LEARN PHILIPPINE HOKKIEN part I

Philippine Hokkien (咱侬话; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lán-lâng-ōe; literally "our people's language"), known as Hokkien in the Philippines, is the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan as spoken by about 98.7% of the ethnic Chinese population of the Philippines.

Useful Everyday Phrases

• good morning - hó-tsá-khí (好早起)
• good afternoon - hó-ē-po (好午安)
• good evening - hó-àm (好晚安)
• How are you? - lí-hó-bô? (你好?)
• Fine, thank you. - hó, to-siā (好，多謝) or (好，道謝)
• And you? - lí-nì? (你呢?)
• you're welcome - m-bián khe-khì (毋免..)
• sorry - tùi-put-tshù (對不起)
• Congratulations! - kiong-hí!
• My surname is Tsua/Tsai/Tsai/Kai. - 
• Goa sìⁿ tshua(我的字姓是蔡)
• I do not know - guá m tsaiⁿ-iaⁿ (我毋知影)
• Do you speak Philippine Hokkien? - Jí e-hiáo kóng Lán-lâng-ué bâ? (你會講咱人話嗎?)

Common Pronouns

• this - tse (這, 即), tsit-ê (這個, 即個)
• that - he (許, 彼), hit-ê (彼個)
• here - tsia (者), hia/hiâ (遮, 遐), tsit-tau 這兜)
• there - hia (許, 遐), hit-tau (彼兜)
• what - siáⁿ-mih (啥物), sīm-mi̍h (甚物),sīm-moo(甚麼)
• when - tī-sî (底時), kī-sî (幾時), tang-sî (當時), sīm-mi̍h-sî-tsūn (甚麼時陣)
• where - to-lo̍h (佗落,倒落), tó-uī (倒位,佗位, 叨位)
• who - siáⁿ-lâng (啥人) or siáⁿ (啥)
• why - án-tsuánn (按怎), khah (盍)
• how - án-tsuánn (按怎) lû-hô (如何) tsuánn-iūnn (怎樣)

Differences from other Hokkien variants

Philippine Hokkien is largely derived from the Hokkien dialect spoken in Quanzhou. However, it gradually absorbed influences from both Standard Xiamen and Zhangzhou variants.
Although Philippine Hokkien is generally mutually comprehensible with any Hokkien variant, including Taiwanese Hokkien, the numerous English and Filipino loanwords as well as the extensive use of colloquialisms (even those which are now unused in China) can result in confusion among Hokkien speakers from outside of the Philippines. In Cebu, for example, instead of Tagalog, Cebuano words are incorporated. In Iloilo or Bacolod, Hiligaynon words are incorporated.

Similarities with either Quanzhou and Zhangzhou variants

Most speakers of Philippine Hokkien have their origins in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, hence the influence of the Hokkien variants spoken in these areas.

• The use of -iak suffix where other variants have -ik, e.g. 色 siak or sik, 綠色 lia'k-siak or lia'k-sik, etc.
• The use of -i suffix where other variants have -u, e.g. 語 gí/gú, 做菜 tshi, etc.
• The use of -uiⁿ suffix where other variants have -ing or -oaiⁿ, e.g. 最先 suiⁿ, 高 kûiⁿ, etc.
• The use of -oang suffix where other variants have -ong, e.g. 風 hoang, etc.

Similarities with Standard Xiamen (Amoy) variant

Since the Standard Xiamen (Amoy) variant is considered the most prestigious variant of Hokkien and is the spoken variant of the educated residents of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, elements of this variant occasionally seep into Philippine Hokkien, such as the following:

• The use of -ng suffix where other variants have -uiⁿ, e.g. 門 mng, 飯 png, 酸 sng, etc.
• The use of -e suffix where other variants have -oe, e.g. 火 he, 未 be, 地 tē, 細 sè.
• The use of -ue suffix where other variants have -ua, e.g. 話 ue, 花 hue, 瓜 kue.
• The use of -iuⁿ suffix where other variants have -iauⁿ), e.g. 羊 iuⁿ, 丈 tiơ̄ⁿ, 想 siuⁿ.
• The use of -iong suffix where other variants have -iang, e.g. 上 siāng, 香 hiang.

Use of colloquialisms

Philippine Hokkien (as well as Southeast Asian Hokkien) uses a disproportionately large amount of colloquial words as compared to the Hokkien variants used in China and Taiwan. Many of the colloquialisms are themselves considered dated (specifically, pre-World War II) in China but are still in use among Hokkien-speaking Chinese Filipinos.

• am-tsam (髒): dirty. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "lāo-siông".
• tshia-thâu (車頭): chauffeur (literally, "car head", but used in China to refer to a headstock). Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "chhia-hu".
• tshià-thâo-lō (工作): to work, to get employed. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "chòe-kang".
• tshiú-siak (首饰): jewelry. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "tsu-pó".
• khan-tshiú (結婚): to marry. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "kiat-hun".
• liām-tsúi (洗禮): to baptise. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "sóe-lé".
• pēnn-tshù/pīnn-tshù (病厝): hospital (literally, "sick house"). Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "i-ìⁿ".
• pēnn-īnn/pīnn-īnn (病院): hospital (literally, "sick house"). Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "i-ìⁿ".
• sio'k (便宜): cheap, economical. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "piān-gî".
• siong-hó (相好): friend (literally, "good acquaintance"). Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "pêng-iú".
• Tn̂g-suann(唐山): China, derived from the term Tangshan. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "Tiong-kok".
• tuā-o̍h (大學): university or college. Also found in Penang Hokkien. Its equivalent in the Standard Xiamen dialect is "tāi-ha̍k".

Loanwords from English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Philippine languages

Philippine Hokkien, like other Southeast Asian variants of Hokkien (e.g., Penang Hokkien, Johor Hokkien, and Singaporean Hokkien) absorbed several indigenous and English words and phrases which are usually only found (or are more important) in its new milieu. These "borrowed" words are never used in written Hokkien, for which Mandarin characters are used.

• ba-su: cup
• tshe-ke: check
• ka-mú-ti: sweet potato
• o-pi-sin: office
• pan-sit: stir-fried noodles in Chinese Filipino cuisine
• sáp-bun (雪文): soap (though this sounds similar to the Tagalog sabón, is not borrowed from that language. In Taiwanese, which is a variant of Hokkien that is not influenced by Tagalog, it is pronounced as sap-bûn. Etymologically speaking, perhaps both Taiwanese and Tagalog ultimately derive sap-bûn/sabon from the Romance languages that had brought the concept of soap to them, such as Portuguese sabão and Spanish jabón respectively).