How to Pronounce Amoy

Meaning and Context

Amoy is the historical and internationally recognized romanized name for the coastal city of Xiamen, located in southeastern Fujian Province, China. The name "Amoy" originates from the local Hokkien dialect pronunciation and was widely adopted by Western traders and cartographers from the 16th century onward, particularly during its role as a treaty port following the First Opium War. This vibrant port city is celebrated for its deep natural harbor, picturesque Gulangyu Island—a UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its colonial-era architecture and car-free streets—and its status as a pivotal hub for trade, investment, and tourism. As a special economic zone established in 1980, Xiamen (Amoy) has experienced profound economic development, becoming a leader in high-tech industries and financial services while retaining its cultural charm. The city's unique blend of historic Sino-European buildings, serene coastal landscapes, and its critical position in the Maritime Silk Road continues to define its global identity, making it a premier destination for cultural heritage and business travel in China.

Common Mistakes and Alternative Spellings

The primary spelling to address is "Amoy" versus the modern official romanization "Xiamen." "Amoy" is a direct transliteration from the local Southern Min (Hokkien) language, reflecting the pronunciation "Ē-mûi." In contrast, "Xiamen" is the Pinyin romanization used in Standard Mandarin. Common misspellings and variants of "Amoy" include "Amoi," an older or alternative transliteration sometimes encountered in historical texts, and "Amoyes," which is an erroneous pluralization. For "Xiamen," frequent typos involve omitting the first 'a' ("Ximen"), swapping letters ("Xiaman"), or misspelling it as "Xianmen" (incorrectly inserting an 'n'). When searching for information, using both "Amoy" and "Xiamen" as keywords is prudent, as the former is still heavily used in historical, culinary (e.g., Amoy sauce), and diasporic contexts, while the latter is essential for contemporary official and travel-related content.

Example Sentences

Many early Chinese immigrants to Southeast Asia and beyond hailed from the region around Amoy, carrying the Hokkien language and culinary traditions with them.

Travelers often find that a visit to Amoy is incomplete without sampling the local street food, like peanut soup and oyster omelets, which are famed throughout the diaspora.

The distinct architectural style on Gulangyu Island preserves the legacy of Amoy's time as an international treaty port.

While officially named Xiamen today, the city's deep-water port was historically charted on European maps as Amoy, a name that persists in many business and cultural circles.

Scholars studying the Tea Horse Road often note that Amoy served as a critical maritime terminus for the export of Fujian tea.

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