Hokkien treet names

Casey · Post by **Casey** » Sat May 07, 2005 2:43 am

社尾 (sia7 bue2, in ciangciu accent) means end of the village (hiunn1 sia7乡社). One can easily identify the end of a village (depending on the order of development) but not a city which is too big to identify where the end is. Therefore, 社尾 is correct.

Casey · Post by **Casey** » Sat May 07, 2005 2:50 am

Ĺ(bong7) means a grave or graves.
ڣ(tiong2) means a group of graves or a cemetry.

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:03 am

Thanks for the replies, Hong and Casey.

There used to be an old facade for a temple in Penang's Air Itam area called t'i4 kong7 t'ua4 (天公檀). I checked recently - it has been torn down.

It would be great if the Chinese characters for the street names could be tagged to the street signs in Penang. In certain parts of Singapore, the street signs have this feature (e.g. Cantonment Road has the words 廣東門路 printed below it in slightly smaller print). KL Chinatown area has a similar feature with the old Colonial street names.

hong · Post by **hong** » Sat May 07, 2005 4:53 am

I also heard people saying tiong2 theng 塍? and boo7 as wendu of 墓。I have to say the way china put number for tones are not the same with taiwan.Both have a few methods.One from China just put 7 tones only with no.8.Some taiwanese put 6 numbers only.
However,many of the tones I put here are wrong if we want to learn chuanchiu language.Usually chuanchiu are not supposed to have tone no.7 like words above.

niuc · Post by **niuc** » Sun May 08, 2005 4:07 pm

墓 is always pronounced as bo`7 in Tang-ua* 同安. According to Douglas', it's also the case for Cuanciu 泉州.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:57 am

For anyone who is interested, I have significantly reformatted and updated the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_nam ... wn,_Penang.

I managed to get hold of the original article from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch, which had the original Chinese characters and tone markings and explanations of the origins of the streets. Some of the characters I have updated to conform with the Taiwan MoE standard.

The article also had lots of Hokkien names of government departments, clan associations, buildings, districts, towns outside George Town, etc., but they were outside the scope of the article. If anyone is interested I can email them a scan.

I would also be grateful if anyone could help me finding references for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Hokkien article. Wikipedia now frowns on original research, so all articles must cite references for any significant facts.

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:46 am

Andrew wrote:
I would also be grateful if anyone could help me finding references for the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Hokkien article. Wikipedia now frowns on original research, so all articles must cite references for any significant facts.

Here are a few:

1. Nicolas C. Bodman "Spoken Amoy Hokkien Vol. 1 & 2" Spoken Language Services (1987)
Strictly speaking, the language used in this book is not the Chiang Chiu-based Penang Hokkien, but Amoy Hokkien. However, there is a 2-page section in Volume 2 that briefly mentions the difference between Penang Hokkien and Amoy Hokkien. Also, the contents of the book are largely based on Malayan life (albeit pre-Independence, so a bit dated).

2. 閩南話漳腔辭典, 陳正統主編, 中華書局
This is the most comprehensive dictionary of the 漳州 Chiang Chiu dialect (i.e. the Hokkien sub-dialect that Penang Hokkien is largely based on) that I have come across to date.

3. 漳州話概說, 中國人民政治协商會議漳州市委員會, 海風出版社
An interesting collection of articles and essays of the 漳州 Chiang Chiu dialect, featuring terminologies found in everyday speech, many of which can be found in Penang Hokkien everyday life.

4. Tan Choon Hoe "P.H.D. - Penang Hokkien Dialect"
While in no sense a scholarly work, this is probably the only published work specifically on the Penang Hokkien dialect in the market to date.

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:11 am

Andrew wrote:
For anyone who is interested, I have significantly reformatted and updated the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_nam ... wn,_Penang.

I managed to get hold of the original article from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch, which had the original Chinese characters and tone markings and explanations of the origins of the streets. Some of the characters I have updated to conform with the Taiwan MoE standard.

The article also had lots of Hokkien names of government departments, clan associations, buildings, districts, towns outside George Town, etc., but they were outside the scope of the article. If anyone is interested I can email them a scan.

This is really good, Andrew! Your list of original Hokkien names for the streets arguably surpasses the ones featured in Khoo Su Nin @ Khoo Salma Nasution's "Streets of George Town, Penang".

Just a couple of corrections/additions, if you don't mind (no disrespect meant to the authority of the original article that you quoted):

1. The chhèng in Phah-chhèng-pơ̄"Rifle Range" should be 銃, not 槍.

2. The Soaⁿ in Soaⁿ-thaû-ke "Kimberly Street" should be 汕, not 山 (汕頭 Swatow is another name for 潮州 Teochew, reflecting the Teochew community living on this street).

3. If I am not mistaken, Perak Road was simply 大路 Toā-lơ̄. 大路後 Toā-lơ̄-aū refers to Perak Lane, the road just off Perak Road.

4. Carnavon Street also had the nickname koaⁿ-chha-ke 棺材街, due to the large number of coffin shops there.

5. Swatow Lane sin-se-kai 新世界, after the amusement park located there, now restored into a food court housing all the hawker stalls that used to line the street.

Mark Yong · Post by **Mark Yong** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:46 am

Andrew wrote:
The article also had lots of Hokkien names of government departments, clan associations, buildings, districts, towns outside George Town, etc., but they were outside the scope of the article. If anyone is interested I can email them a scan.

Hi, Andrew,

Yes, I am interested. Have sent you a private message to this effect.

Cheers,
Mark

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 12:00 am

Mark Yong wrote:
Andrew wrote:
For anyone who is interested, I have significantly reformatted and updated the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_nam ... wn,_Penang.

I managed to get hold of the original article from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Straits Branch, which had the original Chinese characters and tone markings and explanations of the origins of the streets. Some of the characters I have updated to conform with the Taiwan MoE standard.

The article also had lots of Hokkien names of government departments, clan associations, buildings, districts, towns outside George Town, etc., but they were outside the scope of the article. If anyone is interested I can email them a scan.
This is really good, Andrew! Your list of original Hokkien names for the streets arguably surpasses the ones featured in Khoo Su Nin @ Khoo Salma Nasution's "Streets of George Town, Penang".

Just a couple of corrections/additions, if you don't mind (no disrespect meant to the authority of the original article that you quoted):

1. The chhèng in Phah-chhèng-pơ̄"Rifle Range" should be 銃, not 槍.

2. The Soaⁿ in Soaⁿ-thaû-ke "Kimberly Street" should be 汕, not 山 (汕頭 Swatow is another name for 潮州 Teochew, reflecting the Teochew community living on this street).

3. If I am not mistaken, Perak Road was simply 大路 Toā-lơ̄. 大路後 Toā-lơ̄-aū refers to Perak Lane, the road just off Perak Road.

4. Carnavon Street also had the nickname koaⁿ-chha-ke 棺材街, due to the large number of coffin shops there.

5. Swatow Lane sin-se-kai 新世界, after the amusement park located there, now restored into a food court housing all the hawker stalls that used to line the street.

Thanks. I have changed the characters, which were purely my fault. I will look for references for the others before I change them, though.