Well! Apologies for not posting anything yesterday.. I was quite busy. And since today was also a super busy day (more than yesterday) I didn't have the time to take a photo of the view from my window during the afternoon. I'm super tired today so I'm just going to talk about four Cantonese phrases and how to pronounce them.. woop woop!!
First one is hello. Now loads of people would say that it is 你好 (pronounced like nei ho; nei is sort of like a 'v' pronunciation, like the tone drops and goes back up; and ho is like nei.. you can google it up if you want to) and that is correct, but rarely would you find someone greeting someone like that on the streets. It's done formally, but less casually. For hello in Cantonese (at least in Hong Kong), its just hello. Or what we pronounce as hallo. If you say hey or hi, people would still understand. If you're saying hello on the phone, we say 喂, pronounced like wai (again like a 'v', tone drops and raises, more than nei).
Now its the turn for goodbye. No, I'm not saying bye to you. It's the Cantonese way. Again, many people would say it is 再見 (pronounced joi geen; joi is plain, so just a joi is fine; geen isn't like the g in giraffe, but the g in geek the first word that popped to my mind; it is actually translated to 'see you again', but its used for goodbye. It's just the same meaning, almost), but in Hong Kong, almost every single person just says bye bye. Because why not? It's easier.
For thank you, there are two ways. The first is 多謝 (do jeh. Do isn't like the English do, but a kind of high-pitched do, but the o isn't like the one in 'to', its like the one in 'lot', and jeh... the j isn't really that noticeable, but its the best way to put it. It's something like 'ts', but not exactly. Or a 'z'. So try to place your teeth together and just make a sound using your tongue.. it's really hard to explain, so maybe YouTube videos will be useful. 'eh' isn't like 'ay', but 'eh', a short e.) This form of thanks is used when someone gives you a gift or a present. The second is 唔該 (mh goi. The h is silent in mh, and its a bit deeper in pitch. goi is like how you pronounce do, higher and flat, so the pitch stays the same.) mh goi is used for when something does a service for you, like pick up a pen you dropped. I was always confused when I was little.
The last phrase is sorry. Again, you can just use sorry. People will understand. But this post is about Cantonese! It's 對唔住(dui mh ju; the u in dui isn't like the one in 'use', but the one in 'but', so the i is like a y; mh is mentioned above, the h silent and slightly deeper in pitch; ju is pronounced the way its written, but this time the u is like the one in 'use', and it is also somewhat like a 'v' pitch, going deeper down the up again.
Yes, Cantonese is quite a hard language to learn. But if you've grown up within that environment, it comes by naturally. But if not, it can be really tough. So don't worry if you can't say those phrases correctly. Practice, practice, practice!! I might even record my own voice saying those phrases one day. Oh, and in Hong Kong, we use the traditional way in writing Chinese. There are two forms in the most common way of writing chinese: simplified or traditional. Simplified is used in mainland and most of China, while traditional is used in Hong Kong, Macau and other Chinese cities. Simplified is easier to write, with less strokes, but it's all about habit. I feel awkward writing simplified Chinese because its so different, but everyone's different.
Now, time for the announcement! I'll be going to a city in China (I forgot exactly where, oops) with my family for the weekend, so I won't be able to post then.. I'm not exactly keen on going, but we have to because its a family trip. Oh well. So, thanks for coming by and stopping to read this blog. I really hope you actually enjoyed my posts and I'll see you soon.
Bye bye! (joi geen!)
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