Taiwanese and Amoy, however these differences do not generally pose any barriers to communication. Amoy speakers also spread to Southeast Asia, where it became widely known as Hokkien.

[edit] Special characteristics

Spoken Amoy preserves many of the sounds and words from Middle Chinese. However, the vocabulary of Amoy was also influenced in its early stages by the languages of the Minyue peoples.[1] Spoken Amoy is known for its use of nasalization. Unlike English or Mandarin, Amoy also distinguishes between unaspirated voiceless and unaspirated voiced initial consonants. In less technical terms, native Amoy speakers have little difficulty in hearing the difference between the following syllables:

  unaspirated aspirated
bilabial stop bo po pʰo
velar stop go ko kʰo
  voiced voiceless

[edit] Accents

Amoy pronunciation is based on two main accents: Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. The following table provides five words that illustrate some of the more commonly seen sound shifts:

English Chinese character Accent Pe̍h-ōe-jī IPA
two Quanzhou, Taipei li˧
Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Tainan ʑi˧
sick Quanzhou, Xiamen, Taipei pīⁿ pĩ˧
Zhangzhou, Tainan pēⁿ pẽ˧
egg Quanzhou, Xiamen, Taiwan nn̄g nŋ˧
Zhangzhou nūi nui˧
chopsticks Quanzhou, Lukang tīr tɨ˧
Xiamen, Penghu tu˧
Zhangzhou, Taiwan ti˧
shoes 皮鞋 Quanzhou phêr-êr pʰə˨˩ə˧˥
Xiamen, Taipei phê-ôe pʰe˨˩ue˧˥
Zhangzhou, Tainan phôe-ê pʰue˧˧e˧˥

[edit] Tones

Amoy is similar to other Min Nan dialects/languages in that it makes use of 5 tones, which are reduced to 2 in checked syllables. The tones are traditionally numbered from one through eight, but those numbered 2 and 6 are identical in most regions.

1 Yin level ˥
2 Yin rising ˥˧
3 Yin falling ˨˩
4 Yin entering ˩ʔ
5 Yang level ˧˥
6=2 Yang rising ˥˧
7 Yang falling ˧
8 Yang entering ˥ʔ

[edit] Tone sandhi

Amoy has extremely extensive tone sandhi (tone-changing) rules: in an utterance, only the last syllable pronounced is not affected by the rules. What an 'utterance' is, in the context of this language, is an ongoing topic for linguistic research. For the purpose of this article, an utterance may be considered a word, a phrase, or a short sentence. The diagram illustrates the rules that govern the pronunciation of a tone on each of the syllables affected (that is, all but the last in an utterance):

Image:Amoy tones.JPG

[edit] Literary versus vernacular readings

Like other varieties of Min Nan, Amoy has complex rules for literary and vernacular readings of Chinese characters. For example, the character for big has a vernacular reading of tōa (IPA[tua˧˧]), but a literary reading of tāi (IPA[tai˧˧]). Because of the loose nature of the rules governing when to use a given pronunciation, a student of the language must often simply memorize the appropriate reading for a word on a case by case basis. For single syllable words, it is more common to use the vernacular pronunciation. This situation is comparable to the on and kun readings of Japanese.

The vernacular readings are generally thought to predate the literary readings; the literary readings appear to have evolved from middle Chinese. The following chart illustrates some of the more commonly seen sound shifts:

vernacular literary example
[p-], [pʰ-] [h-] pun hun divide
[tɕ-], [tɕʰ-], [ts-], [tsʰ-] [ɕ-] chiâⁿ sêng to become
[k-], [kʰ-] [tɕ-], [tɕʰ-] kí chí finger
[-ã], [-uã] [-an] khòaⁿ khàn to see
[-ʔ] [-t] chia̍h si̍t to eat
[-i] [-e] sì sè world
[-e] [-a] ke ka family
[-ia] [-i] kh khì to stand

[edit] Vocabulary

For further information, read the article: Swadesh list

The Swadesh word list, developed by the linguist Morris Swadesh, is used as a tool to study the evolution of languages. It contains a set of basic words which can be found in every language.

[edit] Grammar

Amoy grammar shares a similar structure to other Chinese dialects, although it is slightly more complex than Standard Mandarin. Moreover, equivalent Amoy and Mandarin particles are usually not cognates.

[edit] Complement constructions

As the following example shows, Amoy complement construnctions are roughly parallel Standard Mandarin, with some exceptions (in red).

particle English  
adverb He runs quickly. Amoy i cháu ē kín  
Mandarin pǎo kuài  
English He runs obtains quick  
adverb He runs very quickly. Amoy i cháu   chiok kín  
Mandarin pǎo hěn kuài  
English He runs   very quick  
adverb He does not run quickly. Amoy i cháu kín  
Mandarin pǎo kuài  
English He runs not quick  
can He can see. Amoy i khòaⁿ ē tio̍h  
Mandarin kàn dào  
English He sees obtains already achieved  
can He can not see. Amoy i khòaⁿ tio̍h  
Mandarin kàn dào  
English He sees not already achieved  
so He was so startled, that he could not speak. Amoy i kiaⁿ kah ōe kóng chhut-lâi
Mandarin xià huà dōu shuō chūlái
English He startled to the point of words also say not come out

[edit] Negative particles

Negative particle syntax is parallel to Standard Mandarin about 70% of the time. Here is a fairly complete description (parallel usage to Mandarin is bolded):

  1. m̄ - is not + noun (Mandarin: bù)
    i m̄-sī gún lāu-bú. She is not my mother.
  2. m̄ - does not + verb/will not + verb (Mandarin: bù)
    i m̄ lâi. He does not come./He will not come.
  3. verb + bē + particle - is not able to (Mandarin: bù)
    góa khòaⁿ-bē-tio̍h. I am not able to see it.
  4. bē + helping verb - can not (opposite of ē is able to/Mandarin: bù)
    i bē-hiáu kóng Eng-gú. He can't speak English.
    • helping verbs that go with bē
      bē-sái - is not permitted to (Mandarin: bù kěyǐ)
      bē-hiáu - does not know how to (Mandarin: búhuì)
      bē-tàng - not able to (Mandarin: bùnéng)
  5. mài - do not (imperative) (Mandarin: bié)
    mài kóng! Don't speak!
  6. bô - do not + helping verb (Mandarin: bù)
    i bô beh lâi. He is not going to come.
    • helping verbs that go with bô:
      beh - want to + verb; will + verb
      ài - must + verb
      èng-kai - should + verb
      kah-ì - like to + verb
  7. bô - does not have (Mandarin: méiyǒu)
    i bô chîⁿ. He does not have any money.
  8. bô - did not (Mandarin: méiyǒu)
    i bô lâi. He did not come.
  9. bô - is not + adjective (Mandarin: bù)
    i bô súi. She is not beautiful.
    • An exception can be made for hó (good), m̄-hó = bô-hó - not good.

[edit] Cheat sheet

Here is an English/Amoy/Mandarin conversion list for some of the more commonly seen particles:

Particle English yellow: dual use particle; red: two different particles
passive They were cheated. Amoy in hō· lâng phiàn khì  
Mandarin tāmen bèi   piàn le  
English They by person was cheated  
object identifier (1) He handed the money to you. Amoy i chîⁿ kau hō·
Mandarin qián jiāo gěi
English He (object identifier) money hand over give you
more (1) He ate one more bowl. Amoy i ke chia̍h   chi̍t óaⁿ
Mandarin duō chī le wǎn
English He more eat (past tense) one bowl
object identifier (2) I'm telling you ... Amoy góa kóng  
Mandarin gēn jiǎng  
English I (object identifier) you say  
more (2) He has more friends. Amoy i ū khah chē ê pêng-iú
Mandarin yǒu bǐjiào duō de péngyǒu
English He has comparatively many of friends

[edit] Romanization

  • A number of Romanization schemes have been devised for Amoy. Pe̍h-ōe-jī is one of the oldest and best established. However, the Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet has become the Romanization of choice for many of the recent textbooks and dictionaries from Taiwan.
Vowels
IPA a ap at ak aʔ ã ɔ ɔk ɔ̃ ə o e i ɪɛn
Ph-ōe-jī a ap at ak ah aⁿ ok oⁿ o o e eⁿ i ian eng
Revised TLPA a ap at ak ah aN oo ok ooN o o e eN i ian ing
TLPA a ap at ak ah ann oo ok oonn o o e enn i ian ing
Pumindian (普闽典) a ap at ak ah na oo ok noo o o e ne i ien ing
PSDB (普實台文) a ab/ap ad/at ag/ak aq/ah va o og/ok vo oi oi e ve i ien eng
DT (台語通用拼音) a ap at ak ah ann/aⁿ or ok onn/oⁿ o o e enn/eⁿ i ian/en ing
zhuyin ㆦㆶ ㄧㄢ ㄧㄥ
example (traditional Chinese)













example (simplified Chinese)













Vowels
IPA ɪk ĩ ai au am ɔm ɔŋ ŋ̍ u ua ue uai uan ɨ ũ
Pe̍h-ōe-jī ek iⁿ ai aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u oa oe oai oan i uⁿ
Revised TLPA ik iN ai aiN au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir uN
TLPA ik inn ai ainn au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan ir unn
Pumindian (普闽典) ik ni ai nai au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i nu
PSDB (普實台文) eg/ek vi ai vai au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i nu
DT (台語通用拼音) ik inn/iⁿ ai ainn/aiⁿ au am om m ong ng u ua ue uai uan i unn/uⁿ
zhuyin ㄨㄚ ㄨㄞ ㄨㄢ
example (traditional Chinese)












example (simplified Chinese)












Consonants
IPA p b pʰ m t tʰ n l k g kʰ h tɕi ʑi tɕʰi ɕi ts ʣ tsʰ s
Pe̍h-ōe-jī p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h chi ji chhi si ch j chh s
Revised TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s
TLPA p b ph m t th n nng l k g kh h zi ji ci si z j c s
Pumindian (普闽典) b bb p bb d t n lng l g gg k h zi li ci si z l c s
PSDB (普實台文) p b ph m d t n nng l k g q h ci ji chi si z j zh s
DT (台語通用拼音) b bh p m d t n ng l g gh k h zi r ci si z r c s
zhuyin
example (traditional Chinese)




















example (simplified Chinese)




















Tones
IPA a˥˧ a˨˩ ap˩
at˩
ak˩
aʔ˩
a˧˥ a˥˧ ap˥
at˥
ak˥
aʔ˥
Pe̍h-ōe-jī a á à ap
at
ak
ah
â á ā p
t
k
h
Revised
TLPA
TLPA
a1 a2 a3 ap4
at4
ak4
ah4
a5 a2 (6=2) a7 ap8
at8
ak8
ah8
Pumindian
(普闽典)
ā ǎ à āp
āt
āk
āh
á ǎ â áp
át
ák
áh
PSDB
(普實台文)
af ar ax ab
ad
ag
aq
aa aar a ap
at
ak
ah
DT
(台語通用拼音)
a à â āp
āt
āk
āh
ǎ á ā ap
at
ak
ah
zhuyin ㄚˋ ㄚᒻ


ㄚˊ ㄚˋ ㆴ̇
ㆵ̇
ㆶ̇
ㆷ̇
example
(traditional Chinese)






example
(simplified Chinese)






[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Ancient Minyue People and the Origins of the Min Nan Language (Mandarin). Jinjiang Government website. Retrieved on 2008-04-12.

[edit] Sources

  • To understand the beauty of Taiwanese (愛說台語五千年 -- 台語聲韻之美) (in Mandarin/Taiwanese). ISBN 9789867101471. 
  • A vocabulary and sentence structure comparison between Mandarin, Taiwanese and English (華台英詞彙句式對照集) (in Mandarin/Taiwanese/English). ISBN 9571138223. 
  • Papers on Southern Min Syntax (閩南語語法研究試論) (in Mandarin/Min Nan/English). ISBN 9571509485. 

[edit] External links

Wikipedia
Amoy (linguistics) edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia