One of the biggest misconception existing in numerous books and the media today is that of Chinese as a language, when it is in fact a writing system, much like Latin or Arabic. The historical adoption of Hanzi 漢子 - also known as Deng-nang ji 唐人字 in Teochew, in non-Sinitic languages such as Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese shows this.
The cause of this situation is the politically-driven representation since the 1920s of all major varieties of spoken Chinese as dialects of Mandarin, even though they are mutually unintelligible and recgonised according to international linguistic classifications to be at least seven separate language families.
Teochew, like Cantonese and Hokkien, has a literary form that traces to at least the 10th century during the Tang dynasty and a spoken vernacular that is probably even older. It is certainly not a debased form of Mandarin, which linguists have properly established to have been evolved in northern China only after the 13th century.
The fundamental difference between the Teochew and Mandarin can be amply illustrated by the written forms of a simple sentence like "you call her children to run over there":
Mandarin: "你叫她的孩子跑到那里"
Below is a (non-exhaustive) list of 99 Teochew expressions in their actual Chinese characters, as opposed to Mandarin ones that they are commonly confused with:
No. |
English term |
Spoken Teochew expression |
Chinese character in Mandarin |
Actual Chinese character in Teochew |
1. |
You (second person) |
Le |
你 |
爾/汝 |
2. |
He/she (third person) |
Yi |
他/她 |
伊 |
3. |
We/us (including the listener) |
Nang |
我們 |
俺 |
4. |
We/us (excluding the listener) |
Uang |
我們 |
阮 |
5. |
You (plural) |
Nin |
你們 |
恁 |
6. |
Elder brother |
Hia |
哥 |
兄 |
7. |
Elder sister |
Ze |
姐 |
姊 |
8. |
Child |
Gia |
孩 |
囝 |
9. |
Face |
Ming |
臉 |
面 |
10. |
Hair |
Mo |
發 |
毛 |
11. |
Eye |
Mak |
眼 |
目 |
12. |
Tooth |
Ki |
牙 |
齒 |
13. |
Neck |
Am |
脖子 |
頷 |
14. |
Right-hand |
Zia-ciu |
右手 |
正手 |
15. |
Left -hand |
Do-ciu |
左手 |
倒手 |
16. |
Buttocks |
Ka-ceng |
屁股/臀部 |
尻倉 |
17. |
Why/how |
Zo-ni |
為什麼/怎樣 |
怎呢 |
18. |
What |
Mi-gai |
什麼 |
乜個 |
19. |
Who |
Di-diang |
誰 |
底滇 |
20. |
When |
Diang-si |
什麼時候 |
滇時 |
21. |
Where |
Di-go |
哪裡 |
底塊 |
22. |
This |
Ziah-gai |
這個 |
只個 |
23. |
That |
He-gai |
那個 |
許個 |
24. |
Many |
Zoi |
多 |
㩼 |
25. |
How many |
Jieh-zoi |
多少 |
若㩼 |
26. |
Not yet |
Bhue |
還沒 |
未 |
27. |
Must not |
Mai |
不要 |
勿 |
28. |
No need |
Miang |
不用 |
免 |
29. |
No good |
Mo |
不好 |
孬 |
30. |
Must |
Dieh |
必 |
著 |
31. |
Don’t want |
Mai |
不想要 |
嫑 |
32. |
Unable to |
Bhoi |
不會;不能 |
𠀾 |
33. |
Don't |
M |
不 |
毋 |
34. |
Forget |
M-gi |
忘記 |
毋記 |
35. |
Dislike |
Lou |
討厭 |
惱 |
36. |
Want to |
Ai |
愛 |
欲 |
37. |
See |
Toi |
看 |
睇 |
38. |
Speak |
Da |
講 |
呾 |
39. |
Call |
Gie |
叫 |
呌 |
40. |
Smell |
Pi |
聞 |
嗅 |
41. |
Eat |
Ziah |
吃 |
食 |
42. |
Drink |
Lim |
喝 |
啉 |
43. |
Sleep |
I; Ngh |
睡 |
夗 |
44. |
Enter |
Jip |
進 |
入 |
45. |
Find /search |
Cue |
找 |
覓 |
46. |
To do |
Mueh |
做 |
物 |
47. |
Walk |
Gia |
走 |
行 |
48. |
Run |
Zao |
跑 |
走 |
49. |
Stand |
Kia |
站 |
徛 |
50. |
Swim |
Siu |
遊 |
泅 |
51. |
Bathe |
Soi-eg |
沖涼 |
洗浴 |
52. |
Urinate |
Bang-jie |
拉尿 |
放尿 |
53. |
To have diarrhea |
Lao-sai |
拉肚子 |
漏屎 |
54. |
Wipe |
Cig |
擦 |
拭 |
55. |
Sun (to dry) |
Pag |
曬 |
曝 |
56. |
Take |
Kieh |
拿 |
挈 |
57. |
Catch |
Liah |
抓 |
掠 |
58. |
Hit/beat |
Pah |
打 |
拍 |
59. |
Knock |
Ka |
敲 |
扣 |
60. |
Throw |
Ham |
丟 |
撼 |
61. |
Fall |
Buag |
跌 |
跋 |
62. |
Slaughter |
Tai |
殺 |
刣 |
63. |
Descend |
Loh |
下 |
落 |
64. |
Most/best (superlative) |
Siang |
最 |
上 |
65. |
Just enough |
Du-ho |
剛好 |
拄好 |
66. |
All together |
Long |
全部 |
攏 |
67. |
Beautiful |
Ngia |
美 |
雅 |
68. |
Fragrant |
Pang |
香 |
芳 |
69. |
Difficult |
Oh |
難 |
惡 |
70. |
Small |
Soi |
小 |
細 |
71. |
Young |
Hao-se |
年輕 |
後生 |
72. |
Impoverished |
Kiao |
窮 |
磽 |
73. |
Tired |
Heg |
累 |
乏 |
74. |
Lazy |
Dua |
懶 |
惰 |
75. |
Dirty |
Ci-ghi |
髒 |
淒疑 |
76. |
Fast |
Me |
快 |
猛 |
77. |
Slowly |
Mang-mang |
慢慢 |
緩慢 |
78. |
Late |
Ua |
晚 |
晏 |
79. |
Black |
Ou |
黑 |
烏 |
80. |
Day |
Jig |
天 |
日 |
81. |
Morning |
Ming-ki |
早上 |
眠起 |
82. |
Night |
Me |
夜 |
暝 |
83. |
Sun |
Jig-tao |
太陽 |
日頭 |
84. |
Weather |
Ti-si |
天氣 |
天時 |
85. |
Cold |
Ngang |
冷 |
凝 |
86. |
Typhoon |
Huang-tai |
颱風 |
風臺 |
87. |
Caught by rain |
Ag-hou |
淋雨 |
沃雨 |
88. |
Clothes |
Sa |
衣 |
衫 |
89. |
House |
Cu |
屋 |
厝 |
90. |
Home |
Lai |
家 |
內 |
91. |
Bed |
Ming-ceng |
床 |
眠床 |
92. |
Cigarette |
Hun |
烟 |
熏 |
93. |
Letter |
Poi |
信 |
批 |
94. |
Fruits |
Ci-gue |
水果 |
鮮果 |
95. |
Carrot |
Cai-tao |
蘿蔔 |
菜頭 |
96. |
Porridge |
Mue |
粥 |
糜 |
97. |
Chopsticks |
De |
筷子 |
箸 |
98. |
Things |
Mueh-giah |
東西 |
物件 |
99. |
Store |
Pou |
店 |
鋪 |
~o0o~
You may also be interested in:
- 10 Things You Must Know As A Teochew
- Finding Dengsua 唐山, the Tang Mountains
- How to Address Your Relatives in Teochew - Ten Basic Rules
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The Teochew Store says...
Hi Ung,
No change was made to the chart. Perhaps it has something to do with your device settings?
Best regards,
The Teochew Store team
October 08, 2023
Ung says...
What happened to this chart? Both columns of Chinese characters in Mandarin and teochew have their content replaced with English words? I was saving this page for the teochew characters…
September 16, 2023
Tyman, Ung says...
Suggestions
1)to produce spoken and written
Teochew app—
A)- person to speak or type
Teochew words with original tones
B) app to show on screen both original
and changed tones
C) app to speak changed tones.
This would be a great aid to all who wish
to learn Teochew
2) To promote mutual research and teaching
organizations, media, books, cds etc among
overseas and Mainland China Teochew experts, as in Chinese Dialect Association,
its Fangyan Magazine, and Zhongguo Yuwen, Magazine, all in Beijing with websites, and if you are lucky, with issues in
public ir university library near you—-1950 to
now.
3) Teochew part of Min Nan chapter in classic Hanyu Fangyan Gaiyao, Beijing 1969 and 89? also in library near you?
Joisia. Zhu ni, hao yunqi!!!
June 27, 2022
Alim says...
Don’t do Mai zo
Or cannot do mo zo
In text don’t is m ?
Please explain difference
August 21, 2021
Lim says...
Is this based on Teo-yio (潮陽)pronunciation?
Gie (叫) supposes to be Gio to non Teo-yio
Bang-jie (小便) supposes to be Bang-jie.
Teo-yie (潮陽)supposes to be Teo-yio.
Jie-say (這樣) Hie-say (那樣)supposes to be Jio-say, Jio-say to non Teo-yio.
August 23, 2017