Introduction to Taiwanese Vocabulary: Difference between revisions

The modern language that we call '''Taiwanese''' has been passed on for generations without a standardized writing system. Considered a branch of Hokkien, it is spoken natively by about 70% of the population of Taiwan, brought by immigrants from [[Banlaam|southern Fujian]], mainly during the [[Zhengkog|Qing dynasty]]. Taiwanese also contains loanwords from Japanese and the native [[Formosan languages]], plus some [[Sepangaa-gie|Spanish]], [[Kextexgie|Dutch]], and [[Enggie|English]].

Taiwanese has a literary layer that can be traced to the late [[Toong|Tang dynasty]] (ca. 618-907),  

and a colloquial layer believed to have branched off around the time of the Han dynasty ({{w|Old Chinese}} (ca. 0 BCE/CE). However, Taiwanese does not have a strong written tradition in [[Harnji|Han characters]] or any other script. Until the late 19th century, educated Taiwanese speakers wrote mostly in [[Bungieen-buun|Classical Chinese]]. Where Han characters have been used to record spoken Taiwanese, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. The lack of a written standard and the difficulty in learning the relatively complicated characters posed a great barrier to written record of Taiwanese speech.

 

==Common Phrases==

As a branch of Hokkien, Taiwanese has many words with cognates in other Chinese varieties. False friends do exist; for example, '''{{tts|[[zao]]}}''' ({{wt|走}}) means "to run" in Taiwanese, whereas the Mandarin cognate, ''zǒu'', means "to walk". Moreover, cognates may have different lexical categories; for example, the morpheme '''{{tts|[[phvi]]}}''' ({{wt|鼻}}) means not only "nose" (a noun, as in Mandarin ''bí'') but also "to smell" (a verb, unlike Mandarin).

{{Ten common Harnji}}

In Taiwanese, [[Harnji]] often have differing literary and colloquial readings (pronunciations). See [[Buun-peh-i-thak]].

Some words just have no standard Harnji, and are variously considered colloquial, intimate, vulgar, uncultured, or more concrete in meaning than the pan-Chinese synonym. Some examples: '''{{tts|[[laang]]}}''' (person, concrete) vs. '''{{tx|jiin}}''' ({{wt|人}}, person, abstract); '''{{tts|[[zabor]]}}''' (woman) vs. '''{{tx|lwjiin}}''' ({{wt|女人}}, woman, literary); '''{{tts|[[baq]]}}''' (meat). See [[Taiguo Siong'iong 460-ji]] and [[Taioaan Banlamgie thuiciexn ioxngji]].

Some Taiwanese terms originate from the Austronesian Formosan Aboriginal Languages. For example, '''{{tts|[[asef]]}}''', meaning "silly goose", is from [[Siraya-guo|Sirayan]]. Many Taiwan placenames came from these languages, including '''{{tts|[[Taioaan]]}}''', '''{{tts|[[Alysafn]]}}''', '''{{tts|[[Kelaang]]}}''', etc. It is said that 70 to 80% of Taiwan placenames are from the Formosan Austronesian languages.

*'''{{tts|[[otofbae]]}}''' (from {{wt|オートバイ}} ootobai "autobike", an "Engrish" word)

*'''{{tts|[[pharng]]}}''' (from {{wt|パン}} pan "bread", which is itself a loanword from [[Portugal-guo|Portuguese]]).  

*Grammatical particles borrowed from Japanese, notably '''{{tx|tek}}''' (from teki {{wt|的}}) and '''{{tx|kaf}}''' (from {{wt|か}}), show up in the Taiwanese of older speakers.

Taiwanese has words that come from [[Kextexgie|Dutch]], [[Portugal-guo|Portuguese]], and [[Sepangaa-gie|Spanish]] via its history (see [[Hølaan ee Formosa]]). Aside from placenames (like [[Samtiaukag]] and [[Huokuiekag]]), most western words might be from English via Japanese (see [[Taiwanese words from English]]).

| '''{{tts|[[bihluq]]}}''' || from [[Hølaan-oe|Dutch]] ''{{wt|bier}}'' via Japanese

| '''{{tts|[[kaq (tan'ui)|kaq]]}}''' || from Dutch ''{{wt|akker}}'' (acre)

| '''{{tts|[[pak]]}}''' || from Dutch ''{{wt|pachten}}'' (to lease)

| '''{{tts|[[phorngphuq]]}}''' || from Dutch ''{{wt|pomp}}'' (pump)

| '''{{tts|[[angmngthoo]]}}''' || they called the Dutch "[[angmof|angmo]]" savages (紅毛番 or {{wt|紅毛}})。

| '''{{tts|[[sapbuun]]}}''' || soap, from [[Portugal-guo|Portuguese]]: ''{{wt|sabão}}''