HSDS TOC (8)

Chapter 8 Column

八 baat3 – eight

窮 / 穷 kung4 - poor; destitute; poverty-stricken; having an end; having a limit; most; extremely; utterly; thoroughly; exhaustively; completely; thoroughly examine; completely look into; use up; exhaust; in trouble; without any way out

髮 / 发 faat3 – hair covering human heads; hairbreadth; hair's breadth

十 sap6 – ten

載 / 载 zoi3 - be loaded with; carry; hold; fill; be all over; and; as well as; at the same time; write down; record; publish zoi2 - year

泛 / 汎 faan3 - float; drift; afloat extensive; widespread; general; flood; inundate; superficial; shallow; skin-deep   泛 faan6 - flood; inundate; overflow; extensive; general; non-specific; superficial; shallow; skin-deep; float; drift out; go boating; be suffused with (colour)

歸 / 归 gwai1 - return; go back; give back to; come together; converge; gather; belong to; rest with; be in charge; division on the abacus

航 hong4 - sail, navigate; ship, boat, vessel

二六三 ji6 luk6 saam1 – two hundred sixty three

Happy New Year

Here's another clip from our cheeky Frenchman in Macau; his bite-sized chunks are just right for me and my small brain cells:

Here are all the characters and Jyutping equivalents used in this video:

恭           gung1 - respectful; deferential

喜           hei2 - happy; joyful; auspicious

發/发   faat3 – become; come to be

財           coi4 - wealth; riches; money

恭喜你           gung1 hei2 nei5 – congratulations to you

利市?來        lai6 si6 dau6 loi4 - Cheeky request for a red packet of lucky money

Interestingly, I've only managed to get the character for dau6 to display with a font called AR PL ZenKai Uni which you should be able to find here or here. The character seems also to be represented by two unicodes. Once you have the font installed, you can check for the definition at Cantodict here.

For those interested, I've shown an image of the character from that font below.
利市       lai6 si6 – lucky money

 dau6 – receive; ask for



來/来       loi4 – come; coming; arrive

Buying Oranges

Here's another Routledge Dialogue, continuing the market fruit theme:

先生,買尐生果啦.

sin1 saang1, maai5 di1 saang1 gwo2 laa1.

尐橙幾多錢一個呀?

di1 caang2 gei2 do1 cin2 yat1 go3 aa3?

十文四個.

sap6 man1 sei3 go3.

唔該畀六個呀.

m4 goi1 bei2 luk6 go3 aa3.

六個橙,多謝十五文.

luk6 go3 caang2, do1 ze6 sap6 ng5 man1.

呢度二十文.

ni1 dou6 ji6 sap6 man1.

走返五文,多謝

zau2 faan1 ng5 man1. do1 ze6.

唔該.

m4 goi1.

Who Sent the Ice Boat...

Chapter 7 Column

七 cat1 – seven

誰 seoi4 - (used as an interrogative pronoun) who; whom; whose; anyone; someone; everyone; no one

送 sung3 - send; give; see somebody off

冰 bing1 - ice

舸 go2 / ho2 - large boat, barge

來 loi4 / loi6 / lai4 - come; arrive; come round; ever since; next

仙 sin1 – god; immortal; fairy; divine

鄉 / 乡 hoeng1 / hoeng3 - village; rural; birth place

仙鄉 sin1 hoeng1 - fairyland; honorific: your homeland

二二八 ji6 lin4 jat1 – two hundred and twenty-eight (兩百二十八 loeng5 baak3 ji6 sap6 baat3)

Drought means problems...

The next couple of lines are a bit tricky. I could only find one version on all the script sites, but they all have more characters than there seem to be syllables in the audio.

The first part is quoted as being this:

有旱灾的地方一定有麻烦

有	jau5 / jau6	have; be present; own; possess; exist; there is
旱	hon5	dry, arid; drought
灾 / 災	zoi1	calamity; disaster; catastrophe
的	dik1	possessive suffix
地方	dei6 fong1	place
一定	jat1 ding6	certainly; for sure; definitely; without doubt not heard
麻	maa4	hemp; flax; sesame; coarse
烦	faan4	bother; vex; trouble; annoy

But even slowed down, the only words or syllables I can hear are:
jau5 hon5 zoi1 dik1 dei6 fong1 maa4 faan4

The second part is quoted as being this:
有麻烦那我就有生意

有	jau5 / jau6	have; be present; own; possess; exist; there is
麻	maa4	hemp; flax; sesame; coarse
烦	faan4	bother; vex; trouble; annoy
那	naa5 / no1 / no4 / lo4	that; that one; those; where
我	ngo5	I; me; my
就	zau6	receive; undergo; exactly; precisely
生意	saang1 ji3	business

Slowed down, the only words that can be heard clearly are:
jau5 maa4 faan4 ngo5 zau6 saang1 ji3

Cantonese in One Minute

Pierre-François Métayer, a French guy from Macau has created a great series on Youtube called Learn Cantonese in Just One Minute. Here he is explaining the difference between jiu3 and sai2:


Here are all the characters and Jyutping equivalents used in this video:

要     jiu3       “want”

使     sai2     “need”

要唔要袋呀?

jiu3 m4 jiu3 doi2 aa3?

do you want a bag?

要

jiu3

Yes

唔要

m4 jiu3

No

唔該

m4 goi1

Thank you

你使唔使袋呀?

nei5 sai2 m4 sai2 doi2 aa3?

Do you need a bag?

要

jiu3

Yes

唔使

m4 sai2

No

唔使

m4 sai2

Don’t mention it

Here and There

Another dialogue, this time from lesson 5 of the Pimsleur course:

請問小姐,英皇道喺邊度呀?

ceng2 man6 siu2 ze2, jing1 wong4 dou6 hai2 bin1 dou6 aa3?
Excuse me miss, where is King's Road located

喺嗰度.

hai2 go2 dou6.
It's over there.

界限街呢?

gaai3 haan6 gaai1 ne1?
What about Boundary Street?

喺呢度.

hai2 ni1 dou6.

It's here.

你好嗎?

nei5 hou2 maa3?

How are you?

我好好,多謝.拜拜.

ngo5 hou2 hou2, do1 ze6. baai1 baa3.

I'm very well, thankyou. Good bye.

拜拜.

baai1 baai3.

Good bye.

Floating Northwards on the Endless Sea

Chapter 6 Column

六 luk6 - six

浮 fau4 / pou4 - float; drift; superficial; shallow; hollow; frivolous; impetuous; unpractical; exceed; be surplus; be redundant

槎 caa4 - a raft made of bamboo or wood ; to fell trees ; to hew

北 bak1 – north; northerly; defeated

溟 ming4 - drizzling rain; dark, obscure

海 hoi2 - sea, ocean; maritime; huge gathering; area; field; great; unlimited; a Chinese family name; direction; side (strictly used after North, South, etc.)

茫茫 mong4 mong4 - boundless; vast and obscure

二0一 ji6 lin4 jat1 – two hundred and one 两百一 loeng5 baak3 jat1

FSI Dialogues (1)

Here is another good Cantonese course put together originally by the US Foreign Service Institute and now released into the public domain.

Interesting to note that when this course was developed in the 60s and 70s, Cantonese was generally accepted to have 7 or 8 tones instead of the common 6 tones nowadays.

Here's the first dialogue together with a Jyutping transcript. 

Man:

小姐, 貴姓呀?

siu2 ze2, gwai3 sing3 aa3?

Woman:

我姓曾. 先生貴姓呀?

ngo5 sing3 cang4.  sin1 saang1 gwai3 sing3 aa3?

Man:

小姓何. 曾小姐係唔係廣東人呀?

sui2 sing3 ho4. cang4 siu2 ze2 hai6 m4 hai6 gwong2 dung1 yan4 aa3?

Woman:

唔係呀. 我係上海人. 你呢? 你係唔係美國人呀?

m4 hai6 aa3. ngo5 hai6 soeng6 hoi2 jan4. nei5 ne1? nei5 hai6 m4 hai4 mei5 gwok3 jan4 aa3?

Man:

係呀. 我係美國人.

hai6 aa3. ngo5 hai6 mei5 gwok3 jan4.

Wing Chun Forms

Over the past three years or so, I have been learning Wing Chun from a Cantonese master who was born in the same year as Bruce Lee.  This is where my original interest in Cantonese started, as all the names of forms and techniques are in Cantonese, and I wanted to create a glossary of terms so that I could learn to recognise the written names as well.

The history of this art before the 1900s varies widely, largely because there are few written documents.  The version I have "inherited" suggests that this was originally a secret un-named art used for security in a Southern Chinese Shaolin monastery, only leaking out into the wider world at the beginning of the Ching dynasty (mid 17th century), when the monasteries were destroyed because they were suspected of harbouring supporters of the previous dynasty.

Here are the names of the four "empty-hand" forms and the two weapons forms. From what I understand of the history of this art, the weapons forms were added relatively recently. Typically the forms are taught in this order over a period of ten years or so, although this can vary from teacher to teacher:

English	Jyutping	Characters
Wing Chun (“praise the spring”)	wing6 ceon1	詠春
Siu Nim Tao (“little ideas”) (first form)	sui2 nim6 tau4	小念頭
Chum Kiu (“search for a bridge”) (second form)	cam4 kiu4	尋橋
Biu Jee (“thrusting fingers”) (third form)	biu1 zi2	鏢指
Moot Yan Jong ("wooden dummy") (fourth form)	muk6 jan4 zong1	木人樁
Bart Jum Do ("butterfly knives") (weapons form)	baat3 zaam2 dou1	八斬刀
Look Dim Boon Kwan (six-and-a-half point pole) (weapons form)	luk6 dim2 bun3 gwan3	六點半棍

Notes:
1. The reference to the number eight in Bart Jum Do is not to the number of knives being used but to the number of techniques embodied in the form.

2. The reference to the number six-and-a-half in the pole form similarly counts the number of techniques embodied in the form, one of which is a very simple move, apparently insufficiently complex enough to count as a separate "technique".

3. Legend has it that "Wing Chun" is actually the name of the first person (a young woman) outside the Shaolin monastery to be taught the art.

Good Morning

Another dialogue, this time from lesson 3 of the Pimsleur Cantonese course:

先生,早晨.你好嗎?

sin1 saang1, zou2 san4. nei5 hou2 maa3?
Good morning sir, how are you?

好好,多謝.

hou2 hou2, do1 ze6.
Very well, thank you

你識唔識聽廣東話呀?

nei5 sik1 m4 sik1 teng1 gwong2 dung1 waa2 aa3?
Do you understand Cantonese?

我識聽一啲.唔係好識聽.

ngo5 sik1 teng1 yat1 di1. m4 hai5 hou2 sik1 teng1.
I understand a little. It isn't a good understanding

你係唔係美國人呀?

nei5 hai6 m4 hai6 mei5 gwok3 jan4 aa3?
Are you American?

係.

hai6.
Yes.

但係你識聽好多廣東話

daan6 hai6 nei5 sik1 teng6 hou2 do1 gwong2 dung1 waa2
But you understand Cantonese very well.

Drought Sweeps the Land...

OK So now to look at the opening spoken lines of the film.

The subtitles tell me that "It is the year of a total eclipse. Drought sweeps the land.", and listening to the dialogue, we seem to have around eight syllables followed by another five.

I'm not at the stage where I can work very much out for myself - in fact I want other people's transcripts to help me to get to that stage, so my approach to unravelling spoken Cantonese is to get some anchor characters and search the Chinese internet for clues.

It's actually a bit of a relief to find that there is quite a lot of variation in what native Cantonese are hearing and transcribing. For instance the first sentence is quoted variously as:

今年玉黄临太岁
今年五黃臨太歲
今年玉皇临太岁 (most commonly found)
今年玉黃臨太歲
今年是五黄临太岁
今年因为五黄临太岁
今年因為五黃臨太歲 (closest match to dialogue)  

Here's a table showing the jyutping and definitions for the closest match, followed by all other characters listed:

今年	gam1 nin4	this year
因為 / 因为	jan1 wai6	because
五	ng5	five
黃	wong4	yellow; Chinese family name
臨 / 临	lam6 / lam4	look down from above; preside over; draw near; visit; temporary; approach; descend; come to; during; while
太歲 / 太岁	taai3 seoi3	Tai Siu – Stars directly opposite Jupiter, referenced in Zodiac, Taoism and Feng Shui
皇	wong4	royal; imperial; emperor; ruler; beautiful; brilliant; uneasy; anxious; a term of respect for an ancestor
玉	juk6	jade; precious stone; pure; graceful; your (polite)
是	si6	indeed; yes; right; positive; to be [3] this; that; which

And after a similar exercise for the second line:

周圍都有旱災

周圍 / 周围	zau1 wai4	surroundings; around; circumference; ambient
都	dou1	all; together; even; already; large town; city; metropolis
有	jau5 / jau6	have; be present; own; possess; exist; there is
旱災	hon5 zoi1	a drought
旱	hon5	dry; arid; drought; dry spell
災	zoi1	calamity; disaster; catastrophe

It is written in the Buddhist Canon...

I saw The Ashes of Time Redux recently and I think it's going to be a great source of material.

Actually, one of the hardest tasks in all this is trying to track down the correct characters, there are quite a few which look the same, and some are impossible to find if they have no obvious radical.

I suppose when this is your language, you just know the words and where to look them up...

"It is written in the Buddhist Canon: 'The flag is still. The wind is calm. It is the heart of man that is in turmoil'"

As far as I can work it out, these are the characters being displayed:

是   旗   佛

人   未   典

的   動   有

心   風   云

自   也

己   未

在   吹

動

And these are common meanings:

佛 fat6 / fat1 - Buddha; Buddhist; Buddhism

典 din2 - rule; statute; law; canon

有 jau5 / jau6 –have

云 wan4 - say; simplified form of 雲

旗 kei4 - flag, banner

未 mei6 - not yet, not

動 dung6 - move, stir; change, alter

風 fung1 / fung3 –wind

也 jaa5 - also; (affirmative particle)

吹 ceoi1 - to blow; to puff; brag; boast

是 si6 – is

人 jan4 –person

的 dik1 - possessive suffix

心 sam1 – heart

自己 zi6 gei2 - oneself; self

在 zoi6 - at; in; on