Introduction to Taiwanese Vocabulary: Difference between revisions

The modern language that we call '''[[Taigie|Taiwanese]]''' has been passed on for several generations primarily through oral tradition without a standardized writing system. It may be considered a variant of Hokkien brought by [[Fujian]]ese settlers from mainland China to the island of Taiwan ([[Formosa]]). The Taiwanese language has captured the history of the island in its borrowing of words from [[Formosan languages]], [[Sepangaa-gie|Spanish]], [[Kextexgie|Dutch]], [[Jidpwn'oe|Japanese]], and [[Engguo|English]].

Modern Taiwanese has words coming from [[Sioxngkor Harnguo|Old Chinese]] (ca. 0 BCE/CE) as well as the [[Toong|Tang Dynasty]] (ca. 618-907). However, it is still not natural for many people to write modern Taiwanese with [[Harnji|Han characters]]. Until the late 19th century, educated Taiwanese speakers wrote solely in [[Bungieen-buun|literary 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 [[Harnji]] posed a great barrier to written record of Taiwanese speech.

A system of writing Taiwanese using Latin characters called [[POJ]], meaning "vernacular writing", was developed in the 19th century. The indigenous [[Taioaan Kitog Tviwlør Kaohoe|Presbyterian Church in Taiwan]] has been active in promoting the language since the late 19th century. In 1945, Professor [[Liim Keahioong]], formerly of the Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan, pioneered a system based on POJ called the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS). TMSS has evolved into [[Modern Taiwanese Language]] (MTL), also known as Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT). This page uses MTL to write Taiwanese.

;{{tts2|[[Ciaqpar]]`bøe?|ciaqparboe{}} : Hello. (Literally, "have you eaten your fill?")

;{{tts|[[Bøexbae]]!}} :Not bad.  

Modern linguistic studies (by Robert L. Cheng and Chin-An Li, for example) estimate that most (75% to 90%) Taiwanese words have cognates in other Han Chinese languages. False friends do exist; for example, {{tts|zao}} ([[wikt:走|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 {{tts2|[[phvi]]|phvi}} ([[wikt:鼻|鼻]]) means not only "nose" (a noun, as in Mandarin bí) but also "to smell" (a verb, unlike Mandarin).

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: [[laang]] (person, concrete) vs. jiin ([[wikt:人|人]], person, abstract); [[zabor]] ([[wikt:查某|查某]], woman) vs. lwjiin ([[wikt:女人|女人]], woman, literary); [[baq]] (meat). See [[Taiguo Siong'iong 460-ji]] and [[Taioaan Banlamgie thuiciexn ioxngji]].

Some Taiwanese terms came from the Austronesian Formosan Aboriginal Languages. The often used example is from [[Siraya-guo|Sirayan]]: [[asef]], meaning "silly goose". But the major legacy is in Taiwanese place names, such as [[Taioaan]].

*[[otofbae]] (from [[wikt:オートバイ|オートバイ]] ootobai "autobike", an "Engrish" word)

*[[pharng]] (from [[wikt:パン|パン]] pan "bread", which is itself a loanword from [[Portugal-guo|Portuguese]]).  

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

| [[bihluq]] || from [[Hølaan-oe|Dutch]] ''[[wikt:bier|bier]]'' via Japanese

| [[kaq]] || from Dutch ''[[wikt:akker|akker]]'' (acre)

| [[pak]] || from Dutch ''[[wikt:pachten|pachten]]'' (to lease)

| [[pharngphuq]] || from Dutch ''[[wikt:pomp|pomp]]'' (pump)

| [[angmngthoo]] || they called the Dutch "[[angmof|angmo]]" savages (紅毛番 or [[wikt:紅毛|紅毛]])。

| [[sapbuun]] || soap, from [[Portugal-guo|Portuguese]]: ''[[wikt:sabão|sabão]]''

| [[tee]] || [[wikt:茶|茶]] || tea (from Amoy)

| [[khaothaau]]|| [[wikt:叩頭|叩頭]] || [[wikt:kowtow|kowtow]] (to kneel and touch the forehead to the ground in token of homage, worship, or deep respect)

| [[kafmsia]]|| [[wikt:感謝|感謝]] || [[wikt:cumshaw|cumshaw]] (grateful thanks, from Amoy)

| [[sampafn'ar]]|| 舢舨仔 || [[wikt:sampan|sampan]] (a flat-bottomed skiff used in eastern Asia and usually propelled by two short oars)

| [[Jidpurn]]|| 日本 || Japan/Nippon

| [[Sekkhiaf]] || 釋迦 || sweetsop ({{w|sugar-apple}}), resembles top part of Gautama Buddha's (Sakyamuni) head  

There are two sets of [[sorji|numbers]] in Taiwanese, colloquial and literary. Use the colloquial style to count objects. Listen to the machine: {{tts|cit,  nng,  svaf,  six,  go,  lak,  chid,  peq,  kao, zap}}

==More Information==