Hoklo (Hokkien-Teochew) in Thai Land, reports from the field

[amhoanna]

Thanks, Sim and Niuc!

Yeah, one lady blessed me ... with a big bowl of H2O down my backside. Folks here are so good-natured, U can stay dry just by sticking your hand up and shaking your head. I always try to humor the kids in the alleys. This is their big holiday! I carry a big bottle of water around to make sure it's an even exchange. Songkraan is pretty tame in Bangkok, overall. I couldn't find it just now, but there's this great photo online somewhere of a department store parking lot somewhere in the south, sometime during Songkraan, w/ caramel honeys in high heels, red miniskirts and wet T-shirts dancing and schlepping buckets of water in a clearing amongst the Honda Waves and Suzuki Satrias, or whatever they're called here. Was that what U had in mind, Sim?

In Thonburi, every neighborhood restaurant seems to have an employee that knows Teochew. Then again, that's the restaurant business. ... Being a Kwongfu neigborhood, Baang-rak might be hostile to Teochew businesses in a way that Siamese neighborhoods aren't. (Just a theory.)

Thô'áhn̂g is 桃仔園, right. Back in the day it was probably Thô'áhûiⁿ. Nowadays everybody says Thôhn̂g. But doesn't Thôhn̂g sound kind of un-Hoklo, kind of dry, kind of bô hoeh bô ba̍ksái?

Hógia̍h is the most common word for RICH in TW too. Some say ūcîⁿ sometimes too. What do S'poreans say? Ka'ia̍h? ... Pháiⁿgia̍h sounds to me like a joke, something a comedian would say! It's not used in TW. I think the most common words for POOR are sànchiah and sàn. ... "Asím" and "gínná" are mistakes. Thanks for the correction. What would U say in place of gínná? Kiáⁿ would only refer to sons, right? Ditto for hāuseⁿ...?

Lêng'unphài? Goá bat thiaⁿ koè ci̍t koá iúkoan Lêng'unphài ê chiòkhoe, khósioh thiaⁿ bô saⁿh ū!

[niuc]

Thô'áhn̂g is 桃仔園, right. Back in the day it was probably Thô'áhûiⁿ. Nowadays everybody says Thôhn̂g. But doesn't Thôhn̂g sound kind of un-Hoklo, kind of dry, kind of bô hoeh bô ba̍ksái?

Not in my variant, actually, as thô'áhn̂g suggests that the peaches there are small (at least to me). In Bagansiapiapi there are 柑園 kamhn̂g.

Hógia̍h is the most common word for RICH in TW too. Some say ūcîⁿ sometimes too. What do S'poreans say? Ka'ia̍h?

I c. Ka'iah is sometimes used in my variant to mean abundant. S'poreans say ūlui.

Pháiⁿgia̍h sounds to me like a joke, something a comedian would say!

As in "difficult to lift/bring"?

It's not used in TW. I think the most common words for POOR are sànchiah and sàn.

These are used in my variant too, a long with others such as kîng, kangkhór(lâng), bôlui/cîⁿ, pháimiā(lâng).

"Asím" and "gínná" are mistakes. Thanks for the correction. What would U say in place of gínná? Kiáⁿ would only refer to sons, right? Ditto for hāuseⁿ...?

Oh, I didn't mean to correct you, thinking they might be used that way in some Taiwanese variants. If not mistaken, (some) Teochews use "asím". In my variant we indeed use kiáⁿ in asking question, although the answer would be ... kiáⁿ (taporkiáⁿ/hāusiⁿ) & ... cabór-a^h (cabórkiáⁿ).

[amhoanna]

Not in my variant, actually, as thô'áhn̂g suggests that the peaches there are small (at least to me). In Bagansiapiapi there are 柑園 kamhn̂g.

Interesting! Goes to show that non-native-speaker intuition often misfires.

S'poreans say ūlui.

It's got a ring to it!

As in "difficult to lift/bring"?

a long with others such as kîng, kangkhór(lâng), bôlui/cîⁿ, pháimiā(lâng).

I think kankhó͘(lâng) is used in TW too. So is pháiⁿmiā(lâng), but I don't know if it means the same thing. Bô cîⁿ is very context-based. I'm guessing it is in Bagan too? I've never heard kêng, though.

Oh, I didn't mean to correct you, thinking they might be used that way in some Taiwanese variants.

No, pàithok, I need the corrections!

If not mistaken, (some) Teochews use "asím".

Once again, saved by something that's Made in Kúiⁿtang.