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I started my own system of Romanised Teochew because I found the existing systems to be difficult for English speakers, e.g. although Gaginang Website is a good website on Teochew related information, I have difficulty using the Romanised Teochew used by Gaginang: (a) to English-speakers, some of the letters (e.g. b, d, g and especially j and y) of the alphabet are used rather diferently, (b) its tone indicator system is not explicit on words requiring tone change and (c) using "n" as nasal indicator is likely to mislead users. Similarly, Romanised Teochew in dictionaries also suffer from similar problems.
In my system of Romanised Teochew,
In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, each Romanised Teochew word consists of one or more letters of the Roman alphabet,
plus tone indicator(s), as well as tone change where required and nasal indicator where required.
My Romanised Teochew system is meant for Teochews brought up in English-speaking environment
or other English speakers interested in Teochew. It is easier to learn and remember than other systems of Romanised Teochew.
It is even easier for those who understand international phonetics used in English as well as know a little Teochew
and preferably know the tones used in Mandarin. In my system,
instead of learning the 8 tones in the Teochew language (dialect) as 8 new tones,
the learner need only to learn two extra tones beyond those used by Mandarin and yet the 8 tones in the Teochew Language
are fully represented. Compared to other systems of Romanised Teochew, mine is systematic, accurate and easier to remember.
Thus Teochew words pronounced according to my system of Romanised Teochew would be easily understood by Teochew speakers,
without ambiguity.
Teochew Sounds: Click the following to familiarise with Teochew Sounds
(I have increased the duration of the video and sound by 200%)
Nasal Sounds "n" or "ng" Unfamiliar Sounds
|
a |
similar to a as in English word “f ather”, except a little shorter. |
|
ai |
= combined sound of a and i; as in English words “ aisle” or “Th ai” . |
|
ao |
= combined sound of a and o (similar to ow as in English word “c ow” except end with mouth less tight). |
|
b |
= b as in English word “ boy”. Note: b at end of a Romanised Teochew word is pronounced lightly, air not released. |
After Romanising Teochew words (characters), numerals are added to indicate the tone to be applied to each Romanised Teochew word. Although Teochew language has 8 tones, they can be represented by 6 tones, with another two ending with a soft “g” or soft “b” or soft “d”: Details.......
Certain combination of Teochew words require to change the tone of the preceding Teochew word: Details.......
In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, “`” (found on same key as “~”) is added after vowel/diphthong or consonant to be nasalised. Details.......
Where two or more Romanised Teochew words mean a person, a creature, a thing, an action or a concept, the words are joined together so that they become easier to be identified as a person, a creature, a thing, an action or a concept. Details.......
Except for Teochew words without vowels, e.g.
ng1 (yellow),
tng2 (=broken),
tng4 (=go back),
tng5 (=pawn), etc, other Teochew words do not have distinctly “ng” sound.
It is a fact that for majority of Teochews, surname 陳 (陈) is written as “Tan” rather than “Tang”.
In view of this, TPB System of Romanised Teochew, uses “n” as the standard but accepts “ng” as variant.
I believe that because other Romanised Teochew Systems use n of word to represent nasal sound,
they have to end words with ng instead of n for words without nasal sound.
Unfortunately these systems are phonetically wrong.
Details.......
As with other languages, there is variation in spoken Teochew, depending on the district it originated. Details.......
Upper & Lower Cases
Adopted the same rules as in English, i.e. begin sentences and proper nouns with capital letters.
Punctuation Marks
Adopted the punctuation marks used in English.
See details on comparison with the Romanised Teochew used by Gaginang. Details.......
While I try to ensure accuracy, users shall not hold me responsible for any inaccuracy or oversight.
©Copyright 2009, Tan Peng Boon, Singapore.
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