International Women’s Day

We wish everybody a meaningful International Women’s Day!

In Teochew:

  • hu6neng2 zoih4 • 婦女節 • Women’s Day
  • hu6neng2 • 婦女 • woman, female (formal)
  • ze1nio5 • 諸娘 • woman, female (vernacular, especially on mainland China)
  • za1bhou2 • 查某 • woman, female (vernacular, especially diaspora Teochew)
  • zao2gian2 • 走囝 • girl (child) (zao2 is a contraction of za1bhou2)

(On the etymology of za1bhou2 and ze1nio5 see Tu Chia-lun (2018))

Cognates of ze1nio5 and za1bhou2 are used in the various Min languages. Unfortunately, za1bhou2 has taken on a negative connotation in Teochew spoken on mainland China, although not in most diaspora Teochew communities.

We also want to highlight some important works on Teochew language that have been written by women:

  • Xu Huiling 许惠玲 (2007) Aspect of Chaozhou Grammar : A synchronic description of the Jieyang variety. J. Chinese Linguistics Monograph Series No. 22. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/23826160)
  • Xu Yuhang 徐宇航 (2018) 《潮州方言一百多年來的音韻演變》(A century of phonological change in the Teochew topolect) 北京:商務印書館

Posted on 2021-03-08 00:00:00 +0000


Original content copyright (c) 2019-2021 Brandon Seah, except where otherwise indicated