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Pontianak Teochew (Chinese: 坤甸潮州話; Peng'im: kung¹ diêng⁶ dio⁵ ziu¹ uê; Pe̍h-ūe-jī: Khun-tiān Tiô-tsiu-uē) is a dialect of Teochew primarily spoken by the Chinese community in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Pontianak Teochew was originally spoken by the Teochew people who migrated from the Chaoshan region in Guangdong, China. These migrants and their descendants constitute the majority of the Chinese population in Pontianak and its surrounding areas. Today, however, it serves as the lingua franca for the entire Chinese community in Pontianak. Pontianak Teochew has also become a common trade or marketplace language in Pontianak and its surrounding areas. The Pontianak Teochew dialect has undergone significant assimilation into the local languages, making it significantly different from the original Teochew dialect spoken in Guangdong. This variation is primarily due to the influence of language assimilation processes involving Pontianak Malay and Indonesian. Many Chinese people in Pontianak are multilingual, speaking not only Teochew but also Hakka, Mandarin, Pontianak Malay, and Indonesian.

Unlike in Java, where the use of Chinese languages has declined due to language shift and past discouragement by the Indonesian government, the Chinese dialects spoken in Pontianak and West Kalimantan remain well-preserved. Pontianak Teochew continues to be spoken across generations of the Chinese community in Pontianak, including by younger people. It is used in schools and markets, although there is a gradual shift toward Indonesian, particularly among the youth. Code-mixing between Pontianak Teochew and Indonesian is also a common phenomenon.

History

The Teochew people began migrating to what is now West Kalimantan during the 19th century. Originating from the Chaoshan region in southern Guangdong, they were part of a larger migration wave and typically passed through the port of Shantou on their journey. Initially, not all Chinese migrants to West Kalimantan were part of the middle class. Many traveled in groups, and it was common for some to work as farmers or small traders, placing them in the lower class. In contrast to Java and Sumatra, where Cantonese and Hokkien make up the majority of the Chinese population, these two groups form only a small minority in West Kalimantan. The majority in this region are Hakka, who settled in West Kalimantan much earlier, followed by the Teochew. These Chinese migrants began arriving when the Pontianak Sultanate invited them to engage in mining activities and help revitalize trade. The Teochew people have generally steered clear of politics, focusing primarily on trade. As a result, they were largely excluded from the establishment of the Lanfang Republic in the 19th century, which was almost entirely composed of Hakka.

The use of Teochew and other Chinese dialects was significantly discouraged following Indonesia's independence. In the 1950s, several policies were introduced across the archipelago targeting Chinese language and culture. In the summer of 1957, military commanders, intent on eliminating foreign ideologies, closed all Chinese-language schools. Then, in April 1958, a military decree was issued prohibiting the publication of newspapers and periodicals in Chinese. With the onset of the New Order, the government under Suharto introduced the official national policy regarding Chinese religion, beliefs, and traditions through Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967 (Inpress No. 14/1967). This policy mandated that all Chinese rituals and activities be confined to the family and not take place publicly. For more than thirty years, Teochew, along with other Chinese dialects, was explicitly discouraged in Indonesian-medium schools. Teachers encouraged the use of Indonesian and discouraged students from speaking their native languages.

Following the fall of the New Order, President Abdurrahman Wahid initiated significant reforms for the Chinese community by repealing the 1967 national policy through Presidential Decision No. 6/2000 (Keppres No. 6/2000). This was further supported by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who issued Presidential Decision No. 19/2002 (Keppres No. 19/2002), declaring Chinese New Year a national holiday. These changes marked a shift toward greater acceptance and expression of Chinese culture and language. With Mandarin reintroduced in schools, Teochew is no longer as strictly prohibited as it once was.

Geographic distribution and usage

In Pontianak, two varieties of Chinese are spoken: Teochew and Hakka. The Teochew dialect is the most widely spoken among the Chinese community in Pontianak. The Teochew population primarily resides in the urban areas of southern Pontianak, whereas those in northern Pontianak, as well as the suburbs and rural areas, predominantly speak Hakka. However, many Hakka speakers in Pontianak are bilingual, fluent in both Hakka and Teochew—and the same is true vice versa. The Teochew are primarily urban dwellers, including plantation workers, shopkeepers, and traders, while the Hakka were traditionally rural inhabitants, working as miners, farmers, and small traders. However, following the forced migration of the 1960s, predominantly involving Hakka, this pattern was disrupted. The Teochew, being relatively better off and long-established residents of the city, saw their language gradually become the common spoken language for both Teochew and Hakka communities.

Teochew has become the lingua franca of the Chinese community in Pontianak, serving not only the Teochew population but also the Hakka and other Chinese ethnic groups. Code-mixing and code-switching between Teochew, Hakka, Pontianak Malay, and Indonesian are prevalent in daily interactions. Teochew is so deeply embedded in Pontianak that many non-Chinese individuals, especially business owners, can speak it to some extent. Teochew speakers in the region take great pride in their dialect, with younger generations often making a conscious effort to avoid code-mixing with Malay or Indonesian. In addition to learning Teochew as their mother tongue or first language, many Chinese youths in Pontianak also study Mandarin, which serves as the unifying language for ethnic Chinese communities. Proficiency in Mandarin is especially common among older generations and younger speakers who are actively working to reconnect with their cultural roots. Indonesian, the national language, is used in formal contexts such as schools, government institutions, and interethnic communication. Additionally, many Chinese people in Pontianak are fluent in Pontianak Malay, the local Malay dialect. While the majority of Pontianak Malay speakers are ethnically Malay, many non-Malay residents, including Chinese, also speak the local language. The use of Teochew is under threat due to a shift in language preferences. Currently, in daily life, many Chinese people in Pontianak prefers and uses Indonesian or Pontianak Malay. This indicates that the language used by the Chinese community in Pontianak has undergone a shift, especially among the younger generation.

Phonology

Consonants

In Pontianak Teochew, there are 18 distinct initials. They are: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .

Additionally, the consonant zero sound is found in the vocabulary 我 , 爷 , 英 and 幼 .

Vowels

Pontianak Teochew has 11 vowels in total, comprising 6 simple vowels and 5 nasalized vowels. It also features 20 diphthongs and 4 triphthongs.

In addition, Pontianak Teochew also includes two syllabic consonants, similar to those found in Taiwanese Hokkien.

In Pontianak Teochew, certain vocabulary items are pronounced differently from others. For instance, in the Gu Shanshe (古山摄) group of vowel suffixes, the suffix is used, representing a unique vowel sound. Additionally, if the vowel is present, the vowel ending changes, with or pronounced as by the informant.

Suffixes within certain categories and groups are pronounced as . Pontianak Teochew has distinct phonological characteristics, including its use of nasal finals, which consist of both front and back nasals, specifically , , and . Moreover, the entering tone wods in this dialect are characterized by four types of plosive finals: , , , and .

The dialect also includes several nasal rhymes, such as 钱 , 虎 , and others.

Tones

Pontianak Teochew features a tonal system consisting of eight distinct tones, which are further categorized into "yin" and "yang" tones. These tones are classified into four categories: level tones, rising tones, falling tones, and entering tones. Each category includes both voiced and devoiced variations, resulting in a total of eight distinct tones. Due to the influence of Indonesian and Malay, which are non-tonal languages, many Teochew speakers in Pontianak have gradually lost the distinct high and low tones that are characteristic of the original Teochew spoken in Guangdong.

Grammar

The word order of existential sentences in Pontianak Teochew mirrors that of Mandarin and other Chinese varieties. Similarly, sentences with verbal predicates in Pontianak Teochew also generally follow the subject-verb-object word order (SVO) pattern, consistent with other Chinese languages.

Perfective aspects

Similar to Mandarin and other Chinese varieties, Pontianak Teochew incorporates perfective aspects. In Pontianak Teochew, the perfective marker signifies that an event is completed, represents the event as lacking internal structure, or conveys the event without highlighting its continuing relevance to the present. An example of the use of a perfective aspect marker is as follows:

Anna

Anna

Anna

去

kʰə

go

鋪頭

potʰau

shop

囉。

lou

PERF

Anna 去 鋪頭 囉。

Anna kʰə potʰau lou

Anna go shop PERF

Anna went to the shop .

With a perfective marker, such as lou (囉) the sentence conveys the meaning "Anna went to the market." The perfective marker lou in this context highlights the temporal property of the event, specifically that it is completed.

The perfective aspect stands in contrast to both the imperfective and prospective aspects. The imperfective aspect represents an event as having internal structure, such as being ongoing or habitual, while the prospective aspect describes actions or events that are about to occur. Similar to the perfective aspect, the imperfective aspect can also be indicated using various markers, time-related adverbs, and auxiliaries.

Another examples of perfective markers in Pontianak Teochew are diau (掉) and dioh (著). Diau conveys meanings opposite to those associated with lou. While lou marks completed events, diau expresses that the event is unexpected, unplanned, or negative. However, it can also describe events that are neutral, meaning the interpretation can shift depending on the context, potentially conveying either a positive or negative connotation. Similar to diau, dioh also indicates an unexpected and unplanned event. However, unlike diau, which generally conveys a negative tone from the speaker's perspective, dioh does not inherently carry a positive or negative value. The interpretation of whether the event is viewed as positive or negative depends on the context and the speaker's perspective. Examples of the usage of diau and dioh are as follows:

我

ua

My

個

kai

POSS

目鏡

mak-kia

glasses

壞

pit

broke

掉。

diau

PERF

我 個 目鏡 壞 掉。

ua kai mak-kia pit diau

My POSS glasses broke PERF

My glasses broke.

阿翔

Asiang

Asiang

撵

leng

push

著

dioh

PERF

孥囝。

nongkia

child

阿翔 撵 著 孥囝。

Asiang leng dioh nongkia

Asiang push PERF child

Asiang pushed a child.

Each of these three markers conveys a specific meaning from the speaker’s perspective and is used with different types of verbs, such as transitive or intransitive. The marker lou indicates that the speaker expected the event to occur and views it positively. It can co-occur with both transitive and intransitive predicates. In contrast, the markers diau and dioh both express the speaker’s perception that the event was "unexpected." However, diau generally conveys that the event is negative from the speaker’s perspective, while dioh is more neutral, with the meaning depending on the context to indicate whether the event is perceived as positive or negative. Moreover, diau and dioh exhibit complementary distribution in terms of syntactic properties: diau is used with intransitive unaccusative verbs, while dioh is used with transitive and dynamic predicates.

Negations

The negations or negative markers in Pontianak Teochew can generally be categorized into two types: those beginning with 'b', such as bo (無), boi (𣍐), and bue (未), and those beginning with 'm', such as m (唔), mo (莫), and min (免). While some of these markers can be synchronically decomposed into two morphemes, others cannot.

The negative marker bo originates from the morphemes b ‘not’, a bound negative marker that cannot stand alone, and u (有) ‘exist, have’. Based on its meaning, bo is closer to méiyǒu (沒有), meaning ‘not exist, not have’ in Mandarin. Similar to the morpheme yǒu in Mandarin, the morpheme u in Pontianak Teochew can express ‘possession’ or ‘having.’ Below is an example comparing the use of u and bo respectively:

我

Ua

I

有

u

have

鐳。

lui

money

我 有 鐳。

Ua u lui

I have money

I have money.

我

Ua

I

無

bo

not have

鐳。

lui

money

我 無 鐳。

Ua bo lui

I {not have} money

I don't have money.

The examples above demonstrate that the negive marker bo can negate an event that has an affirmative form of u (‘exist’).

This negative marker boi expresses inability and negates epistemic modality. The declarative form using oi ‘able’ indicates ability, while its negative counterpart, boi, means ‘unable’. For example:

伊

I

He

會

oi

able

泅水。

siu-cui

swim

伊 會 泅水。

I oi siu-cui

He able swim

He can swim.

伊

I

He

𣍐

boi

not able

泅水。

siu-cui

swim

伊 𣍐 泅水。

I boi siu-cui

He {not able} swim

He cannot swim.

Another modal auxiliary expressing ability is hiau (曉). The usage in affirmative sentences is generally the same as oi, with oi being replaced by hiau, and the negative form is boi hiau (𣍐曉). However, there is a slight difference between the affirmative sentences using oi and those using hiau. Hiau indicates a higher level of skill than oi when referring to ability.

The negation bue means ‘not yet,’ similar to hái méi (還沒) in Mandarin. It grammatically negates transitive, intransitive unaccusative, or intransitive unergative predicates. For example:

我

Ua

I

未

bue

not have

遇

ngo

meet

朋友。

pʰeng-iu

friend

我 未 遇 朋友。

Ua bue ngo pʰeng-iu

I {not have} meet friend

I have not met a friend.

This negative marker m ‘not’ negates certain verbal or adjectival predicates, particularly stative verbs—those that describe a state or condition that is static and unchanging, such as know or believe. The negative marker m also negates the copula si (是), which appears optionally in the affirmative form. The key difference between sentences using si and those without it is that the former adds emphasis to the predicate. It can also negate the modal hiau ‘can’ to form m hiau (唔曉) ‘cannot'. Example of its usage are shown below:

我

Ua

I

唔

m

not

是

si

COP

學生。

hak-seng

student

我 唔 是 學生。

Ua m si hak-seng

I not COP student

I am not a student.

伊

I

He

唔

m

not

歡喜。

huan-hi

happy

伊 唔 歡喜。

I m huan-hi

He not happy

He is not happy.

The negative marker mo expresses the preference that something had better not happen. Mo is also used in negative imperatives. Similar to English imperatives, the implied subject ‘you’ is not pronounced. For example:

莫

Mo

Don’t

呴薰

kuh-hun

smoke

在

to

PREP

只塊!

tsio

here!

莫 呴薰 在 只塊!

Mo kuh-hun to {tsio}

Don’t smoke PREP here!

Don’t smoke here!

The negation min means ‘no need’ and expresses a lack of necessity or requirement. Min can occur with a transitive, intransitive unergative, or intransitive unaccusative predicate. For example:

許

Hi

DET

條

tiau

CL

船

tsun

ship

免

min

no need

沉。

tim

sink

許 條 船 免 沉。

Hi tiau tsun min tim

DET CL ship {no need} sink

The ship does not need to sink.

Verbs

Verbs in Pontianak Teochew are categorized into three types: intransitive, transitive, and ditransitive.

In Pontianak Teochew, the basic word order of a intransitive sentence follows a subject-verb structure. Reversing this order to verb-subject results in ungrammaticality. Furthermore, the subject is not marked, meaning subjects of unergative verbs are identcal in form to those of unaccusative verbs. These features are illustrated in the following sentences:

許

Hi

that

個

kai

CL

丈夫囝

tapokiã

male child

哭。

khau

cry

許 個 丈夫囝 哭。

Hi kai tapokiã khau

that CL {male child} cry

That boy cries.

Tthe basic word order of a transitive sentence is subject-verb-object (SVO). Alternative word orders, such as object-verb-subject (OVS), verb-object-subject (VOS), object-subject-verb (OSV), and verb-subject-object (VSO), are ungrammatical. Neither the subject nor the object is marked, and their thematic roles are determined solely by theirposition in the sentence. For example:

阿玲

Aling

Aling

食

tsiak

eat

木瓜。

pakue

papaya

阿玲 食 木瓜。

Aling tsiak pakue

Aling eat papaya

Aling eat papaya.

阿玲

Aling

Aling

買

boi

buy

蜀

tsek

one

包

pao

CL

米。

pi

rice

阿玲 買 蜀 包 米。

Aling boi tsek pao pi

Aling buy one CL rice

Aling bought one pack of rice.

Ditransitive sentences in Pontianak Teochew have two basic structures. In one form, the indirect object and direct object appear adjacent to each other without additional marking. In the other form, the indirect object is introduced by the preposition kheh (乞) 'give' or 'to'. This structure is similar to the prepositional dative in English, where the indirect object is marked by a preposition (e.g., "John sent a letter to Mary"). In the double-object construction, the indirect object (IO) must precede the direct object (DO). Reversing the order of these arguments results in an ungrammatical sentence. Verbs like kheh and pung (分) ‘give’ permit both the double-object and prepositional dative constructions. In contrast, verbs like boi (賣) ‘sell’ allow only the prepositional dative order, while verbs like ka (教) ‘teach’ exclusively allow the double-object order. These features are illustrated in the following sentences:

阿玲

Aling

Aling

乞

kheh

give

阿翔

Asiang

Asiang

許

hi

that

個

kai

CL

書。

tsɯ

book

阿玲 乞 阿翔 許 個 書。

Aling kheh Asiang hi kai tsɯ

Aling give Asiang that CL book

Aling gave Asiang that book.

阿玲

Aling

Aling

教

ka

teach

英文

engbun

English

乞

kheh

to

阿翔。

Asiang

Asiang

阿玲 教 英文 乞 阿翔。

Aling ka engbun kheh Asiang

Aling teach English to Asiang

Aling taught English to Asiang.

Vocabulary

Like other Chinese varieties in Indonesia, the Teochew spoken in Pontianak has incorporated vocabulary influenced by the local Malay dialect and Indonesian, distinguishing it from the variety spoken in China. This influence is evident in the presence of Malay loanwords within Pontianak Teochew. However, compared to other Teochew dialects in Indonesia—such as the variety spoken in Jambi, which has undergone significant influence and adopted numerous loanwords from Hokkien and the local Malay dialect—Pontianak Teochew remains more conservative. It has preserved much of its original vocabulary, reflecting a stronger connection to its linguistic roots.

References

1. ^ Peng 2012, p. 5.
2. "Reclassifying ISO 639-3 [nan]" (PDF). GitHub. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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6. Thamrin 2020, p. 195.
7. Thamrin, Lily; Suhardi, S; Veronica, Tjen; Lusi, L (2021-12-24). "Persepsi remaja Tionghoa terhadap pembelajaran bahasa dialek Teochew". Linguista: Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa, Sastra, Dan Pembelajarannya. 5 (2): 106. doi:10.25273/linguista.v5i2.10845. ISSN 2579-9037.
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11. Purdey, Jemma (2006). Anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, 1996-1999. Asian Studies Association of Australia Southeast Asia publications series. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press in association with Asian Studies Association of Australia. ISBN 978-0-8248-3057-1. OCLC 61724445.
12. ^ Veniranda 2015, p. 20.
13. ^ Veniranda 2015, p. 21.
14. ^ Veronica, Tjen; Thamrin, Lily; Lusi, Lusi; Suhardi, Suhardi (2023-09-12). "The Mastery of The Teochew Dialect and Mandarin Chinese of Chinese Youths". JETL (Journal of Education, Teaching and Learning). 8 (2): 141–145. doi:10.26737/jetl.v8i2.3341 (inactive 8 January 2025). ISSN 2477-8478.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2025 (link)
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22. Peng 2012, p. 370.
23. Veniranda 2015, p. 67.
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25. Veniranda 2015, p. 73.
26. Veniranda 2015, p. 76.
27. ^ Veniranda 2015, p. 78.
28. Veniranda 2015, p. 95.
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34. Veniranda 2015, p. 105.
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Bibliography

• Peng, Anne Elise (2012). Aspects of the Syntax of Indonesian Teochew (PhD thesis). University of Delaware. ISBN 978-1-267-96938-5. ProQuest 1318842504.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
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• Thamrin, Lily (2020-12-30). "Phonological Description of Teochew Dialect in Pontianak West Kalimantan". Lingua Cultura. 14 (2): 195–201. doi:10.21512/lc.v14i2.6600. ISSN 2460-710X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

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v t e Chinese language
Sinitic languages
Major linguistic groups Mandarin Northeastern Changchun Harbin Shenyang Taz Beijing Beijing Taiwan Jilu Tianjin Jinan Jiaoliao Dalian Qingdao Weihai Central Plains Dongping Gangou Guanzhong Xi'an Luoyang Xuzhou Dungan Xinjiang Southwestern Sichuanese Chengdu–Chongqing (?) Minjiang Leshan Renshou–Fushun [zh] Zigong Kunming Nanping Wuhan Gui–Liu [zh] Wuming Jianghuai Nanjing Nantong Nanping Lanyin Lanzhou dialect [zh] Ürümqi dialect [zh] Xinjiang Other Junjiahua Qinjiang Gyami Jin Zhangjiakou–Hohhot Zhi–Yan Wu Taihu Shanghai Suzhou Wuxi Changzhou (?) Hangzhou Shaoxing Ningbo Jinxiang Jiangyin Shadi Taizhou Wu Taizhou Tiantai Oujiang Wenzhou Rui'an Wencheng Wuzhou Jinhua Chu–Qu Quzhou Jiangshan Qingtian Xuanzhou Xuancheng Huizhou Ji-She [zh] Xiu-Yi [zh] Qi-De [zh] Yanzhou [zh] Jing-Zhan [zh] Gan Chang–Du Nanchang Yi–Liu Ying–Yi Da–Tong Xiang Changyi Changsha Loushao Shuangfeng Xiangxiang Wugang Ji–Xu Yong–Quan Qiyang Min Eastern Houguan [zh] Fuzhou Fuqing Changle Gutian Matsu Fu–Ning [zh] Ningde Fu'an Other Manjiang Zhongshan Longdu Nanlang Pu–Xian Putian Xianyou Southern Hokkien Quanzhou Zhangzhou Amoy Chawan Taiwan Philippines Penang Medan Singapore Southern Malaysia Teochew Swatow Haklau Zhongshan Sanxiang Other Zhenan Longyan Leizhou Zhanjiang Hainan Wenchang Haikou Banqiao Inland Northern Jian'ou Jianyang Central Shao–Jiang Hakka Meixian Wuhua Huiyang [zh] Tingzhou Changting Taiwan Sixian Hailu Raoping Yue Yuehai Guangzhou Hong Kong Malaysia Xiguan Jiujiang Shiqi Weitou Dapeng Siyi Taishan Xinhui [zh] Other Gao–Yang Goulou Wu–Hua Yong–Xun Luo–Guang Qin–Lian Pinghua Northern Pinghua Tongdao Younian Southern Pinghua Yongjiang Guandao Rongjiang Unclassified Shaozhou Tuhua Xiangnan Tuhua Danzhou Badong Yao Shehua Waxiang Yeheni Huizhou Mai Laobeizi (?) Macro-Bai Bai Cai-Long Caijia Longjia Luren
Standard forms of Chinese Mandarin (Standard Chinese) Sichuanese Taiwanese Philippine Malaysian Singaporean Standard Singdarin Other varieties Cantonese Hokkien Hakka
History, phonology, and grammar History Old Chinese Eastern Han Middle Chinese Old Mandarin Middle Mandarin Proto-Min Proto-Hakka Ba–Shu Gan Phonology Historical Old Old National Cantonese Hokkien Northern Wu Mandarin Literary and colloquial readings Grammar Numerals Classifiers Honorifics Cantonese grammar Classical grammar Idioms Chengyu Xiehouyu
Written Chinese and input methods Literary forms Official Classical Adoption in Japan in Vietnam Vernacular Written Cantonese Written Dungan Written Hokkien Written Sichuanese Scripts Logographic Script styles Oracle bone Bronze Seal Clerical Semi-cursive Cursive Chinese characters Simplified Traditional Punctuation Braille Cantonese Mainland Chinese Taiwanese Two-cell Phonetic Romanization Gwoyeu Romatzyh Hanyu Pinyin MPS II Postal Tongyong Pinyin Wade–Giles EFEO Lessing-Othmer Yale Cyrillization Dungan Cyrillic Bopomofo Cantonese Bopomofo Taiwanese Phonetic Symbols Taiwanese kana Taiwanese Hangul Xiao'erjing Nüshu Input methods Logographic Biaoxingma Boshiamy [zh] Cangjie Simplified CKC Dayi Stroke count Wubi (Wang Ma) ZhengMa Q9 Pinyin Google Microsoft Sogou
List of varieties of Chinese

• Languages of Indonesia
• Teochew dialect
• Teochew culture