An Introduction to Taiwanese Vocabulary

Introduction
The modern language that we call Taiwanese has been passed on for several generations primarily through oral tradition without a standardized writing system. It may be considered a variant of the Amoy dialect of Chinese brought by Fujianese settlers from mainland China to the island of Taiwan (Formosa). The Taiwanese language has captured the history of the island in its borrowing of words from Aboriginal Languages, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and English.

Modern Taiwanese has extensive colloquial vocabulary from Ancient Chinese (ca. start of common era) as well as literary vocabulary from the eras of the Tang Dynasty (ca. 618-907) and South Song Dynasty (1127-1279). However, it is still not natural for many people to write modern Taiwanese with Han characters. Until the late 19th century, educated Taiwanese speakers wrote solely in literary Chinese. Where Han characters have been used to record spoken Taiwanese, they are not always etymological or genetic; the borrowing of similar-sounding or similar-meaning characters is a common practice. The lack of a written standard and the difficulty in learning the relatively complicated Han characters posed a great barrier to written record of Taiwanese speech.

A system of writing Taiwanese using Latin characters called POJ, meaning "vernacular writing", was developed in the 19th century. The indigenous Presbyterian Church in Taiwan has been active in promoting the language since the late 19th century. In 1945, Professor Liim Keahioong, formerly of the Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan, pioneered a system based on POJ called the Taiwanese Modern Spelling System (TMSS). TMSS has evolved into Modern Taiwanese Language (MTL), a close relative of Modern Literal Taiwanese (MLT). This page uses MTL to write Taiwanese.

Review of Tones in MTL
af, ar, ax, aq, aa, (ar), a, ah

Sample phrases

Lie hQr! (Hello!)
Ciaqpar`boe? (Hello. Literally, "have you eaten?")
Kafmsia! (Thanks!)
Cyn tQsia! (Thank you very much!)
Biern khehkhix! (Don't be polite!)

Many Taiwanese terms have origins from the Han Chinese lingual system and can be represented with the same Han Chinese Characters used to write Mandarin Chinese:

Harnji	MTL	English
天	thvy	day, sky, God
日	jit	day, sky, heaven, sun, date
月	goeh/goat	moon, month
水	zuie	water
江	kafng	river
馬	bea	horse
鳥	ciao	bird
地	toe	ground, earth
風	hofng	wind
火	hoea (hQea)	fire
國	kog	kingdom, country, nation
家	kaf/kef	household, clan/home, family

Some terms can be written partially or completely with Han Characters but perhaps not the same ones used for Mandarin.

漢羅	MTL	English
gí n 仔	gyn'ar	child
潤餅	juxnpviar	a type of spring roll, or a type of cake/cookie

Taiwanese (and Mandarin) have words that have Austroasiatic origins in the Bách Việt (Yuet) languages.

Original Word	MTL	English
sui	zuie	water
bai	bae	bad, ugly
bat	bad	in the past
	kazoah	cockroach
bi	biq	secretly escape/to hide
tsoa	zoaa	snake
	khiu	when rice noodles have a certain chewiness
	lym	to drink
lali	lalie	Taiwan anteater
sina	sihnax	lightning
u-tsao (Rukai) cho (Favorlang) sa/ u (Pazeh)	zabor	woman
"	zapof	man
di (Malay/Indonesian)	ti	at, in, on
lut, lut (Indonesian) luu (Hawaiian)	lud	to shed
tahun (Proto-Austronesian) taon (Tagalog)	tafng	year
diam, diamdiam (Malay/Indonesian)	tiam, tiaxmtiam	quiet
t, ukt, uk (Proto-Austronesian)	thuq	to perforate, to excavate

Some Taiwanese terms came from the Austronesian Formosan Aboriginal Languages.

Aboriginal Word	MTL	English
moa-sat-bak	moasatbak, satbaghii	woodfish, big milkfish (Chanos chanos)
bunglai, onrai	onglaai	pineapple
lapat, biabas, bayabas	nafpoat, padar	guava
igos	QrgiQo	Ficus pumila awkeotsang: A variety of fig found in Taiwan, Fujian, and Zhejiang
bokkoi	bogkoef	papaya
assey (no, useless)	asef	silly goose
rauwa (spider)	lawar, lut'ar	cheater, swindler

Here are some Taiwanese terms that come from or through English:

MTL	English
byntau	bean
horsuokorng	hose
khaqkhii	khaki (from urdu)
li'afkhaq	rear car, pull cart
haekngfar	hair-cut
sambunhii	salmon
melorng	melon
maflaflyar	malaria
bog	to hit, to box (sport)
loxlaebaq	screwdriver
cip, tib (sib)	to sip (sib means moist)
Malafsorng	marathon

The Dutch ruled Taiwan for about 30 years during the Ming dynasty until they were driven out by Koxinga in 1662.
Here are some Taiwanese terms that show Dutch influence:

Old Dutch	MTL	English
akkar	kah	the Dutch acre (acre is roughly an area that could be plowed in one day)
pacht	pak	to rent/to contract (to or for)
holt lant ("wood land")	HQlaan	Holland

Some Taiwan place names show Dutch influence:

Dutch Word	Modern English	Modern Taiwanese
Fort Zeelandia	Fort Anping, Tainan. a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch.	Anpeeng
Fort Provintia	Fort Provintia, Tainan. built in 1653 by the Dutch.	Chiahkhaxm-laau
	a place in Taipei, six long-plows of land (one long-plow is 5 Dutch acres)	Lagtviulee

The Japanese ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. Here are some Taiwanese terms that come from Japanese (some actually came from English through Japanese):

Japanese	rōmaji	MTL	English
パン	pan	pharng	bread
気持ち	kimochi	khimofciq	emotion, mood
あつさり	atsari	asaflix, asafliq	straightforward, clear-cut
注文	chuumon	zuobuun	to place an order
案内	annai	arnnai	to receive, to instruct
浅い	asai	axsae	there is no need; why should
衛生	eisei	oexsefng	health, sanitation
主義	shugi	zwgi	ideology, principle
芸	gei	kekkhoarn	affectation/artificial
お婆さん	obaasan	obafsarng	refers to older women
お爺さん	ojiisan	ojysarng	refers to older men
オートバイ	ōtobai	otofbae	motorcycle, autobike
トラック	torakku	tholakkhuq	truck

Many Taiwan Place Names (about 70-80% of them) have origins in the Formosan Aboriginal Languages. However, the Modern Chinese names were often borrowed as graphic loans from Japanese Kanji, which were phonetic loans of the Taiwanese Harnji, which were phonetic loans of the original Aboriginal names.

Aboriginal Word	MTL	Old Hanji	Modern Chinese	Modern Name
Tayuan, Tayoan	Taioaan	台員	臺灣, 台灣, 台湾	Taiwan
Makatao	Tvafkao	打狗	高雄	Kaohsiung
Rutung (monkey)	LQtofng	老懂	羅東	Luodong
Milong	Bilofng		美濃	Meinung
Bangca/Bangka (canoe)	Bafngkaq	艋舺	萬華	Wanhua
	Thokhox		土庫	Tuku Township
Lakuli	Lagkw		六龜	Liukuei
Goran	GQloanphvi		鵝鑾鼻	Eluanbi
Soara	Soalak		沙鹿	Shalu
Pongso No Tao	Lansu/Angtausu		蘭嶼	Orchid Island
Poasoa	Pvoarsvoax		彰化	Changhua
Rokau-an	Logkarng		鹿港	Lukang
Chiv-Chiv	Cibcip		集集	Chi-Chi
Ramtau	Lamtaau		南投	Nantou
Chakam	Chiahkhaxm		赤崁	Chi-kan
Tabani	Giogzvea		玉井	Yu-ching
Moatau	Moatau		麻豆	Madou
Tsurosan	ZulQsafn		諸羅山, 嘉義	Tirosen (Chiayi)
Taneaw, Dovoha	Tvafniaw	打貓	民雄	Minsyong Township
Bari (plain)	Biaulek	貓裡	苗栗	Miaoli
Truku	Thaelofkoq		太魯閣	Taroko
Mansu/Mansyu/Wanchu	Bafngsud	蚊蟀	滿州	Manchou Village
Pattsiran (spring)	Suxliim	八芝蘭	士林	Shilin
Toavokang	Toaxbagkaxng	大目降	新化	Sin-hua
Bakaloan	Bagkaliuoafn		善化鎮	Shanhua
Soulang	Siaulaang		蕭壟	Hsiao-long
Jarissang	Alysafn		阿里山	Alishan

The Spanish came in 1626, built Fort Santo Domingo on the northwest coast of Taiwan near Keelung, which they occupied until 1642 when they were driven out by a joint Dutch-Aborigine invasion force. Here are some Taiwanese terms that come from Spanish:

Modern Spanish	MTL	English
jabón	satbuun	soap
col	kQlezhaix	cabbage

Some Taiwanese Sayings
U Tngsvoaf Kofng, bQo Tngsvoaf Mar
Literally, "Have Tangshan forefathers, but not Tangshan foremothers."
Meaning: "We have mainland forefathers but no mainland foremothers."

Bagciw hoehoef, puar khvoarzQx zhaekoef. Bagciw buxbu, padar khvoarzQx liefnbu.
Eyes hazy, a bottle gourd looks like a vegetable sponge gourd. Eyes dim, a guava looks like a wax apple.

Cidjit pengafn, cidjit hog.
One day of safety, one day of fortune.

Svaf hun laang chid hun zngf.
Three parts nature, seven parts makeup.

Zhawmeh'ar lang koekafng.
Grasshopper teases a cock...making a provocation does one in.

Thvikofng thviax goxnglaang.
The almighty favors the helpless.

References

• Tai-gi si sim-mih?, a monologue by Dr. TIUNN (TiuN) "Babuza" Hok-chu in 臺灣字ABC : 臺語基礎教材
• 台 文/華文線頂辭典
• 羅 馬字是台灣母語的救星, by Babuza
• 地名解說集 錦