Chinese Language Stack Exchange
Chinese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [cantonese]

The Chinese dialect spoken in and around Guangzhou city (formerly Canton), and central and western Guangdong province.

The Chinese dialect spoken in and around Guangzhou city (formerly Canton), and central and western Guangdong province. Because many overseas Chinese originated from this area, Cantonese is more common among overseas communities than it is among the general Chinese population. This is particularly true of those who emigrated in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

329 questions
30
votes
12 answers

How to describe differences between Cantonese and Mandarin?

When I tell people I speak Cantonese I'm often asked, "What's the difference between that and Mandarin?". This inevitably leads to a very poor explanation that includes references to the differences between Portugese and Spanish (which I feel is a…
Zann Anderson
  • 739
  • 1
  • 8
  • 13
19
votes
9 answers

Why Cantonese is considered as a dialect of Chinese?

Can someone explain why Cantonese is considered as a dialect of Chinese, instead of a language? It is also for any language exist in China, both land and Taiwan (Cantonese, Hunanese, Fujianese, Taiwanese, etc.). AFAIK, dialect is differ from…
mrjimoy_05
  • 477
  • 3
  • 10
15
votes
3 answers

How does foreign word transliteration work in the context of Cantonese vs Mandarin?

If I understand correctly, Cantonese sounds very different from Mandarin, despite being written in the same way (omitting some small differences, which are irrelevant for the question). If it is the case, how can foreign words be transliterated into…
KT.
  • 253
  • 1
  • 6
14
votes
9 answers

Resources for learning Cantonese

I'd like to learn Cantonese. Does anyone know some good resources (books, websites) that provide a thorough introduction into the language? I know that the pronunciation is a lot harder than in Mandarin, so the resource should contain audios as…
zero-divisor
  • 111
  • 7
12
votes
2 answers

What's the difference between 咁 (gam3) and 噉 (gam2)?

What does "gam" mean in these two contexts, and why is a different character used in each? Note 咁 used in this sentence 我睇見你坐喺梳化椅處， 唔停咁同張太太，何太太，王小姐佢哋傾偈。 (ngo5 tai2 gin3 nei5 co5 hai2 so1 faa2 ji2 syu3, m4 ting4 gam2 tung4 zoeng1 taai3 taai2, ho6…
Mike M. Lin
  • 297
  • 2
  • 7
12
votes
3 answers

Is there an equivalent for the Cantonese phrase "M Goi"

The Cantonese phrase "M Goi" has many meanings: "Excuse me" "Thanks" (casual) "Hey" Does it have a 普通话 equivalent? And how can I write it in pinyin? Is it even possible?
Matthew Rudy 马泰
  • 2,091
  • 1
  • 21
  • 30
11
votes
9 answers

Is 師奶 (see lai) strictly a Cantonese word? Is it a neutral word or does it have a negative connotation?

I had heard a husband refer to his wife in Cantonese as 師奶 (pronounced "see lai"). The way he said it sounded like an insult but I was told it's not a bad word. How would 師奶 be described in English? Is it a word that carries any negative…
amateur
  • 1,058
  • 1
  • 8
  • 16
11
votes
4 answers

Pinyin of 車 in idioms

In Cantonese, 車 has two pronunciations: [ce1] and [geoi1]. In Mandarin, 車 also has two different pinyin: [che1] and [ju1]. [ce1] corresponds to [che1]. [geoi1] corresponds to [ju1]. In most idioms, 車 is pronounced as [geoi1] in Cantonese. For…
Tang Ho
  • 73,153
  • 4
  • 25
  • 64
10
votes
2 answers

Are the Cantonese word 係 and the Japanese word はい related?

The Cantonese word meaning "to be", written as 係 (Jyutping: hai6) sounds similar to the Japanese word はい ("hai" in various Romanizations). Both words are used to answer "yes" or "it is correct" to yes-no questions. The Japanese Wikipedia article on…
user102008
  • 475
  • 3
  • 11
8
votes
3 answers

Zhong Shan Suit Inner Shirt Cantonese Name

I would like to ask the Cantonese speakers about the 中山裝. As we know, 中山裝 is similar to the western suit, 西裝, it is designed with the jacket (外套) and the inner shirt (長袖衫). However, my friends told me that the "長袖衫" is called 底 (pronounced as 桶底…
Jacky X.
  • 415
  • 2
  • 6
8
votes
2 answers

Are there more special numerals like 廿?

In Hong Kong herbal tea shops, you will see a tea called "廿四味" (24 flavours) (you will also hear "廿蚊" to mean "20 dollars" in small shops) In this case 廿 (niàn or pán) has the meaning "20". Are there any other chinese numerals that represent unusual…
Matthew Rudy 马泰
  • 2,091
  • 1
  • 21
  • 30
8
votes
3 answers

How Cantonese and Mandarin writing can be identical

Forgive any ignorance on my part - I am a beginner, studying Mandarin. If "Apple" in Mandarin is "苹果" (píngguǒ), then I guess in Cantonese it is also "苹果", though no doubt pronounced completely differently. In Mandarin, two characters normally means…
Steven
  • 81
  • 1
  • 2
8
votes
2 answers

Macau Cantonese, any differences from HK?

Does anyone know how Cantonese from Macau differ from HK if there are any? Any slangs or terms used in Macanese Cantonese that is rarely used or heard in HK? Maybe some sinicised portuguese words? What about phonology? Closer to a little bit…
Max
  • 183
  • 5
8
votes
5 answers

What is the difference between 台 and 臺？

What is the difference between 台 and 臺？ 台 is both "simplified" and "alternative", 臺 is "traditional". 臺 seems to be the "correct" traditional form for Taiwan, but I've never seen it in reference to Taishan (台山) in Guangdong, even in all references…
Alan Chin
  • 81
  • 2
7
votes
1 answer

Cantonese sandhi

In Mandarin, there is limited tone sandhi, mainly about third tones and the tone variations of yi1 (one) and bù (not). By contrast, Min has sandhi rules for all tones, as illustrated by this diagram. So I was wondering: is there any sandhi in…
MickG
  • 2,300
  • 1
  • 12
  • 27
1
2 3
…
21 22