Variation in Spoken Teochew

As with other languages, there is variation in spoken Teochew, depending on the district it originated. Below are examples of variation in spoken Teochew.

Systematic Variations

English	Romanised Teochew	Variant
	words ending “en”, “ein” or “in”
light (wt)	khin₁	khen₁ or khein₁
real	zin₃	zen₃, zein₃
top	ten₄	tein₄
push	len₄	lein₄

	words ending “eg”, “eig” or “ig”
seven	chig₀	cheg₀ or cheig₀
straight	tig₁	teg₁ or teig₁
deer	teg₁	teig1
cracked, split	peg₀	peig₀ orpig₀
tired	heg₁	heig₁
one	zeg₁	zeig₁
younger paternal uncle	zeg₀	zeig₀

	Words ending “m”	words ending “n”
blue, south	nam₁	lan₁
maternal uncle's wife	kim₂	kin₂
gold	kim₃	kin₃
younger paternal uncle’s wife	sim₄	sin₄
to lock up	kim₅	kin₅

	words ending “oi”	Words ending “ai”
lotus	noi`₁	nai`₁
side	poi`₁	pai`₁
shoulder	koi`₃	kai`₃

	words ending “er”	words ending “u”
fish	her₁	hu₁
pig	ter₃	tu₃
you	ler₄	lu₄
go	kher₅	khu₅

	words ending “ab”	words ending “ag”
soft	nab₀	nag₀
to cover	khab₀	khag₀
reply	tab₀	tag₀
ten	zab₁	zag₁

	words ending “ib”	words ending “ig”
covered and heated/warmed	hib₀	hig₀
enter	jib₁	jig₁

	words ending “iab”	words ending “iag”
numerical coefficient for round piece	liab₁	liag₁
invitation card	thiab₀	thiag₀
frequent	ziab₁	ziag₁

	words with tone “54”	words with tone “51”
forty	si₅₄zab₁	si₅₁zag₁
pour water	to₅₄ zui₄	to₅₁ zui₄
don’t eat	mai₅₄ ziad₁	mai₅₁ ziad₁

Other Variations

silver	g`ng₁	g`in₁	(plant) root	kng₃	kin₃	sleep	ngg₁	ug₁	i`₂
lost	m₂₀ki`₅	ng₂₀kia`n₅	go round & round	hui`₃	hui₃	gizzard	kern₂	kin₂	kian₂
several pieces	kua₄₂ko₅	kui₄₂ko₅	near	kern₂	kin₂	don’t need	mian₄	men₄	min₄
beg	kherg₀	kheg₀	high	kui`₁	kuai`₁	Macau	O₅₄mng₁	O`₅₄mng₁	O₅₁mun₁
door	mun₁	mng₁
cooked rice	pun₀	png₀

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