Penang Hokkien

• Unlike other dialects of Hokkien, coronal affricates and fricatives remain the same and do not become alveolo-palatal before /i/, e.g. 時 [si].
• The consonants ⟨f⟩, ⟨d⟩, ⟨r⟩ and ⟨sh⟩ are only used in loanwords.

• In the Tâi-lô system for Penang Hokkien, nasal vowels are indicated using final ⟨-nn⟩, while POJ uses superscript ⟨◌ⁿ⟩. Vowel nasalisation also occurs in words that have nasal initials (⟨m-⟩, ⟨n-⟩, ⟨ng-⟩), however, this is not indicated, e.g. 卵 nūi (/nuĩ/).
  For most speakers who are not aware of POJ or Tâi-lô, nasalisation is commonly indicated by putting an ⟨n⟩ after the initial consonant of a word. This is commonly seen for the popular Penang delicacy Tau Sar Pneah (豆沙餅 Tāu-sa-piánn). In other instances, nasalisation may not be indicated at all, such as in Popiah (薄餅 po̍h-piánn), or as in the common last name Ooi (黃 Uînn).
• The rime ⟨ionn⟩ is a variant pronunciation of ⟨iaunn⟩. The two may be used interchangeably in Penang Hokkien, e.g. 張 tiaunn/tionn, 羊 iâunn/iônn.
• When ⟨ia⟩ is followed by final ⟨-n⟩ or ⟨-t⟩, it is pronounced [iɛ], with ⟨ian⟩ and ⟨iat⟩ being pronounced as [iɛn] and [iɛt̚] respectively.
  In speech, these sounds are often reduced to [ɛn] and [ɛt̚], e.g. 免 mián/mén.
• When ⟨i⟩ is followed by final ⟨-k⟩ or ⟨-ng⟩, it is pronounced as /ek̚/ and /eŋ/ respectively rather than other dialects which will pronounced as [iɪk̚] and [iɪŋ] respectively. e.g. 色 sik /sek̚/.
• ⟨ioo⟩ is a variant of ⟨io⟩ which is only found with the initial ⟨n-⟩, e.g. 娘 niôo.
• Diphthongs <ua> and <au> often romanised as <wa> and <aw> respectively. e.g. 我 wá/uá /u̯a/, 够 kàw/kàu /kaʊ/.
• Loanwords with diphthongs <ia> often romanised as <ya>. e.g. 捎央 sa-yang /sa-iaŋ/.

• * Used in loanwords, variants and onomatopoeia

In Penang Hokkien, the two Departing tones (3rd & 7th) are virtually identical, and may not be distinguished except in their sandhi forms. Most native speakers of Penang Hokkien are therefore only aware of four tones in unchecked syllables (high, low, rising, high falling), and two Entering tones (high and low) in checked syllables. In most systems of romanisation, this is accounted as seven tones altogether. The tones are:

The names of the tones no longer bear any relation to the tone contours. The (upper) Rising (2nd) tone has two variants in Penang Hokkien, a high falling tone [˥˧] (53) and a high rising tone [˦˦˥] (445). The high falling tone [˥˧] (53) is more common among the older generations while in the younger generations there has been a shift towards the use of the high rising tone [˦˦˥] (445). When the 3rd tone is sandhied to the 2nd tone, the high falling variant [˥˧] (53) is used, however some speakers may sandhi the 3rd tone to the 1st tone [˦] (44).[3] As in Amoy and Zhangzhou, there is no lower Rising (6th) tone.

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 gû in isolation is pronounced with an ascending tone, [˨˧] (23), but when it combines with a following syllable, as in 牛肉 gû-bah, it is pronounced with a low tone, [˨˩] (21).

The rules which apply when a syllable is placed in front of a connected syllable in standard Minnan, simply put, are as follows:

• 1st becomes 7th
• 7th becomes 3rd
• 3rd becomes 2nd (often sounds like 1st in Penang Hokkien)
• 2nd becomes 1st
• 5th becomes 7th

Checked syllables (-h):

• 4th becomes 2nd (often sounds like 1st in Penang Hokkien)
• 8th becomes 3rd

Checked syllables (-p,-t,-k):

• 4th becomes 8th
• 8th becomes 4th

Although the two departing tones (3rd & 7th) are virtually identical in Penang Hokkien, in their sandhi forms they become [˥˧] (53) and [˨˩] (21) and are thus easily distinguishable.

The "tone wheel" concept does not work perfectly for all speakers of Penang Hokkien.[4]

There is a reasonably reliable correspondence between Hokkien and Mandarin tones:

• Upper Level: Hokkien 1st tone = Mandarin 1st tone, e.g. 雞 ke/jī.
• Lower Level: Hokkien 5th tone = Mandarin 2nd tone, e.g. 龍 lêng/lóng.
• Rising: Hokkien 2nd tone = Mandarin 3rd tone, e.g. 馬 bée/mǎ.
• Departing: Hokkien 3rd/7th tones = Mandarin 4th tone, e.g. 兔 thòo/tù, 象 tshiōnn/xiàng.

Words with Entering tones all end with ⟨-p⟩, ⟨-t⟩, ⟨-k⟩ or ⟨-h⟩ (glottal stop). As Mandarin no longer has any Entering tones, there is no simple corresponding relationship for the Hokkien 4th and 8th tones, e.g. 國 kok/guó, but 發 huat/fā. The tone in Mandarin often depends on what the initial consonant of the syllable is (see the article on Entering tones for details).

Like other dialects in Malaysia and Singapore, Penang Hokkien borrows heavily from Malay, but sometimes to a greater extent than other Hokkien dialects, e.g.:

There are also many Hokkien words which have been borrowed into Malay, sometimes with slightly different meanings, e.g.:

There are words in Penang Hokkien that originated from other varieties of Chinese spoken in and around Malaysia. e.g.:

Penang Hokkien has also borrowed some words from English, some of which may have been borrowed via Malay, but these tend to be more technical and less well embedded than the Malay words, e.g. brake, park, pipe, pump, etc.

Penang Hokkien also contains words whjch are thought to come from Thai.