System

TPB

Gaginang

Website

http://www.gateways.sg/~TeochewEnglish

http://www.gaginang.org

Tones                                                Number of tones:

 6  (+ 2 using tones ending with “b”, “d” or “g")

8

High Flat: high pitch throughout, same as Mandarin 1^st tone.

 1  (e.g. tan₁ = copper)

Macron mark on top, e.g. dāng

Middle Rising: rising from middle pitch to high pitch, same as Mandarin 2^nd tone.

 2  (e.g. tan₂ = heavy)

Acute accent on top, e.g. dáng

Middle Flat: medium pitch throughout, i.e. between tones 1 & 0.

 3   (e.g. tan₃ = east)

No marking, e.g. dang

High Falling: falling from high pitch to medium pitch, same as Mandarin 4^th tone.

 4  (e.g. tan₄ = wait)

Grave accent mark on top, e.g. dàng

Low Rising: rising from low pitch to medium pitch.

 5  (e.g. si₅ = four)

Breve mark on top, e.g. sǐ

Low Flat:  low pitch throughout.

 0  (e.g. tan₀ = cave )

Dot below, e.g. dạng

High Stop: starts with high pitch (tone 1) but checked.

 b₁, d_1, g₁ (but not ng₁) e.g.  ziab₁ = frequent; ziad₁ = eat, drink; ziag₁ = variant of ziab₁

Macron mark on top  and ends with p, t or k , e.g. jiāp, jiāt, jiāk

Low Stop: starts with low pitch (tone 0) but checked.

b₀, d₀, g₀ (but not ng₀) e.g.  chab₀ = join (a person/group); chad₀ = pierce; chag₀ = paint.

No marking but ends with p, t or k , e.g. chap, chat, chak

Nasal Indicator

 “`” (on same key as “~”) after simple/ compound vowel or consonant to be nasalized, e.g. i`₁ = round. 

“n” at end of word, e.g. īn = round

Note: Originally I used the more common nasal indicator, i.e. “~” above the nasal letter but found it difficult to type.

TPB System

Gaginang

a = a as in English word “father” except shorter (between a and a: in international phonetics),  e.g. na₁ = basket

a

a` = nasal a, e.g. ka`₃ = orange, ka₃ = sticky; ka`₄ = daring, ka₄ = grind.

an

ai = combined sound of a and i as in English words “aisle” or “Thai”, or y as in English word “cry” , e.g. ai₁ = mother

ai

ai` = nasal ai, e.g. ai`₁ = free (have nothing to do)

ain

ao = combined sound of a and o (similar to ow as in English word “cow” except end with mouth less tight), e.g. , ao₃ = cup, mug.

ao

ao` = nasal ao, e.g. gu<sub>10</sub>ao`₃ = type of slimy frog

aon?

b = b as in English word “boy”,  e.g. bo₁ = don’t have

bh

b at end of a Romanised Teochew character: pronounced lightly, air not released; e.g.  ziab₁ = frequent

p

c is not used. 

Not used

ch = aspirated ts in international phonetics = c or q in Hanyu Pinyin (similar to ch in English word “church”, except open mouth a little less and speak from front of mouth), e.g. chia₃ = vehicle

ch

d is not used except at end of a Romanised Teochew word: d as in English word “said” but pronounced lightly and air not released; e.g.  ziad₁ = eat, drink

t

e = e as in English word “pen”,  e.g. pe₁ =crawl, pe₂ = father, pe₄ = bundle

e

e`= nasal e, e.g. pe`₁ = level, te`₁ = obstruct

en

ei = combined sound of e and I, as in English word “feign” or ay as in English word say”,       e.g. tein1 = lamp  (Note: “ein” is a variant of “en”, i.e. “tein₃” in place of “ten₃” = lamp)

Not used

er = i as in “zi” or “si” in Hanyu Pinyin (similar to er as in English word “her”, but require back of tongue to be pushed against the roof of the mouth and open mouth a little less), e.g. er₁ = push.

eu

f  is not used

Not used

g = g as in English word “go”,  e.g. gao₁ = clever

gh

g at the end of a Romanised Teochew character: pronounced lightly and air not released; e.g. ziag₁ = frequent = variant of ziab₁.

k

g` = nasal g, e.g. g`ao₁ = boil for a long time.

ng

h = h as in English word “has”,  e.g. hue₄ = fire

h

i = longer than i as in English word “sit” but shorter than ee as in English word “see” (i.e. between i and i: in international phonetics, = i as in xi or qi in Hanyu Pinyin), e.g. i₁ = mother’s sister.

i

i` = nasal i, e.g. i`₁ = round; i`₅ = (bird) swift.

in

ia = combined sound of i and a (as in English word “tiara”),  e.g. ia₁ = coconut.

ia

ia` = nasal ia, e.g. ia`₁ = win.

ian

iao = combined sound of i and ao, e.g. liao₄ = finished

iao

iao` = nasal iao ,e.g. iao`₂ = lift open.

iaon?

io = combined sound of i and o (similar to io in English word “kiosk”), e.g. io₁ = kiln, shake.

io

io` = nasal io, e.g. io`₁ = sheep, goat, ocean.

ion

iu = combined sound of i and u, e.g. iu₁ = oil, iu₀ = pomelo

iu

iu` = nasal iu, e.g. iu`₄ = dig out (using finger).

iun?

j = similar to j in English word “jam”, except tongue exerts less pressure and open mouth a little less,  e.g.  jio₀ = urine

y

k = non-aspirated k, as in English word “thicker”, e.g. kio₁ = bridge, brinjal (egg plant).

g

kh = aspirated k (= k^h in international phonetics) as in English word “khaki” or k as in English word “kick”, e.g. khiod₁ = take

k

l = l as in English word “long”,  e.g. liao₄ = finished

l

m = m as in English word “man”,  e.g. man₂ = net, man₄ = mosquito, man₀ = dream

m

n = n as in English word “no”,  e.g. nai₁ (= noi₁) = lotus

n

ng = ng as in English word “song”, e.g. tng₁ = long; sng₃ = sour

ng

o = similar to o as in English word “song” except pronounced with mouth opened less       wide (= o in international phonetics),  e.g. hon₂ = phoenix

o

o` = nasal o, e.g. O`₅₄ mng₁ (variant of O₅₄ mng₁) =  Macau.

Not used

oi = combined sound of o and i, as in English word “coin” or “oil”, e.g. oi₁ = shoes, oi₂ = able

oi

oi` = nasal oi, e.g. oi`₁ = free (has nothing to do).

oin?

ou = combined sound of o and u, as in English word “boulder” or o as in English word “so”, e.g. sou₃ = crunchy

ou

ou` = nasal ou, e.g. hou`₄ = tiger

oun?

p = non-aspirated p as in English word “paper’, e.g. pe₁ = crawl

b

ph = aspirated p = p^h in international phonetics = p as in English word “paper”, e.g. pho₂ = embrace, carry in the arms.

p

q is not used

Not used

r is not used except in er

Not used

s = s as in English word “say”,  e.g. si₂ = yes

s

t = non-aspirated t  as in English word “total, e.g. ta₄ = step on. 

d

th = aspirated t = t^h in international phonetics = th as in English word “Thai” or “Thames” or t as in English word “total”, e.g. thai₁ = kill, thad₀ = pagoda

t

u = longer than u as in English word “full” but shorter than oo as in “fool” (i.e. between u and u: in international phonetics),  e.g. pu₁ = boil

u

ua = combined sound of u and a, e.g. ua₄ = I, me; tua₀ = big.

ua

ua` = nasal ua , e.g. ua`₄ = my, bowl.

uan

uai = combined sound of u and ai, e.g.  kuai₄ = limp, walking stick.

uai

uai` = nasal uai , e.g.  kuai`₄ = fruit.

uain?

ue = combined sound of u and e, e.g. ue₁ = draw; ue₀ = spoken language

ue

ue` = nasal ue, e.g. hue`1 = unreasonable, hue1 = come back

uen?

ui = combined sound of u and I, similar to ui in English word “equip”; e.g. tui₀= team

ui

ui` = nasal ui , e.g. kui`₁ = high

uin?

v is not used

Not used

w is not used

?

x is not used

Not used

y is not used

Used in place of j

z = z in Hanyu Pinyin (= un-aspirated ts in international phonetics, similar to ch in English word “church”, except open mouth a little less and speak from front of mouth), e.g. ziad₁ = eat, drink.

j