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Hokkien is an analytic language; in a sentence, the arrangement of words is important to its meaning. [49] A basic sentence follows the subject–verb–object pattern (i.e. a subject is followed by a verb then by an object), though this order is often violated because Hokkien dialects are topic-prominent.
Pe̍h-ōe-jī (白話字) is a Latin alphabet developed by Western missionaries working in Southeast Asia in the 19th century to write Hokkien. Pe̍h-ōe-jī allows Hokkien to be written phonetically in Latin script, meaning that phrases specific to Hokkien can be written without having to deal with the issue of non-existent Chinese characters.
Hokkien has aspirated, unaspirated as well as voiced consonant initials.. A total of 15 initials (or 14, in dialects with /dz/ merged with /l/) are used in Hokkien. This number does not include the three nasal consonants ([m], [n], [ŋ]), which are usually considered allophones of the non-nasal voiced initials (e.g. 命; miā; 'life' is analyzed as /bĩã ⊇ /, but pronounced as [mĩã²²]).
The dictionary uses the Taiwanese Romanization System (based on pe̍h-ōe-jī) to indicate pronunciations and includes audio files for many words. As of 2013, the dictionary included entries for 20,000 words. [1] In September 2000, initial plans to commission the dictionary were put forth by the National Languages Committee of the Ministry of ...
The official romanization system for Taiwanese Hokkien (usually called "Taiwanese") in Taiwan is known as Tâi-uân Tâi-gí Lô-má-jī Phing-im Hong-àn, [I] [1] often shortened to Tâi-lô. It is derived from Pe̍h-ōe-jī and since 2006 has been one of the phonetic notation systems officially promoted by Taiwan's Ministry of Education . [ 2 ]
The Hokkien language uses a broad array of honorific suffixes or prefixes for addressing or referring to people. Most are suffixes. Honorifics are often non-gender-neutral; some imply a feminine context (such as sió-chiá) while others imply a masculine one (such as sian-siⁿ), and still others imply both.
The Hokkien language use a variety of differing demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, and many of them are only with slightly different meanings. Basic personal pronouns [ edit ]
The Hokkien word itself when dissected means, 番; hoan; 'foreign', + 仔; á; 'diminutive noun suffix', resulting in Hokkien Chinese: 番仔; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hoan-á; lit. 'foreigner', originally from the perspective of ethnic Chinese referring to non-Chinese people, especially historically natives of Taiwan and Southeast Asia.