Telling Time in Penang Hokkien

In this lesson for beginners, we learn to express time in Penang Hokkien the colloquial way. This is the most common way to express time, so you should learn this method before progressing to the literary method (which I will show you in the chapter on Time).

To express minutes the colloquial way, each hour is split into twelve segments which are five minutes apart, based on the number on the clock surface. Time is expressed based on these numbers.

1.00: it1 tiam4
1.05: it1 tiam3 cit1-leh3 ji33
1.10: it1 tiam3 nor33-leh3 ji33
1.15: it1 tiam3 snar3-leh3 ji3
1.20: it1 tiam3 see1-leh3 ji3
1.25: it1 tiam3 gor5-leh3 ji3
1.30: it1 tiam3 pnua3
1.35: it1 tiam3 chit1-leh3 ji3
1.40: it1 tiam3 pek1-leh3 ji3
1.45: it1 tiam3 kau1-leh3 ji3
1.50: it1 tiam3 cap3-leh3 ji3
1.55: it1 tiam3 cap3-it1-leh3 ji3
2.00: jee33 tiam4
3.00: snar3 tiam4
4.00: see1 tiam4
5.00: gor33* tiam4
6.00: lark3 tiam4
7.00: chit1 tiam4
8.00: pek1 tiam4
9.00: kau1 tiam4
10.00: cap3 tiam4
11.00: cap3-it1 tiam4
12.00: cap3-jee33 tiam4

* Tone 3 unsandiable morphemes are written with the tone 33. For details, read unsandiable morphemes.

In addition to the colloquial method, there is also the literary method of expressing time in Penang Hokkien. This you can learn in the chapter on Expressing Time.

When you have completed the lesson, click the "Penang Hokkien for Beginners" link at the top of this page to return to the subsection directory.

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