Plural Form of Pronouns in Penang Hokkien

We have previously learned the singular forms of personal pronouns: wah4, lu4, ie1, ee1 and i1. Now let's learn the plural form. To create the plural, we simply suffix the morpheme lang2 to them. The morpheme lang2 also serves as the word meaning "people". So, wah1lang2 can be translated roughly as "we people".

Here are the forms:

We: wah1lang2
You (pl.): lu1lang2
They (masc.): ie1lang2
They (fem.): ee1lang2
They (neu.): i1lang2

All five above do not sandhi whether they appear as subject or object in a sentence. Therefore, you can write:

Wah1lang2 kio33 ie1lang2.
We call them.

Ie1lang2 kio33 wah1lang2.
They call us.

It's the same form in both positions.

Use ie1lang2 for the general third person plural, if it includes both male and female humans. Use ee1lang2 if it is entirely female humans. Use i1lang2 only for non-humans such as objects and animals, even if they are entirely male or female.

Wah1lang2 hien33tiok3 gu2. I1lang2 ciak3 chau4.
We saw cows. They are eating grass.

Ie1lang2 hien33tiok3 mi3si1. Ee1lang2 ciak3 pnui3.
They saw nurses. They are having lunch (literally, eating rice).

In the above sentence, there is not mistake that the antecedent for the pronoun ee1lang2 is mi3si1 (nurses).

In addition to the plural formed by adding lang2, Penang Hokkien also uses plural said to have been borrowed from Teochew.

They include:

wang1 : we all (does not include you all)
luang1 : you all (does not include we all)
lan4 : we all (includes you all)
lan1lang2 : all of us, with the emphatic form lan4lang2
iyang1 : they all (does not include we all and you all)

Previous Lesson | Next Lesson

Learn Penang Hokkien with Memrise

Now you can use the most user-friendly tool on the web to learn Penang Hokkien. It helps you to listen, understand and memorise. Go to Memrise, and learn Penang Hokkien at your own pace.

Return to Penang Hokkien Resources

Latest from Discover with Timothy: Gurney Bay - what to see and do there

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.

Robbie's Roadmap