Just another little survey about Northern Malaysian Hokkien....
De Gijzel's dictionary has "kun" for "also"
Tim the traveller's Hokkien word list has "tun"
http://www.penang-traveltips.com/glossa ... -words.htm
Does anyone actually say that? I was dubious about the "kun" to start with, but now I see the "tun" I don't know what to think any more!
The only one I've ever heard is "pun".
Also, Tim's Penang Hokkien blog has "thai kwui" for "too expensive", which I have never heard before. It's a pity to use Mandarin when Hokkien already has siauN and koe-thau for "too"!
Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Re: Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Nope, never heard of tun or kun for 'also' from my end... it has always been pûn, or among some more literal speakers, ǐa (也? 亦?).
I have heard 太 thāi used quite frequently among Penang Hokkien speakers. I myself use 太 thāi and siauⁿ interchangeably (hopefully for the right reasons!
), and 過頭 kōe-thău for emphasis on the excessiveness. I would be inclined to say that it is marginally more prevalent among the Chinese-educated speakers. That said, 太 thāi in Penang Hokkien is pronounced with a mid-level (is it called 陰平?) tone, not like the Mandarin 4th tone.
I have heard 太 thāi used quite frequently among Penang Hokkien speakers. I myself use 太 thāi and siauⁿ interchangeably (hopefully for the right reasons!
), and 過頭 kōe-thău for emphasis on the excessiveness. I would be inclined to say that it is marginally more prevalent among the Chinese-educated speakers. That said, 太 thāi in Penang Hokkien is pronounced with a mid-level (is it called 陰平?) tone, not like the Mandarin 4th tone.
Last edited by Mark Yong on Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Thài (RT: 52) = TOO is used in TW, but not frequently. It means something is EVEN MORE EXCESSIVELY XX than just "siuⁿ XX". The tone of voice has to reflect this as well.
Re: Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Thanks both of you. I wonder where these kuns and tuns are coming from?
Perhaps thai is filling a niche (and it would sandhi to 33 in front of another syllable, not that is ever found alone) between koe-thau and siauN?
Perhaps thai is filling a niche (and it would sandhi to 33 in front of another syllable, not that is ever found alone) between koe-thau and siauN?
Re: Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Yes, "kun" is heard in Penang. It's 均 like 均有 used by rather older generations. You will hear it in Chinese drugstore or temples. I have never heard of "tun".
太 is thài and not thāi. Therefore it sandhis to thai very reasonably.
Did you realise an affix used by Penangites to express "extreme" and "excessive", verbally pronounced as tsi-kuē or tsit-kuē.
What ? It's 35 dollars ? = Ha-mìh ? 35-khoo tsi-kuē ?
太 is thài and not thāi. Therefore it sandhis to thai very reasonably.
Did you realise an affix used by Penangites to express "extreme" and "excessive", verbally pronounced as tsi-kuē or tsit-kuē.
What ? It's 35 dollars ? = Ha-mìh ? 35-khoo tsi-kuē ?
Re: Who on Earth says "tun" and "kun" for "pun"????
Aha! Well, I actually finally heard someone say 'tun' for 'pun' today in the latest PGHK podcast, so there must be a few people out there who do it!