Teochew

English

Alternative forms

• Diojiu, Teochiu, Tiuchiu, Tie-chiu, Teochow
• Chiuchow, Chiu Chow (Hong Kong, via Cantonese)
• Taechew, Taechiew, Taechiu (Thailand)
• Tio Ciu, Tiociu (Indonesia)
• Trieu Chau (Vietnam, via Vietnamese)

Etymology

From Teochew 潮州 (dio⁵ ziu¹).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tiˈoʊt͡ʃuː/

Proper noun

Teochew

1. A variety of Southern Min Chinese, spoken in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong and its diaspora.
   • 1995, Qinghuang Yan, Community and Politics: The Chinese in Colonial Singapore and Malaysia, Marshall Cavendish International, →ISBN:

     […] Lim Peng Siang, Low Kim Pong, Teo Sian Keng and Lee Choon Guan were leaders of Fukien dialect group; Lam Kim Seng, Chua Tse Yong were Teochew leaders; Loke Yew and Lam Wai Fong were Cantonese leaders.

   • 2015, William L. Gibson, Singapore Yellow‎^[1], Singapore: Monsoon Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 116:

     'I do not speak English,' the young man said sanguinely in Malay, then said it again in Teochew, to test the white man.

2. (dated, uncommon) A city in the eastern part of China's Guangdong province, now more commonly called Chaozhou.
   • 1955, Review of Hong Kong Chinese Press:

     Fong Kai is a well known porcelain-producing center in eastern Kwangtung. It is only 8 li away from Teochow (Chaochow), and easily accessible.

   • 1976, Yen Ching Hwang, The Overseas Chinese and the 1911 Revolution: With special reference to Singapore and Malaya, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, page 310:

     As mentioned previously (in Chapter II), the Huang Kang Uprising in Teochew (also known as the first Teochew Uprising) had been fermenting long before the formation of the T'ung Meng Hui.

   • 2014, Song Cheng Miang, Teochew Red, Hokkien Green, Partridge Publishing Singapore:

     "I miss my family in Teochew. […] Returning to Teochew now is also not an option […] "

   • 2015, Eric Low, Teochew Heritage Cooking: A treasury of recipes for Chinese comfort food, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, →ISBN, page 72:

     It has been said that this dish was created by the court house chefs when the secretaries of the various civil departments in Teochew City did not want their officials to look uncivilised eating chicken with bones at formal events.

3. The Chaoshan region where Teochew is spoken.
   • 1972, Austin Coates, China, India and the Ruins of Washington, page 94:

     In Fukien and the Teochew region of eastern Kwangtung there are places where every man in every village within a radius of twenty miles or more bears the same surname, the clan being virtually a small nation with its own territory.

   • 2007, Khoon Choy Lee, Passage Through China: This Land So Rich in Beauty, page 22:

     When they later moved down south to the Teochew region, their language developed into the Teochew dialect, whose tone is very similar to Minnan Huà.

   • 2014, Sihua Liang, Language Attitudes and Identities in Multilingual China, page 92:

     Mr and Mrs Chen were from the same town in the Chaoshan (Teochew) Region and spoke the same variety of Teochew dialect.

   • 2019, Chong Guan Kwa, Bak Lim Kua, A General History Of The Chinese In Singapore, page 16:

     Changlim in the Chaozhou (Teochew) region emerged as Amoy's rival for domination of the coastal trade.

   • 2020, Shawn Li Song Seah, My Father's Kampung: A History Of Aukang And Punggol, page xvii:

     While some Teochews came to Singapore from Dapo (also Dabu, or Hakka district), language differences led to Dapo being separated from the Teochew region, leaving only eight districts, although after the 19th century, the Chinese government futher divided the 8 districts into 11.

Synonyms

• (from Mandarin Chinese) Chaozhou

Translations

one of the divisions of the Chinese language

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 潮州話／潮州话 (ciu⁴ zau¹ waa^6-2)

  Eastern Min: 潮州話／潮州话 (Dièu-ciŭ-uâ)

  Hakka: 潮州話／潮州话 (Chhèu-chû-fa)

  Hokkien: 潮州話／潮州话 (zh-min-nan) (Tiô-chiu-ōe)

  Mandarin: 潮州話／潮州话 (zh) (Cháozhōuhuà)

  Teochew: 潮州話／潮州话, 潮州话 (die⁵ ziu¹ uê⁷, dio⁵ ziu¹ uê⁷)

• French: teochew (fr) m
• Japanese: 潮州語 (ja) (ちょうしゅうご, chōshūgo)
• Korean: 조주어 (jojueo)
• Malay: bahasa Teochew
• Russian: чаоша́ньский m (čaošánʹskij)
• Thai: แต้จิ๋ว (th) (dtɛ̂ɛ-jǐu)
• Vietnamese: tiếng Triều Châu

city — see Chaozhou

Noun

Teochew (plural Teochews or Teochew)

1. A person of Chaoshan heritage.
   • 1985, Lim Keak Cheng, Social Change and the Chinese in Singapore: A Socio-economic Geography with Special Reference to Bāng Structure:

     The founding of the Four Seas Communications Bank by the leading Teochew merchants in 1907 marked the heyday of Teochew economic strength. However, the inter-war years was a period of economic regression for the Teochews.

   • 2011, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family‎^[2], New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 9:

     "Yes! You are Teochew. Aiyah, don't you know, our people are known for being pirates, smugglers, and greate businessmen. [The Hong Kong billionaire] Li Ka-shing is Teochew, you know!"

   • 2012, Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew, A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore: From Colonialism to Nationalism, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 45:

     However, the majority of Singaporean Teochews speak the Swatow (named after the main Teochew city in southeast China) variety.

   • 2015, Phil Macdonald, Carl Parkes, National Geographic Traveler: Thailand‎^[3], 4th edition, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 27:

     They were followed by the Teochews, who arrived poor and dispossessed, but soon used their entrepreneurial skills in Bangkok to build their wealth.

Adjective

Teochew (not comparable)

1. Relating to the Chaoshan region of China or its people.
   • 1996, Danny Tze-Ken Wong, Our Anchor Holds: A History of the Boy's Brigade in Malaysia, 1946-1996:

     […] when Rev. Guthrie Gamble started the first company in the southern Chinese Teochew city of Swatow […]

   • 2014, Kua Ee Heok, Ageing Baby Boomers, Write Editions / Tusitala (RLS) Pte Ltd, →ISBN:

     My grandfather, Mr Kua Kim Par, left the Teochew city of Chaozhou circa 1896 because of the political turmoil in China with the decline of the Qing Dynasty.

   • 2014, Sihua Liang, Language Attitudes and Identities in Multilingual China: A Linguistic Ethnography, Springer, →ISBN, page 92:

     Liang: So where do most members of your Jiazu live?
     Chen: Chaozhou (Teochew city). Two thirds of the population live in Chaozhou. Err...three fourths, actually, because only my father, his brother and the sons of some relatives have left (Chaozhou) to work elsewhere.

Synonyms

• (from Mandarin Chinese) Chaozhou