3.4: Rimes & Accents

Table of Hokkien and Teochew Finals

IPA	Pengim	-p	-t	-k	-m	-n	-ng	-’	-~	-~’
/a/	-a	-ap	-at	-ak	-am	-an	-ang	-a’	-a~	-a~’
/ai/	-ai							-ai’	-ai~	-ai~’
/au/	-ao							-ao’	-ao~
/ɛ/	-e			-ek (medial e)			-eng (medial e)	-e’	-e~
/e/	-ei							-ei’	ei~
/ə/	-er
/əe/	-ere							-ere’
/i/	-i	-ip	-it	-ik	-im	-in	-ing	-i’	-i~
/ia/	-ia	-iap	-iat	-iak	-iam	-ian	-iang	-ia’	-ia~	-ia~’
/iau/	-iao							-iao’
/iɛ/	-ie		-iet	-iek		-ien	-ieng	-ie’	-ie~
/iə/		-iep			-iem
/iəu/	-ieu							-ieu’	-ieu~
/io/	-io			-iok (medial o)			-iong (medial o)	-io’
/iɔ/	-ior							-ior’	-ior~
/iou/	-iou
/iu/	-iu							-iu’	-iu~
/ɨ/, /ɯ/	-ir							-ir’
/o/	-o			-ok (medial o)			-ong (medial o)	-o’
/ɔ/	-or							-or'	-or~
/ou/	-ou								ou~
/oe/, /ɔe/	-oe							-oei’
/ɔi/	-oi							-oi’	-oi~
/u/	-u		-ut	-uk		-un	-ung	-u'
/ua/	-ua	-uap	-uat	-uak	-uam	-uan	-uang	-ua’	-ua~
/uai/	-uai								-uai~
/uɛ/	-ue			-uek			-ueng	-ue’	-ue~
/ue/	-uei							-uei’
/ui/	-ui								-ui~
/əŋ/, /ɨŋ/, /ɯŋ/, /ŋ/	-ng							-ng'
/m/	-m							-m'

The table above shows all the possible finals in all Hokkien and Teochew accents in Singlor Pengim. 

Rime Groups and Accents

Chinese characters can be organised into different groups by their pronunciations, with the final of the syllable being used to differentiate the different groups.

This is when the final is more commonly refered to as rime. Such groups are thus referred to as rime groups. Characters with the same rimes will constiute a rime group. 

Within one accent, the pronunciation of rimes in the same rime group will be consistent. 

However, between different accents, the pronunciation of rimes in the same rime group may vary.

Accents in Singapore

Since Hokkiens and Teochews in Singapore can trace their ancestry to many different parts of the Hokkien and Teochew speaking area, their ancestors would have brought various accents along with them. Thus, Hokkien and Teochew spoken in Singapore vary somewhat from speaker to speaker. 

In Singapore, a general Hokkien accent has developed, and is spoken by the vast majority of Singaporean Hokkien speakers, regardless of dialect group. It is a mixture of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien accents, with an inclination towards the former. It has seemed to have taken some influence from Teochew in its development.

In Singapore, a general Teochew accent has also somewhat developed, and is spoken by the vast majority of Singaporean Teochew speakers, regardless of dialect group. It is a mixture based on the Jieyang and Chenghai Teochew accents, and lately has taken some influence from Hokkien.

Singaporeans may not speak with the most consistent accents when it comes to rime due to the mixing and contact between different speakers. Thus, it is good to be aware of the variations in rime to better understand different speakers from different language backgrounds.

Variations in Rimes and Accents

I will be going through not all, but some of the most common rime variations encountered in Singapore. I will include my mother's and father's accents together in the examples. The rime groups will be named according to a random character in the group.

Honestly, rimes are very, very confusing, and I feel that it is not incredibly crucial in learning. I am just providing this info to help learners gain awareness of some of their own accents, and the different accents heard in Singapore. 

Please note that there always exceptions to the rime correspondences!

Here are some of the main accents heard in Singapore:

1️⃣ 泉州腔 Quanzhou Hokkien Accent
    - Singaporean Hokkien mainly inclines towards this accent.

2️⃣ 漳州腔 Zhangzhou Hokkien Accent
    - Singaporean Hokkien also takes influence from this accent. Speakers from Penang tend to speak with this accent.

3️⃣ 厦门腔 Amoy Hokkien Accent
    - Most institutions teaching Hokkien use this accent as their standard. It is a mixture of the Quanzhou and Zhangzhou accents. The general Taiwanese accent is also similar to this accent.

4️⃣ 揭阳腔 Jieyang Teochew Accent
    - Singaporean Teochew is heavily influenced by this dialect, together with the Chenghai accent.

5️⃣ 澄海腔 Chenghai Teochew Accent
    - Singaporean Teochew is heavily influenced by this dialect, together with the Jieyang accent.

Teochew Sound Changes

It is worth noting that most Teochew speakers have lost the -t and -n end consonants, replacing them with with -k and -ng respectively. Hokkien mainly retains these end consonants. It is thus safe to assume that most syllables ending in -t anf -n in Hokkien will end in -k and -ng in Teochew.

The Chenghai Accent has a tendency to replace -p and -m with -k and -ng.

The Jieyang Accent has a tendency to turn some medial -i- into -e-.

English	Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Jieyang Teochew	Chenghai Teochew	Other Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
truth	实 sit	实 sit	实 sek	实 sik	实 sik	实 sek
sleep	眠 bhin	眠 mng	眠 meng	眠 ming	眠 ming	眠 meng
one	一 it	一 it	一 ek	一 ik	一 ik	一 ek
one	蜀 zit	蜀 zit	蜀 zek	蜀 zik	蜀 zik	蜀 zek
real; very	真 zin	真 zing	真 zeng	真 zing	真 zing	真 zing
gold	金 gim	金 gim	金 gim	金 ging	金 gim	金 gim
enter	入 dzip/lip/jip	入 ji’	入 dzip	入 dzik	入 dzip	入 dzik
now	今 gim	今 gim	今 gim	今 ging	今 gim	今 geng

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Teochew
actually	其实	其实 ki-s?
bed	眠床	眠床 m?-cng
eleven	十一	十一 za?-?
one person	一个人	蜀个侬 z? gai nang
really	真的	真实 z?-s?
gold	金	金 ki?
enter	进去	入去 dz?-kir
today	今天	今日 g?-dz?

日 Initial

This is not a variation in rime, but rather a varitation in the initial consonant. 

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce these words with a l-  or dh- initial, whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce these words with a dz- or j- initial. 

In Teochew, these words are all pronounced with a dz- initial.

This mostly corresponds with Mandarin's r- initial.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
day	日 lit, dhit	日 dzit, jit	日 dzit	日dzik, dzek	日dzek
enter	入 lip, dhip	入 dzip, jip	入 jip	入 dzip, dzik	入 dzik
hot	热 lua’, dhua'	热 dzua’, jua’	热 dzua’	热 dzua’	热 dzua’
two	二 li, dhi	二 dzi, ji	二 dzi	二 dzi	二 dzi
how…	偌 lua, dhua	偌 dzua, jua	偌 lua	偌 dzior’, dzie’	偌 dzior’

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
sun	太阳	日头 ?it-tao	日头 ?ik-tao
enter	进去	入去 ?ip-kir	入去 ?ip-kir
hot	热	热 ?ua’	热 ?ua’
twenty	二十	二十 ?i-zap	二十 ?i-zap
how much	多少	偌㩼 ?ua-zuei	偌㩼 ?ior’-zoi

乌 Rime

Hokkien speakers will pronounce this rime as -or, and Teochew speakers will pronounce this rime as -ou. 

Note that -or is also used in Teochew, but corresponds with Hokkien -o instead.

English	Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
black	乌 or	乌 or	乌 ou	乌 ou
wife	𡚸 bhor	𡚸 bhor	𡚸 bhou	𡚸 bhou
five	五 ghor	五 ghor	五 ngou	五 ngou
road	路 lor	路 lor	路 lou	路 lou
dollar	箍 kor	箍 kor	箍 kou	箍 kou

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
black	黑色	乌色 ?-sek	乌色 ?-sek
wife	老婆	𡚸 bh?	𡚸 bh?
five	五	五 gh?	五 gh?
walk	走路	行路 gia~-l?	行路 gia~-l?
3 dollars	三块	三箍 sa~-k?	三箍 sa~-k?

马 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ei, whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -e. I am of the impression that -ei is more common in Singapore.

Teochew speakers tend to pronounce this rime as -e.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
horse	马 bhei	马 bhe	马 bhei	马 bhe	马 bhe
add	加 gei	加 ge	加 gei	加 ge	加 ge
prawn	虾 hei	虾 he	虾 hei	虾 he	虾 he
teeth	牙 ghei	牙 ghe	牙 ghei	牙 ghe	牙 ghe
white	白 bei’	白 be’	白 bei’	白 be’	白 be’

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
horse	马	马 bh?	马 bh?
add rice	加饭	加饭 g? bng	加饭 g? bung
prawn	虾	虾 h?	虾 h?
toothless	没有牙齿	无牙 bho-gh?	无牙 bho-gh?
white	白色	白色 b?’-sek	白色 b?’-sek

未 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ei or -er whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -uei. I am of the impression that -uei is more common in Singapore.

Teochew speakers tend to pronounce this rime as -ue.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
yet	未 bhei, bher	未 bhuei	未 bhei	未 bhue	未 bhue
find	揣 cei, cer	揣 cuei	揣 cuei	揣 cue	揣 cue
cross	过 gei, ger	过 guei	过 guei	过 gue	过 gue
porridge	糜 bhei, bher	糜 bhuei/muei	糜 mue	糜 mue	糜 mue
sock	袜 bhei’, bher’	袜 bhuei’	袜 ghuei’	袜 bhue’, ghue’	袜 ghue’

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
eaten yet?	吃饱没?	食饱未 zia’ ba bh?	食饱未 zia’ ba bh?
find something	找东西	揣物件 c? mi’-gia~	揣物件 c? mue’-gia~
cross	过去	过去 g?-kir	过去 g?-kir
porridge	粥	糜 bh?, m?	糜 m?
sock	袜子	袜 bh?	袜 bh?, gh?

细 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -uei or -ere (er+ei) whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ei. I am of the impression that -uei is more common in Singapore.

Teochew speakers tend to pronounce this rime as -oi, or sometimes -oei, influenced by Hokkien.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
small	细 suei, sere	细 sei	细 suei	细 soi	细 soi
letter	批 puei, pere	批 pei	批 puei	批 poi	批 poi
eight	八 buei’	八 bei’	八 buei’	八 boi’	八 boei’
will not	𠀾 bhuei	𠀾 bhei	𠀾 bhei	𠀾 bhoi	𠀾 bhoi, bhoei
shoe	鞋 uei, ere	鞋 ei	鞋 wei	鞋 oi	鞋 oi

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
small	小	细 s?	细 s?
write a letter	写信	写批 sia-p?	写批 sia-p?
eight	八	八 b?’	八 b?’
will not come	不会来	𠀾来 bh? lai	𠀾来 bh? lai
shoe	鞋子	鞋 ?	鞋 ?

前 Rime

In Singapore Hokkien, the -ing rime from Zhangzhou and Xiamen Hokkien experienced a vowel shift, becoming -eng.

In Singapore, -eng is most common among Hokkiens, and -oi~ is most common among Teochews. I have yet to come across Hokkien speakers in Singapore who say -ui~ and -ai~ in Hokkien...

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Tong’an Hokkien	Zhangzhou, Xiamen Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Chaoyang, Jieyang Teochew	Other Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
front	前 zui~	前 zai~	前 zing	前 zeng	前 zai~	前 zoi~	前 zoi~
thousand	千 cui~	千 cai~	千 cing	千 ceng	千 cai~	千 coi~	千 coi~
return	还 hui~	还 hai~	还 hing	还 heng	还 hai~	还 hoi~	还 hai~
room	间 gui~	间 gai~	间 ging	间 geng	间 gai~	间 goi~	间 goi~, geng
free	闲 ui~	闲 ai~	闲 ing	闲 eng	闲 ai~	闲 oi~	闲 oi~

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
in front	前面	头前 tao-z?	头前 tao-z?
one thousand	一千	蜀千 zit-c?	蜀千 zek-c?
pay money	还钱	还镭 h?-lui	还镭 h?-lui
big house	大间屋子	大间厝 dua-g?-cu	大间厝 dua-g?-cu
not busy	有空	有闲 u-?	有闲 u-?

青 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -i~ whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -e~. 

Teochew speakers tend to pronounce this rime as -e~.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
green	青 ci~	青 ce~	青 ci~	青 ce~	青 ce~
give birth; raw	生 si~, ci~	生 se~, ce~	生 se~, ce~	生 se~, ce~	生 se~, ce~
sickness	病 bi~	病 be~	病 be~	病 be~	病 be~
star	星 ci~	星 ce~	星 ce~	星 ce~	星 ce~
squeeze	捏 di~	捏 de~	捏 de~	捏 de~	捏 de~

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
green	青色	青色 c?-sek	青色 c?-sek
give birth	生孩子	生囝 s?-gia~	生囝 s?-gia~
fall sick	生病	破病 pua-b?	破病 pua-b?
star	星星	星 c?	星 c?
squeeze	挤	捏 d?	捏 d?

羊 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -iu~ whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ior~. 

Teochew speakers with ancestry from the Chaozhou City area, or Chenghai tend to prounounce this rime as -ie~, whereas speakers with ancestry from other Teochew-speaking places tend to pronounce this rime as -ior~.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Chaozhou, Chenghai Teochew	Other Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
sheep	羊 iu~	羊 ior~	羊 yor~	羊 ie~	羊 ior~	羊 yor~
think	想 siu~	想 sior~	想 sior~	想 sie~	想 sior~	想 sior~
snatch	抢 ciu~	抢 cior~	抢 cior~	抢 cie~	抢 cior~	抢 cior~
elephant	象 ciu~	象 cior~	象 cior~	象 cie~	象 cior~	象 cior~
sheet	张 diu~	张 dior~	张 diu~	张 die~	张 dior~	张 dior~

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
sheep	羊	羊 ?	羊 ?
think	想	想 s?	想 s?
rob	打抢	拍抢 pa’-c?	拍抢 pa’-c?
elephant	大象	象 c?	象 c?
one sheet of paper	一张纸	蜀张纸 zit-d?-zua	蜀张纸 zek-d?-zua

了 Rime

Hokkien speakers tend to pronounce this rime as -iao (i+a+u).

Teochew speakers with ancestry from the Chaozhou City area tend to pronounce this rime as -ieu (i+er+u). Speakers with ancestry from Chenghai tend to prounounce this rime as -iou (i+o+u), whereas speakers with ancestry from other Teochew-speaking places tend to pronounce this rime as -iao. I feel that -iao and -iou are equally prevalent in Singapore.

English	Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Chenghai Teochew	Chaozhou Teochew	Other Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
already	了 liao	了 liao	了 liou	了 lieu	了 liao	了 liou
hungry	枵 iao	枵 yao	枵 iou	枵 ieu	枵 iao	枵 you
crazy	痟 siao	痟 siao	痟 siou	痟 sieu	痟 siao	痟 siou
bird	鸟 ziao	鸟 ziao	鸟 ziou	鸟 zieu	鸟 ziao	鸟 ziou
cat	猫 niao	猫 niao	猫 ngiou	猫 ngieu	猫 ngiao	猫 ngiou

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
waste money	浪费钱	了镭 l?-lui	了镭 l?-lui
hungry ghost	饿鬼	枵鬼 ?-gui	枵鬼 ?-gui
crazy	疯	痟 s?	痟 s?
bird	鸟	鸟 z?	鸟 z?
cat	猫	猫 n?	猫 ng?

饭 Rime

Hokkien speakers with ancestry from Quanzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ng (ng, er+ng, ir+ng) whereas speakers with ancestry from Zhangzhou tend to pronounce this rime as -ui~ or -ui. 

Teochew speakers with ancestry from the Chaozhou City area and Shantou tend to pronounce certain words in this rime as -ung, and the rest as -ng. Speakers with ancestry from other Teochew-speaking places tend to just pronounce this rime as -ng. The -ung rime is used in these 3 common words: 饭 bung, 问 mung, and 门 mung.

English	Quanzhou Hokkien	Zhangzhou Hokkien	Mom’s Hokkien	Chaozhou, Shantou Teochew	Other Teochew	Dad’s Teochew
rice	饭 bng	饭 bui~	饭 bng	饭 bung	饭 bng	饭 bung
return	转 dng	转 dui~	转 dng	转 dng	转 dng	转 dng
ask	问 mng	问 mui	问 mng	问 mung	问 mng	问 mung
egg	卵 nng	卵nui	卵 nng	卵 nng	卵 nng	卵 nng
yellow	黄 ng	黄ui~	黄 ng	黄 ng	黄 ng	黄 ng

Ask your parents/relatives how they say:

English	Mandarin	Hokkien	Teochew
eat rice	吃饭	食饭 zia’-b?	食饭 zia’-b?
go home	回家	转厝 d?-cu	转内 d?-lai
may I ask	请问	请问 cia~-m?	请问 cia~-m?
chicken egg	鸡蛋	鸡卵 guei-n?	鸡卵 goi-n?
yellow	黄色	黄色 ?-sek	黄色 ?-sek

This is a rather elementary or oversimplified overview on the different rimes and accents of Hokkien and Teochew. 

Although I feel that a simple understanding of rime and accent is important to attain a deeper level of understanding in Hokkien and Teochew due to Singapore's fairly varied speaker base, one can still definitely learn the language without rime knowledge. 

If you can, just listen to how your parents or relatives prounounce words, and replicate them, this is how you will naturally pick up their accent and speak like them. There is no need to change your accent, as it is a unique product of your family history and culture! By asking your parents how they pronounce these words and you may be able to uncover hints about your ancestry through their accents too!

~桂壱 🤓