Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Discussions on the Hokkien (Minnan) language.
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Sim Lee

Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Post by Sim Lee »

Hi there.

I am posting the first verse of a poem I learnt as a child. I’m told that there are many more verses, and that some of the later ones are a bit “risque” even, but I have never met anyone who knew any of the other verses.

I would very much like to know the other verses. Can any readers of this forum help? Also, my Hokkien is not very good, so if they could also post a literal (plus even a idiomatic) translation, that would help me a lot.

Thanks,
Sim.

P.S. I have rendered it in my pronunciation of Hokkien, which is the form spoken in Northern Peninsular Malaysia and (I gather from other posters) Northern Sumatra. In “more Amoy” Hokkien, “hue” would be “he”, and “seng” might be “sieng”.

P.P.S. Because my Hokkien is not very good, if I have made any mistakes in my translation, I'd also appreciate being told.

===================================================

Here's the poem - I render it in two different romanisations, for the convenience of different readers:


Modified poe-oe-ji *
----------------------
ci ciah e hue cun
kia~ khi hOkkiEn
kia~ kau pua~ hai
cut O iEn

kha sui e ca bO
gua a bo giEn
ciah chai ka liam keng
khi seng thiEn

*: "~" = nasalisation
'-h" = glottal stop
"c" = poe-oe-ji "ch"
"ch" = poe-oe-ji "chh"
"E" = the more 'open' "e", as opposed to 'e' = the more 'closed' "e"
"O" = the more 'open' "o", as opposed to 'o' = the more 'closed' "o"


Common romanisation in Malaysia / Singapore **
---------------------------------------------------------
chee chiak eh huay choon
knia khee hokkien
knia kau pnua hai
chhoot or ian

khar sooi eh char bor
gua a bo gien
chiak chhai ka liam keng
khee seng thien

**: The vowels are sounded more like they are spelled in English,
and the system is slightly inaccurate, because it isn’t a consistent
spelling.
Nasalisation is indicated by the "n" BEFORE the vowel.
"-h" is not a glottal stop, just the way to spell the vowel.
"-r" is not a real "r", just a way to indicate the previous vowel.


Literal translation
---------------------

one fire ship
going to hokkien (province)
gets to halfway (in the) sea
gives out black smoke

prettier girls
I don’t desire
eat vegetables and recite prayers
ascend first (to) heaven


Idiomatic translation
-------------------------

there was a steamship
going to Hokkien province
when it got to the middle of the sea
it gave out black smoke

I don't desire
prettier girls
being vegetarian and saying prayers
is the best way to get to heaven
SL De

Re: Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Post by SL De »

Sim sia,

Chiaⁿ hui-sin li e ta-thiap. Li ta-e chit-ta e gin-a-si chiaⁿ-ho thiaⁿ, gua ti sue-kaⁿ-han e si-chue iah pat thiaⁿ-ke. M-koh gua iah bue-ki-e liau-liau, chin ng-bang li koh-chai ta ta chit kua, thang hoo tak-ke him-siong him-siong. Tiam-ti e-tue gua chiong li e gin-a-si, ka i saⁿ-pue siong-ing e Tng-li, thang hoo tak-ke chham-siong chham-siong e.

"xⁿ" = nasalisation
"-h" = glottal stop
"c" = poe-oe-ji "ch"
"ch" = poe-oe-ji "chh"
"ee" = the more 'open' "e", as opposed to 'e' = the more 'closed' "e"
"oo" = the more 'open' "o", as opposed to 'o' = the more 'closed' "o"


禃 隻 兮 火船
ci ciah e hue-cun

行去 福建
kiaⁿ-khi hook-kieen

行遘 半海
kiaⁿ-kau puaⁿ- hai

澍 烏煙
cut oo-ieen


加嫷 兮 查嫫
kha sui e ca-boo

我 也 無慭
gua a bo-gieen

食菜 暨 念經
ciah-chai ka liam-keng

去 升天
khi seng-thieen


ci 禃, one
ciah 隻, a piece of
e 兮, used after a word or phrase to indicate which is an adjective
hue-cun 火船, fire ship (steamship)
kiaⁿ-khi 行去, going to
hook-kieen 福建, hokkien (a province)
kiaⁿ- kau 行遘, gets to
puaⁿ- hai 半海, middle of the sea, halfway (in the) sea
cut 澍, gives out (of the smoke, the water)
oo-ieen 烏煙, black smoke


kha sui 加嫷, prettier
kha 加, more than
sui 嫷, pretty
e 兮, used after a word or phrase to indicate which is an adjective
ca-boo 查嫫, woman
gua 我, I
a 也, also
bo-gieen 無慭, don't desire
ciah-chai 食菜, eat vegetables (being vegetarian)
ka 暨, and
liam-keng 念經, chant the scriptures of a religion
khi 去, going to
seng-thieen 升天, ascend (to) heaven

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Sim

Re: Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Post by Sim »

Hi there SL De,

Thank you very much! Now I'll be able to search for the song on the internet. My uncle remembered another verse, which I will post here when I get some time.

Cheers,
Sim.

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Andrew Yong

Re: Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Post by Andrew Yong »

I have heard this (slightly) risque verse:

十個芎蕉
tsap e kin-chio
九個曲
kau e khiau
十個查某
tsap e tsa-bo
九個嬈
kau e hiau
SL De

Re: Poem: ci ciah e h(u)e cun

Post by SL De »

Andrew sien

Chiaⁿ hoo lu loo-lat. Chit-te kik-kut-a-si iah-koh u chiaⁿ ku-tng e lek-su la. Goa iah chha-but-to soa-be bue-ki-e, eng-koo goa pat thiaⁿ-ke lau-a-po le liam hoo eⁿ-a thiaⁿ.

十 兮 芎蕉
tsap e kin-chio
九 兮 蹺
kau e khiau

十 兮 查嫫
tsap e tsa-bo
九 兮 姣
kau e hiau

曲: can pronounce "khiok", may be oral reading, or "khik" literary reading.
蹺: khiau, "蹺骹 khiau-kha", "蹺骹 蹺手 khiau-kha khiau-chiu".

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