Cantonese/Lesson 2/Conversation

Buildup (At a party in Hong Kong) 先生 sīnsàang 先生 sīnsàang man 貴姓 gwaising your surname (polite) 呀 a sentence suffix, to soften abruptness 小姐 síujé woman 小姐貴姓呀？ Síujé gwaising a? What is your surname, Miss? 小姐 síujé 我姓王。 Ngóh sing Wòhng. My surname is Wong. 先生 sīnsàang (Bowing slightly) 王小姐。 Wòhng Síujé. Miss Wong. 小姐 síujé 呢？ nē? sentence suffix for Wh-questions 先生呢？ Sīnsaàng nē? And you? (polite)(lit. Mr.? 先生 sīnsàang 小姓 síusing my name (humble) 小姓劉。 Síusing Làuh. My name is Lau. 小姐 síujé (Bowing slightly) 劉生。 Làuh sàang. Mr Lau. 先生 sīnsàang (Indicating a young lady standing beside Miss Wong) 乜嘢 / 咩嘢 / 咪嘢 mātyéh / mēyéh / mīyéh what? 姓咩嘢呀 sing mēyéh a? have what surname? 朋友 pàhngyáuh friend 你 néih your 你朋友 néih pàhngyáuh your friend 你朋友姓咩嘢呀? néih pàhngyáuh sing mē yéh a? What is your friend's name? 小姐 síujé 姓馬 sing Máh has the name Ma 嘅 ge noun-forming boundword. ge suffixed to a verb phrase makes it a noun phrase 姓馬嘅 sing Máh ge is one named Ma 佢 kéuih he, she, it 佢姓馬嘅. Kéuih sing Máh ge. Her name is Ma. 先生 sīnsàang 廣東 Gwóngdùng Guangdong province 人 yàhn person 廣東人 Gwóngdùngyàhn Cantonese person, a person from Guangdong province 係唔係呀 haihm̀hhaih a? is or not is? (a question formula) 佢係唔係廣東人呀? Kéuih haihm̀hhaih Gwóngdùngyàhn a? Is she a Cantonese person? 小姐 síujé 上海 Seuhnghói Shanghai 上海人 Seuhnghóiyàhn Shanghai person 唔係呀.佢係上海人. M̀hhaih a. Kéuih haih Seuhnghóiyàhn. No, she's a Shanghainese person. 先生 sīnsàang 咁 gám well then (sentence prefix, resuming the topic of discussion) 咁,你呢? Gám, néih nē? Well then, what about you? 小姐 síujé 都 dōu also 都係上海人 dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn also am a Shanghainese person 我都係上海人. Ngóh dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn. I am also a Shanghainese person. Recapitulation (At a party in Hong Kong) 先生 sīnsàang 小姐貴姓呀？ Síujé gwaising a? What is your surname, Miss? 小姐 síujé 我姓王。 Ngóh sing Wòhng. My name is Wong. 先生 sīnsàang (Bowing slightly) 王小姐。 Wòhng Síujé. Miss Wong. 小姐 síujé 先生呢？ Sīnsaàng nē? And you? (polite) 先生 sīnsàang 小姓劉。 Síusing Làuh. My name is Lau. 小姐 síujé (Bowing slightly) 劉生。 Làuh sàang. Mr. Lau. 先生 sīnsàang (Indicating a young lady standing beside Miss Wong) 你朋友姓咩嘢呀? néih pàhngyáuh sing mē yéh a? What is your friend's name? 小姐 síujé 佢姓馬嘅. Kéuih sing Máh ge. Her name is Ma. 先生 sīnsàang 佢係唔係廣東人呀? Kéuih haihm̀hhaih Gwóngdùngyàhn a? Is she a Cantonese person? 小姐 síujé 唔係呀.佢係上海人. M̀hhaih a. Kéuih haih Seuhnghóiyàhn. No, she's a Shanghainese person. 先生 sīnsàang 咁,你呢? Gám, néih nē? Well then, what about you? 小姐 síujé 我都係上海人. Ngóh dōu haih Seuhnghóiyàhn. I am also a Shanghainese person. Pronunciation b, d, g, j b, d, g, and j (IPA: [p],[t],[k], and [tɕ]), sounds in Cantonese are voicless, in contrast to the voiced English sounds spelled with the same letters. The tongue position for Cantonese b and g sounds is the same as for English. For the d sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English--against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. The tongue position for the j sound has been discussed in Lesson 1. All of the above sounds are unaspirated, as are the English counterparts. But the Cantonese and English sounds contrast with respect to tenseness--the Cantonese initial consonants are tense while the English lax in isolated words and in stressed positions of a sentence. + Listen and compare Initial English Cantonese b bean bīn go 邊個 who beau bou 布 cloth buoy būi 杯 cup bun bān 賓 guest buy baai 拜 worship d doe dou 到 arrive die daai 帶 bring ding dīng 丁 surname Ting deem dim 店 shop (noun) g gay gei 記 record (verb) gum gam 噤 so guy gaai 界 border guava Gwóngdùng 廣東 Guangdong j joy joi 再 again gee ji 至 until, to Jew jiu 照 reflect Joe jou 灶 stove p, t, k, ch Cantonese p, t, k, and ch sounds (IPA: [pʰ],[tʰ],[kʰ], and [tɕʰ]) are similar to English counterparts p, t, k, ch as they are both voiceless and aspirated. The tonguie position for p and k is the same as for English. For the t sound the tongue tip is more forward in Cantonese than in English--against the base of the upper teeth for Cantonese, on the dental ridge for English. The tongue position for ch has been discussed in Lesson 1. The Cantonese consonants are tenser than the English counterparts. + Listen and compare Initial English Cantonese p pingpong pàhngyáuh 朋友 friend pay pèi 披 to throw over the shoulders pie paai 派 send Poe pou 鋪 shop (noun) putt pāt 匹 measure word for horses t tie tāai 呔 necktie team tìm 添 additional top taap 塔 pagoda tong tong 燙 iron (verb) k cow kaau 靠 lean on Kay kei 冀 hope cut kāt 咳 cough cup kāp 級 step (noun) ch chuck chāk 測 guess chew chìu 超 exceed chow chau 臭 bad smell chip chip 妾 concubine un un as in Yahtbún and Yahtbúnyàhn is a two part final composed of a high back rounded vowel (IPA: [u]) by the alveolar nasal consonant (IPA: [n]). When the two are together there is a slight offglide to the high central position (IPA: [uːin]). The vowel is not nasalized before nasal final. The Cantonese 'un' is roughly comparable to the `oon` in English (e.g. `boon`). Listen and compare bún (本), boon boon, bún (本) eui The lips should be rounded throughout the final. Remember that the i of eui represents the high front rounded vowel (IPA: [y]). Listen and repeat kéuih 佢 deuim̀hjyuh 對唔住 deui 對 iu iu is a two-part final composed of the high front unrounded vowel (IPA: [i]) plus the high back rounded vowel (IPA: [u]). In this sequence the i is pronounced as an onglide, with the longest portion being the u. Listen and repeat síujé síu Tones Listen and repeat dōu dōu, sing sing, haih haih dōu sing haih, haih sing dōu dōu sing, sing haih, dōu haih, haih dōu dōu dōu, Jèung Jèung Jèung, dōu, dōu Jèung síu síu, néih néih síu néih, néih síu haih yàhn, yàhn haih