Minnan phrasebook
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Min nan hua or Southern Min (閩南話 - Ban3 nam2 Wei3) is the Chinese dialect of the Southern part of Fujian province, the area around Xiamen and Quanzhou. A variant is widely spoken in Taiwan where it is referred to as Taiwanese (Dai3 wan1 wei3). Another variant is also spoken widely in the Philippines where it is referred to as Lan Nang Oe. In Singapore, Malaysia and Medan, the Minnian dialects excluding Teochew are called Hokkien (Hok4 kien4 wei3), the Min-nan pronunciation of Fujian.
Note that this list is based on the Xiamen version of Minnan. The dialects spoken in Taiwan, other parts of mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Medan and other Chinese communities have some differences, due to borrowing of words from different languages and sometimes language evolution due to relative isolation. Most notably, Minnan spoken in Taiwan has borrowed some words from Japanese, so "uncle" would be known as "ojisan" in Taiwan instead of "Ah Pek" (father's elder brother), "Ah Chek" (father's younger brother) or "Ah Ku" (mother's brother) as in Xiamen. The variant spoken in Zhangzhou, Fujian province has some subtle differences from the Xiamen varient but is largely mutually intelligible (eg. kiam nui instead of kiam neng for salted egg). Yet another well known variant is the Teochew dialect spoken around Chaozhou and Shantou in Guangdong, and by large foreign Chinese Teochew communities around the world including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and France which is significantly different (eg. tsit kai nang instead of tist e lang) but is still mutually intelligible with the Xiamen variant to a small degree. The variants spoken in Singapore and Malaysia are also known to have extensive borrowing from Malay and to a lesser extent Cantonese and English.
While the Hainanese dialect spoken on the island of Hainan is grouped under Minnan by many linguists, it differs more significantly and is not mutually intelligible with any of the other variants of Minnan.
It can be said to be mutually unintelligible with standard Mandarin and other dialects not only due to the pronounciation differences but also because of the irregular word/character convertion i.e. a non-native Minnan speaker can only understand the dialect to a small extent even when it is presented in written form (e.g. "吃甲尚好惊血压高,水某兌人走" - 《陳雷.欢喜就好》) It is also not mutually intelligible with the other branches of the Min dialect family such as Mindong, Minbei and Puxian.
[edit] Pronunciation
Like all other Chinese dialects, Minnan uses Chinese characters but employs its own 'unique' pronounciation. However, it should be noted that similar to Japanese kanji, most characters have two or more pronunciations in Minnan, which means that many characters would be pronounced differently depending on context, even if their Mandarin pronunciation remains the same in both instances.
For example:
人 is pronounced lang2 and 生 si-ee1 / xh-e1 (as verb) when used alone, but when used as 人生 they is pronounced as lim3 sim1
Also compare: 不 - 不要 (mm-mai3) and 不能/不可以 (bwuei3/bei3 sai4) ).
要 - changeable between ai3 / ai4 / be4 / bei4 depending on context
我 (wah4/gua4) is used in more informal context while 阮 (gun2) is more formal and 您爸 (lim2 bpei3) is very derogatory but used very commonly. (No cognates exist in Mandarin or Cantonese although phrases with the same meaning do)
The minnan dialect is tonal and the tones must be correct in order to convey the correct meaning. Tone sandhi is particularly common and not standardised in the minnan dialect, which makes it a little harder to learn than say Mandarin, where tone sandhi is standardised and Cantonese where tone sandhi is used sparingly.
Pronounciation varies from region to region (你 You - Lee4/Lu4/Lle4) mainly due to lack of standardisation making comprehension difficult sometimes even between 'native' speakers from different region. It should also be kept in mind that most speakers of the dialect often mix Mandarin phrases into their speech due to the influence of Standard Mandarin.
[edit] Vowels
[edit] Consonants
Minnan is full of consonants, even more than standard Mandarin or Cantonese, and pronouncing them correctly is going to be a challenge for English speakers. For instance, there is a difference between the aspirated and unaspirated t, k and p sounds like in Mandarin, as well as the hard b and hard g sounds of English. Just to highlight the distinction, the words for "open" (開 khui) and "close" (關 kui) sound almost identical to a native English speaker, and the only difference is that "open" uses an aspirated initial k while "close" uses an unaspitated initial k! The j sound in English is also used along with the j sound in Mandarin hanyu pinyin. Labial initials such as the m sound are also present. However, unlike in Mandarin, there is no "tongue rolling" initial consonant. Like Cantonese but unlike Mandarin, Minnan retains all the final consonants(n,ŋ,p,t,m and k) of Middle Chinese.
[edit] Common diphthongs
[edit] Phrase list
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Here are a few very basic phrases:
Hello - li ho 你好 (LEE-HO)
Thank you - kum sia 感謝 (KUM-SHEEAH) (Singapore/Malaysia) or to sia 多謝 (Taiwan/Fujian)
You are beautiful - li chin sui 你真美 (LEE-CHIN-SWEE)
Don't lie to me! - mai ke 甭假 (MY-GAY)
This is delicious (for beverage) - ho lim 好飲
This is delicious (for food) - ho chiah 好吃 (HO JEEYAH)
Have some tea - lim te 飲茶
Make tea - pao te 泡茶
That's OK/You're welcome - m-ben kekki 免客氣
[edit] Basics
- Please note that the Chinese tonal inflection is represented as numbers following each syllable.
- Hello.
- Li/Lu(1) ho(1) . 你好(Mandarin: Ni(2) hao(3). Literal: You Good?)
- Hello. (informal)
- . ( )
- How are you?
- Lee(1) ho(1) boh(3) ? 你好無 (Literal: You Good Not?)
- Fine, thank you.
- Waah4 ho4, gkaam2-xia3. 我好，谢谢 (Literal: I'm fine. Thanks)
- What is your name?
- Lee(1) kio(2) shi-ia(1) mi(2) mya(2)? 你叫甚麽名(Literal: How are you called?)
- My name is ______ .
- Wah(1) eh(2) mya(2) si(3) ______ . 我的名是______( Guwa (guwa is one syllable) shi _____ .)
- Nice to meet you.
- ( )
- Please.
- qia(2,4) 请. (Not to be used alone as in English - this is not a direct translation as there is none)
- Thank you.
- Kam(1) siah(1). 感謝 ( )
- You're welcome.
- Mm-mien2 Khay4 Khi3. 不用客氣(Literal:Don't be too polite)
- Yes.
- si(1) . 是 ( )
- No.
- mm(3)-si(1). 不是 ( )
- Excuse me. (getting attention)
- . ( )
- Excuse me. (begging pardon)
- . ( )
- I'm sorry.
- Shi(1) Lei(1) . 失禮( )
- Goodbye
- Zhai(4) gen(3) . 再見( )
- Goodbye (informal)
- . ( )
- I can't speak name of language [well].
- Wah(1) buay(2) hiao(4) gong(1) name of language. 我不会讲_____ ( [ ])
- Do you speak English?
- Lee(1) gum(1) eh(3) hiao(4) gong(1) eng(2) gyi(1)? ( ?)
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- Gum(1) ou(3) lung(2) eh(3) hiao(4) gong(1) eng(2) gyi(1)? ( ?)
- Help!
- ! ( !)
- Look out!
- xio2 sim1! 小心 ( !)
- Good morning.
- gau cha ( )
- Good evening.
- . ( )
- Good night.
- . ( )
- Good night (to sleep)
- . ( )
- I don't understand.
- tianh bo . 听没有 (hear not )
- I don't understand.
- beh meng pek . 不明白 (do not understand )
- Where is the toilet?
- Ben(3) soh(4) di(2) de(1) We(2)? 矛厕在哪位(Literal: bathroom, where is it?)
[edit] Problems
[edit] Numbers
- Please note that the Chinese tonal inflection is represented as numbers following each syllable.
- Zero
- 孔 kong (2)
- One
- 一 yit(1) / chjit(1) / i-ou(1)
- Two
- 两/二 nng(2) or li/ji/di(2) (Please note rules to use nng(2) or li(2) when counting.)
- Three
- 三 sa(1)
- Four
- 四 si(3)
- Five
- 五 go(2)
- Six
- 六 lak(2)
- Seven
- 七 chit(2)
- Eight
- 八 bpui(2)
- Nine
- 九 kau(4)
- Ten
- 十 tzhap(2)
- Eleven
- 十一 tzhap(2)-it(1)
- Twelve
- 十二 tzhap(2)-li(2) ( Notice change from nng(2) to li/ji(2) when describe unit of one)
- Thirteen
- 十三 tzhap(2)-sa(1)
- Fourteen
- 十四 tzhap(2)-si(1)
- Fifteen
- 十五 tzhap(2)-go(2)
- Sixteen
- 十六 tzhap(2)-lak(2)
- Seventeen
- 十七 tzhap(2)-chit(2)
- Eighteen
- 十八 tzhap(2)-peh(2)
- Nineteen
- 十九 tzhap(2)-kau(2)
- Twenty
- 二十 li/ji(3)-tzhap(3) ( Notice use li/ji(2) to modify units of ten)
- Twenty-One
- 二十一 li/ji(3)-tzhap(3)-it(3)
- Twenty-two
- 二十二 li/ji(3)-tzhap(3)-Li/ji(3)
- One Hundred
- 一百 chit(1)-pah(1) (pah = 100)
- Two hundred
- 两百 nng(2)-pah(1) ( Notice use of nng(2) to modify multiples of 100)
- Two hundred twenty-two
- 两百二十二 nng(2)-pah(4)-li/ji(2)-chap(2)-li/ji(2)
- One thousand
- 一千 chit(3)-chien(1) (chien = 1000)
- Two thousand
- 两千 nng(2)-chien(1)
- Ten thousand
- 一萬 chit(3)-ban(2) (ban(2) = 10000)
- Twenty thousand
- 两萬 nng(2)-ban(2)
- One hundred thousand
- 十萬 chap(2)-ban(2)
- One million
- 一百萬 chit(3)-pah(2)-ban(2)
Note: the following uses unconventional romanization and does not describe tones, but just tries to be phonetically accurate from an (American) English speaking standpoint. Goal is to have an English speaker's first try be fairly close, without reading a bunch of rules for phonetization nor trying to distinguish between the 7 tones in Taiwanese. Unfortunately, it is difficult to cover all tones this way, especially nasal and breath differences, and thus cannot be completely accurate. Also to note is the author learned Taiwanese from one parent from the south, and one parent from the north.
- Asterisk precedes words that are very hard to phonetize. It would be nice to get some audio on here for these.
- Also to note is the phoneme for "L" used below. Linguists call this sound a "flap" - it is similar to the "tt" sound in Standard American pronunciation of "butter". It is also similar to the Japanese "r" and the Spanish "single-r" sounds.
[edit] Basic Phrases
Hello - Li huh 你好 -- literally, "you good?"
How are you - Li ho-bo 你好吗？; OR Jia bah bo 吃饱了吗 -- literally, "eat full?"
Not bad - Buay pai 不坏
Good, Thank you - Informal: Hoh, duh shiah. 好，多谢 Formal: Hoh, gahm shiah 好，感谢
What is your name - Li-ay myah shee sa? 你的名叫甚麽？
My name is - Wah-ay mya shee 我的名是
Please - Pbai toh 拜托
That's OK / Your Welcome - Me-en Kayki 无需客气
Excuse me - Pai say 不好意思
Sorry - Informal: Pai say. Formal: shit leh
Goodbye - tzai chien 再见
I don't know how to speak English - Wah mbay hyow gong eng-yee
Do you know how to speak English? - Li gah-ay hyow gong eng-yee
Is there someone here who speaks English? - Jiah gah oo lahng ay hyow gong eng-yee 这甘有人懂得讲英语？
I don't understand - Wah tyah bo 我听没有
Where's the bathroom? - Ben so dee-da
[edit] Problems
Go Away - Tzow / Zao4 走开
Don't touch me! - Mai gah-wah mbong / Mai4 Mo1 Wa4 别摸我
I'll call the police. - Informal: Wah kah gien tsah. Formal: Wah ay kah hoh gien tsah. / Wa4 Kio4 Ma2 Ta2
Police! - Gien tsah / Ma2 Ta2
Stop! - Dohng / Tng2 停
I need your help. - Wah soo-yow * dee-ay bahm-mahng / Li4 Ai3 (Sai4) Ga3 Wa4 Dao4 Chiu4 Bei3 我需要...你的帮忙
I'm lost. - Wah mbo-key
I lost my purse/wallet. - Wah pahng-key wah-ay pay bow 我不见我的皮包
I'm sick. - Wah pwah bee or Wah gahng koh
I've been injured. - Wah dyuh shohng 我着伤
I need a doctor. - Wah dah-ai ee-sheng 我（）医生
Can I use your phone? - Wah gah-ay sai yen * li-ay dyeng-way 我甘可用你的电话
[edit] Ordinal Numbers
first - day-eet
second - day-ji
third - day-sa
fourth - day-si
fifth - day-go
...
twentieth
...
hundredth - day chit-pah
...
thousandth - day chit-chien
[edit] Time
what time is it? - kwee tiam? 幾點
now - jeemah or jeetzoon
later - kah dahng-ay or shuh dahng
before - ee jun
early - dtsah
earlier - kah dtsah
morning - tao dtsah
in the morning - tzai kee
tomorrow morning - miyah tsai kee tao dtsah
afternoon - ay boh
in the afternoon -
evening - ay ahm
in the evening -
night - ahm
in the night - ahm-sheea
tonight - kim mi 今暝
[edit] Clock time
one o'clock AM - tao tza jeet/yi4 diam
two o'clock AM - tao tza nen/di3 diam
noon - dyong dow / ey3 bpo1
one o'clock PM - ay boh jeet/yi4 diam
two o'clock PM - ay boh nen/di3 diam
midnight - bpua4 mi2
[edit] Duration
minute - whhun
2 minutes - nun whhun
hour - diam jun
2 hours - nun diam jun
day - * leet
5 days - go * leet
week - * lay bai
5 weeks - go * lay bai
month - whay * leet
5 months - go whay * leet
year - nee
5 years - go nee
[edit] Days
today - gyah * de * deet
the day before yesterday - tzuh * leet
yesterday - dtsah-ung
tomorrow - miyah tsai
the day after tomorrow - ow * leet
this week - tsi * day bai
last week - den * day bai
the week before last week - jen * lay bai
next week - ow * lay bai
the week after next week - ow ow * lay bai
Monday - bai-eet
Tuesday - bai- * dee
Wednesday - bai-sa
Thursday - bai-shee
Friday - bai-go
Saturday - bai- * lahk
Sunday - * lay-bai
[edit] Writing time and date
[edit] Months
January - ee-gay
February - * lee-gay
March - sa-gay
April - shee-gay
May - go-gay
June - * lahk-gay
July - chee-gay
August - bway-gay
September - gow-gay
October - tsahb-gay
November - tsahb-eet-gay
December - tsahb- *de-gay
[edit] Colors
color - shitd
black - oh shitd
white - bay shitd
grey - whey shitd - literally "ash color"
red - ahng shitd
blue - na shitd
yellow - ung shitd
green - chyee shitd
orange - gahmah shitd
purple - gyuh shitd - literally "eggplant color"
brown - toh-shitd - literally "dirt color"
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Bus and train
ticket - dyu pyuh
on ticket - jeet-pyuh
How much is one ticket? - Jeet-pyuh shee gwee-koh? - literally "one ticket is how many dollars?"
bus - kay-wun
train - whey-chiah
Where does this bus go? - Dze-day kay-wun kee-dah?
Does this train go to ____? - Dze-day whey-chiah gah-oo kee ____?
What time does this train leave? - Dze-day whey-chiah gwee diam tsooh-whaht?
What time will this bus arrive? - Dze-day kay-wun gwee diam ay gow-wee?
Please stop! - Pbai-toh, dong!
[edit] Taxi
Taxi - gay-dyen chiah
Drive me to ____ - dzai wah kee ____
How much to go ____ - mbay kee ____ gwee koh?
[edit] Directions
How do I get to ____? - mbay ahndswah kee ____?
...the train station? - whey chiah dyoo?
...the bus station? - kay-wun dyoo?
...the airport? - whey-deng-gee dyoo?
...downtown? - chee dyong sheemg?
...the hotel? - * lee-guang?
...the restaurant? - bung-diam?
Where are there a lot of ____? - Dway oo jote-tsay ____?
Do you have a map? - * lee gah-oo day-doh?
[edit] Driving
street/road - * loh
left - duh
right - jyah
turn left - duh wah
straight ahead - dee-deet kee or dee-deet gyah
[edit] Lodging
Do you have any rooms available? - Oo bahn-gyun mbo?
How much for one room? - Jeet gyun, wah-tsay gyee?
One person - dzeday lahng
Two persons - nungay lahng
Does it have... - Gah oo
...bathroom? - beng soh?
...phone? - dyung way?
...television? - dyung ah?
May I see it first? - Gah-ay-dahng shung kwah?
Do you have something... - Gah oo kah
...bigger? - dwah-ay
...cheaper? - shohg-ay
Ok I'll sleep here for ____ nights. - Huh, mbay-kuhng ____ ahm.
Is there another hotel? - Gah oo bahg-ay * lee-guang?
What time is breakfast? - Dzah-dun gwee-diam?
Please clean my room - Pbai toh kyeng wah-ay bahn-gyun
Can you wake me at ____ ? - ____ gah-way gyuh kiah, huhbuh?
[edit] Money
credit card - swah kah
Where can I exchange money? - Dway ay-dahng wah gjee?
[edit] Eating
Breakfast - dzah-den
Lunch - dyong-den
Snack - diam-shing
Tea - day / tay2
Coffee - gah-bee
Dinner - ahm-den
I want - wah-mbay
Chicken - ga-mbah / gkwuei1 bah4
Beef - goo-mbah
Fish - hee-ah / hhu2 / hhhhw2 (right-most sounds like a long 'huh' without the vowel)
Eggs - nun / gkuei1 neng3 （雞蛋）
Vegetables - chtsai
Fruit - dzwee-guh / gge2 chjee4 (果子)
Bread - pahng (For you linguists, this is from Portugese)
Noodles - mee
Rice - bi-ee4 (short) （米）
(cooked) Rice - buhng / bpeng3 / b-pui23 （飯）
Beer - bee- * doo
Salt - yahm
Pepper - hyahm / hhoh3 chjio1 hun4 （胡椒粉）
Done eating - jyah- (bpah4) lyow （吃飽了）
Good to eat - huh-jyah （好吃）
[edit] Bars
[edit] Shopping
How much? - Gwee koh/Wah dzay jyee/Luaaa3-Zwuei3?
Too much - shyoo-(gke4) zwuei3
Don't want - mbwai / mmm...-mai3
I need - Wah dah-ai
...toothbrush - kee-mbeeng
...soap - day koh
...shampoo - suay tow-mun - literally "wash hair"
...paper - dzwah4
...pen - mbeetd / pbeet4
...books - dzoo / tz-cheh4
[edit] Authority
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