Hokkien was the Imperial Language of Ancient China
I got this in an e-mail forward and thought I should post it. I knew I was royalty! Why, if the Han Dynasty had survived, we'd *all* be speaking Hokkien, bwahahaha!

Forgive the long list of words. I considered taking them out but left them in because they were interesting. Who knew that our ancient ancestors had insurance?

Ancient Imperial Language of China - 2,000 Years Ago

What did it sound like? (*Mind you, it's no way similar to Mandarin*)
Has this ancient language survived?
Who speaks it today?

You'll be Surprised. You have heard it. You, your parents, or grandparents
may still be speaking this ancient, archaic language!

Yes, it's HOKKIEN (Fujian/Minnan Hua)

Hokkien is:

1. The surviving language of the *Tang dynasty*<http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Tang_dynasty>(618-907AD), China's Golden Age of Culture.
Note: *The Hokkien we hear today may have "evolved" from its original form 2,000 years ago, but it still retains the main elements of the Tang Dynasty Language.*

2. Hokkiens are the surviving descendants of the Tang Dynasty -- When the Tang Dynasty collapsed, the people of the Tang Dynasty fled South and sought refuge in the Hokkien ( Fujian ) province. Hence, Hokkien called themselves Tng-lang (*Tang Ren or People of the Tang Dynasty*) instead of Hua Lang (*Hua Ren*).

3. Hokkien has 8 tones instead of Mandarin's 4. Linguists claim that ancient languages tend to have more complex tones.

4. Hokkien retains the ancient Chinese pronunciation of "K-sounding " endings (for instance, Ha*k* Seng (student), Tua O*k* (university) , Tha*k* Che*k* (read a book/study) -- the "k" sounding ending is not found in Mandarin.

5. The collection of the famous "Three Hundred Tang Dynasty Poems" sound better when recited in Hokkien/Teochew if compared to Mandarin.

6. Consider this for a moment: Today, the Hokkien Nam Yim ochestral performance still has its roots in ancient Tang dynasty music. Here's the proof: The formation of today Nam Yim ensemble is typically seen in ancient Tang dynasty paintings of musicians.

More Astonishingly:

Although not genetically- related, Hokkiens, Koreans and Japanese share many similar words (which are different from Mandarin).

That's because Hokkien was the official language of the powerful Tang Dynasty whose influence and language spread to Japan and Korea (just like Latin - where many words were borrowed by the English, French, Italian, etc). Here are just a few words in Hokkien, Japanese & Korean for your comparison:


Hokkien Korean Japanese
Sin Boon (news) Sin Mun Shinbun - newspaper
Cheng Hu (government) Chong Bu

Pang (room) Pang

Chhia (car/vehicle) Ch'a

Mui/M'ng (door) Mun

P'hio (ticket) P'yo

Eng Wan (eternal) Yong Won

Chaek (book) Ch'ae

Ki (flag) Ki Ki

Kang (river) Gang/kang

Poh Hiam (insurance) Poh Ham

Sio Sim (caution) Cho sim

Mo Kui (demon) Ma gui

Cham (attend/join/ mix) Ch'am sok

Kantan (simple) Gan Dan

Sin Sei Kai (new world) Shin Sae Gae

Kok Ka (nation) Kuk Kka

Hya (elder brother) Hyaeng

Choon Pi (prepare) Jun Bi

Si Kan (time) Si Kan

Kam tong (emotion, feeling) Kam Jong Kanjoo

Kamsia (gratitude, thanks) Kam Sa Kansha

Keat Hoon (marriage) Kyol Hon Kekkon

Oon Tong (exercise) Un Dong Undoo

Tua Ok (university) Tae Hak Daigaku

Aun Chuan (safety) An Jon An Zen

Mua Chiok(satisfaction) Man Jok Manzoku

Ai Lang (lover) Ae In Aijin

Seng Kong (success) Song Kong Seikoo

Chhiu Sat (suicide) Cha sal Jisatsu

Pu Do (grapes) P'o d'o Budoo

Chin Por (progress) Chin bo Shinpo

To all 49 Million Hokkien Speakers:

Be Proud of Your Ancient Hokkien Heritage & Language! Speak it Loud and Clear. Teach Your Future Generation this Imperial Language, Less it Fades Away. * Be Proud Children of the Tang Emperors.*

To all Mandarin-speaking friends out there -- do not look down on your other Chinese friends who do not speak Mandarin - whom you guys fondly refer to as "Bananas". In fact, they are speaking a language which is much more ancient & linguistically complicated than Mandarin.

Keep in mind that Mandarin is just:

1. A Northern Chinese dialect (heavily influenced by non Han Chinese) that was elevated to the status of National Language by Sun Yat Sen for the sake of China's national unity.

2. Mandarin was never spoken by your proud, imperial Tang Dynasty ancestors. It was probably spoken by the Northern (Non-Han) Jurchen, Mongols and Manchu minority. *Start speaking the language of your ancestors today.*

hokkie language = poor people language

who cares about that shitty language

super white u la

what does it sound like?

I m proud of being Hokkien and I speak everyday....

fukkien u!

hakka is superiour

ts bo tak chek

Goodness gracious!

hahaha..... hokkien is abit rude if compare to other dialect....
but i still speak them whenever i was in Pg.......

go invent a time machine & go bck to ancient china......

i tot it was the language of the peasant

hakka is kiam siap

nope... my time is very precise. give me summary pls. ain't going to read that~ tl;dr

since young i had been taught hokken are spoken by peasant

meh hai?!

so others are cina celup? hokkien is the ori cina?
told u guise mandarin is manchus...

haih no wonder la, now i know why the great china can fall because of those hokkien felers = ="

This post has been edited by ELM0: Aug 16 2010, 04:50 PM

cincia ban tuu

vivienne85 ... leng lui

Hokkien is a dialect group of the Chinese in Malaysia. They are the largest Chinese dialect groups as well as the earliest group to settle in the country.

hokkien = loud mouth n talk big/kok..

lim peh kali kong.....

tua sieh kong, tua sieh chiew-oh......

we r chainis dun argue.. wan fight go fight others..

is lim pek kalu kong....

taukeh ... tifa anchua?

tifa is our tai kah jie..

Wa ka lu kong, mai jui jui ui kong.

its same
lu = seaside dialect
li = mountain dialect

Already 8 months old. She doing well. Being playful with her toys and she just got a wooden horse. She had fever last week but already recovered. All is well.

Eh, lu uu eng lu jip HOkkien thread lah. Aneh kuu liao pun boh lai.

wa leave wa eh desk this morning ... 4pm baru balik ... boh eng lah ...

tifa goh cheong-ing wor ...

u know her? who r u? who is she?

na si wa wu jit ba ban.. jit ba ban~~~~

tifa fight for our hokkien lang..

ki cheong bo jio?

you tiok lah

i thought after i leave, nobody use tat name liao ...

lu wu jip hokkien sua ... mm zhai ee si di jui meh ...

Nie lau hiah, limpeh ai kong tua tua sia si limpeh eh tai chi. limpeh ai kong jiao uah si limpeh eh tai chi. limpeh ai kong hamik lan pun si limpeh eh tai chi. lu boh sukak lu ki che diao diam diam di lu eh PC jor keyboard warrior. na si koh si boh song lu chut ki lah. KNNCCB!

wa si xin lang lai, ha mi pun mm chai... sorry

keong kan la lu wat time precise precise my watch also very precise ok

lurk moar ...

date joined: jan 2003 ... o wai ... lu si oldddddddddddddfag

LOL.

Suddenly all speak hokkien.

As far as I know hokkein love their "special" words.
(read the previous posts carefully)

Hokkien is the ultimate CCNNN

hokkien is bestest to use for skolding ppl

diff state kua.... like one post mention...
lu is for seaside.. hehee

Bukan Kantonis Ka ?


Tang Dynasty Official Language

limpeh sappork lu.

keong kan la lu si beh yau yeng

lol joey! Nice one haha.

Hokkien sounds ancient, but I think Hakka is equally old.

hokkien mee vs hakka mee... which one older?

see this is what happens when hokkien meets hokkien.... haha

edit: juhu ... lu mm si ngam ngam ngor tiam jao meh ...

This post has been edited by spursfan: Aug 16 2010, 05:28 PM

+1


Seriously, Hokkien may have inherited many of the pronunciation from the Han dynasty, but so have the other dialect groups. Cantonese and Hakka have more than 4 tones (7 and 6, respectively) and both share many similar pronunciation with Korean and Japanese. I'm quite sure that none of the dialects is exactly the same as the ancient language spoken in China during the Han dynasty, although it's impossible to prove either way. Even the language spoken during the Tang dynasty is not similar to the language spoken by any dialect groups now.

wait, the hokkien used in Tang dynasty was it the hokkien we now use in Southern or Northern, yes guise they're two version, and both cant communicate with each other..

now got lim kopi, jiak roti ... ku jar mana wu eh ... of coz different lar ...

now got lim kopi, jiak roti

that is malaysianize.. hehehhee
ki jamban.....

boh lah. standard see jeng si lak tiam. mahai...koh uu yee chap hun kah pang kang. keong kang lo. ai tan kah lak tiam kah eh sai pang kang. sipek sienzzz

kou uu jee cham hun cheng nia ma....

wa ai pak zhap leh lang!!

walau...lu kang limpeh eh lau bu?

hahahaha........
this is what happen when we cant type the actual pronunciation in words...

oi! that one for IpMan say one lah

hehehe.... the first student...
ask him, if ten person bring weapon and attack u..
can u fight them off???

IpMan: no, i will run....

That one ish IpMan 2. IpMan 1 say he wanna tapau 10 nasi lemak nia.

i only know cheebai, cipet, kahninahchaocheebai u TS...

they use tunaseng and kanasai in the palace?

ji leh lang ai kena lipot liao ...

juhu eh tui chu liao ...

Hokkien si beh ho liao.

Bo cina ah beng yong hokkien eh.

abor?

interesting

how does a concubine seduce the emporor using hokkien?
how to make it seductive?

concubine sit in /k/itchinz ... empelol decide which 1 to bonk ...

Ah yak zi men kong, hokkien is da best

here got honey mah, sure bunch of ants attracted...

I love Cantonese and I don't hate hokkien.

Can you tell me the name of the girls? Mtv World Stage 2010 Live in Malaysia

Concubine:Lu ai ka wa kan boh?

Emperor: Jik leh lu pun ai mui meh?!