Spoken Teochew is both ancient and at the same time evolving, just like any other "live" languages.

Besides Thailand (historically Siam), Singapore was another important stop for the Teochew people migrating into Southeast Asia between the 19th and 20th century. The role of this island as a regional entrepôt enabled it to serve also as a springboard for Teochews to enter other trading and commercial-agricultural settlements in the Malay-speaking world including the Riau archipelago, Johor, Penang, Melaka, West Kalimantan (particularly Pontianak) and Sarawak.

Unsurprisingly the Teochews settled in these areas have absorbed not a small number of native expressions into their daily vocabulary. Many terms clearly were picked up out of marketplace interactions, others stem from the need to negotiate with their Malay neighbours and the laws of colonial government.

One fascinating case is the word roti. Evolved from the Sanskrit word रोटिका (roṭikā), it means "bread" in Malay. Its use is adopted by the Teochews in Southeast Asia, who however due to the absence of the "r" sound in our mother language, corrupt its pronunciation into "lo-ti" (羅的). The word was later brought into the Teochew region, but here its association with bread is completely lost. Instead the Teochews in China when talking about "lo-ti", think of the colourful iced gem biscuits (in picture below), which in the past was old returning migrants' favourite give-away to children at home and in the village.

Below is a list of Malay words (some actually having other other foreign roots) now frequently spoken by the Teochews in Singapore, Malaysia and/or Indonesia:

No. Teochew expression Chinese character transliteration Original Malay Meaning in English 1 ba-sag 巴剎 pasar - from Persian bazar marketplace/bazaar 2 lai-long 來隆 lelang to auction 3 zu-lug 朱律 cherut cigar 4 lo-di 羅的 roti (from Sanskrit rotika) bread 5 lo-di-bia 羅的餅 as above biscuits 6 go-bi 㗝啤 kopi coffee 7 go-bi-ou 㗝啤烏 as above black coffee 8 go-bi-diam 㗝啤店 as above coffee shop 9 gang-dang 幹筒 kentang potato 10 liu-liang 榴蓮 durian durian 11 ang-mo-dang 紅毛丹 rambutan rambutan 12 mang-ga 芒膠 nangka jackfruit 13 sag-bhung 塞文 sabun (from old portuguese sabon) soap 14 sag-bhung hung 塞文粉 as above washing powder 15 lo- li 羅厘 lori lorry 16 mo-do 摩哆 motor motorcycle 17 gu-li 龜里 kuli coolie (labourer) 18 ziah-gu-li 食龜里 as above to be under employment 19 lui 鐳 duit - from "doit", a small 17th/18th century dutch coin cash/money 20 go-song 哥松 kosong empty/zero 21 su-gu 須久 suku quarter 22 a-gah 餡甲 agak estimate; guess 23 sa-la 砂拉 salah wrong/fault 24 ba-dug 巴突 patut fair 25 ma-na-u 媽那有 mana ada Where is that? 26 do-long 逃隆 tolong help 27 long-bang 隆幫 tumpang to lodge; to take a lift 28 ba-lu 峇魯 baru just; new; only 29 su-gah 署甲 suka to like (something) 30 ba-leh 峇歷 balik to repeat an action/ to go back 31 da-bi ? ? tetapi but 32 bung ? pun also; even 33 song-mang 松芒 sombong arrogant 34 ga-jiao 膠? kacau disturb 35 ga-lo 膠羅 gaduh rowdy 36 seng-nang ?? senang at east/easily 37 da-hang 打漢 tahan to tolerate 38 gi-lak-gah 幾六甲 celaka down on luck 39 ma-da 媽淡 mata police 40 ma-da-cu 媽淡厝 as above police station 41 jia-ga 惹 ? jaga to watch over / guard (noun) 42 bi-za-la 密渣𦛨 bicara lawsuit 43 sam-mang 杉慢 saman summons 44 ou-gong 烏公 hukum to fine 45 dam-gong 耽公 tanggung to guarantee 46 ba-gag 巴結 pakat to conspire 47 lang-ga 攔 ? langgar to collide / accident 48 lao-gung 老君 dukun doctor 49 dong-gah 動角 tongkat walking stick 50 ba-u 峇羽 bahu smell 51 a-dag 亞答 attap attap 52 a-dag-cu 亞答厝 as above attap-hut 53 ngou-ka-gih 五腳砌 kaki- lima five-foot way (referring to the sheltered walkways of arcade-style buildings once common in major cities in Southeast Asia and coastal southern China 54 liang-lang 兩籠 jamban toilet 55 ma-sa ma-sa 媽砂媽砂 masak toys (masak means to cook; masak-masak takes from children’s play-acting as adults at home) 56 gao-ing 交寅 kawin to get married 57 sa-iang 砂央 sayang to show affection / pity (noun) 58 geg-leng 革寧 keling (from kalinga, a historical region in india) referring to dark-skinned Indians

(Adapted from "新加坡潮州话的外语借词和特殊词语" by 李永明 and other sources)

This list is of course far from exhaustive. It also does not contain Teochew words adopted directly from English, of which a few that comes to mind include gi-lo (基羅) - kilogramme, ba-siang (巴仙) - percent, and mag-tao (目頭 ) - [brand]-mark.

~o0o~

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