Addressing people in Penang Hokkien

Penang Hokkien has a set of polite words to address strangers depending on your own station in society. Some of these addresses are derivatives of other languages, such as Ah Boy, which is obviously on permanent loan from English.

Many families still call each member by their address, limited not only to Mom and Dad, but extends to 2nd-Elder-Uncle-on-the-Maternal-Side, Wife-of-the-Eldest-Uncle, and so on. We will visit those complicated addresses for distant relatives further on in our lesson. For now, let's concentrate only on the addresses you will be using most frequently, that is, terms to address immediate family members and strangers.

Parents & Grandparents

Elder Brothers & Sisters

Strangers

When talking to a stranger, such as the salesgirl in the department store or the hawker at the market, it is polite to use the forms stated above. As a tourist or visitor who isn't Chinese, if you master this, I guarantee you will win instant admiration. (Feel free to ask me whenever you are not sure).

Address a person Ah Ba only if he is a young man who is younger than yourself (otherwise he will be insulted). Similarly Ah Nya is used for young woman who is younger than yourself. If the male person is merely a teenager or younger, you can call him Ah Boy.

You may call a person Tauke (also written Towkay) out of politeness if he is of the same age as yourself or older, particularly if he appears to be holding a somewhat authoritative position. It is fine to call the butcher or vegetable hawker at the market Tauke/Towkay.

On the other hand, reserve using Tauke Soh/Towkay Soh for women who is obviously the lady boss or the wife of the boss, as in a restaurant or business.

A cordial way to call strangers, particularly if you need to stop someone in the streets to ask for directions, is to call the person Ah Ko ("Brother") or Ah Chee ("Sister"). You are free to use these terms even when talking to strangers who are slightly younger than you, although the terms literally mean "elder brother" and "elder sister".

In Penang Hokkien, "Ah3" is commonly prefixed to addresses, to denote intimacy or congeniality. It is often attached to people's names. For example, a man whose name is Weng Seng may be known to his friends and family members as Ah Seng2. It is also used on surnames, Ah Lee4, Ah Yeap4, etc. It is not uncommon to hear the Chief Minister, Lim1 Guan1 Eng4, being referred affectionately as Ah Eng1. It is even used with English names, hence Ah Joe, Ah John, Ah Chris, though only with monosyllable English names.

Penang Hokkien has lately borrowed from Singapore Hokkien the term "Ah Beng2", which is used to refer to an unsophisticated person, the "Phua Choo Kang" type. This despite the word "beng2" meaning "bright". Hence Ah Beng can be translated in jest as "Mr Bright".

Practice pronouncing the various terms of address on this page, keeping in mind the lesson on Penang Hokkien intonation as you articulate each syllable.

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 updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Discover with Timothy YouTube Channel

 PG Food Channel

 Learn Penang Hokkien YouTube Channel

SojiMart Videos

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

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