Singaporean Mandarin Database

This database contains a collection of Mandarin terms which have cultural, historical or sentimental value unique to Singapore. These terms may be used by Singaporeans in the past or at present. Some of the terms are read in print while others are used in our everyday conversations.

Search
A - Z PINYIN LISTING

坡

pō

底

dǐ

downtown

Speech

生活用语

Speech

Share via

downtown

Share via
Speech

生活用语

Speech

释义

名词

新加坡市中心，是“大坡”和“小坡”的合称。现指桥南路与桥北路一带。

DEFINITION

Noun

Singapore’s business district or downtown area. It is a collective term for “Da-Po” (or big “Po”) and “Xiao-Po” (or little “Po”), which is known as South Bridge Road and North Bridge Road today.

由来
  • 新加坡华人俗称的“坡”，其实是“埠”，意思是商埠（与国外通商的地方），衍生用来指称市区。“坡底”是福建（闽南）方言词，“底”的意思不是指“底下”，而是指“市区里边”，“坡底”是“埠内”之意，也就是市中心。在新加坡，“坡”特别指“大坡”和“小坡”这两个华人的商业区。“大坡”和“小坡”之分，主要以埃尔金桥（Elgin Bridge）为中介点，“大坡”为桥南路（South Bridge Road）一带，“小坡”为桥北路（North Bridge Road）一带。
ETYMOLOGY
  • The term “坡” used by Singaporean Chinese originally meant a commercial area (where business is conducted with overseas traders). The term evolved to describe the city area. “坡底”, a term in Hokkien (Minnan) dialect, means “within town”. In Singapore, “Da-Po” and “Xiao-Po” referred to specific Chinese commercial areas or the downtown area. “Da-Po” and “Xiao-Po” was divided by the Elgin Bridge. “Da-Po” referred to the South Bridge Road area, while “Xiao-Po” referred to the area around North Bridge Road.
例句
芽笼篮球俱乐部在一年前由“坡底人”（城市人）组成，张树福早期在大坡直落亚逸打过球，如今还是热爱篮球运动，目前经营小生意。（《联合早报》，31/3/2002）
SAMPLE SENTENCE
The Geylang Basketball Club was started by a group of people from “坡底” (downtown dwellers) one year ago. Zhang Shufu used to play basketball in the Da-Po Telok Ayer area back in the days, and still loves the sport. He runs a small business of his own. (Lianhe Zaobao, 31/3/2002)
参考资料
点击查看坡底的参考资料
REFERENCES

Click here to view references for downtown

 

 

BACK TO TOP