Name of Things in Penang Hokkien

Chau1bo33 (11 March 2018 Ipoh)


This item can be aclled a chau1bo33 (straw hat) as well as a kam1sam1phoay3 (food cover).

Kham1ceng1 (8 October 2009)


This is a kham1ceng1 , or covered jar. It is one of the most well-known item among Nyonya porcelian. In English, it is written as kamcheng.

Teng1 (28 February 2004)


This is a teng1 or lantern. This includes lamps that are lit, such as kerosene lamp, or thor3iu3teng1 . In Penang Hokkien, teng1 always refers to lantern, although in other Hokkien variants, it may refer to lamp as well. If it is powered by electricity, more likely we will call it hoay4 in Penang Hokkien, the same word as fire. So, electric lights are called tien33hoay4 .

To turn on the lights, we say khui3 hoay4 in Penang Hokkien, which surprises speakers of other Hokkien variants, for it sounds like "open fire"! To them, turning on the lights in khui3 teng1 .

Read also Penang Hokkien Vocabulary

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