Hoklo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from a southern Chinese lect; compare Cantonese 學佬／学佬 (hok6 lou2), Hakka 學佬／学佬 (Ho̍k-ló), Hokkien 福佬 (Ho̍h-ló). The Hailufeng variety sense is influenced by Hong Kong Cantonese 學佬／学佬 (hok⁶ lou²).

Noun

Hoklo (countable and uncountable, plural Hoklos)

1. A group of Han Chinese whose traditional ancestral homes are in southern Fujian, South China.
   • 2000, Shui-Bian Chen, translated by David J. Toman, The Son of Taiwan: The Life of Chen Shui-Bian and His Dreams for Taiwan‎^[1], Taiwan Publishing Co., Ltd., →ISBN, →OCLC, page 228:

     Growing up in the countryside of Tainan County, the village was almost entirely populated by Hoklo people, with no Hakkas, no mainlanders, and even less chance of aborigines settling there.

   • 2011, Stephen Keeling, Brice Minnigh, The Rough Guide to Taiwan‎^[2], 2nd edition, Rough Guides, page 291:

     Today Hualien is a city of 110,000, unique in having almost equal numbers of Hakka, Hoklo, mainlander and aboriginal citizens: the last group are primarily Atayal and Ami.

2. (obsolete) A member of a Southern Min-speaking Chinese people who inhabit or originate from eastern Guangdong; (loosely) Teochew.
   • 1840, E. Doty, W. J. Pohlman, “Tour in Borneo”, in The Chinese Repository‎^[3], volume VIII, number 6, Canton, page 309:

     From our friends and others, we gathered the following information concerning the number of inhabitants. Malays 6000, Bugis 5000, Fuhkeën and other Chinese 100 families, Hok-lo 1000 families, Khĕh 500 families.

   • 1865, George Smith, “Letters from Rev. George Smith”, in The English Presbyterian Messenger‎^[4], volume XVI, London: Marlborough & Co., Ave Maria Lane, page 320:

     It lies on the borders of the Hok-lo, and the Hakka or Kheh (or they call themselves Khah) populuation, Hok-lo is the name given to those who speak Tie Chew.

   • 1869, W. L., “The Population of China”, in S. L. Baldwin, editor, The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal‎^[5], volume 1, Foochow: Rozario, Marçal & Co., page 89:

     There are a few districts west of Macao where the Hakka and Hoklo population had dwindled down from 600,000 to 30,000, exclusive of the Punti slain in battles, starved, or sold into slavery.

   • 1895, E. J. Eitel, Europe in China: The History of Hongkong from the Beginning to the Year 1882‎^[6], London: Luzac & Company, page 132:

     Later on, a third class of natives, speaking another dialect (Tiehchiu, or Swatow dialect), settled at Shaukiwan, Tokwawan, Hunghom and Yaumati. These people, generally called Hoklos, were all seafaring men, bolder in character than either Hakkas or Puntis, and specially addicted to smuggling and piracy. Among all the pirates on the coast, these Hoklos were most dreaded on account of their ferocious and daring deeds.

   • 1995, James Hayes, “Cheung Chau Community”, in David Faure, Helen F. Siu, editors, Down to Earth: The Territorial Bond in South China‎^[7], Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, page 91:

     One of the Hoklo elders (born in 1885) was by descent a Punti from Dapeng City, in eastern Xin'an; but, living among Hoklos and sharing the same occupation (a sea fisherman), and with a Hoklo mother and wife, he, the first settler's grandson, had become one with them, regarding the Hoklo dialect as his natural speech.

Synonyms

• Hokkien, Fukien, Fukienese

Proper noun

Hoklo

1. Taiwanese, the variety of Hokkien spoken in Taiwan and the native language of the Hoklo.
   • 2000, A-chin Hsiau, Contemporary Taiwanese Cultural Nationalism‎^[8], Routledge, →ISBN, page 22:

     The revivalists’ goal is not only to keep Hoklo alive, but also to make it capable of challenging the hegemony of Mandarin Chinese as the officially defined "national language." For revivalists who advocate the complete alphabetization of Hoklo, traditional Chinese characters represent antiquated, unwholesome “feudalism,” and by contrast, the romanization system is a symbol of modernity. Using phonetic script to write Hoklo, they believe, will not only facilitate the felicitous expression of the Hoklo Taiwanese mind, but would also grant the less-ducated an easier access to various kinds of modern knowledge.

   • 2004 June 23, Cody Yiu, “A loving attitude is color-blind”, in Taipei Times‎^[9], archived from the original on 25 June 2004‎^[10]:

     Huang, 45, was born in Sanhsia in Taipei County, but grew up in Taipei City speaking Mandarin and Hoklo (more commonly known as Taiwanese).

2. (Hong Kong) A variety of Southern Min Chinese originating from the Hailufeng region.

Synonyms

• (Taiwanese): Taiwanese, Holo
• (Hailufeng variety): Hai Lok Hong, Hoi Luk Fung, Haklau