Chinese language romanisation in Singapore

Chinese language romanisation in Singapore
Chinese romanization
Mandarin
for Standard Chinese
    Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)
    EFEO
    Gwoyeu Romatzyh
        Spelling conventions
    Latinxua Sin Wenz
    Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II
    Chinese Postal Map Romanization
    Tongyong Pinyin
    Wade–Giles
    Yale
    Legge romanization
    Simplified Wade
    Comparison chart
for Sichuanese Mandarin
    Sichuanese Pinyin
    Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz
Yue
for Cantonese
    Guangdong Romanization
    Hong Kong Government
    Jyutping
    Meyer-Wempe
    Sidney Lau
    S. L. Wong (phonetic symbols)
    S. L. Wong (romanisation)
    Cantonese Pinyin
    Standard Romanization
    Yale
    Barnett–Chao
Wu
for Shanghai and Suzhou dialects
    Long-short
for Wenzhounese

    Wenzhounese romanisation

Min Nan
for Taiwanese, Amoy, and related
    Pe̍h-ōe-jī
    Bbínpīn Hōngàn
    Daighi tongiong pingim
    Modern Literal Taiwanese
    Phofsit Daibuun
    Tâi-lô
    TLPA
for Hainanese
    Hainanhua Pinyin Fang'an
for Teochew
    Peng'im
Min Dong
for Fuzhou dialect
    Foochow Romanized
Hakka
for Moiyan dialect
    Kejiahua Pinyin Fang'an
For Siyen dialect
    Pha̍k-fa-sṳ
    TLPA
Gan
for Nanchang dialect
    Pha̍k-oa-chhi
See also:
   General Chinese
   Cyrillization
   Xiao'erjing
   'Phags-pa script
   Bopomofo
   Taiwanese kana
   Romanisation in Singapore
   Romanisation in the ROC
This box: view · talk · edit

The romanisation of the Chinese language in Singapore is not dictated by a single policy, nor is its policy implementation consistent, as the local Chinese community is composed of a myriad of dialect groups. Although Hanyu Pinyin is adopted as the preferred romanisation system for Mandarin, the general lack of a romanisation standard for other Chinese spoken variants and their dialects results in some level of inconsistency. This may be illustrated by the many variants for the same Chinese characters often found in surnames such as Low, Loh, Lo; Tay, Teh; Teo, Teoh; Yong, Yeong.

The surname 郑/鄭 alone has several variations including Teh, Tay, Tee, Chang, Chung, Cheng, Zeng, Zheng. The variations Teh or Tee normally have roots in Malaysia, Tay or Tee coming from Singapore, Chang, Chung or Cheng from Hong Kong, and Zeng or Zheng normally from China.

Place names

Since the founding of modern Singapore in 1819 and with large numbers of migrants predominantly from Southern China, Chinese placenames began to enter local vocabulary in place of traditionally Malay-based names mostly given by the Orang Laut communities. These names, however, are usually referred to in the dialects of whichever group accords that place a certain name, with some places having entirely different names for the same feature. In most places, however, the same name is used, but referred to by an individual's dialect.

When there was a need to record place names by the British administration, therefore, Chinese place names were anglicised using an almost ad-hoc means of finding the closest set of letters reflecting local pronunciations of these names, a situation which often spawned conflicting spellings, some of which still persist to this day. The older spelling of Chua Chu Kang (蔡厝港; Pinyin: Càicuògǎng; POJ: Chhoà-chhù-káng), a suburban area in western Singapore and taken after a village by the same name, is now more commonly spelt as Choa Chu Kang after the new town by the same name took its spelling from Choa Chu Kang Road, itself an anomaly as the village and the surrounding cemeteries were then spelt in the old way. Today, the village no longer exists, but the cemeteries continue to be referred to as Chua Chu Kang, while all placenames in Choa Chu Kang New Town take on the newer spelling.

From the mid-1980s, the drive to encourage the use of Pinyin filtered down to place names, resulting in some amendments. Aukang (also spelt "Aokang") is Teochew for 后港, but was romanised as Hougang when the Hougang New Town was built. Some changes met with popular opposition, particularly over the English spelling of Yishun (义顺), which has been well known as Nee Soon in Hokkien (Min Nan) until the government tried to introduce pinyin when Yishun New Town appeared. The disagreements led to "Nee Soon" retaining its presence in Nee Soon Road, as well as some place names such as Nee Soon Camp and in the names of political subdivisions.

In contrast, pinyin was generally welcomed in Bishan (碧山), named after what was popularly known as "Peck San" in Cantonese. The popularity was not over the pinyin system itself, but over the fact that Peck San was well known for its association with the Peng San Cemetery, which has since been exhumed to build Bishan New Town. To the local Chinese, Bishan, although actually similar in name to Peck San in Chinese, is as good as a different name by virtue of its different romanisation spelling alone.

Another controversy surrounded the re-naming of Tekka Market (derived from Hokkien Tek Kia Kha (POJ: Tek-á-kha), literally meaning "foot of the small bamboos" [1]), then one of the largest wet markets in Singapore located at the junction of Serangoon and Bukit Timah Road. When the old market was torn down and rebuilt across the road, the new multi-use complex was named Zhujiao Centre, which is the pinyin version of that name. However, to locals, especially non-Chinese, the new word was both hard to read and pronounce and bore no resemblance to Tekka. Eventually, the complex was officially named Tekka Centre in 2000 after 2 decades of public pressure.

Person's names

A large majority of Chinese people in Singapore are Hokkien (Min Nan speakers), and a lesser number Teochew. Hokkien and Teochew share many phonemes to the point that they are mutually intelligible. Thus the romanisations are similar and surnames such as Tan (陈), Chua (蔡), Koh (许), etc., are very common.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chinese language — Unless otherwise specified, Chinese texts in this article are written in (Simplified Chinese/Traditional Chinese; Pinyin) format. In cases where Simplified and Traditional Chinese scripts are identical, the Chinese term is written once. Chinese… …   Wikipedia

  • Chinese Singaporean — 新加坡华人 新加坡華人 …   Wikipedia

  • Chinese surname — Chinese family names have been historically used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames, family names (Chinese: 姓;… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Singapore-related topics — This is a list of topics related to Singapore. For a similar list in alphabetical order, see list of Singapore related topics by alphabetical order. Those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Singapore-related topics by alphabetical order — This is a list of Singapore related topics by alphabetical order. For a list by topic, see list of Singapore related topics. Those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar. A list of …   Wikipedia

  • Chinese Postal Map Romanization — Chinese romanization Mandarin for Standard Chinese     Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)     EFEO     Gwoyeu Romatzyh         Spelling conventions     Latinxua Sin Wenz     Mandarin… …   Wikipedia

  • Hakka Chinese — Chinese title=Hakka s=客家话 t=客家話 h=Hak kâ fa or Hak kâ va gan= Khak ka ua p=Kèjiāhuà j=haak3 gaa1 waa2 y=haak gā wá poj=Kheh oē (客話)Infobox Language name=Hakka nativename=客家話 / 客家话 familycolor=Sino Tibetan states=People s Republic of China,… …   Wikipedia

  • Cyrillization of Chinese — Chinese romanization Mandarin for Standard Chinese     Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)     EFEO     Gwoyeu Romatzyh         Spelling conventions     Latinxua Sin Wenz     Mandarin… …   Wikipedia

  • Comparison of Chinese romanization systems — Chinese romanization Mandarin for Standard Chinese     Hanyu Pinyin (ISO standard)     EFEO     Gwoyeu Romatzyh         Spelling conventions     Latinxua Sin Wenz     Mandarin… …   Wikipedia

  • Romanization of Mandarin Chinese — National language (國語; Guóyǔ) written in Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters, followed by Hanyu Pinyin, Gwoyeu Romatzyh, Tongyong Pinyin and Wade Giles romanizations. Chinese romanization Mandarin for Stand …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”