Anyone know any simple phrases in Cantonese?

POSTED BY: GloryBe
UPDATED: Thursday, November 10, 2005 15:17
VIEWED: 7252
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GLORYBE

Saturday, May 14, 2005 11:52 AM

We have all these great phrases in Mandarin, but does anyone have any simple cantonese phrases?

Even a link to a website would be great!

Thanks in advance!!

0REAVER0

Saturday, June 25, 2005 7:58 AM

The hero of canton the man they call jayne

0Reaver0

WYVERNSHADE

Saturday, October 22, 2005 9:21 PM

Indeed I do. In fact, a few Cantonese "nice" and "not-nice" phrases are all the Chinese I *do* know, as I don't know any Mandarin.

Learned many years ago, from a Cantonese Chinese-speaking friend I grew up with:

1.) Nay Say Gwai! Trans: Means something like "You dead ghost!, a double-negative (as in, "You are dead, and you are dead *again*, twice, *that's how dead you are!". My understanding is this is something you only say to someone you wish you could kill *twice*! Sounds very satifying to say, too, as an expletive.

2.) Hom Sep Low! Trans: "Dirty Old Man!" Can also be said as: "Nay Hom Sep Low!", by putting a "You" (Nai) in front of it, in the same way you'd say "Hello" or "How are you doing?" by saying "Nai How Ma"?

3.) Gnaw Um Jido. Trans: "I don't know." The "I" word "Gnaw" is pronounced by starting with an "ng" sound, like at the end of the word "song", and then continuing with an "aw" sound, as in "saw".

4.) Nay Cern Gun Mutyeh (or Maya): "I don't understand what you're saying".

5.) Gawdee Nui Jai Gay Ho! Trans: "Those young ladies are very pretty!"

That about exhausts my limited knowledge of Cantonese phrases...but even these have served me well, over the years. Hope they help ya...

~Wyvernshade

COMPANYOFWOOF

Thursday, November 10, 2005 3:17 PM

Cantonese sounds vastly different from Mandarin, owing to its archaic ancestry. So naturally, they have a different writing system. To me Cantonese just sounds more natural and less pretentious. Think of it as the Cockney version of Chinese language, a strong contrast to the Beijing version of "the Queen's English".

This page should get you started.

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/