Where are the Teochews?

[xxxx]

what Kobo-Daishi said is true;(many cantonese speaking pple in US are actually teochews) i won't say majority, just many

i believe many of these pple actually came from as Vietnam or Cambodia as refugees originaly... and they won't normally speak to other pple in Teochew except among themselves. In fact this is the case for Australia as well

[Bamboo Shoot]

Author: Na Ren (---.res.umass.edu)
Date: 03-09-03 20:30

Does any one know the status of Myanmar's (Burma's) Chinese population? Which dialect they belong to?

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Based on my personal interviews with people I've helped or went to school with:

In Rangoon, the Chinese there is nearly half Taishanese & half Fujianese with a slight majority tilt leaning towards Fujianren. Intermarriage among the two groups is quite common and Mandarin is used between these two groups. There is no discrimination against Chinese in Burma compared to Huaren in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Kampuchea under the Khmer Rouge. And unlike Thailand, Chinese in Burma are not pressured to assimilate since Burma is not a homogenus society both in language & in culture compared to Thailand.

In fact, one of my cousins is dating a Fujianese from Rangoon and their common language is Mandarin.

There are also small Sichuanese populations scattered throughout Burma speaking Sichuan Mandarin.

I wouldn't be surprised if AngSang SuChee has Chinese paternal ancestry.
Her father really looks Chinese to me and I'm guessing that her surname "Ang Sang" may be transliterated from "Mr. Ong, Hong or Wong". (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Bamboo Shoot

[Kobo-Daishi]

Dear Bamboo Shoot,

You're right about the Taishanese in Myanmar (Burma).

At my work there are about 5 or 6 people from Myanmar and they all claim descent from Taishanese. Even my mother's doctor in Los Angeles' Chinatown is a Taishanese doctor from Myanmar.

I tested the Taishanese of some of my co-workers and their pronunciation for some words were so like the Cantonese pronunciation that I thought that they might as well be speaking Cantonese. That was until I later learned that there were three varieties of Taishanese and I guess some of the varieties pronounce some words more like Cantonese.

The only people that speak Hokkien dialects at my work are people from the Philippines or Taiwan. While the people from Vietnam speak either Chaozhou or Hainan Island dialects.

Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.

[Lim Eng Di]

"In fact, one of my cousins is dating a Fujianese from Rangoon and their common language is Mandarin."

Hmmm, I wonder why people don't learn each other's dialects and would rather resort to using mandarin. I think this happens a lot whenever chinese of differing dialect types marry. I think the less popular your dialect is, the more likely you are to learn the more prestige varieties like Mandarin, and sometimes Cantonese.

Sigh.

[minnan ren]

Hi there.... There are many Teochew in Penang and Kedah. Most of the Teochew are concentrated at the Butterworth, Bukit Mertajam, Jawi and Nibong Tebal Regions.

[Leng]

I am living in Bangkok where Teochew people are the majority among minorities. Many old generation still speak and practice Teochew tradition.
And most of major cities in Thailand have a lot of Teochew people.
Hokkien is 2nd largest minority group in Thailand.

[kim ang]

There are lots of teochews in Northern and Southern Malaysia. Towns in Penang and Kedah have a lot of Teochews people such as Bukit Mertajam, Butterworth and Sungai Petani. However, most of them are speaking Hokkien as their mother tongue. Most of my teochews friends in Penang speak Hokkien with their parents. The opera Shows in Bukit Mertajam are all in Teochews.

Pontian, Batu Pahat, Ayer Hitam and some towns in Johor also have a lot of Teochews people. But most of the younger generation prefers to speak Mandarin, just like the Singaporean teochews who prefers Mandarin.

Teochew forms the fourth largest group (among chinese) in Malaysia. RTM Radio-5 broadcasts news in teochew at 9pm every day.

[%sig%]

[zenboy]

Hi all,
I'm from Dabo Singkep - Riau - Indonesia. Chinese in Batam island and Tanjung Pinang are mostly Teochew. They still have their tradition. Pontianak has so many Teochew also, but Chinese in Medan are mostly Hokkien. Does anyone know where 'Deng Goa' is? My grandparents are form there.

[Chen Cien Kuo]

I'm Teochew from Indonesia. I'm from a city 20-km away from Medan. Chinese in Medan speak Hokkien ( the same with Penang Hokkien ), but the people in my hometown called Brahrang, speaks Teochew. Teochew communities in Indonesia can be found at Riau, Pontianak and some suburb area in Medan and somewhere else. I really interested the homepage about Teochew. I wish I can learn more about pure Teochew, because Teochew I'm speaking got strong influence from Bahasa and Hokkien.

[%sig%]

[Casey]

Hi, Zenboy

I suspect that "Deng Goa" is the twisted sound of "Tang5 Ua*1" or 同安. It is the name of a county in the Fujian Province.

Casey