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Minnan is one of the sub-languages of the (Northern Min) and Mindong (Eastern Min), the language of Fuzhou , the capital of Fujian province. In particular, Penang Hokkien is based on the dialect of Minnan spoken in the , similar dialects are spoken in the states bordering Penang, and in Medan . TONES There are seven Tones in Penang Hokkien, though some are very similar. They are: The numbers in reflect the tone contours, with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest. The names of the tones no longer bear any relation to the tone contours, e.g. the Lower-level tone actually rises. As in the Xiamen (Amoy) standard, the rising tone is not distinguished into upper and lower, and there is thus no 6th tone. However, as in the Zhangzhou dialect the two departing tones are virtually identical, except in their Sandhi forms. There is a reasonably reliable correspondence between Hokkien and Mandarin tones:
Words with Entering Tone s all end with -p, -t, -k or -h ( Glottal Stop ). As Mandarin no longer has any entering tones, there is no corresponding relationship for the Hokkien 4th and 8th tones, e.g. 國 kok4 / guó, but 發 hoat4 / fā. TONE SANDHI Like in other Minnan dialects, the tone of a syllable in Penang Hokkien depends on where in a phrase or sentence the relevant syllable is placed. For example, the word 牛 gu5 is pronounced with an ascending tone, but when it is placed in front of another syllable in 牛肉 gu5-bah4 is pronounced with to a low [22 tone. The rules which apply when a syllable is placed in front of a connected syllable in standard Minnan, simply put, are as follows:
Although the two departing tones (3rd & 7th) are usually difficult to tell apart in Penang Hokkien, their tone contours being and [22 , in their sandhi forms they become and [21 and are thus easily distinguishable. For more detailed rules on Minnan tone sandhi, see Taiwanese (linguistics) . DIFFERENCES FROM STANDARD MINNAN Most of the differences between Penang Hokkien and Amoy Hokkien exist also in Zhangzhou, e.g.:
DIFFERENCES FROM THE ZHANGZHOU DIALECT Although Penang Hokkien is obviously based on the Zhangzhou dialect, there are some obvious differences, which in many cases result from the influence of other Minnan dialects, e.g.:
BORROWED WORDS FROM MALAY Like other dialects in Malaysia and Singapore, Penang Hokkien borrows heavily from Malay, but sometimes to a greater extent, e.g.:
BORROWED WORDS FROM ENGLISH Penang Hokkien has also borrowed numerous words from English, some of which may have been borrowed from English via Malay, but these tend to be more technical and less well embedded than the Malay words, e.g.
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