Romanised Teochew Systems

Romanised Teochew Systems

Why My System of Romanised Teochew?

I found that the Romanised Teochew sytems used by Teochew dictionaries and by Gaginang would, in some cases, lead to very different pronunciations from intended pronunciations when read by an English speaker. See the likely mispronunciations below.

A Teochew Dictionary's Romanised Teochew System

I had difficulty using the Romanised Teochew used by the Teochew Dictionary I have:
(a) to English-speakers, some of the letters (e.g. b, c, d, g and r) of the alphabet are used rather differently,
(b) its tone indicator system is not explicit on words requiring tone change (hence one has to remember which words require tone change and to change to which tones) and
(c) using "n" as nasal indicator is likely to mislead users.

Examples of Difficulties in Romanised Teochew used by A Teochew Dictionary

“b” is likely to be mispronounced as “b” in “boy”; this is very different from the intended un-aspirated “p” sound as in paper. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “p” which is closer to its intended sound.

“d” is likely to be mispronounced as “d” in “dog”; this is very different from the intended un-aspirated “t” as in “taunting”. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “t” which is closer to its intended sound.

“g” is likely to be mispronounced as “g” in “girl”; this is very different from the intended un-aspirated “k” sound as in kicking. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “k” which is closer to its intended sound.

“r” is likely to be mispronounced as “r” in “rat”; this is very different from the intended “j” sound as in “jam”. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “j” which is close to its intended sound.

Its use of c in a Teochew word may be badly mispronounced as s or k by English speakers. Similarily, its use of ng at the beginng of a Teochew word may be badly mispronounced as n by English speakers.

The nasal indicator is “n” at the end of a word. This is likely to be wrongly pronounced as “n” at the end of a word, e.g. the Teochew Dictionary's word for hill/mountain is “suan” which is likely to be mispronounced as “s” + “ua” + n” although the intended sound is the nasal form of “sua”. The Teochew sound “suan” (as “s” + “ua” + n”) means “diamond” in Teochew. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, the nasal form of “sua” is “sua`”. See Nasal Indicator section.

Its use of ê is difficult to type.

Gaginang Romanised Teochew System

I found Gaginang Website to be a good website on Teochew related information but I had difficulty using the R omanised 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 differently,
(b) its tone indicator system is not explicit on words requiring tone change (hence one has to remember which words require tone change and to change to which tones) and
(c) using "n" as nasal indicator is likely to mislead users.

Examples of Difficulties in Romanised Teochew used by Gaginang Website

“j” is likely to be mispronounced as “j” in “jam”; this is very different from the intended un-aspirated “ts” sound in international phonetics. Since most English speakers are unable to combine “t” and “s” to pronounce ts correctly, in TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “z” which is closer to its intended sound.

“y” is likely to be mispronounced as “y” in “year”; this is very different from the intended “j” sound as in “jam”. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, this consonant is represented by “j” which is close to its intended sound.

“eu” is likely to be mispronounced as “eu” in “Europe”; this is very different from its intended sound. Although the intended sound has no similar sound in English, in TPB system of Romanised Teochew this sound (a vowel, not diphthong) is represented by “er” which is closer to its intended sound.

Its use of ng at the beginng of a Teochew word may be badly mispronounced as n by English speakers.

The nasal indicator is “n” at the end of a word. This is likely to be wrongly pronounced as “n” at the end of a word, e.g. Gaginang’s Teochew word for hill/mountain is “suan” which is likely to be mispronounced as “s” + “ua” + n” although the intended sound is the nasal form of “sua”. The Teochew sound “suan” (as “s” + “ua” + n”) means “diamond” in Teochew. In TPB system of Romanised Teochew, the nasal form of “sua” is “sua`”. See Nasal Indicator section.

Its use of tone indictors above or below a letter (of the alphabet) is difficult to type.

System	TPB	Teochew Dictionary 新潮汕字典 by 张晓山	Gaginang
Website	http://www.gateways.sg/~TeochewEnglish		http://www.gaginang. org/teochew/pengim- guide.html

Tones Number of tones:	6 (+ 2 using tones ending with “b”, “d” or “g")	8	8
High Flat: high pitch throughout, same as Mandarin 1^st tone.	1 (e.g. tan₁ = copper)	5	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)	6	Acute accent on top, e.g. dáng
Middle Flat: medium pitch throughout, i.e. between tones 1 & 0.	3 (e.g. tan₃ = east)	1	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)	2	Grave accent mark on top, e.g. dàng
Low Rising: rising from low pitch to medium pitch.	5 (e.g. si₅ = four)	3	Breve mark on top, e.g. sǐ
Low Flat: low pitch throughout.	0 (e.g. tan₀ = cave )	7	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	b⁸, h⁸, g⁸	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.	b⁴, h⁴, g⁴	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. in⁵ = 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		Teochew Dictionary	Gaginang
a = a as in English word “father” except shorter (between a and a: in international phonetics), e.g. na₁ = basket		a	a
a` = nasal a, e.g. ka`₃= orange, ka₃ = sticky; ka`₄ = daring, ka₄ = grind.		an	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
ai` = nasal ai, e.g. ai`₁ = free (have nothing to do)		ain	ain
an = a + n, e.g. an₁ = red		ang	ang
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
ao` = nasal ao, e.g. gu₁₀ao`₃ = type of slimy frog		Not used	Not used
b = b as in English word “boy”, e.g. bo₁ = don’t have		bh	bh
b at end of a Romanised Teochew character: pronounced lightly, air not released; e.g. ziab₁ = frequent		b	p
c is not used.		see below	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		c	ch
d (at the end of a Romanised Teochew word) = d as in English word “said” but pronounced lightly and air not released; e.g. ziad₁ = eat, drink		h	t
e = e as in English word “pen”, e.g. pe₁ =crawl, pe₂ = father, pe₄ = bundle		ê	e
e`= nasal e, e.g. pe`₁ = level, te`₁ = obstruct		ên	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	Not used
en = e + n, e.g. en₁ = free (not busy)		êng	eng
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 near the roof of the mouth and open mouth a little less), e.g. er₁ = push.		e	eu
erng = er + ng, e.g. erng₃ = 恩 = kind favour; grace		eng	eung
f is not used		Not used	Not used
g = g as in English word “go”, e.g. gao₁ = clever		gh	gh
g at the end of a Romanised Teochew character: pronounced lightly and air not released; e.g. ziag₁ = frequent = variant of ziab₁.		g	k
g` = nasal g, e.g. g`ao₁ = boil for a long time.		ng	ng
h = h as in English word “has”, e.g. hue₄ = fire		h	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
i` = nasal i, e.g. i`₁ = round; i`₅ = (bird) swift.		in	in
ia = combined sound of i and a (as in English word “tiara”), e.g. ia₁ = coconut.		ia	ia
ia` = nasal ia, e.g. ia`₁ = win.		ian	ian
ian = combined sound of ia and n, e.g. thai₅₄ian₁ = sun.		iang	iang
iao = combined sound of i and ao, e.g. liao₄ = finished		iao	iao
iao` = nasal iao ,e.g. iao`₂ = lift open.		iaon	Not used
ie = variant of io, e.g. ie₁ = kiln		iê	ie
ie` = nasal io, e.g. ie`₁ = sheep, goat, ocean		iên	ien
in = combined sound of i and n (variant of en, e.g. in₃ = smoke		ing	ing
io = combined sound of i and o (similar to io in English word “kiosk”), e.g. io₁ = kiln		io	io
io` = nasal io, e.g. io`₁ = sheep, goat, ocean.		ion	ion
iou = variant of iao, e.g. hiou₄ = know		iou	iou
iu = combined sound of i and u, e.g. iu₁ = oil, iu₀ = pomelo		iu	iu
iu` = nasal iu, e.g. iu`₄ = dig out (using finger).		iun	iun?
j = similar to j in English word “jam”, except tongue exerts less pressure and open mouth a little less, e.g. jio₀ = urine		r	y
k = non-aspirated k, as in English word “thicker”, e.g. kio₁ = bridge, brinjal (egg plant).		g	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	k
l = l as in English word “long”, e.g. liao₄ = finished		l	l
m = m as in English word “man”, e.g. man₂ = net, man₄ = mosquito, man₀ = dream		m	m
n = n as in English word “no”, e.g. nai₁ (= noi₁) = lotus		n	n
n (used at end of word)		ng	ng
ng = ng as in English word “song”, e.g. ng₁ = yellow, tng₁ (variant of terng) = long; sng₃ (variant of serng) = sour		ng, eng	eun
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
o` = nasal o, e.g. O`₅₄ mng₁ (variant of O₅₄ mng₁) = Macau.		Not used	Not used
oi = combined sound of o and i, as in English word “coin” or “oil”, e.g. oi₁ = shoes, oi₂ = able		oi	oi
oi` = nasal oi, e.g. oi`₁ = free (has nothing to do).		oin	oin?
on = combined sound of o and n, e.g. on₂ = rock the cradle, hon₂		ong	ong
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
ou` = nasal ou, e.g. hou`₄ = tiger		oun	oun?
p = non-aspirated p as in English word “paper’, e.g. pe₁ = crawl		b	b
ph = aspirated p = p^h in international phonetics = p as in English word “paper”, e.g. pho₂ = embrace, carry in the arms.		p	p
q is not used		Not used	Not used
r is not used except in er		Used in place of j	Not used
s = s as in English word “say”, e.g. si₂ = yes		s	s
t = non-aspirated t as in English word “total, e.g. ta₄ = step on.		d	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	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	u
ua = combined sound of u and a, e.g. ua₄ = I, me; tua₀ = big.		ua	ua
ua` = nasal ua , e.g. ua`₄ = my, bowl.		uan	uan
uai = combined sound of u and ai, e.g. kuai₄ = limp, walking stick.		uai	uai
uai` = nasal uai , e.g. kuai`₄ = fruit.		uain	uain?
uan combined sound of ua and a, e.g. uan₁ = king		uang	uang
ue = combined sound of u and e, e.g. ue₁ = draw; ue₀ = spoken language, hue1 = come back		uê	ue
ue` = nasal ue, e.g. hue`1 = sideways, unreasonable		uên	uen?
ui = combined sound of u and i, similar to ui in English word “equip”; e.g. tui₀= team		ui	ui
ui` = nasal ui , e.g. kui`₁ = high		uin	uin?
un = combined sound of u and n, e.g. un₃= warm		ung	ung
v is not used		Not used	Not used
w is not used		Not used	?
x is not used		Not used	Not used
y is not used		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.		z	j

Romanised Teochew

Condition of Use

While I try to ensure accuracy, users shall not hold me responsible for any inaccuracy or oversight.

E-mail: Kindly e-mail your feedback and requests to pengboon1@yahoo.com.sg

Homepage