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 and Malaysian English, the Min dialects 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, Teochew and English.

It is mutually unintelligible with standard Mandarin and other dialects not only due to the pronounciation difference 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》) whereas Cantonese has a standardised form (is more complete) and the variation of the language to standard Mandarin is more subtle (more intelligible in written form).

(Note: that the above paragraph is written by a person who is both literate in Cantonese and Hokkien dialects and is giving only his own opinion on this matter.)

Contents 1 Pronunciation 1.1 Vowels 1.2 Consonants 1.3 Common diphthongs 2 Phrase list 2.1 Basics 2.2 Problems 2.3 Numbers 2.4 Basic Phrases 2.5 Problems 2.6 Ordinal Numbers 2.7 Time 2.7.1 Clock time 2.7.2 Duration 2.7.3 Days 2.7.4 Writing time and date 2.8 Months 2.9 Colors 2.10 Transportation 2.10.1 Bus and train 2.10.2 Taxi 2.10.3 Directions 2.10.4 Driving 2.11 Lodging 2.12 Money 2.13 Eating 2.14 Bars 2.15 Shopping 2.16 Authority

[edit] Pronunciation

Like all other Chinese dialects, Minnan uses Chinese characters but employs its own 'unique' pronounciation. However, it should be noted that in comparison to most other dialects (Cantonese), some character are pronounced differently depending on context and its use even when in Mandarin it retains the same pronounciation.

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. (This variation does not exist in Mandarin or Cantonese)

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 dialects are 'incomplete' in comparison to Mandarin, hence for uncommon words/characters standard 'Mandarin' pronounciation are employed when the 'sound-conversion' is not possible/too difficult (e.g. 醉). The variation of the pronounciation from standard Mandarin also reduces the more uncommon the word is.

[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 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 k while "close" uses and unaspitated 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)

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.

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