〈Chinese Names of Streets in Penang〉內底ê語言現象kap文化語詞

The Language Phenomenon and Cultural Words in “Chinese Names of Streets in Penang”

〈Chinese Names of Streets in Penang〉是Lo Man Yuk 於1900年在《Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Societ》發表的資料，重點在於記錄檳城的路名。檳城的主要使用語言是福建話，但除了漢字，也會使用「白話字」標記百年前檳城福建話的讀音。從這份資料能看到一些語言現象，如不僅有漳州腔、廈門腔的特色，也有「角美腔」。當時的福建話面對馬來話，也有製造新詞的能力。吸收外來語詞的策略是「譯音法」與「音兼意譯法」。如「Ara Kuda」直接吸收「亞刺古打」為A-lah ku-ta，這是「譯音法」。「Carnarvon Lane」對應為「Kampong inside」，「Kampong」是馬來話「庄頭」的意思，福建話寫為「鑑光內」Kam-kong lāi，是將Kampong照音翻譯後，才加上福建話表示在內部的「lāi」以形成新詞。這是「音兼意譯法」。路名的命名與生活經驗、族群有關係。「人」是文化的創作者，於此要討論的文化語詞，以「人」為中心，分成「職業」、「族群、方言群」、「公司、組織」、「宗教」及「人名」這五種類型。舉例來說，如「打石街」Phah chi_h ke、「潮洲街」Tio-chiu ke、「姓陳公司」Siⁿ Tan kong-si、「觀音亭前」Koan im teng cheng、「亞貴街」A kui ke這些文化詞彙。本文要從〈Chinese Names of Streets in Penang〉這份資料了解19世紀檳城福建話的語言現象及文化語詞。這些語言、文化語詞能讓我們對檳城華人的生活有更多的了解。

This essay utilizes data from a report “Chinese Names of Streets in Penang” recording the street names of Penang delivered by Lo Man Yuk in 1900 in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The main language used in Penang is Hokkien. Besides Chinese characters, people also used “POJ” to label the pronunciation of Hokkien from a hundred years ago. From this report, we can observe some language phenomenon. For example, not only do we encounter the unique characteristics of the Zhangzhou dialect and Amoy dialect, but the “Jiaomei dialect” is also present. At the time when Hokkien came into contact with Malay, it had the ability to create new phrases. The two ways to integrate foreign phrases were “transliteration” and “semantic transliteration.” The naming of street names is related to one’s life experiences and ethnic groups. “People” are the creators of culture. The cultural words discussed here revolve around “people” at its core and can be divided into the following categories: work, ethnic groups, companies & organizations, religion and names. This essay mainly strives to understand the 19th century Penang Hokkien language phenomenon and cultural words from the report “Chinese Names of Streets in Penang.”