World Travel GuidesGlossary of Penang Hokkien Words

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Here's a glossary of the words I introduced in this course. As mentioned, some words change their tone. If you see words with two tones, the first one is usually used when the word is standalone, the second is when it is attached to another word as a modifier. For example, ang2 is "red", but ang3 sah1 is "red shirt".
  1. Ang2 (also Ang3): (adjective) red
  2. Ar1-meh2: (time) night
  3. A3si3: (conjunction) if
  4. Beh3: (verb) to sell
  5. Beh4: (verb) to buy
  6. Boak3: (auxiliary verb) want
  7. Boay3: (particle) affirmative particle, used immediately following liau, corresponding in meaning the "yet".
  8. Boay4: (classifier) classifier for long-bodied animals.
  9. Boh2: (particle) verification particle, use to verify or confirm a statement.
  10. Boh3: (adverb) to express negation, not, no
  11. Bor1lah4: (noun) ball, derived from bola (Malay); actual Hokkien word for ball is Keu2
  12. Ceh3: (verb) to sit
  13. Cha3bor4: (noun) woman / female
  14. Cha1-khee4: (time) morning
  15. Chekh3: (noun) book
  16. Ch'heh1 (also Ch'heh3): (adjective) green
  17. Chia1: (noun) car
  18. Chiah3 (also chiak1): (classifier) classifier for animals in general.
  19. Chiak1 (also chiak3): (verb) to eat
  20. Chit1: (number) one
  21. Chit1-peng2: (adverb) here
  22. Cho3, also pronounced Cho1: (verb) to do
  23. Chooi3chooi3: (adverb) who
  24. Chooi3chooi3lang2: (adverb) who
  25. Ci1-peng2: (adverb) here
  26. Chuu3: (noun) house
  27. Ea2: (noun) shoe
  28. Eh3-sai1: (auxiliary verb) can, may
  29. Eh3-teh4: (adverb) below
  30. Erh3-por1: (time) evening
  31. Gua3-bin3: (adverb) outside
  32. Ha1mik1: (adverb) what
  33. Ha1mik1su3: (adverb) why, how come
  34. Har3'nga1 hu2: (noun) sting-ray
  35. Heh1-peng2: (adverb) there.
  36. Hien3-tiok1: (verb) to see
  37. Hoon1 (Time, Numbers): minutes, marks, points
  38. Hu2: (noun) fish
  39. ie1: (pronoun) he/she/it (third person singular)
  40. Jee3: (number) two; (noun) word; (time) minutes in fives
  41. Jit-tau3: (time) afternoon
  42. Kah1: (conjunction) and
  43. Kam1 (also Ang3): (adjective) orange
  44. Kau1: (verb) to hang
  45. Kau2: (noun) monkey
  46. Kau3: (adverb) enough
  47. Kau4: (noun) dog
  48. Kau3-ee4: (noun) chair
  49. Kau3-ee3-kah1: (noun) foot of the chair
  50. Keh1: (noun) chicken
  51. Keo3: (verb) to call
  52. Khee3: (verb) go
  53. Kong1: (noun) grandfather
  54. Kong2: (adverb) in a hurry
  55. Kong3: (noun) to knock, hit
  56. Kong4: (noun) tin can
  57. Kooi1-leh2: (adverb) how many
  58. Korh1: (noun) Ringgit
  59. Kork3: (particle) still (not) yet.
  60. Lah4: (particle) emphatic particle
  61. Lai2: (verb) to come
  62. Lai3-bin3: (adverb) inside
  63. Lang2: (noun) person
  64. Larm2 (also Larm3): (adjective) blue
  65. Larm3me3na4 (also Larm3me3na1): (adjective) purple
  66. Larn4: (pronoun) we
  67. Leh3: (particle) particle added to make a sentence less abrupt, similar to mah.
  68. Liau4: (particle) perfect tense particle, used to show that an action has been completed.
  69. Looi1: (noun) Money, Sen
  70. Mah1: (particle) particle added to make a sentence less abrupt. It means "isn't that so" or "you see".
  71. Mee3-knia3: (noun) item, things
  72. Miau3: (time) seconds
  73. Mm3-chai1: (verb phrase) to not know
  74. Mm3-mai3: (verb phrase) to not want (opposite of boak3)
  75. Nee4: (particle) "and how about ... "
  76. Nia2: (particle) interrogative particle, used for turning a statement into a question.
  77. Noh3: (number) two
  78. Ooi2 (also Ooi3): (adjective) yellow
  79. Or1 (also Or3): (adjective) black
  80. Pang3keng1: (noun) room, bedroom
  81. Pee1-nyah4: (adverb) to the side
  82. Phek1 (also Phek3): (adjective) white
  83. Phek3-Ch'yau1: (noun) white-pomfret
  84. Por1-Thor4: (noun) stomach
  85. Por1-Thor4 Thnia: (noun) stomach ache
  86. Pua1-meh2: (time) midnight
  87. Puat1: (noun) Sen in tens
  88. P'ui3: (noun) rice
  89. Sah1: (noun) shirt
  90. Si3: (verb) to be (is/are/was/were)
  91. Ta1-lok1 (adverb) where
  92. Ta3ta3leh2: (adverb) every item
  93. Tah3por1: (noun) man / male
  94. Tarn4: (verb) to wait
  95. Teng1-bin3: (adverb) above
  96. Thau3seng1: (adverb) foremost (within a series of actions), first
  97. Thnia3: (noun) ache, pain
  98. To3long3: (adverb) please (Penang Hokkien word adopted from Malay)
  99. Tong3-er'ng1: (adverb) in the middle, centre
  100. Tee1: (preposition) at
  101. Tiam4: (time) o'clock
  102. Tua3: (verb) to live, to stay, to be located; (particle) particle to form the continuous tense. It carries the meaning of "in the midst of".
  103. Tun1: (adverb) also
  104. Wah4: (pronoun) I
  105. Yau1: (adjective) hungry

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